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Chapter Text

Shouta Aizawa, known to a select few as the Underground Hero Eraserhead, knelt on a rooftop, silently watching over a small part of the city of Musutafu. He was... bored.

There was no other way to say it - he simply had nothing to do. And it wasn't like that was a bad thing. Nothing to do meant there was no crime going on, after all. And yet, still... his body twitched with impatience. He somewhat felt like the class of dunderheads that he had to teach this year - true, they had gotten better after he expelled them and Nedzu waited a few days before reinstating them... but they were still mostly the same. There was simply no way around it. At least there were no problem children this year. Just another batch of kids who would go on, become heroes, become sidekicks and get lucky if they broke the Top 100. There was no drive, no motivation. Nothing except money and glory. It made the raven-haired man want to scoff.

'If all you want is money and glory, you might as well be a pirate.' He thought of the pre-Quirk tales. It was... pitiful, to say the least. He would do his best to whip them into shape, hopefully make at least one or two decent hero students out of the twenty, but he wasn't holding his breath.

From behind him, something ruffled. Within an instant, he was on his feet, Quirk flaring as his Capture Weapon spun around him, facing down a fearsome... cat. A black cat, which simply stared at him in indifference as he sighed. 'Still nothing...' He wished for a moment that he had his sleeping bag. He had tried to bring it, but Hizashi had adamantly protested, claiming it needed to be washed. Which it did, but another night would hardly make a difference. Shouta sat back down, running his fingers along the cat, who quickly welcomed the attention, brushing into it. He breathed in deeply, smelling the damp scent of the city's nighttime. Maybe tonight would be qui-

A flash lit up an alleyway about half a mile away from Shouta. Quickly untangling himself from the animal, who was in no part pleased, he dashed across rooftops. Based on the flash, there was probably some Quirk-based violence going on - a mugging, perhaps. It couldn't have taken him more than two minutes to make it over, but it seemed to mostly be over by the time he got there. There was a small, sobbing woman trying to cover herself with the remnants of a ripped sweater as she crouched near the entrance to the alleyway, while deeper in, there were two more people near the end.

Continuing his observation, Eraserhead remained in stealth for the time being. Subconsciously, he analyzed the girl standing in the middle to most likely be a hero or a vigilante. Considering he didn't recognize her, he was leaning towards the latter. There was a pitiful excuse for a man cowering near the end of the alley, shaking with a mixture of terror and anger, a few minute cuts covering his body, as well as a few bruises.

With a small amount of annoyance, the teacher noted that the vigilante had done a better job at handling the situation than any of his current students would have - prioritizing the victim and making sure they were safe before going in for the fight. Voices rose towards him.

"You don't deserve that Quirk, you know." The girl spoke loudly and clearly, slowly moving towards the man, clearly attempting to intimidate him, which seemed to be working.

"S-Stay away, you wench! She was asking for it!" The man cried out, his words slurring slightly. Drunk, then. His hands lit up green, which had been the color Aizawa had seen before. 'Illegal Unauthorized Quirk Usage,' he noted. He could've stepped in at this point, but a slightly guilty part of him admitted that he wanted to see how the vigilante would finish the task - Underground Heroes often worked with vigilantes, so this might be a useful connection to have... if she was able to keep her wits about her.

The girl hardly hesitated with the words. Instead, she reached out a full arm, as if offering the man salvation... and then yanked it back, causing the man to fly towards her. She didn't seem to be armed with any lethal weapons, instead only having some sort of staff, which she held out and let the man get thrown into it, knocking him out. Within seconds, his hands were zip-tied behind his back. Eraserhead nodded in approval. Despite what the movies said, unconsciousness usually lasted less than a few minutes, often only seconds. Anything more than that would often be a sure sign of brain damage.

With more muscle than she appeared to have, the vigilante dragged the man to the mouth of the alley, depositing him with a note before turning to the still-crying girl on the ground. "Hey, hey, it's alright now, it's alright." She placated, trying to calm the girl down, who quickly was reduced to sniffles. The vigilante shrugged off the hoodie that formed the upper part of her costume and wrapped it around the downed girl, helping her to her feet. "Let me take you home."

As the two walked in mostly silence, only the occasional sniffle to break it as well as directions, Eraserhead followed from the rooftops... after sending a silent alert to police of the location for pickup.

"Good job."

Izumi Midoriya squeaked in surprise, only her well-tested instincts allowing her to spin around with her staff fully extended even as she was caught unaware. It appeared she wasn't in any danger though - considering the man had made himself known, he probably wasn't going to try and attack her. And if he was egotistical enough to try and attack her face-to-face instead of sneak attacking... well, he'd have another thing coming.

The man grinned wryly as he made his way to the ground. He moved with a fluid grace that Izumi knew only came with experience. Lots of it. So most likely, she was dealing with either a Pro Hero, another vigilante, or a villain. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. The man took note of the staff and only nodded.

"I only want to talk," he said, his voice sounding scratchy and tired. "You a new vigilante on the scene, kid? You should be in school, not fighting criminals."

Izumi flushed slightly with a mixture of embarrassment and indignation. "I'm not... in school at the moment. But what's it to you?" The man looked familiar, that was for sure. Probably not a villain, then. Hopefully. She was acting meaner than she wanted to, but in her defense, some random guy had apparently been following her around in the middle of the night for a decent period of time and she hadn't noticed.

'Hm.' Aizawa thought. 'Not in school... based on the stiffening of her posture, probably hasn't been for a while. That means...' He mentally sighed. 'Another problem child.'  He should've known his luck would never last. He noticed the girl's peculiar emerald eyes shining brightly as they analyzed him, or so it seemed.

"I'm an Underground Hero. Unlike most Pros, I prefer working with vigilantes instead of wasting time and resources trying to stop people who are trying to help." Like a lightbulb went off, the girl straightened up, the smile he had seen when she comforted the young woman earlier returning.

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere!' She whispered excitedly. "You're Eraserhead!" It was the Hero's turn to be surprised. Very few people recognized him - for good reason, seeing as how he tried to keep out of the spotlight. However, it didn't stop there. "I've tried to analyze your Quirk so many times, but it's so difficult because most of the knowledge comes from former villains. It's some kind of Quirk Erasure, right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Probably sight-activated, which explains the goggles..." She started mumbling words that were too quiet for the Hero to hear, but he simply stared in a sort of bemused amazement at the teen in front of him. After a few moments, she cut herself off with a blush, stuttering, "S-Sorry! I just really like Quirks."

That seemed like a sort of understatement. However, the drastic personality change from before was... odd, to say the least. This was obviously more natural to the girl, the stiffness relieved from her tone and her body. Only Shouta's keen awareness as both a Hero and a teacher allowed him to pick up on it - it was subtle enough that most people would just write it off. Realizing the girl was now staring at him, most likely expecting a reprimand, he moved to speak.

"You did well tonight." The words were minimal, but high praise coming from the Underground Hero. It seemed that she either knew or it didn't matter to the girl, who flushed at the sentence. "However, it's late." He took a gamble. "Let me walk you home. Your parents are probably worried." It was a low-risk one, but... it could backfire.

The girl tensed up again and he inwardly cursed. "I can walk home by myself."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't. I know you're a bit injured, no matter how well you're trying to hide it." He actually hadn't seen anything, but most vigilantes carried some injury or other. Without access to Pro Healers or even regular hospitals like heroes did, most of their stuff was done at home. Still, he could tell he had hit something.

The girl bit her lip for a second as she thought. "What if I don't want you to know where I live?" Shouta flashed his hero badge, a small triumphant feeling welling up inside of him as he knew that he had been correct about the living situation.

"I'm a Hero. I'm here to help." The teen's resistance was breaking down. He decided to make the final push. "Here, how about you come back to my house tonight. I can bandage up your wounds professionally. If you feel uncomfortable, you're welcome to leave at any time. Deal?" Even if he didn't approve of problem children being idiots, he wasn't about to let a kid stay in some dumpster alone, injured, especially not when he could help.

The girl's shoulders fell, and she sighed as her final hesitations left her. "Al... Alright."

"So, what's your name, kid?"

The girl stayed silent for a few moments, before her head jumped up with a start as if she finally realized he was talking to her. "O-oh, sorry!" She apologized, blushing. "Izumi. Just Izumi." She wasn't an idiot. She knew the hero had deduced her home situation which was why he offered to take her home. She didn't even have to worry about being placed into the foster system - she was well aware nobody would take her anyway.

The hero didn't pause. "Alright, Izumi. There's another person at my house, but he's a Pro Hero as well. He won't hurt you, although he's a little... loud." He explained. Izumi nodded. Her mind raced with the possibilities - a friend? A roommate? A lover? Was Eraserhead gay? So many interesting questions, but she didn't dare voice them. They eventually made it to a small apartment complex that seemed to be higher-end, but not overly expensive. 

"No climbing up the side of the building to get in?" Izumi tried to make a light joke to ease the tense mood that the Pro Hero carried around, but it was most likely part of the package, and not leaving any time soon.

"Not with that leg of yours," the hero replied. Izumi winced at the reminder. She had gotten stabbed in the thigh a few weeks ago, and even though she had bandaged it, it had still gotten infected and was taking a bit longer to heal. She didn't have access to hospitals or healers, either, so she had to make do.

They made it to one of the upper floors before entering a seemingly random room. "I'm home," the man called out rather flatly, most likely to the other person he had mentioned earlier.

Oh. He could've mentioned that it was Present Mic. Izumi flushed at the man's appearance out of his costume, his usually spiked hair resting around his neck as he embraced Shouta with a hug. He gave the girl a once over before nodding. "I didn't realize we were adopting!" Izumi flushed, but Eraserhead simply raised an eyebrow in mild amusement. "I went ahead and made food since I found all of your snack packets in the bag, so I know you're hungry." The dark-haired Pro rolled his eyes, but Izumi noticed the faintest tinge of a blush on his cheeks. Interesting.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Little Listener," Present Mic greeted.

Izumi stammered out a hello before launching into a full analysis of what she knew of the man's Quirk. "You're the Pro Hero, Present Mic! Your Quirk allows you to greatly affect the volume of your voice! I'm curious, does it allow you to change the pitch? The frequency? Could you go high enough to say, shatter glass? How about directionally?" The questions kept coming, throwing Hizashi off-balance.

"Woah, woah, woah, Little Listener, slow down!" The girl froze like a deer in headlights. "That's a lot of questions at once. How about you ask them over a warm meal?" It seemed the Pros' hospitality knew no bounds.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Izumi questioned as she laid on the couch, spread out as Eraserhead changed the shoddy wrappings of her legs for fresh bandages after cleaning the wound.

"I'm not about to leave a kid alone on the streets while they're injured," Eraserhead replied impassively.

Izumi scowled. "I've been on the streets for years and I've been just fine so far. This is far from my worst injury." She immediately clapped her hands over her mouth and flushed in embarrassment as she realized what she said, but it was too late to take it back at that point. The Pro Hero took it well, though.

"Yeah, fine," he scoffed. "You're just severely malnourished, don't have a home, and haven't been to school in years." The girl was silent for a moment.

"You don't know-"

"Yes I do." The Pro Hero cut the girl off, finishing the bandaging. He took a minute to examine her. There were a lot of scars there, some of them seemed to be years old. "How long have you been doing this, Problem Child?"

'Problem Child? ' Izumi scowled at the nickname. "A couple years."

"Is that how you got these scars?"

"Yeah." Eraserhead picked up on the lie immediately. He might not have been Tsukauchi, but he still knew how to read people.

Instead of calling her out on it, though, all he said was "Uh-huh."

By the time Eraserhead woke up the next morning, the Problem Child had already disappeared. He sighed, but hadn't expected anything different. If he was lucky, he'd run into her again, maybe even work with her.

The next time he saw her, it was two months later, and she was probably bleeding to death and didn't seem to care. She had shown up while he was in the middle of a raid on a Trigger manufacturing plant with multiple other heroes, pulling Death Arms out of the way of a barrage of quills that would've otherwise impaled him. She was bleeding from multiple places, including a massive wound across her stomach that was staining her dark green sweatshirt that he had seen her wearing the first time he had encountered her.

He was more focused on fighting a variety of goons and due to the nature of his Quirk he had to fight isolated and couldn't look away often, but when he did, what he saw confused him. While he was sure she had some sort of telekinetic Quirk, he also saw her with some form of... hydrokinesis? And while it could've been the same ability, it didn't quite line up.

It was a mostly successful raid with no casualties. He found her after the raid getting treated in an ambulance with a pair of Quirk-inhibiting handcuffs around her arms. She looked more annoyed than anything else. "Hey, Problem Child, how are you doing?" 

"Eraserhead-san!" The girl lit up. "I'm doing alright, except for, ya know..." She gestured her shackled arms towards him.

Shouta raised an eyebrow. "What are you being arrested for?"

"Unauthorized Quirk Usage," a Police Officer intoned from behind the hero. "Only a misdemeanor, but she's still classified as a vigilante for the moment."

Shouta turned around, resisting the urge to groan. Just like the law to punish those who tried to help. "Unauthorized? You really think I would bring my intern on this assignment without authorizing her to use her Quirk?" He heard a cough from behind him, and very pointedly did not turn around.

"Your... intern?" The officer raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I wasn't aware that you took interns. I don't remember seeing her on the list, either."

Again, the Underground Hero resisted the urge to groan in annoyance. "She's a new intern, hasn't been registered yet. She has potential, so I included her. Isn't that right, Izumi?" He turned around, startling the girl.

"I- wha- uhm-" She coughed a few times, sputtering a bit before raising a shackled hand to her head in a salute. "Yes sir, Eraserhead-senpai!" Oh, she was really laying it on thick. Aizawa clenched his teeth. The things he did for these Problem Children...

He slowly turned back around to the officer. "See? Everything's fine. She shouldn't be getting arrested like she's one of the criminals that she helped capture." He put emphasis on the end of the sentence, making sure the officer got the message. They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither backing down. Finally, the officer sighed.

"Whatever." He reached his arm out and his eyes glowed as he activated his Quirk, his forearm and hand disappearing as he reached into what seemed to be a small pocket realm, quickly grabbing a keycard that he then held to the cuffs on the pair of manacles, letting them fall away. They had evidently been far too tight, as the skin was pinched and red, making Izumi rub them for a bit of comfort as the officer returned the items to his pocket dimension.

Seemingly not being one to hold grudges though, the green-haired girl immediately started her line of questioning. "That Quirk's so cool!" She exclaimed. "How big is your pocket dimension? Can you only fit your arm in? What would happen if you put a living creature in there? What would happen if Ai-" She cut herself off. "-Eraserhead-senpai activated his Quirk on you while you were using it? Would you lose your arm, or would the dimension just disappear?" Eraserhead sighed and shook his head in the palm of his hand as the girl kept going. "Could someone else reach in too if you activated it? Does it take up physical space? Would you be able to use it if you couldn't move your arms?" The officer looked helplessly at Eraserhead, as if he could stop his 'intern' and her invasive questions.

Eraserhead rolled his eyes and looked at the girl, activating his Quirk and giving her enough of a shock to stop her questioning. The officer used it as a convenient reason to get away from the duo, Izumi glared at the Pro Hero for his action while he stared back impassively. "There, you made him go away. You can stop now."

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at that," she shot back, making Aizawa twinge slightly with guilt. "Anyway, your intern, seriously?"

"Kept you out of a cell for the night," he quipped. He offered a hand to the teen, who took it and let him lead her out of the ambulance, her wounds all bandaged but her outfit in ruins. "Besides, I wasn't actually entirely joking. It would be better than being a vigilante, wouldn't it? And as far as I can tell, you don't have any arrests yet, which wouldn't inhibit you."

Izumi scoffed. "You don't want to do that, trust me. I appreciate it and all, but I don't think I can..." She trailed off, and made a strange noise. "I don't think I can be a hero." Her voice was melancholic as she spoke the words.

"Why not?" Aizawa questioned. "What you did tonight, that was hero work. I saw you save Death Arms from dismemberment or even death. Why wouldn't you be able to be a hero?"

"You don't understand!" The green-haired girl suddenly burst. "I am... I have a villain's Quirk!"

Eraserhead sighed. "There's no such thing. Believe me. All I was told when I grew up was that I had a villain's Quirk. People tried to stay out of my line of sight because they thought I'd "take their Quirk"," he made air quotes to emphasize his point. "There's nothing more villainous to some people. But that didn't stop me."

Izumi was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was low. "That's... That's for you. Not for me. Yours is temporary. I'm like... a thief. A cheat."

The Pro Hero turned around to face the girl, and he finally noticed that she seemed to be crying a small amount. "I've seen your Quirk. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"No you haven't," she shook her head. "If you did... you wouldn't even want to be near me."

"Your telekinesis? I saw it."

But the teen shook her head again. "No, that's my mom's Quirk."

Eraserhead scoffed. "Even if it came from her-"

"No," Izumi cut him off. "That's my mom's Quirk." She emphasized.

Eraserhead was silent for a few seconds. "I... don't understand." Izumi buried her face into her sweatshirt, as if she was hiding from him.

"Whatever. Just... I can't be a hero. Don't waste-" She stopped for a second. "Just stop trying, alright? Thanks and all, but it won't work out. I promise."

Aizawa shook his head. "There's no such thing as 'can't' , Problem Child. I wasn't lying. I see potential in you. Something that a lot of kids don't have. Do you want to be a hero?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter." The words were muffled through the arms of the sweatshirt.

"That's not what I asked."

Izumi was silent for a few moments. "... yes. I want to help people. That's why I'm a vigilante."

Aizawa nodded. "I can help you get your license."

The teen sounded incredulous. "Why would you help some kid you barely even know? I could- I could be a psychopath or something."

"Are you a psychopath?" Shouta raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then everything sounds fine to me," he finished with a smirk. "Come on, Problem Child. At the very least, I can get you another meal. Same deal as last time."

She huffed petulantly. "You can't make me."

"Actually," Aizawa smiled, "I can." His Capture Scarf wrapped around the girl, who immediately started struggling. "I'm pretty sure I can find a restaurant open this late."

"... Screw you, Eraserhead-san." 

Chapter Text

Izumi had to admit, the katsudon was easily the best thing she had eaten in years. Still, even as Aizawa slurped his noodles down quietly across from her, all she could manage were a few bites here and there. It was... weird. She knew she was being unreasonable, and picky, and-

But could you blame her? This was all crazy. She wasn't talented. She didn't have potential. She was probably just going to end up either a villain or dead, alone, under a bridge somewhere. She was just a... 'Deku'.  The word came unbidden to the forefront of her memory. She had been five when her Quirk came in - a full year after most kids developed their Quirks, usually. She didn't really remember too much about that because whenever she thought about it, the overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry washed over her. But she was a big girl, and big girls don't cry... or something.

The color of blond hair flashed through her mind's eye. She knew she had been bullied, logically, but she didn't remember it, so it was kinda like it didn't happen, right? She didn't realize that Aizawa-san was talking to her until he snapped his fingers in front of her a few times. "-lem child, problem child, you there?"

Izumi blinked a few times, flushing under the man's gaze. "H-hai!" She squeaked a bit louder than intended.

The man frowned at her. "Are you still hurt? I can treat your wounds if you need, I know you're against hospitals."

Izumi shook her head negatively, fast enough to give the hero whiplash just by watching. "Nope! I uh, I mean... No thank you. I was just... erm..." she fidgeted under the Underground Hero's gaze. "I was just... thinking," she finished lamely.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Everything." Izumi shrugged helplessly. "It still feels a bit... weird. I've been told... I've been telling myself  all my life that all I'm destined to do is be evil or die, and now you've suddenly come along telling me I have the potential to become a hero. At- at any moment, it feels like a camera will pop out of somewhere and people will laugh at me for believing something so... so stupid." Her voice broke at the end, and a few tears dripped down her face.

"Ah." Eraserhead leaned back, a look of understanding passing over his face as he got a bit more insight into what made this vigilante, this enigma tick. She needed proof. A show of good faith. Shouta laced his fingers together, thinking for a moment. "I see, Problem Child."

Izumi scowled, rubbing at some of her tear streaks. "Can you-" She rethought her sentence. "Please stop calling me that." She requested.

"No. Anyway, I can assure you, there are no cameras, no jokes. Just a society saturated with heroes who do things for fame and money rather than helping people, and a very, very small minority of people who actually wish to help and have true potential. Such as you, Problem Child." His original response was flat, almost sadistic, but an unnamed emotion flavored his voice for the rest of the words.

Izumi was still frowning, but she stared inquisitively at the Pro Hero now. "... you keep saying that I have potential. What do you mean by that?"

"You're willing to do the right thing without hesitating. There is no question of helping people - no "are there cameras trained on me? does this look heroic?"." He explained. He caught the girl's next question as she opened her mouth, her tongue slipping out. "I'm not saying all heroes are like that. But some of them are. And a lot of the children who want to be heroes - those are the heroes that they see. All Might, Endeavor, Mt. Lady, all those rookies with flashy entrances and big debuts- that's a poison for these children. They don't understand that, in this job, people die." Aizawa's eyes suddenly looked even more haunted than usual. "... and, it's not that rare."

Izumi was silent for a moment, twirling a fork in her fingers as she thought about her next words. Eventually, she seemed to come to a conclusion. "... and how do you want to help me?"

"Training, of course." The answer was so simple, but Izumi nearly managed to fall out of her stationary chair regardless.

"Trai-training?" She stuttered. Luckily, it was late enough that there were no other patrons at the restaurant.

Shouta nodded. "Training. And, eventually, to get you into Yuuei in order to supplement my training with things I can not give you, such as combat experience. You're what, twelve? Thirteen?"

The question wasn't offensive, but sent Izumi back into scowls. "Fourteen... I think." Aizawa wanted to groan at the addition, but held it in.

"Alright. Few more things, although I think I've already figured them out. Full name, parents, Quirk... or Quirks." He added on the end bit to open up the territory a little bit. Just in case. "Living status, schooling knowledge."

Izumi's scowl gave way to a pleading look. "Do I have to?" She asked. Shouta's face didn't move an inch, causing her to pout. "All the hard questions first..." She thought for a moment. "This might not all  be accurate, so, just..." She thought for a moment. "Well, your fault for asking a street rat their personal info," she teased, but the hero's face still didn't move. "Right, no sense of humor, I forgot," she huffed. She held up her pinkie. "Well, first... Izumi Midoriya." Ring. "I don't want to talk about them, but my mom's dead, and you don’t have to worry about my dad," she said mirthlessly, a small tear slipping down her face unbidden, "I was in foster care for a while." The tone indicated that there was no love lost between the families there. Her middle finger rose. "I'll... stick with telekinesis for now. Maybe I'll... It depends-..." She kept trying different angles, but couldn't find a good way to say it.

"The reason I'm asking is to help develop a fighting style for you," Eraserhead offered.

Izumi sighed in relief. "I don't use my other one at all, so then that's not an issue." The hero nodded. Hopefully, they'd progress down that route later. It, no doubt, had to do with why she had mentioned that she had thought she'd end up a villain. Her index finger rose, "Living situation is literally nonexistent. Have the stuff on my back, and that's about it." Thumb last, and she frowned. "I've- I've got a phone, and I, like... do an online school whenever I'm hurt and have enough money to buy food for a few days. Last time I was in school was when I was six, though..." she trailed off, her eyes looking downwards and her face flushed in what seemed to be shame.

Aizawa nodded. "Alright, then. You can come live with my partner and I."

Izumi's head snapped up. "What ?" Her voice didn't bother hiding her incredulity. "I- what- I mean- huh?" She couldn't seem to string together words. "I... don't understand..."

"You can-" Izumi shook her head rapidly, seemingly frustrated.

"No! I- I got that," she whispered. "I just... I don't understand why. Why are you helping me? Literally offering a literal stranger a place in your home?" Her gaze sharpened, and she gripped her eating utensils so hard that her knuckles turn white. "I'll have you know right now, if you're doing this just because-" she gestured to her body, making the hero recoil in what seemed like a mixture of confusion, horror, and disgust.

"No, Problem Child, I am not... propositioning you." He scowled at the word. "I might ask you to make dinners or do chores every now and then, but you would always be free to leave. You'd have your own room, with a lock and everything." Izumi visibly relaxed, breathing out a heavy breath.

"Al... Alright." The fork clattered to the table with a soft 'dink'. "Sorry, it's just..."

Aizawa nodded in understand. "I understand, Problem Child. Stop apologizing."

Izumi nodded. "Sorr-" She cut herself off and flushed, and the Underground Hero's lips twitched into a ghost of a smile for a moment. "I-... yes...?" The words came out more questioning than intended.

"We'll work on that," Shouta wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up, offering a hand to the girl across from him. "Well then, Izumi Midoriya, welcome to the family." A hint of a real smile might have tugged at the corner of Eraserhead's lips as the teen started to sniffle. But, if you ever asked him, he'd deny it vehemently.

There were a few things that Shouta had come to understand within the first few days of living with the girl. The first was simple - she didn't seem to understand that she was free to stay as long as she could. It was, no doubt, a product of the foster care that she had received. When he and Hizashi had first shown Izumi her room, she seemed impassive. Just a quick nod and muttering 'thanks'. Her eyes didn't seem to focus on anything, and she never unpacked her small bag.

The second was her gloves. She was wearing black and green gloves, and Shouta never saw her without them. From what he could tell, she also had two pairs of extras in her backpack, which was the extent of her clothing other than the sweatshirt she was wearing, her pair of ripped leggings, and, oddly enough... a faded shirt that said 'pants' on it in kanji. He resolved to rectify that as soon as possible, but there hadn't been a good day to go to the mall yet.

The third was that she seemed... insistent on doing anything that she possibly could around the house. When she wasn't enveloping herself in the bed like it was a paradise when she thought Aizawa wasn't looking, she was cleaning, cooking, writing things down. This most likely tied back into the first point, which meant that she was still worried that they were going to kick her out after a little bit, which made Aizawa want to scream.

The fourth, and the last, was that she was... scarily intelligent. Especially for someone who hadn't been to school since she was six. He looked up the school she had been going to on her phone, and quickly figured out it was an online university. She was doing university, homeless, at fourteen. And he had checked her scores, too - she wasn't acing everything, but she was far beyond simply passing those classes.

It showed up in other things too. She had... books of analysis. Like, pro-grade analysis. Those were the only things in her backpack other than her gloves, her phone, her staff, and some money. Apparently, she was writing off of things she watched on TV or encounters she had as a vigilante, which Aizawa found out she had been doing since she was eleven, which was a whole other can of worms that he wasn't about to get into. She wouldn't let him read much, though, seemingly embarrassed.

"Hey, Little Listener," Hizashi started from across the dinner table as they ate some, admittedly, pretty good curry with rice. "Who's your favorite hero?"

Izumi finished chewing slowly. "My favorite hero? I dunno... the Wing Hero: Hawks, maybe? Or maybe Mirko, the Rabbit Hero. They're both pretty strong, and they do their jobs without much extra damage."

Hizashi smiled. "Oh, some good choices Little Listener! I'm surprised, though, not All Might or Endeavor?" The difference in mood was instantly evident, and it felt like the temperature of the room rose ten degrees from the pure hatred Izumi stared at the table as she responded slowly.

"No." She spoke slowly, deliberately, choosing her words wisely. "All Might is... not a hero. Endeavor reminds me of my father." A few moments of silence ensued. "May I be excused?"

Shocked, Aizawa nodded slowly. Izumi quickly scampered away, leaving half a bowl of curry left on the table. He and Hizashi slowly looked at each other, staring for a few seconds, before Hizashi finally mouthed, 'What the fuck?'

"There's... so many stores," Izumi gasped with evident awe in her voice as they entered the mall. It was one of the nicer ones in the Shizuoka Prefecture, which they had driven to.

"Go wild, Problem Child," Aizawa said monotonously, plopping down on a bench in his sleeping back and quickly starting to zip it up. "Here's your card. It has a 100,000 yen limit, use as much as you need. Just get some clothes." As the sleeping bag finished being zipped up, Izumi could have sworn that she heard something like 'it's that damn evil rat's money anyway', but she couldn't be sure. Still, 100,000 yen? That was... ridiculous! Maybe it was some sort of test...?

She inspected the card, quickly recognizing the insignia. Yuuei... she snuck a look at Aizawa's sleeping bag. He had mentioned getting her into Yuuei. Maybe he was an alumni?

She was back in under half an hour, toting two small bags. She poked the sleeping bag. "Aizawa-san?" She questioned. The bag slowly unzipped.

"Oh, you're back..." He muttered. He eyed the two bags. "Where's the rest?"

"The... rest?" Izumi questioned.

Bloodshot eyes stared at the girl. "The rest of the clothes? Surely you got more than that with 100,000 yen." Izumi fidgeted a bit, not looking at Aizawa in the eyes. "Problem Child..." He sighed. "Clearly you aren't understanding this. We're here to get you clothes. Nedzu is more than smart enough to play the stock market, 100,000 yen is nothing to him." 'Nedzu? Who's that?'  Izumi was pushed into action by Shouta emerging from his sleeping bag. "Alright, kid, we'll go shopping together, then."

Just how much more work did he have to do to prove to this kid that he wasn't trying to trick her?

"Alright, Problem Child, there's six months until the Yuuei entrance exam begins. You seem to already have some street smarts due to your extracurricular activities, but you need to hone that into true skill and a fighting style that you can readily fall into." Eraserhead spoke as he and Izumi stood together on the empty tennis court. "Alright. Attack me."

"E-eh?" Izumi questioned, unsure if she heard the man right.

"Attack me." He stood still, waiting for her.

Izumi toed forward warily. There were so many ways that- No. She had to trust him, at least a little bit. She took a deep breath in and pulled out her staff. Her eyes narrowed as she studied her teacher- her opponent. The same way she analyzed people when she was a vigilante. She barely was able to see his right foot shift before he lunged at her, almost too fast for her eyes to follow. She ducked and tried to swing her staff, but the Capture Weapon wrapped around it and tore it out of her grasp, which had most likely been the hero's intention all along.

Izumi frowned, but retained her composure. 'It's only a minor setback. I can just grab it back.'  She reached out and pulled, but almost instantly, she felt a sense of hollowness spread throughout her body. The staff stayed put on the ground. 'Aizawa-sensei's Quirk! It's Erasure, which means...'  She waited a few moments and felt her Quirk return, but just as quickly it was gone again, far too fast for her to do anything about her staff.

She grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists, raising them. She stayed light on her feet, bouncing, slowly closing the distance between her and her mentor. As soon as she got close, she lunged, only for the man to sidestep her and push her into the chain-link fence surrounding the court. "How disappointing," Aizawa said. "And here I thought you had potential..." No sooner were the words out until she lunged again, moving even faster than before. She pressed him back a few feet before lunging and grabbing her staff off of the ground.

"Without your Quirk, you're useless, huh?" 'Deku, deku, deku...'  The word echoed in her ears, getting her blood pumping. Any plan she had even come close to forming was dispelled from her thoughts entirely as she rushed at the man. She felt her Quirk return and quickly grabbed at the man's foot, but the Pro Hero used the momentum to his advantage and flipped out of the way of her attack, once again training his eyes on her. She rushed forward again, swinging over and over with the staff.

"I'll show you 'useless'," she snarled, twirling the staff around her waist to hit him from the other side, but her left hand wasn't as dexterous as her right and her attack was too slow to hit. "I'm not useless!" She shouted, a tear leaking down her face. She planted the staff into the ground and used it as a balance to run along the fence, throwing a wild kick at the man. He looked almost... regretful as he dodged the blow, but that's what she was counting on as she slammed the staff into his unprotected side, using her body weight as leverage as she slammed into the ground for the attack, finally landing a blow on the man. She hit the ground hard, tears finally starting to run down her face. "I'm not useless... I promise..."

"Prob-... Izumi," Eraserhead said softly from above her. "I know you're not useless. But I needed to see how you would react in a situation like that, it was a... logical ruse." Even to the man, the words sounded hollow. He had pushed the wrong buttons far too quickly, and definitely not in the right scenario. For all he talked about his students being brash idiots, he had made a much more rookie mistake.

Izumi sniffled, pulling herself up into a sitting position as more tears streaked down her face. Her left side was scratched up, her gloves torn up thanks to the rough gravel around the edge of the tennis court. "Please don't leave me behind," she sobbed.

"I'm not going to, Izumi. I promise." The past two weeks of process had probably been destroyed by what he had just done, Aizawa noted with regret. He stood awkwardly as the teen's tears slowly subsided. He wasn't quite sure how to deal with crying children, especially not when it was his fault. He didn't like interacting with people - that's why he was an underground hero, after all. After about a minute, the tears had stopped flowing, although the green-haired girl was still sniffling.

"I'm sorry," the man offered.

Izumi sniffled, shaking her head. "S'not your fault... Makes sense..." She muttered dejectedly. Aizawa offered her a hand up, which she slowly reached to take before taking in the sight of her torn-up glove, instantly yanking her arm away like she was struck by lightning. "My glove!" Aizawa knelt down to question her, but the girl scrambled away. "You can't touch me!"

"... not without your glove?" Shouta guessed, taking off his glove preemptively. When the girl nodded, he tossed her his, which she gratefully took, quickly sliding it over her left hand.

"'s activated by contact..." The girl muttered, making sure the glove was secure and wouldn't come off. She pushed herself off the ground, frantically wiping at the tear streaks left behind and doing her best to put on a smile. "W-what's next, Aizawa-sensei?" She did her best to sound enthusiastic, but it fell flat.

Aizawa sighed. "Nothing. That's enough for today. Let's... Let's go home."

Chapter Text

Izumi swung her legs as she looked down at Musutafu below her. Her bag rested on her back, slightly heavier than when she had come originally, stuffed with a few pairs of clothes to compliment the new set she had on her body. It had been... nice while it had lasted, she supposed. 'More than nice,' her traitorous mind whispered into her ears. A few droplets fell from her eyes as she tried to steel her soul again.

"Problem Child?" A voice came from behind her, startling her.

"Ai-... Eraserhead-san," she greeted, pretending to not notice how he cringed at the word.

"You... don't have to leave, you know," he told her, making sure to not make any sudden movements as she hung over the balcony, swinging her legs carelessly. Was she certain that she wasn't going to fall, or did she just not care either way?

"As if you guys want me here," she scoffed. "I'm not blind, you know. I hardly see you guys during the day, if at all, and you patrol nearly every single night."

Aizawa scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, before realization slowly dawned on him. "Problem Child..." He murmured, his mouth twitching upwards in a smile. "We have jobs during the day, you know. We're teachers."

The legs stopped kicking the air. "... eh?" Izumi asked, confused. "But you're heroes."

"I'm an Underground Hero, and Hizashi only takes specialized jobs due to his Quirk. Neither one of those is bringing in moneybags. But we both teach - at Yuuei. Did you never wonder why I was so focused on getting you in there?"

Izumi's head whipped around quickly. "You work at Yue-ei-?" Her question turned into a shriek as her sudden movement carried her body over the railing. Eraserhead was there in hardly a moment, grabbing at her arm, his hand sliding up as he struggled to get a grip on the girl. After what felt like an eternity, his fingers locked around her hand and he yanked her up. She landed on her hands and feet and sprang up, eyes wide, breathing heavily.

"Jesus Christ, Izumi! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Aizawa rubbed his forehead, already anticipating the headache. No response came from the girl. He snuck a look.

Izumi was staring at her hand. Her ungloved hand, which Aizawa had just touched. Well, this would be interesting. 'I suppose she has to tell me now,' Aizawa thought to himself, but found that he was in no mood to joke.

"I can... take people's Quirks."

It was a simple answer, but one that made very little sense to Aizawa. Try it as he may, though, he could not activate his Quirk. It was like he had been smacked with Quirk Suppression cuffs, but worse. There was just... nothing there.

"Is that all there is to it?" He tried to stay calm. He was a Pro Hero, goddamnit! If he couldn't keep his cool through this one, tiny thing...

Izumi fidgeted. "Not... exactly. I can give them, too, theoretically... And when I have them, they're powered up. Like... stronger," she explained.

Aizawa leaned forward. "What do you mean, 'theoretically'?"

The teen twiddled her fingers. "W-well... o-obviously, I've never really had... 'practice' with it..." Aizawa nodded.

"So, did you... you said your Telekinesis Quirk was your mother's, right? Did you mean that literally?" Izumi nodded slowly, curled up in a ball with her hoodie tucked over her knees. "Did you st... did you take it from her?" Izumi shook her head frantically.

"No! I would never!" She didn't offer further explanation, though.

"Alright," the man nodded, finding that, for once, he wasn't incredibly tired or needing coffee. Did that mean it was related to his Quirk? Or was he just too hyped up on adrenaline to notice being tired? "Can you try to give me back my Quirk now? You have some inclination of knowing how to do it, I assume." Izumi nodded again, and Aizawa was finding that he really didn't like it when she was like this. He preferred her spunk, her flare, her attitude. Not this... meek shell that appeared whenever she felt like she had done something wrong.

She placed both of her hands on his arm, and like magic, Aizawa felt warmth flowing back into him, and the sense of discomfort that had been pervading his body for the past few hours disappeared. It was like getting back something he hadn't even known he was missing, quite literally. He breathed a sigh of relief. So that was what people felt when he used his Quirk on them... he didn't envy them. Maybe he wouldn't use it on his classes so much...

"That wasn't so bad, Problem Child." Oh, and she had passed out. Goodie.

"Her entire body is a Quirk Factor, Shouta!"

"I don't even know what that means, you old ha- ow! Ow!"

"I am the Youthful Heroine! Youth! Ful! Do you even know what that word means, you ungrateful brat?"

"Stop whacking me!" Aizawa demanded, but was silenced by another whack.

"Then stop bothering me," Recovery Girl shot back. "Your daughter needs to rest!"

Aizawa was silent for a few moments. "Fine," he ground out. "But as soon as she wakes up-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll notify you. Now shoo, brat!" It was funny to hear her adopted father (and goodness was it weird to think of Aizawa-san like that) be shooed away like a troublesome teen, but Izumi didn't dare twitch a muscle in case they noticed. 

The room was silent for a few moments. "I know you're awake, you little brat." Izumi held still. The police wouldn't handcuff an unconscious girl, right? Wait, was she handcuffed already? She heard a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Your breathing patterns changed. And the monitor picked up your heart rate increase. Stop pretending."

Izumi slowly elbowed her way up, blinking her eyes open to see that she was not, in fact, handcuffed. She was... in a hospital bed, or an approximation of one, maybe. Wait, where was she? Recovery Girl was here - she had heard the Pro say her name... Yuuei? She caught the logo on one of the walls as she looked around. She was in the Yuuei infirmary! The monitor started to beep as her heart rate picked up. How had she gotten here? What had-

Her Quirk. She had used her Quirk on Aizawa-san. It was a miracle she wasn't in Tartarus already.

"Not even enrolled, and you're already in the infirmary..." Recovery Girl rumbled angrily. "A panic attack, no less. You were a vigilante, and you still get scared enough to pass out. This generation, I wonder..." The ire in her voice was unmistakable. "Listen, girl. I've known Shouta for years. And I've never seen him care about anything as much as he cares about you, except for maybe Hizashi. So get your act together, and I better not see you here again at least until you're enrolled!" Chiyo Shuzenshi pointed a finger out the door. "You're good to go. Now scram!"

Izumi didn't need to be told twice. She was out the door in a heartbeat, and almost ran into Aizawa with how fast she was running. Instead, he ended up catching her in a rough approximation of a hug, and she was surprised enough that she halted her momentum. "Sheesh, Izumi... If you're going to run, at least let me time you." Shouta tried to joke. Instead, he was met with more tears. He was quickly discovering that Izumi was somewhat of a crybaby.

"Please don't call the cops on me!"

"I'm not going to call the cops on you, Problem Child. I meant what I said. There's no such thing as a Villainous Quirk. All Quirks have the power to harm people - as well as help them. One of the most important pieces of Hero Schooling is learning to use it correctly." Izumi definitely wasn't bawling like a child as Aizawa held her awkwardly. "Do... do you want to get something to eat...?" He wasn't the best at parenting, but kids liked food. He knew that for a fact.

Izumi nodded, and tentatively held her hand out. Aizawa's eyebrow twitched, but he grabbed it anyway. The kid was uncomfortable. He knew that, too. And it was kinda his fault. As they began to walk out, they passed by a man who looked like he was straight out of a hospital ward. For some reason, however, Izumi wanted to run up to him and say hi, and he just gave off an aura that made her want to trust him. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, even though it looked slightly haunted on his sunken face.

The moment passed. "Who was that? He seemed nice." Izumi asked Aizawa, who hesitated, a clear sign he was about to tell a lie.

"All Might's secretary." Izumi raised an eyebrow.

"Why would All Might's secretary be at Yuuei?"

Aizawa huffed, realizing that he had backed himself into a corner. "All Might is planning on teaching at Yuuei when the Spring Semester starts. So he was most likely delivering some paperwork..." the Pro trailed off as a weight tugged at his arm and he realized Izumi had stopped moving. She was oddly silent. "Izumi?" He remembered suddenly that she hated All Might for an unknown reason.

"Oh, goodie..." A wicked smile tugged at her face, the sadistic visage incredibly off-putting on her otherwise innocent form as the tear streaks from her earlier fit had yet to dry. "I get to be taught by the man who killed my mother."

Aizawa knocked on Izumi's door. "Izumi, I'm going out patrolling. If you want to come with me, you can." There was no response from inside, and Aizawa sighed. She hadn't said a word since they left Yuuei, even through lunch. It was now the nighttime, and she still wasn't saying anything, only fueling Shouta's internal monologue. He didn't know much about All Might, no, but he had talked with him slightly at the few meetings Yuuei had had involving his state and potentially teaching.

From the view that Aizawa had got off him, All Might was many things. He was a very happy-go-lucky person despite his career and condition. He seemed very talkative, very simple, very kind, which Izumi seemed to have picked up as they passed him in the hall. He had once been late because he had been too busy getting sidetracked saving people on the way over, and then had the heart to apologize for wasting their time. So, All Might was many things, and Shouta didn't like him, but he was still the model image of a hero. So... a heartless killer? He was having a difficult time connecting it to the man he had seen spending ten minutes softly coaxing a kitten out of a tree while it constantly scratched and hissed at him.

'Maybe her mother was a villain...?'  He unconsciously was trying to rationalize it, wanting to believe Izumi and her reasoning for her emotions. 'But, no, All Might has one of the highest uninjured capture rates out of all of the heroes, perhaps even the highest. A lot of them end up surrendering as soon as he appears. A fight to the death...?'  But Izumi had told him that telekinesis was her mother's Quirk. Not especially dangerous, even when used as well as Izumi had been as a vigilante.

'So, crossing that out then... Killed while he was battling a different villain? Caught in the crossfire?'  Aizawa donned his costume as he prepared to hit the streets. 'Again, All Might has an incredibly low property damage count, but low is not zero...'  He reasoned, and then caught onto what he was doing. He wanted to believe both Izumi as well as his own pre-conceptions. It would do him no good to keep pointlessly speculating. He would just ask Izumi... when she was talking again... maybe...

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes before he heard a scream echo out through the desolate city. He was rushing over, noting the unusual occurrence of it being a male scream. Possibly a fight going on, then. He got close to the source before he heard it again. "Give it back!" 'Give what back?'  He thought, increasing his speed. "Please! Please! Please..." a choked sob was heard as he got closer. It sounded like a man broken.

Aizawa peered over a rooftop as he began to assess the situation. There were three figures in the alley - a hooded figure, a woman curled up near the back, and the man he had been hearing sobbing on the good at the hooded person's foot. He appeared to be relatively uninjured; a few bruises here and there, but nothing major. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please... Just give it back... Please..."

'Drugs? Money? Medicine?'  He wouldn't intervene until he had the whole story. It would make the police report easier. Electricity arced throughout the alleyway from the hooded figure's fingers, but made no movement towards the sobbing man.

Finally, the hooded figure spoke. And it was nothing like he what he expected. No, instead of hearing a gruff drug dealer, he heard, "You don't deserve it."

Despite all of his training, Eraserhead couldn't help himself as he jolted in shock. "Izumi ?"

Chapter Text

"What the hell are you doing?" Aizawa snarled, his hair floating as the electricity in the alleyway stopped.

Izumi leveled a glare at him. "Stopping a mugging. What are you doing?"

"Stopping illegal Quirk usage," the hero shot back.

Izumi rolled her eyes with disdain. "She took my Quirk," the man whimpered on the ground.

"Shut up," Shouta barked out. "I'm taking you to jail after I'm done with this... Problem Child." He turned his head back to Izumi. "Give him his Quirk back."

"No. He doesn't deserve it." The green-haired teen crossed her arms in defiance. "The ability to amplify the electricity his body creates in his fingers, and he uses it as a taser to mug women in back alleys. I should give it to some Quirkless kid - at least they'd actually appreciate it."

Well, she did have a point. But... "It's not about deserving or not deserving, Izumi." He might as well continue using her name, since he had already shouted it out. "Quirks are not something to be taken."

"Riiight... coming from the guy who can-" her eyes darted towards the whimpering man, as well as the trembling woman at the end of the alley who hadn't made a noise yet, and she decided to end her sentence, the point made clear.

"That's temporary - there's a difference."

"And you're saying that if you could make it permanent, you never would? That you've never met someone who you can look at and say that they don't deserve their Quirk? True villains?"

The attempted-mugger started sobbing harder. "Please... I'm just low on rent... please... never again..."

Aizawa grit his teeth. "You don't get to make that decision. You are not judge, jury, executioner. A lot of heroes seem to forget that nowadays. Now give him his Quirk back."

". . ." Izumi stared at her adoptive father for a few moments in silence. It was then that the man noticed her normally-green eyes were scarlet, and entirely lacking of emotion. Then, she blinked and they were back to normal, gone so fast he wasn't sure if they had ever been there in the first place. "Alright. Guess I'm getting some practice, huh?"

She touched the man, and after about five seconds of concentration, he collapsed to the ground in relief. "Thank you, thank you..." Izumi looked down at him, frowning, but said nothing.

"Don't thank me yet," Aizawa muttered. "You're still coming with me to the precinct."

"Yes, of course, of course..." The man nodded slowly. Izumi turned around, and the man flinched.

Izumi looked slightly hurt, her features hardening, but then softening again. "If this really was a one-time thing, you'll probably only be kept for a few days. Maybe a fine." She didn't look the man in the eyes before turning back around. "I'm... sorry."

The vigilante then approached the trembling woman, who scooted away in fear. "Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. Gloves. You see?" She held up her hands, displaying that she had put her gloves back on. "No danger here," she joked, trying to calm the woman down, who shakily allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "Everything will be just fine."

"So... are we going to talk about that?"

"I won't if you won't," Izumi offered.

"Wha- I- No-" Shouta sputtered for a moment before closing his mouth and thinking about his words. "That's not what I meant, Problem Child, and you know it."

The teen sighed. She constantly seemed like she had been forced to grow up too fast, so much so that Aizawa forgot that she was still in the process of maturing sometimes. "I don't regret it."

"You should."

"But I don't," Izumi pointed out, "and you saying I should doesn't make me."

Aizawa rested his face in his hands and pulled downwards, stretching the skin slightly. "You know, I could still turn you in for illegal Quirk usage."

"If you were going to do it, you'd have done it already."

He hated it when she was logical like that. "I could still ground you though," he pointed out.

"Oh nooo~" The girl said sarcastically. "What will I do without the phone I don't use and the friends I don't have?" Both of them winced at that admission.

"How about... no training for two weeks? And no vigilantism indefinitely regardless," the black-haired Pro enunciated the final word, making sure his charge understood.

Izumi's bright-green eyes trained on him. "Two weeks ? That's just cruel, da-...ude."

"Da-ude?" Eraserhead snorted. "I've been called many things. I don't think Da-ude is one of the more common ones. And yes. There's one month until the Yuuei entrance exam, so two weeks of being grounded, and then you can put in some last-minute training." Izumi covered her mouth and made a weird sound that seemed to be somewhere between a snort and a laugh, her body shuddering. "Something funny?" The hero asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no, no!" Izumi waved her hands. "It's just..." She froze for a few seconds before continuing. "... I think we both know I'm not training for the entrance exam." She had a point. In the state she was in currently, regardless of which exam Yuuei chose for the incoming applicants this year, she would no doubt ace it. "Actually, that brings up another question I had - why didn't you put me in the Recommendation Exam?"

"Do you want to stand out even more?"

Izumi flushed. "Well, no, but-"

"-Exactly." Aizawa cut her off. "Besides, those Recommendations are really for top heroes and wealthy donors. If a Yuuei teacher submitted their own kid and they got accepted..."

"Nepotism," Izumi finished. "That makes sense, I guess."

"You know, kid, you sure have a large vocabulary for a fourteen-year-old," Aizawa noted. "And, really, there's no reason for you to be this smart unless you have a genius level IQ. Not that it's a bad thing," he hurried out the last sentence.

Izumi gave an awkward chuckle. "I spent a couple years sleeping in a library. Turns out, when you don't have school and barely sleep, you have a lot of time as a child..." She laughed awkwardly.

"Barely sleep?" Shouta pressed, and the girl tensed up instantly.

"Yeah." She changed the topic. "I... I'm not going to stop being a vigilante."

The Pro Hero sighed, catching the intent but letting it go. "If you get caught by someone other than me, it could result in you not being able to go to Yuuei or become a hero, you know."

"I know, I know, it's just... In the grand scheme of things, a Hero License is just a plastic card. It doesn't help me help people any more than without it."

Aizawa was silent for a few moments. "Maybe. But it keeps you safer. If villains attack a hero, they're going to start getting tracked by the Pro Heroes Association. If they attack a vigilante, then it's just a half-hearted police report." Izumi grew slightly red, but Shouta rectified his statement. "I'm not saying that's the way it should be, but that's the way it is."

There was a moment of silence between the duo. "I... I know. I just... I just wish that I could change that. Don't you?"

Aizawa snorted. "Every. Single. Day, Izumi." Despite the atmosphere, the green-haired teen's face brightened a little bit as she smiled as her adoptive father said her name with fondness. "But it's very difficult to do that without public support. And when the public doesn't even know..." Izumi nodded slowly. "Also, to answer your earlier question... yes." The teen looked at Aizawa with befuddlement.

"Which question?"

"Do I ever see villains and wish I could take away their Quirks permanently." Aizawa sighed. "I... It's a selfish desire, Izumi. Quirks are a part of people, just as much as your fingers, or your eyes, or your nose. And, yeah, sometimes I see a villain and see how they're hurting people, and know that when they get out of prison they're just going to do the same thing again, and I wish that I could take their Quirk away permanently. But people don't stay the same forever. Sometimes, bad people become good."

Izumi was silent for a few seconds. "Do... Do good people ever become bad?"

Thoughts flashed through Aizawa's head, unbidden. At the edge of them laid All Might, and his concerns. "Some-... sometimes, yes."

Izumi, as promised, didn't do any real training the next two weeks. Not combat training, anyway. But she trained physically. It seemed like whenever she had energy, that's all she was doing. Aizawa finally had a treadmill put in her room because of how much she was jogging around their flat.

It was fancy, as far as treadmills went. It was covered by the HPSC as a Hero Expense, so Aizawa was free to splurge on it. He was still surprised that she hadn't worn a hole in it, though. He'd also have to consider getting her weights or a lifting station - her room was still pretty bare as far as rooms went. She had her bed, her bag, a couple clothes strewn around the room, and now her treadmill. Hopefully, that would become a different story soon.

And then, just like that, the two weeks passed, and it Izumi was back to being able to train again. However, seeing her abilities, Shouta had a different idea for training in mind.

"Alright, take my Quirk."

"Eh?!" Izumi looked at the man in shock.

Aizawa nodded, looking at her expectantly. "I want you to take my Quirk, keep it for a few minutes, and then give it back. You need practice with it, and obviously not a lot of people are going to volunteer for it."

Izumi looked desperately panicked as she shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I trust you," Aizawa pressed. "And we both know that you need practice with it. It-" The man chewed his tongue for a second as he thought through his sentence. "If you used it responsibly, you could... use it to help people. To become stronger."

The teen was quiet. "I... don't want to become stronger..." She whispered. "I just want to stop hu... start helping people." She admitted. "If I need to be stronger to do that, then fine. But I don't want to steal Quirks just so I can be stronger. I never want to be like that." She finished with resolution. Aizawa once again wished he knew more about her past. There had to be something there to explain this.

"I get what you're saying. But... you also can't be wearing gloves all the time." Shouta gestured towards the girl's hands, which were clad in a new pair of gloves that had a red-yellow gradient on them, coming close to a sunset. "Speaking of, what happened to your other gloves?"

"Dirty." The girl replied. "I'll wash them soon."

"Hizashi can do it," The man waved her off. "He does all the laundry."

Izumi shook her head. "No, that's fine." She said, slightly forceful.

'What an odd hill to die on...' Aizawa thought. He shrugged. He'd stop arguing, but have Hizashi do it anyway. She didn't need to do everything herself. "Regardless... you're not taking my Quirk to get stronger. You're taking it to practice, so maybe when you start going to school you can hold hands with a boy-" Izumi started blushing. "-or maybe a girl-" The blush grew in strength. "-and most importantly, you won't be limited by a flimsy piece of fabric. You can't risk being thrown in combat and accidentally taking another hero's Quirk." The blush started to fade as the mood became a bit more mellow.

"I... I suppose." She really didn't want to do this, Shouta noted. There had to be something else, something obvious he was missing. "Alright. Tell me when." She tugged her gloves off, the sunset patterns rippling as they fell to the carpeted floor.

The hero held his hand out. "Go ahead." Breathing in deeply, Izumi reached out, her eyes closed as her hand slowly inched towards Aizawa's. And then... her fingertips brushed his arms, and her eyes shot open and her hand clamped down, and Aizawa could literally feel the power being drained out of his body. But he had something else he needed to confirm, gritting his teeth to brush through the pain as he stared at the teen's face.

Yes. Nearly blood-red. And the hair on his arms raised as he looked at them, their sheer apathy provoking the flight or fight response within him, something about them just televising the fact that within seconds, this tiny girl could absolutely crush him mercilessly. And then, it was done. The red faded away, replaced by the normal green. They were both silent for a few seconds, Izumi biting her lip.

"Can... Can I give it back now?" She was shaking, Aizawa noted.

"Go ahead." And just like that, he had his ability back. Her eyes didn't turn scarlet when she was giving them back. That was... interesting. He had a question, though. "Hey... when you have my Quirk, do you know what differences its powered-up form has from mine?"

Izumi nodded slowly. "Mhm. The power-up can differ from Quirk to Quirk, for yours, it's pretty small. Mainly, it just gets rid of the side-effects."

"The... side effects?" Aizawa questioned, leaning forward.

The teen stilled, as if realizing that maybe he didn't know. "The... uh... the dry-eye and insomnia?" Aizawa blinked twice, resting back. That was... interesting

"Al... right... Is there-" He cut himself off. He couldn't allow himself to be selfish. "How about the guy from two weeks ago?"

Izumi nodded again. "His original Quirk was basically Taser Fingers. The human body generates its own electrical current, and he could power it up to a high enough of a degree in his fingers to project it a few inches. When I had it, I could just... project it from all over my body, and it could go a little bit further. I think I could probably shoot it, if I tried, but obviously..."

"And did he get those power-ups when you gave it back?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Izumi shook her head. "No, no... or else I would just go around taking and giving heroes their Quirks back," she chuckled. "It's only when I have them..." It might've been Shouta's imagination, but the greenette seemed somewhat miserable when she said that last part.

"I see, I see... Now, I want you to touch my arm again, but this try to not take my Quirk."

Izumi looked at him incredulously. "I don't have control over that."

"That's what I'm trying to teach you, Problem Child. You need to establish control eventually, and unless you want to go to a Quirk Specialist, this is the best bet." Izumi breathed heavily for a few moments as she thought it over.

"Alright," she conceded.

Again, Aizawa held his arm out, and Izumi reached her hand out. And then... contact. Nothing happened. Izumi's eyes widened as she finally  felt skin-to-skin contact for the first time in years. But she wasn't sure what-

Oh. Eraserhead's hair was floating as his Quirk activated. "You need to remember how this feels, alright, Izumi?" His voice was strained, oddly enough. "I'm going to release my Quirk, and we'll go from there." His hair fell, and there was a second or two where neither Quirk was active. Izumi marveled at it, and her intense concentration only held for a few moments before she breathed out and it broke. Her hand clamped down, and then it was done.

She started breathing heavily, falling backwards onto the floor as she tried to catch her breath. She laid there for a few moments, Aizawa mimicking her on the couch. After about a minute, they both recovered somewhat. "Back..." Izumi muttered, holding out her arm. Shouta pulled her up, feeling his Quirk come back as he did. Izumi fell on top of him, practically pinning him to the couch. "Mm... comfy... dad..." Was all she said before she passed out.

And there the two stayed, Aizawa afraid to move in case he woke her up, and it was the position Hizashi found them in when he got home from his radio show. He snickered quietly, and pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures despite Aizawa's furious face. Present Mic snickered as he hustled upstairs to put his stuff away.

"She called me dad," Shouta told Hizashi as they stood together, doing laundry.

Hizashi smiled. "Nice!" He said, his Quirk slightly overpowering the words, making Shouta wince. "Bet you liked that," he teased.

Aizawa glowered at the bubbly hero next to him, passing him another piece of Izumi's clothing to wash.

"... Eh?" He heard as he went to grab another piece of clothing. "Geez, you didn't go too hard on her in training, did you?"

Aizawa turned to his boyfriend, confused. "What do you mean?"

Hizashi held up one of Izumi's black-and-green gloves, which held a massive dark stain in the center. "Well, I'm no expert at this, but I've cleaned your suit enough times to know that that's blood." Aizawa stared at the glove. He was missing something, something, something...

Nothing came to mind. Maybe it was from their bout on the tennis court, the glove that wasn't torn... He blinked in concentration, but came up with no better answer. Finally, he replied, "I guess so. I'll try to tone it down a little bit." There was no blood on anything else, but the glove kept coming back to Aizawa. It wasn't a small amount of blood by any means. How would she have hidden that? Was it from some vigilantism that he didn't know about?

Try as he might, he felt that there was something that he was missing. Something important. And he needed to figure it out... fast.

Chapter Text

"Papa, what's a Quirk?" A small voice asked.

A booming laugh echoed. "What a wonderful question, sweetheart! You see, a Quirk is something a person has that's special. Something unique to them. Some Quirks are beautiful, while some are mundane. But, the most important thing about them is that a Quirk is just an extension of the person that has it. On their own, they mean nothing. On their own, they can do nothing. There's no such thing as an evil Quirk, nor a good Quirk. Just people who use them to help others, and those who use them to harm others."

Inquisitive green eyes peered up at the man. "What's your Quirk, Papa?" The man smiled.

"My Quirk... is something that can be used to help people. If someone doesn't like their Quirk, I can fix that. Don't you think that's cool, Izumi?"

Izumi nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds really heroic, Papa! Are you a hero? Is that why you're always gone so much?"

The man knelt down and patted the girl on her head, ruffling her hair as he did. Pride was in his voice. "Something like that. And, someday, you'll be able to help people, too."

"I'll be a hero?" The girl's smile was bright enough to light up the entire room.

"No," the man chuckled. "Not a hero. Something so much... greater."

Izumi shot up in bed, her face covered in a cold sweat. A quick glance at her phone (which Hizashi had sneakily replaced her old one with) showed the time to be 2:48 AM. 'A memory... why now? Why today?'  She hadn't had a dream like that in a while. Usually, her past stayed in her past, and she preferred it that way. She remembered how that memory would continue. The x-ray that showed the joint in her pinkie toe.

'She won't develop a Quirk,'  The doctor had said. Her father had smiled and said thank you, and he held her as she sobbed on the way out to the parking lot.

'You want to hear a secret, Izumi?'  Her father had asked her. She hadn't responded, too busy bawling. 'I have that toe joint, too. So did my brother. And we both had Quirks. It's not a perfect science. I'm sure you'll develop a Quirk. And if you don't...'  She still remembered the next sentence with perfect clarity... the way he said it with absolute certainty... '... I can fix that.'

Izumi splashed water in her face, noting the bags under her eyes. They were always there, of course, but they were even more pronounced than usual today.

"I might as well get ready for the exam..." She muttered, shrugging on a shirt and tugging on her pants. She stretched, and then turned on the treadmill. It wasn't the same as going for a jog outside, but since it was the end of February, the temperature was well below freezing at the moment.

The Yuuei entrance exam was today. And she knew she shouldn't be worried- her years of vigilantism and her training with Dad most definitely made her one of the best applicants this year. But still... she tried to suppress her nerves. She would do well, because she didn't know what she'd do if she didn't.

She was one of the first ones there, mainly because she had driven in with Hizashi and Aizawa. They were both proctors, because while Ectoplasm was surely a great help in this stage, there were thousands and thousands of applicants. She sat, essentially alone in the auditorium, and waited for more and more applicants to file in, which took hours. Nobody said much to her, and she was fine with that.

Hizashi - what Present Mic had insisted she call him - gave his speech. A boy that seemed almost robotic, as well as very quick to jump to conclusions, interrupted him and had his question answered in a way that wasn't nearly satisfying enough. Izumi didn't quite dislike him, but maybe he should shut his mouth sometimes and let people finish speaking.

She checked her ticket and headed to her testing room, nerves wracking her body as she lined up outside.

"Man... I regret cramming now," a boy with spiky black hair complained to her right. He seemed to be even more nervous than she felt. "What the hell was the quadratic formula again?"

'Should I speak up...?'  Izumi wondered. A sudden fear gripped her. What if she had forgotten the formula, too? "Negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four times a and c, all over two times a..." She muttered softly. The spiky-haired boy turned his head towards her.

"Hey, thanks! That kinda rings a bell..." He grinned with a dopey look on his face. "What does the plus or minus thing mean, though? How are you s'possed to add and subtract something?" He asked awkwardly.

Izumi flushed, somewhat surprised he had heard her. "Well, you're supposed to make two separate equations, and then solve them both to find the potential answers."

"That's so much simpler than how the book said it, you're a lifesaver!" The boy praised. Izumi flushed deeper at the praise. "I'm Kirishima, what's your name?" He held his hand out.

"I-I'm Midoriya," Izumi introduced herself, slightly awestruck at the boy's outgoing demeanor. She shook the other boy's hand warily, desperately wishing she had her gloves on. Instead, she had to focus incredibly hard to not take his Quirk. She was lucky that Aizawa had focused heavily on training for the past few weeks - she was at a point where she was, at the very least, able to touch things with her bare skin when she concentrated. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was... progress.

The boy looked overjoyed. "Hey, what's your Quirk?"

"Er... Telekinesis," Izumi's mood fell slightly. She didn't like lying. Luckily, the boy didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Really? That's so cool!" He praised. "Mine's just Hardening - I can turn my body into rock, basically. But, really, it's mainly just my arms. I can't really spread it out over my body," he explained.

"That sounds really heroic," Izumi smiled at him. "Does it rely on the minerals present in your body? If you had a higher concentration of iron or calcium, would your body become more durable?" She asked.

"Uh," Kirishima got slightly flustered. "I... I'm not sure?"

Izumi deflated. "Oh... that's alright. Maybe something to look into after the exam," she half-smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, which he eagerly returned.

"Yup!" He drooped down, suddenly. "Just have to make it through two-hundred and forty questions and three essays first." It seemed like he wasn't a very academically gifted person. Izumi giggled and took pity on him regardless.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Are you worried about the physical exam?" She questioned.

Instantly, the teen's smile returned, his spiky teeth on full display. "Naw! I've totally got that in the bag." Izumi smiled at his confidence, but before they could continue their conversation, an Ectoplasm clone (or maybe it was the original) ushered them into the testing room.

The test was a breeze. With mild amusement, Izumi noted that there were three separate questions that required the quadratic formula. At least, on her version there were. She wasn't dumb enough to assume that all versions of the test were the same. But, seriously, these questions were things she had been doing years ago online. With mild embarrassment, Izumi finally started to understand just how far ahead she was academically.

There were, of course, a few outliers. Questions where the right answer was nearly identical to a wrong answer, only separated by something minute. Those were the green-haired girl's favorites - ones where she truly had to puzzle out the intention of the question being asked.

Soon enough came the true joy of the exam - the essays. These questions were never the same, she found, and they were extremely open-ended.

Question 1) What do you think is important about being a hero?
Question 2) What do you think drives people to villainy, and how can you fix that?
Question 3) Imagine a scenario where you have in front of you a railway track. This railway track splits into two separate tracks, and on one track, a villain has tied five people to the tracks with rope. These are innocent civilians. Now, on the other track, only a single person is tied to the track - but he is your sidekick. You have one minute before a train will come to the track and take one of the two routes. You have a lever in front of you that will designate which track the train will take, and sixty seconds to make your decision. If you do nothing, all six people will die. What is your thought process?

Izumi smirked. The trolley problem. The main issue of the essays was giving something interesting without falling into a cliche - a tall task. She scribbled down answers rapidly, asking for more paper when she ran out of space on the page. Two hours later, the students exited the room, some looking more tired than others. Kirishima was drooping down, and Izumi took pity on him.

"Well, are you excited to get to the physical exam?" She asked, hoping to perk the boy up. No such luck, though.

"What's the point...?" he moaned. "There's no way I passed that test. I swear I've never seen half that stuff before."

Izumi chuckled with sympathy. "That test was rough, but as long as you passed the point minimum you won't be denied based on it. You're trying for the Hero Course, right?"

That fired him up. "Yeah!" He roared. "I'm gonna be like Crimson Riot!"

Izumi smiled. It was hard to not feel energized by the boy's attitude. "Yeah, your Quirks are similar, aren’t they?! Are you related to him?"

"Nope, he styles it after Crimson Riot’s to feel ‘manly’," a new voice interjected with a lighthearted teasing lilt.

"Mina!" Kirishima smiled. "And it is manly!"

Mina, a girl with fuzzy horns and pink skin, as well as black eyes, chuckled. "Didn't say it wasn't. Nice to meet you, I'm Mina Ashido!" She stuck a hand out. "You've already met Kirishima, and as soon as he finds a friend, he'll protect them with his life, so no point in resisting," the girl stuck her tongue out and winked.

The green-haired teen took it after a moment of hesitation. "Nice to meet you, Mina-san!" She concentrated, making sure to not steal the pulsating Quirk that she could feel drumming within the girl's veins. "I'm Izumi Midoriya."

"Just Mina is fine," the pink-skinned girl replied. "You guys ready for the physical exam? I'm in Battle Center Seven, what about you guys?"

Izumi checked her ticket just to make sure. "Battle Center Four."

"Damn," Kirishima complained. "Battle Center Two. I was hoping we could team up together."

"They separate students who went to the same middle school," Mina shook her head. "What middle school did you go to, Midoriya? Kiri and I both went to Mustafa."

Izumi was caught off guard at the sudden question. "Eh? Oh, I was... homeschooled." She said. It was easier than explaining it all.

"Aw, lucky," Mina grumbled. "I hated that damn uniform. At least the Yuuei uniforms are kinda cute."

Kirishima smiled with his spiky teeth. "You modified the heck outta it, whatcha complaining about?" He let out a deep laugh.

"And I'll modify this one, too!" Mina declared. Izumi chuckled. In truth, she hated the idea of the uniform. Mainly because if there was a lack of sleeves, her scars would be on full display, and that would lead to questions. Questions she didn't want to answer.

At the very least, the noise of Ashido and Kirishima's chatter was nice to block out the boredom inside her head. As they travelled to the Battle Center area, Izumi occasionally interjected with small talk or a response, but she mostly stayed quiet. Robots... she was lucky that she had Telekinesis, or else she'd be absolutely screwed.

After just a few minutes, they had to split up. "Good luck, guys!" Izumi wished with a smile.

"Thanks, you too!" Mina sent a peace sign her way.

Kirishima gave a double-thumbs-up. "Robots are so manly!" He declared as he rushed to his Battle Center. And just like that, Izumi was alone again. She wasn't sure if the silence was better or worse than the filtered noise from before. As she walked into the Battle Center, she noted that it was... huge. It was difficult to describe it - she could only assume that Yuuei had had one of their teachers, Cementoss, help create it, or else the costs would be unimaginably high for the amount of Centers they had. (Thanks to her online reading, Izumi knew the total number was 12.)

Izumi glanced around the prep area at the other applicants. Among them was the uptight boy that was somehow not embarrassed at his outburst during the information session held in the morning, who seemed to be doing stretches. Curious, the green-eyed girl made her way over to the boy and held a hand out. "Hi! I'm-"

"Please do not interrupt me while I am doing stretches!" The boy immediately hopped up into a standing position and waved his arms mechanically. "It is unbecoming to try and ruin other applicants chances!" Izumi stood still for a moment, frozen, as the boy immediately went back to stretching.

'Never... again...'  Izumi thought to herself, still frozen with her hand out. She was already introverted enough to start with, so this was just some more reinforcement that the right way to do things was not with other people. The boy apparently finished stretching, as his head popped back up.

"Hello! I'm Iida Tenya! It is my dream to get into Yuuei and become a Pro Hero!" His arms waved in chopping motions, Izumi slightly swaying to dodge the flailing appendages even though they posted no threat.

"Eh... Hi...?" She spoke, confused by the sudden change in demeanor. "I'm-" She was cut off by a sudden alarm blaring and the sound of the massive stone doors to the faux city opening.

"Go, go, go!" Present Mic's voice came over the speaker. "The exam has begun! Real villains won't wait for you in a fight!"

All around her, footsteps rushed towards the city. 'Oh no, I'm already behind!' Izumi thought, willing her feet to get moving. But, all of the sudden, she decided to change her perspective and a grin spread across her face. 'All the better for when I come out on top.'

Izumi was well past five years old, and her Quirk still hadn't developed. The rest of the children at school weren't really caring about waiting anymore. The bullying had started, and teachers were no longer caring to stop it. She sniffled as she watched a video of All Might saving people on YouTube, alone in her dark room. A soft knock on her door resounded through the room, and a few seconds later, it opened, revealing her father.

Her father had never really liked All Might. When he was asked once, he answered that the hero reminded him of his brother. Izumi didn't really know what that meant. She had never met Papa's brother - she didn't really know what he was like, and he didn't talk about him too much. "Hey, Zuzu..." Her father greeted as he walked into the room.

Izumi finally turned her head towards her dad, tears streaming down her face as she sniffled. "Papa... How can I save people if I don't have a Quirk?"

"Izu... you don't need a Quirk to save people," her father walked over and paused the video. Izumi already had it memorized by heart after watching it so many times, so it didn't really matter as she continued playing it in her head. "Do you want a Quirk?"

Izumi nodded and sniffled, rubbing her runny nose. "I jus-just wanna be a hero, Papa!"

Her father picked her up and hugged her, his white curls tickling her face, and his warm eyes staring at her. "I think that tomorrow, sweetheart, you'll wake up with a Quirk... one that's a lot like Mommy's, okay?"

Izumi stopped sniffling and looked up into her father's face. "Pw... Pwomise?" Her green eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she looked for reassurance.

There was nothing but love and care in Hisashi Midoriya's face as he smiled down at his daughter. "I promise."

Izumi was making short work of all of the robots that she encountered. She had to pace herself, though - in order to defeat them, she had to use Telekinesis twice at the same time - once to pull something important, like a motor, towards her, and once to push everything else away. She found that if she didn't, the robots were built solidly enough to remain intact. So, after eight minutes, she stood at a respectable 42 points. That was nowhere near bad, but... Izumi grit her teeth. It wasn't enough to secure her first place, either.

Part of the issue was that she kept taking time to help people. And that was exhausting her almost as much as the robots were, because trying to pull a 60-80 kilogram person was a bit more taxing than a five kilogram piece of hardware. Everything was about to change, though...

A rumble started to reverberate throughout the ground. Izumi tensed up. Was this someone's Quirk? A loud crash drew her attention as a cloud of debris filled the air, and her eyes widened. 'That thing's huge!'  Izumi thought to herself, then mentally kicked herself for thinking the obvious. This was the zero pointer, of course. She would just have to run away and get some more points as the robots were funneled in.

And, like all good plans, that's where everything went off rails - when you try and do it. All thoughts of 'first' or 'points' were pushed from Izumi's mind as she stared at the lone figure tugging on her leg, trapped under a pile of debris... and the robot rumbling straight towards her. In fact, everything leapt from her mind as she darted forward, her eyes darting around as she latched onto as many pieces of debris as she could, her teeth straining as she picked up the metal truss that was pinning the girl's leg.

"Go!" She yelled, then clamped her teeth shut. She began to twirl as the other applicant, a short, brown haired girl, limped to safety, her entangled objects picking up momentum as she did. She hadn't tried this much before - each one of her fingers was latching on to an individual object, and the overall weight was almost near her maximum. In fact, it should've been over the amount she could carry, considering how heavy the truss was, but for some reason, it felt as light as a feather.

The robot slowly rumbled closer and closer as Hizashi announced "30 Seconds" over the loudspeaker. Izumi's eyes strained to stay open until she knew she wouldn't be able to hold the weapons any longer... and she released. Nine of the ten projectiles shot towards the zero-pointer. The first one missed, while the next three lodged themselves in the robots' arms, and the rest littered the wheel track and the body. Taking a few more spins, Izumi finally released the metal truss at the robot.

Like a shot out of a railgun, it soared upwards with insane speed, hurtling towards the robot's head. A sickening crunch echoed throughout the Battle Center as metal met glass, metal, and then glass again. Izumi panted as she stood, frozen, glaring up at the robot. Time ran out, but she hardly noticed. Black was starting to color the edges of her vision as Quirk Exhaustion set in, and the last thing she said as she stared at the hole she had punched through the robot's head...

"Dad's gonna kill me."

Chapter Text

Sorry! This chapter was accidentally posted incompletely earlier today.

"I thought you said you didn't want to stick out." Shouta stared at the teen in front of him, who was still tired from the exam earlier that day. Some of her fingers were swollen and wrapped in bandages, a side effect of overusing her Telekinesis.

Izumi huffed. "She was in danger. It was more of instinct than anything."

"You could've just pulled her out and have been done with it," he pointed out.

The green-haired girl's eye twitched. "You sound like you're upset with me doing something good." Aizawa paused for a moment.

"Izumi..." The man's stare softened slightly. "I'm not mad. But... the more open you are with your abilities, the more attention you'll get, and that leads to a greater chance of being connected to your vigilantism." Izumi opened her mouth to argue, but Aizawa held a hand up. "I know you haven't been caught yet. But if you do something big, and then someone watches a video of it or something and then runs into a vigilante using the same exact Quirk, things start to become obvious." Izumi closed her mouth, her words dying in her throat.

Eventually, she spoke. "I'm still not sorry about it."

"And you don't have to be. You just have to be smart about it." The girl bit her lip. Aizawa finally dropped his stare. "And... for what it's worth, kid... you did good." He left the room, barely catching a glimpse of the girl smiling and the tears coming to her eyes in his peripheral vision.

Toshinori Yagi stared at the screen in front of him, replaying the Entrance Exam over and over again in his head. What he had seen... What he had seen was brilliant. A mere Telekinesis Quirk - nothing flashy, used with skill and intellect, not only to fight, but to protect.

"She's our top scorer for the practical exam - 42 Villain Points, and a full 60 Rescue Points, for a total of 102 Points," Nedzu smiled as he spoke. "Of course, that is one of the highest point totals accumulated in the history of Yuuei. Interestingly enough, she was also the top scorer for the written exam that didn't have an intelligence Quirk." Students with an intelligence Quirk often took a slightly modified exam, so as to more accurately challenge them.

"Her-Her essays?" Toshinori dared to feel a small amount of hope ripple through his lanky form as he coughed a small amount of blood into a handkerchief. Nedzu kept the smile on his face as he handed the papers over to the man, the other hero's gaunt appearance seemingly not affecting him in the least. Yagi read through them. The words written... while they weren't the most original, they had heart in them. They were the sentences that other students wrote in order to pretend to appear heroic, but for some reason, as the blond read through them...

They seemed real.

"And what about her background?" Yagi could feel his blood starting to pump, but he no longer cared. He transformed into his muscular form, a grin showing on his face.

"She currently lives with two of the Yuuei faculty members - Shouta Aizawa, and Hizashi Yamada. They are her legal guardians." All Might blinked.

 All Might deflated slightly. "... eh? She's Eraserhead and Present Mic's daughter?"

Nedzu's smile finally dropped slightly. "Adopted, of course." Eraserhead had never seemed to like him much when he met him at the faculty meetings, and ever since about a month prior, he had treated him outright coldly. A month ago...

He stood up straight in realization. "I met her!" The hero exclaimed. He had seen the girl with Eraserhead just a month ago - what had she been doing at Yuuei? He had run into her while on his way to the infirmary to get a new supply of supplements from Recovery Girl. "Was she... in the infirmary?"

"Quick thinking, Yagi-san," the principal praised. "Yes, she was. She was injured, although Aizawa-san wouldn't tell me from what."

"I assume you found out regardless, though," Toshinori sent a knowing look at the devious bear-like creature.

The devious animal held up a finger. "Ah! Not quite - but I do have a good guess!" The Number One Hero waited for his friend to go on, but he seemed to be waiting for something. Finally, he got the hint, and deflated to his true form. The animal snickered slightly, although it was in good nature. "She's a vigilante in the Musutafu area."

"Oh?" This could be troubling, but it also explained her combat experience present in the exam.

"Indeed!" Nedzu cheered. "With a 99.4% probability, by my calculations. If she is who I think she is, then she is quite competent, although she still suffers from the common vigilante factoid that many of the criminals she saves others from can't be indicted without prior charges as there are no real witnesses to stand on. There have been rumors of a vigilante working with Eraserhead-san as well, and if that is also her, she sees much more success in that area."

All Might relaxed and smiled. "So... she is a good vigilante?"

Yuuei's principle blinked knowingly and smiled. "That's up for you to decide, Yagi-san."

The blond man smiled. It may be that his search for a successor was finally over. 'Izumi Midoriya...'  He thought to himself. 'Why does that name sound familiar?'

Izumi waved goodbye to her classmates. They had all liked her a little bit more after she had developed her Quirk, and even though she knew it was all just fake, whywouldtheytreatmedifferentotherwise, she didn't mind too much. Their faces were all blurry in her memory, like there was nothing left there, just a general idea that she remembered. It was very sunny that day, too. She remembered because it was her sixth birthday, and Papa had taken her out to see the sunset and then, afterwards, the stars. She cherished that memory because that was the last time she had seen the stars for many years. It had also been the last time she had seen her father as a human...

... instead of a monster.

Izumi stared out at the ocean. Dagobah Beach was a trash dump, no doubt about it. The way the current around it worked, just about everything dumped on this side of Japan ended up here, and the problem was compounded by locals using it as their own trash dump as well. Nobody was going to care about another sofa or chair amongst the mountains of preexisting trash already there.

Perhaps that was why Izumi felt at home there. Because she was trash, too. Discarded by everyone who encountered her, the only factor being how long it took. Or perhaps it was because she knew that she wouldn't be disturbed there. Locals weren't exactly willing to have their faces seen there, and who hung around a trash dump? The green-haired teen didn't let the irony in the thought bother her. She had stayed on the beach for a few months when she was nine, before she had 'moved' into the library, and before she had gotten brave enough to risk her safety on the streets.

Of course, nothing remained of that time, more than five years ago, but the beach still had a sense of comfort for Izumi. It also held a small amount of bitterness - there were definitely hundreds of heroes, never mind thousands of citizens who would be able to clean up the beach in a matter of days, but instead, they let it rot, figuratively speaking. All because... where was the glory in it? There's no heroes, there's no bad guys - just a trashed-up beach, and some time of work with no reward.

No matter what she did, Izumi couldn't shake the feeling of failure. Logically, she knew she had done at least decently well on the exams, maybe top fifty if she was lucky, but the more she went over it in her head she just felt like she could do more. She was supposed to be able to do anything, so why--

Izumi buried her head into her legs, curling up and sobbing. Was this all that years of training was worth? Passing out after saving just a few people? She heard a noise to her right, but paid it no mind. "Probably just a rat come to watch the show..." she murmured humorlessly.

Finally, after a few minutes, she got a hold of her emotions again, but her eyes were still red and puffy. She raised her eyes back up to the ocean, the moon starting to peek out beneath the eastern waters, the sky dimming to its orange and golden hues. A crashing sound filled her ears, though, and her head darted towards it.

"... eh?" She blinked twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Dressed in a white t-shirt and cargo pants, a tall man was making his way towards her, wading through the piles of garbage that created a brown and gray sea parallel to the one to her left. The man was incredibly tall, with blond hair.

For some reason, she noted, he looked... off. He was tall - very much so. Probably about seven feet tall, if she had to guess. His blond hair was spiky, with two long strands at the front sticking up jaggedly instead of bangs. Other than that... his face seemed slightly sunken, yes, but his blue eyes were vibrant and his skin was healthy. He was also rather thin, but not unhealthily so, still packing a decent amount of muscle.

Finally, Izumi recognized him. "Is that... All Might's secretary?" She muttered under her breath, rubbing at the tear streaks under her eyes. 'What's he doing here...?' She wondered. Was he here to dump trash, too? It couldn't be that, since the man didn't seem to have anything on him. Finally, he came close, knocking over a few more piles of trash along the way. As she did, Izumi noticed with amusement that he shared many physical similarities with his employer. Obviously, though, there was a major difference in their actual power levels. Absentmindedly, she found herself wondering what the man's Quirk could possibly be to be the secretary to the traditionally-secretive Number One Hero.

"Hello!" The man greeted. Izumi blinked at him, finally realizing, somewhat embarrassingly, that he was talking to her.

"H-hello!" She greeted back, politely.

The man smiled at her, a reassuring smile that she had witnessed in January when she had encountered him at Yuuei. "Hi, you're Izumi Midoriya, right? I met you a few weeks ago, at Yuuei High School." Izumi nodded in affirmation. "Glad to meet you, Midoriya-kun. I am Toshinori Yagi." The man had a booming personality, and the girl could tell he was toning it down, which she was thankful for.

"Ohayo, Yagi-sama," Izumi stood up, brushing off her outfit, and then reached out to shake the man's hand. She had her gloves on, thankfully. The man kept his smile up as he shook her hand, his massive fist dwarfing hers in size. 'No skin contact, no skin contact, no skin contact...'  Izumi reminded herself, pulling her hand back as naturally as she could, finally letting out a breath once it was by her waist again.

"May I sit?" The tall man asked, making Izumi blush with embarrassment.

"Uh-" her eyes darted around to the piles of trash everywhere. "I-It's not my stuff..." She chuckled awkwardly. "I mean- yeah! Uh, I can't stop you," she said, flustered.

He sat down with less care than Izumi supposed a man of his status should have. "Is it alright if I ask you a few questions, Midoriya-kun?" Izumi tilted her head.

"Like a paparazzo?"

The man chuckled, a deep laugh that reminded her of her father's. "No, no! It's not something for me to record, or to tell anyone else, really, and if you feel uncomfortable at any time, you're entirely free to stop answering."

Izumi shrugged. 'What's the worst he can ask?'  She thought to herself. Hadn't she learned not to tempt fate yet?

"Alright," the man still hadn't stopped smiling, but it was less intense now. "You took the Yuuei Entrance Exam earlier today - how are you feeling about it?"

A light-green eye's brow rose. "I thought participants weren't supposed to be public."

"They're not."

Izumi blinked twice. She was probably missing something obvious here. "Uh... Well, it went... okay, I guess? I think I probably should've studied a bit more, and I probably got put in a lower priority bracket for acceptance because I ended up hurting myself and passing out because of Quirk Exhaustion during the practical exam."

The man stared at her, seemingly confused. 'What are you confused about, Yagi-sama?'  Izumi wanted to ask, but bit her lip to keep the question internal. "From what I saw, your performance was very impressive," the man offered.

"Thanks." They sat in a discomforting silence for a few moments before Toshinori asked his next question.

"Well... how did you feel about the essay portion of the written test?"

Izumi snorted slightly. "I think it's flawed. I could say what I mean, but then you could have ten dozen other people all saying the exact same thing because they think it's what the administrators want to see."

"What they think they want to see?" Toshinori inquired.

Izumi frowned. "Yeah. In-person interviews would be much more effective than these essays, but obviously that's difficult to do with thousands of applicants every year. You have a bunch of people who know what heroes are supposed to do, know how heroes are supposed to think and feel, and that's what they'll say instead of their real thoughts. They don't understand that they're not expected to come to a Hero School already prepared to be a full-fledged hero. I'm somewhat disappointed that Yuuei relies on those for character."

"Who says that's all they rely on?" The blond man smiled cheekily at her, leaving her silent. "You live with two Yuuei teachers, right?"

Izumi's eyes flicked towards the man, her opinion on him rapidly fluctuating. "How do you know that?" Her voice was sharper than before.

"O-oh!" Toshinori held his hands up in apology, sweatdropping slightly. "I should probably explain - I am a good friend of Principal Nedzu, and I'm actually an alumni of Yuuei itself. Sorry if I alarmed you." Izumi relaxed slightly.

"Oh... It's fine!" Her voice cracked slightly at the end, embarrassed for jumping to a conclusion so quickly. "Y-yeah, they're my adoptive parents."

"And may I ask what happened to your original parents?"

Izumi blinked. "I'd prefer not to answer that question." Her positive mood from earlier was starting to disappear. With the memories that had surfaced that morning... she still wasn't quite stable thinking about those.

"That's all right!" The man hurried out. "How about... how do you feel about the Symbol of Peace, All Might?" The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

"I think we're done here, Yagi-sama." To Toshinori, the words didn't sound so sweet with the anger that was present in the girl's eyes. "It was nice to meet you, sir, but I think I'll be leaving now." Izumi scaled up the cement barrier that cut off the beach to the rest of the world, her gloves making it all the easier, leaving behind an incredibly confused man.

"What in the world...?" All Might questioned aloud, softly, to himself. He would need to figure out what was going on there, especially if he was going to commit to passing on One For All to her... and fast.

Chapter Text

Izumi was the first student in classroom 1-A. Aizawa was in his sleeping bag - not to get some extra minutes of sleep, for once. Rather, he was preparing to shock the students into their first lesson. Izumi chose a nice seat near the far corner of the classroom - if she was lucky, she wouldn't get too much attention.

That hope was, of course, dashed nearly immediately. The next person in the classroom was a boy with peppermint-colored hair, and undeniably frosty eyes. He didn't make contact with Izumi, and the green-haired girl got the feeling that the impression that it was because he felt her to be beneath him. The next one was a boy with ash-blond, spiky hair. He also seemed unapproachable, but as he passed, making his way towards the back of the classroom, he stopped and glared at Izumi with furrowed brows for a few moments, although he eventually kept moving without a word.

A headache started to pound at Izumi's head, only lightly though. 'The hell was his problem?'  She wondered. More people started to filter in in the next few minutes, until, finally, as the time started to reach towards the late, people she knew finally poured in. "Yo, Mido!" Kirishima waved, his red hair flailing as he did. Izumi's head sprung up at the noise, blinking the sleep she had been falling back into out of her eyes.

"Hey, Kirishima," she waved with a smile. "I'm glad you got in. I told you the written test wouldn't destroy your chances!"

Kirishima chuckled. "Yep! It's so manly!" He exclaimed, his loud noise drawing some glares from the hostile faces in the corner behind Izumi, making the boy freeze and sweatdrop and the animosity already being displayed. "Geez, tough crowd..." he muttered.

Apparently, it didn't matter to Mina behind him. "Hullllllllllllo, cutie," she drawled, literally sliding through the classroom, sending the greenette finger guns and a wink before flailing to stop herself before she ran into the wall. Izumi chuckled slightly at that.

"Hello, Ashido-san."

Mina waved her off. "Don't need to use san, and you can call me Mina if you'd like, Midoriya." A rustle behind Izumi made her jump, but she didn't turn around. "Sama is fine, though," the pink-skinned girl joked. The two duo sat around Izumi, and chatting was quickly underway, although the other two did most of the talking.

"I still can't believe you got first in the practical, Mido," Kirishima remarked casually. "The way you talked about your Quirk made me think that you didn't really like it, but you must be really good with it."

Izumi flushed at the praise. Mina picked it up, though, sensing the other girl's shyness and preying on it. "Yeah, that's crazy! You got a whole 25 more points above the next guy, dint'cha?"

If it was possible, the smaller girl grew even more red, probably resembling a tomato. "It wasn't that crazy..." She tried to mutter. "I just got lucky with how my Quirk works, you know?" Two more people entered the room at that moment, a girl with brown hair and a tall boy with electric-blond hair. The boy seemed to be talking the girl's ear off, who seemed mostly resigned to it, but her face lit up.

"Hey! You're the girl who saved me!" Izumi groaned internally. 'The timing...'  She gave a halfhearted wave, but the girl dashed towards her, making the blond's face fall as his womanizing attempts were effectively dashed. "That was so cool! Especially the way you destroyed the zero-pointer like that!"

A noticeable lack of movement from the classroom followed for a few moments. Then... "Holy shit, you destroyed the zero-pointer?" Kirishima breathed out in awe. "That thing was massive... you're so manly, Mido!"

"Woah..." Mina blinked at Izumi, as if seeing her in a new light. "'Lucky with how my Quirk works' my ass," she laughed.

Izumi flushed and tried to sink her head down on her desk, but the newest girl was having none of it. "My name's Ochaco Uraraka! It's nice to meet you!" It seemed her personality meant that she never ran out of bubbliness.

The green-haired girl picked at her shirt that she had worn under her uniform, but shook the offered hand. "Izumi Midoriya," she greeted. 'I wish Dad would just start class already...'

"The hell?" A rough voice came from behind her. "Deku?" The group turned around to stare at the boy with ash blond hair.

Izumi frowned, a voice coming to the forefront of her thoughts... 'Deku, deku, deku... useless.'  She stared at the boy. Now that she thought about it, the voice in her head saying those words kinda sounded like him. "That's not a very nice thing to call someone," she replied.

"Yeah, what the hell, man?" Kirishima's loud voice called from behind her.

"Shut up, extra," the boy dismissed. "Yeah, no doubt about it. Same shitty name, same shitty hair... Where the hell have you been? You, Auntie Inko, and Uncle Hisashi-"

Izumi's eyes hardened. "I don't know who you are, or how you know me, and I really don't care. But if you bring up my parents again, you'll find out just how painful having your veins pulled out of your skin can be."

"H-hey, Midoriya, was it...?" The boy who came in with Ochaco asked. "I'm Denki Kaminari..." He picked at the hem of the Yuuei tracksuit that he'd been given as they walked out to the field. "You can... You can't really pull people's veins out of their skin, right?"

'I mean, I've never tried...' Izumi thought about scaring the daylights out of the boy, but eventually decided it wasn't worth it. "Naw. My Quirk doesn't work like that." Almost instantly, the boy relaxed, leaving out a heaving sigh.

"Thank goodness..." he muttered. "So, what are you interested in?" He went straight into flirting.

"Acrobatics, parkour, sparring, Quirks..." Izumi listed off, ticking away on her fingers.

The boy nodded good-naturedly. "Parkour and sparring, you? You're so small, I almost have trouble believing it," he chuckled. Izumi rolled her eyes. At 4'10", she wasn't exactly tall, but she made up for it with skill and experience. 

"Yup, yup. We should arm wrestle sometime," Izumi offered.

Kaminari chuckled. "I don't know, I wouldn't want to beat you too-"

"-Five bucks on it," The girl interjected.

"You're on!" The boy grinned. "That means extra boba after school!"

They made it out onto the field and dispersed around Shouta. "Took you guys long enough. Today, we're going to be doing your Quirk Apprehension Tests. We're going to be figuring out what you excel in and what you're weak in. The main facet of Hero Schools that makes them different from normal High Schools is that we're going to be extensively training your Quirks." Eraserhead squinted at a sheet of paper. "Katsuki Bakugo..." He muttered, looking up. "Come here."

The boy with ash blond hair who somehow knew Izumi walked up, growling. Aizawa stared at him, finally making a 'humph' sound. "You got the most villain points on the Practical Exam, at 77." Whispers broke out. "You guys have been doing these same tests in primary and secondary school, right? Bakugo, in junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

Bakugo answered flatly. "67 meters." It was a pretty good score. Not the greatest it could be, but not bad.

"Then, try doing it with your Quirk." A smirk spread over the boy's face. Whispers broke out among the students. "You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle," Aizawa instructed, pointing at the pitch behind him. "Hurry up."

Bakugo stalked over, winding up his arm. After a few seconds, he breathed in deeply. For a second, the look on his face could be described as "calm". Then... "DIE!" The teen screamed, chucking the ball across the pitch.

"Know your own maximum first." Aizawa said, holding up a phone, displaying Bakugo's score. "That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero."

"705.2 m-meters?" The class gasped out, shocked. Izumi sweatdropped. 'Die? What a weird thing to shout.'

"This looks fun," Mina squealed. Instantly, Izumi saw the frown appear on her dad's face and wanted to facepalm. 'Oh, great. Now he's going to go hard on them.'

"Fun?" Aizawa growled. "You are here at Yuuei to become heroes. We have three years to do our best to cram all of our knowledge into bite-sized pieces and force them down your throat." The class gulped. "You do not have time for fun. If you're here to have 'fun', or to get girls, or just because it's what you're 'expected' to do... Leave." His eyes bore into the class, as if daring them to take a single step. Nobody did, although there was a small boy whose knees were quivering. "... Good. Whoever comes last in these tests..." His eyes glinted dangerously. "... will be judged to have no potential, and will be expelled."

"Expelled?" Ochaco gasped. "That's not fair!"

Aizawa leveled his glare onto the girl, making her freeze. "The world isn't fair. Natural disasters, villains, criminals... they don't care about fair. They're not going to give up just because you ask them nicely. I'd rather crush a child's dreams here than let them become a hero, go out into the field, only to not match up to expectations and get themselves and those around them killed."

A rather vindictive stroke brushed Izumi. "I heard that he expelled his entire class last year..." She muttered, intentionally loud enough for the others to hear. A bit of panic set in, but it also reinforced resolution.

Aizawa smiled, lifting the hair out of his face. It was an abnormal sight, even for Izumi. "Welcome to Yuuei's hero course!"

"1 - Momo Yaoyorozu
2 - Shouto Todoroki
3 - Katsuki Bakugo
4 - Tenya Iida
5 - Fumikage Tokoyami
6 - Izumi Midoriya
7 - Mezo Shoji
8 - Mashirao Ojiro
9 - Eijiro Kirishima
10 - Mina Ashido
11 - Ochaco Uraraka
12 - Koji Koda
13 - Rikido Sato
14 - Tsuyu Asui
15 - Yuga Aoyama
16 - Hanta Sero
17 - Denki Kaminari
18 - Kyoka Jiro
19 - Toru Hagakure
20 - Minoru Mineta" The leaderboards listed. Based on the small boy's shaking posture and tears, Izumi figured that he must be Minoru Mineta.

"Mineta, pack your bags." Aizawa said, staring into the boy's soul.

Even though the gaze wasn't directed at them, the rest of the class shivered. "Okay, that's all. Bye." Aizawa dismissed, slowly stalking away and letting the rest of the class awkwardly console Minoru. Izumi bit her lip, resisting the urge to tell the boy that he would be reinstated in a few days max. He needed to learn a lesson, right?

"Eraserhead," a large man greeted in the shadow of the Yuuei school building.

The Underground Hero stopped, slowly sliding his eyes over to his left to stare at the man. "All Might." The response was curt, and not at all warm.

"Can we talk for a few minutes?"

Aizawa sighed. "Do I have a choice?" The look on the Number One Hero's face told him that no, he did not.

"You're the guardian of Izumi Midoriya, yes?"

Aizawa's eyes twitched. "I am one of her adoptive fathers, yes." All Might nodded.

"May I ascertain as to the circumstances of the adoption?"

"I applied for emergency guardianship, and after a few weeks, we all agreed that Hizashi and I should adopt her."

"Mhm..." All Might leaned in, his hulking frame dominating the room. "Emergency guardianship? That's usually reserved for dangerous living conditions."

Aizawa glared at the man. "Evil rat knows, and I assume he told you. She was living alone on the streets. She was a vigilante. I decided that it would go against my moral code to let her waste away like that, so I took her in."

"Was?" Toshinori pressed.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. "She's done. Probably." He corrected. A thought occurred to him. "Why do you care?" Another thought. "Wait, you don't mean to say-"

"Yes," the blond nodded. "I am considering your daughter to be my successor. She has the makings of a true hero. You taught her well."

Shouta chuckled mirthlessly. "I didn't teach her that, she came that way. I'm just showing her how to do it legally."

All Might nodded. "I actually went and met her a few weeks ago." Seeing Aizawa's glare strengthen, he continued, although a bit of sweat perspired on his forehead from nervousness. "I asked her a few questions, and got some interesting answers and left on a... difficult note. So, I'd like to continue it with you - why does your daughter dislike me?"

Aizawa kept the glare up. 'Izumi didn't mention meeting All Might...' He thought. 'She didn't mention meeting anyone. Even if he was in his powered-down state, she still would've, relatively speaking, known who he was. Darn Problem Child...'  He thought. But, All Might was still waiting for an answer. "... She thinks that you killed her mother." Aizawa finally ground out. He didn't like telling All Might this, but he also wasn't exactly in a position to decline.

The man blinked, reverting to his powered-down state out of surprise. "Young Midoriya believes I killed her mother?"

"Yeah." Came the curt response.

"I... I don't believe that's true. I remember every civilian that I've ever accidentally hurt, and the three that I have accidentally killed in the crossfire while working as a hero." 'Three?' Aizawa thought, whistling mentally. 'That's the lowest I've ever heard of from a Top 100 hero. And he's been active for decades... He also didn't even think for a moment about intentional kills, as expected.'  "In all of those cases, I have kept up with the ones who have survived them, and I don't believe I have ever met Young Midoriya before."

Aizawa shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know the circumstances. But..." He stared into Yagi's eyes. "She hates you. And she knows you're going to be teaching her, and she hates that, too. If you want to have a productive teaching relationship with her, you should try and figure out what happened. And if you want to make her your successor... You better make it up to her." With that, he stood up. "Thanks for the tea," he growled, making his way out of the office, slamming the door as he did, said cup of tea remaining steaming, untouched, on the table as the Number One Hero was left alone with his thoughts for the second time in as many months.

Chapter Text

"I am..." The door to the classroom slammed open. "Coming through the door like a normal human being!" All Might announced, flinging himself into the classroom.

"Woah!" Most of the class gasped. "It's All Might!" "He really is a teacher!" "That's a costume from the Silver Age, isn't it?" "Its style is so different, it's giving me goosebumps." Multiple students commented as All Might slowly walked to the podium at the front of the classroom.

"I teach Hero Basic Training," the Number One Hero proclaimed as he faced Class 1-A. It seemed that everything the man said was boisterous and his good mood was infectious. "It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You will take the most units of this subject!" All Might surveyed the class. Many of the children seemed excited to see him. Even one of the troublemakers that Aizawa had warned him about, Bakugo, seemed slightly awestruck. The Todoroki boy was nigh-apathetic... And then, there she was.

He kept his smile on his face, but inwardly he shivered, and some goosebumps appeared on his arms. Izumi Midoriya was sitting normally, her posture entirely relaxed. A smile was plastered on her face, but All Might looked deeper. The girl wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing. And her eyes...

Those emerald eyes were focused on him with the rage of a thousand suns, and then some. 'Eraserhead wasn't joking when he said she hates me...'  All Might noted. Of course, he had gotten an inkling after meeting her on the beach, but seeing it face-to-face was entirely different. The class was staring at him, and Toshinori abruptly realized that he had been silent for multiple seconds.

He flew into action. "There is no time to waste! What we're doing today is-" he whipped a card out from his pocket that read 'BATTLE' on it, "-combat training!" The class cheered, already forgetting about the awkwardness. But Izumi stayed still, that smile still stagnant on her face. And that scared him just about as much as any villain bar one ever had before. "And to go with that... are these!" The blonde pointed towards the wall, and... nothing happened. All Might chuckled awkwardly. "Are... these!" He stomped this time, and the wall opened up to reveal multiple briefcases, numbered one through twenty.

"These are your Hero Costumes!" The man announced. "They were based on the designs you sent in before school started, and then adjusted based on the info given about your Quirk. Remember, though, that these are not permanent! If you do not like it, it's not a hassle at all to change the design," The hero emphasized. He had seen the designs of some of the females' outfits, which had made multiple of the teachers scowl.

This seemed to break Izumi's frozen stature, finally. A real smile bloomed in place of the fake one. Straining his ears, Yagi heard her whisper, "Costumes!" excitedly under her breath. As the class cheered, All Might gave a thumbs up. "After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

He zipped out, leaving the class to gather their costumes. Without much incident (unless you count Kaminari nearly frying himself in excitement), the class got their outfits and headed to the changing rooms, leaving behind an empty room and a single briefcase left untouched, the name on it reading 'Minoru Mineta'.

In the ladies' changing room, Izumi quickly opened her case to inspect her uniform. It was a black carbon fiber bodysuit as its base, with reinforced, detachable gloves that were sturdy enough to not get destroyed, but light enough to still be functional. They had originally been attached to the uniform, but her dad had insisted on changing it. Hopefully, it would pan out well. There was also a pair of glasses that could swap between night vision and heat vision. It was crazy that so many heroes neglected good support items.

Izumi quickly shed her outer shirt, leaving only her black tank top underneath to cover her upper body, and gasps startled her as she quickly remembered that she wasn't alone.

"Holy shit..." Mina breathed out. "Midoriya, your arms..."

Izumi knew what the girl was looking at. The deep scars that lined much of her body - gashes, cuts, stabs... she didn't remember most of them, luckily. And the worst of them weren't on her arms, thankfully enough. Some of the things... they would be much more difficult to explain. "Ah, yeah, I trained very hard for a couple years..." Izumi chuckled awkwardly, trying to play it off as much as she could.

"Training, my ass..." A girl with deep purple hair and earphone jacks coming out of her ears stated quietly. Izumi shuffled awkwardly, pulling on her suit as fast as she could and slipping her feet back into her sneakers. 

"Those look painful, kero," A frog-like girl who Izumi knew to be Tsuyu Asui , stated 

"I got them a long time ago. I don't even remember them, Asui-san," Izumi smiled and sweatdropped as she attempted to reassure the other girl that she was fine.

"Call me Tsu, kero." Asui blinked. Luckily, she seemed to understand the situation enough to not press further. The rest of the walk was mercifully quiet until they joined the boys, who were constantly chatting.

"So many of the girls' costumes look so nice..."  Izumi heard Denki whisper. She rolled her eyes at the comment and smiled slightly. While it was... slightly objectifying, it was overruled by the serotonin from the indirect compliment.

"They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies," All Might greeted as the class rolled out onto the faux city.

Izumi felt herself stiffen up. She couldn't help it - it was instinct. Every single part of her body wanted to attack the man in front of her. And she knew, rationally - she knew - it wasn't quite fair to the man, but a majority of her didn't care. It felt good to have someone to hate. Someone to blame. Something... tangible, to want fucking dead. Her mouth turned upwards in what wasn't quite a sane smile. Oh, if the big people knew just what she was thinking, she'd be out of there in a heartbeat. There was something... weird, though.

The fucker wouldn't look her in the eyes. He kept staring at her, though. Maybe - she remembered a month prior, when she had met the man's secretary on Dagobah Beach. Had Toshinori Yagi told All Might about how she wouldn't answer his final question? She grit her teeth, upset at herself. 'I should've hidden it better...'

Or maybe, maybe he remembered her. And he didn't care. That was definitely a possibility. And if that was the case...

Izumi's thoughts were interrupted by a loud declaration. "You children look halfway to heroes already! But now, it's time for you to live the part. Today's combat training will be scenario-based team fighting. You will all draw lots for a partner. 1 & 2 will be together, 3 & 4, so on and so forth."

"Sir!" Iida raised his hand, and continued talking as if it was a mere formality. "There are nineteen of us! If all students are paired up in teams of two, there will be one left over!"

'No shit, Sherlock,'  Izumi turned her glare on the boy, who seemed not to notice. She wasn't really upset at him, no, but her ire with All Might was starting to roll over into her mood very quickly. It wasn't far enough for her to say the sentence out loud... yet.

"Good question, Young Iida!" All Might praised. 'Don't encourage him!'  The "ex"-vigilante raged internally. The sooner she could get done with this stupid class, the happier she would be. Another thought occurred to her, though. How the fuck was she supposed to stand this for an entire year? She sighed softly. She could already imagine the headlines - "Hero Student Attempts to Murder Number One Hero".

She wasn't dumb enough to think that she could win. At least, not yet. There was a reason he had been the Number One Hero for so long. But eventually~

Movement around her shook her from her thoughts yet again, and she realized that she had both missed the answer to the question and that they were now going to pick their numbers. 'It probably won't matter... Wonder who I'll be paired up with? A lot of the girls were very nice, and I already know Kirishima...'

Izumi looked down at the slip she had drawn. '19.'  She observed.

"Ah, tough break," Kirishima spoke, his red hair swaying as he glanced at her paper.

"Hm?" Izumi responded quizzically.

The boy tilted his head. "Weren't you listening? Since Mineta got expelled, All Might said that whoever drew the number 19 would end up without a partner."

"Ah..." Izumi spoke slowly. Realization dawned on her as her neurons fired. "God damn it."

"And lastly, Young Tokoyami and Young Kaminari defending against Young Midoriya! As Young Midoriya is alone, her time limit is doubled." All Might's voice echoed over the intercom. Izumi stared down at the sheet of the building, memorizing its blueprint. All she had to do was find the weapon, of course, and lay a single finger on it. That would be simple enough. But... Izumi cracked her knuckles. She needed to blow off some steam, and this training was the perfect way to do it.

"Time begins!" The teacher announced, and Izumi wasted no time in shattering as many windows as could at once, pulling small portions towards her. Small fragments rained down towards her hands, but the thick gloves protected them from harm. She heard no noise from inside, which was a shame. But, still, she figured the "villain" squad would put the bomb in the most sheltered part of the building - the center of the third floor.

She rushed in through a second floor window, disregarding the glass that she climbed over as it cracked under her gloves and shoes. It only took a minute before she ran into her first opponent - Denki.

"Hey, sorry about this Izumi, but I'll go easy on you since you're cute." He winked.

Izumi was unimpressed. "Funny. I was about to say the same to you."

"That I'm cute?"

Izumi smiled sweetly, sending shivers down Denki's spine. "No, that I'll go easy on you. Wouldn't want you to end up in the infirmary, right?"

The boy's eyes widened in slight amounts of fear. "Hey, hey, that's kinda violent, hah..." He pushed his hands out as if pushing her backwards. "I'm glad you're not serious." Izumi knelt down into a crouch. "You're not serious, right?"

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" A scream echoed from outside of the room with the bomb. Fumikage Tokoyami sighed, getting up from his meditation stance on the floor. As to be expected of the top scorer from the exam...

The door to the room burst open. "Save me, Tokoyami! Save meeeee-" Denki sobbed as he collapsed on the ground. He had small bruises already forming. "She's a monsteeeeeeer-"

"That's not a very nice thing to call a lady," a smooth voice sang through the door with a vindictive tone. Midoriya Izumi stepped through the door, her costume the same color as Tokoyami's.

"Dark Shadow!" He called, his Quirk bursting from his back as he did.

"Ah, another agent of chaos," Dark Shadow hummed. "It is an honor."

Midoriya raised a dark eyebrow behind her glasses. "I don't even know what that means." She surged forward at Tokoyami, but Dark Shadow interfered without a thought. Izumi pounced back and grit her teeth. "Geez, an intangible Quirk..."

"An unfortunate matchup," Fumikage intoned.

Denki got up from his sobbing stance. "My savior... You're so cool, Tokoyami-san!" He shot a small amount of electricity towards Izumi, but it fizzled out before it traveled ten feet. Izumi snorted lightly, making the boy pout. "Hey, I'll show you!" Fumikage's eyes widened as he realized what the other boy was about to do.

"Kaminari, wait-"

"Indiscriminate Shock, 1.3 Million Volts!" He yelled, charging the air around him.

Izumi gaped for a moment. "One point three- Oh hell no!" She dove back out of the room through the open doorway, and Fumikage quickly wrapped Dark Shadow around himself and hid behind the 'bomb', hoping that it was sturdy enough to protect him for the time being. A large shockwave spread throughout the room, and for a moment, all of the lights in the building went off as the electricity was absorbed.

Dark Shadow reared for a moment, feeling the darkness spread, but then shied back as the lights came on even stronger than before. Green hair poked through the doorway as Izumi peeked her head in, her glasses on the floor behind her.

"Geez..." She whistled. "That was impressive, Kami... nari?" Her tone turned surprised towards the end, and looking over, Fumikage saw why - Denki was lazing around dopily, having temporarily shorted himself out.

"Did I do goo... goo... good...?" The blond muttered out slowly, although it was clear that he was in no shape to receive an answer. Izumi appeared somewhat concerned at the sight.

"Is he... okay?"

Fumikage blinked, but then he remembered - the battle! "I'd worry about yourself, Midoriya-san." He called Dark Shadow back out, but his Quirk was noticeably smaller due to the increased light.

Midoriya half-smiled, although it looked more like a smirk. She tensed up, getting ready to pounce, but she paused, frowning. "Are you getting tired? I could swear..." She blinked suddenly, her green eyes filling with realization. "Well, that's no fun." She held her arms out, getting ready to use her Quirk. Fumikage wasn't worried though - Dark Shadow wasn't made of actual mass, so she wouldn't be able to pull it. But, surprising him, she instead tore out some of the lights from the ceiling, glass shattering as she did. Tokoyami hissed as shards cut his body before Dark Shadow covered him like a cloak, protecting him.

After she was done, the room was now dimmer than when she and Denki had originally entered. Tokoyami could sense Dark Shadow's delight as he started to grow more powerful in the night. "That was a mistake, my fellow nightling." Dark Shadow intoned. Tokoyami was inclined to agree with him. "Bad choice, Midoriya-san."

"So, class, who do you think was the MVP of this match?" All Might asked, his lesson coming to a close.

Momo Yaoyorozu stepped up first, as she had for the other matches. "In my opinion," her tone made it clear she felt that her opinion was undoubtedly correct, "Fumikage-kun was the MVP of this match."

"No way!" Kirishima objected. "It was totally Mido! Did you see how she whooped both of their butts!" Kirishima's grin turned into an apologetic smile as he looked over towards Fumikage and Kaminari. "No offense, guys."

"I disagree, kero," Tsu said.

Momo shook her head. "While she did win, she did so inefficiently. She allowed Kaminari to retreat, putting herself in a situation where it was a 2-on-1, and instead of simply retrieving the bomb with her Quirk as she could have, she instead chose to fight the fight even though it was a bad matchup. On top of that, she actively made the situation more difficult for herself by limiting her sight."

"Valuable insight, Young Yaoyorozu," All Might praised. "Does anyone else have an opinion?"

Ochaco raised her hand shyly. "I think it was also Fumikage... Sorry, Midoriya-san..." She apologized. "But Fumikage was the one who did his duty the best. He defended the objective, while Kaminari-san tried to end it early, and he also tried to work with his teammate."

Kirishima shook his head. "But... but her fighting was so manly!" He objected. The group sweatdropped as a whole, knowing they weren't going to get anywhere with him.

All Might nodded vigorously. "All good points! However, in my opinion, what's most important to look at is a hero or villain's thought process when they're doing something. So, while Young Midoriya may have been inefficient with allowing Young Kaminari to retreat, she was able to find the bomb room much quicker that way. Additionally, her process of entry was able to ambiguify her entrance, which allowed her to easily get inside the building! Additionally, if it hadn't been a faux scenario, Young Midoriya's approach would have definitely been the most effective! Villains wouldn't simply sit around and wait for her to disarm the bomb."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened as she thought about the words. "You're right, sensei! I apologize," she bowed. All Might sweatdropped and smiled awkwardly.

"No, no, it was great analysis! Don't apologize! However, class time is up! You all did great today, students! I can see the makings of great heroes in you already!" All Might smiled and gave them a massive thumbs up. "Plus Ultra!"

"Plus Ultra!" The class echoed, cheering, and began filing out of Ground Beta, beginning to chatter.

"Young Midoriya," All Might was by the girl's side in an instant. "If you could stay behind for a moment, I wish to talk to you."

Green eyes met blue. "Is that an..." She cleared her throat, and her voice became lighter. "Of course, All Might-sensei. I'd be glad to."

Chapter Text

"Well, Izumi, how do you feel? Do you feel stronger now that you have a Quirk?'

Bright green eyes shined with happiness. "Yes, yes! I feel like I can protect people now, Papa!"

"Protect people?" Hisashi Midoriya knelt down, an eyebrow raised. "Why would you want to protect them?"

The five-year old in front of him tilted her head in bewilderment. "What else would I do?"

The white-haired man sighed. "I see... you still don't understand just how advantageous you are, Izu-chan. Just how... wonderful you are. That Quirk inside of you is thrice as strong as it was supposed to be, and I have an idea as to why. It would, of course, be easier to just take out of you, but my damn Quirk with its limitation..." The man sighed. "I don't want to do what I'm going to do to you, Izu-chan. But you want to help Daddy, don't you?"

Izumi was confused, but she recognized the last sentence as a question. Her smile was bright. "Of course, Papa!" She leapt forward and hugged the man, his scarlet eyes seeming truly apologetic as he closed them and embraced his daughter. "I love you, Papa."

"And I love you, Izumi." A certain switch seemed to be flipped as a dark smile spread across the man's face. "You're incredibly valuable to me."

"It's nice to meet you, Young Midoriya," Toshinori Yagi greeted as the two were left alone in the classroom together. "Watching you in the entrance exam was incredibly impressive."

Izumi crossed her arms, confused. "I beg your pardon?"

All Might smiled. "Well, you were the top scorer, of course. But more importantly, you received the most rescue points out of anyone in the exam, despite the fact that your Quirk wasn't very suitable for rescue. You used it incredibly intuitively, even to your own detriment, just to get other people out of harm's way."

A myriad of emotions passed through Izumi's face - hope, disgust, pride, annoyance, and more before finally settling on inquisitive. "That means a lot to me, coming from the Savior of Japan." It was one of All Might's older epithets, bestowed due to the massive decrease of crime after his original appearance.

"You know, Izumi, he's called the Savior of Japan."

All Might quirked an eyebrow up at the line. "Oh, a fan?" He teased, causing the girl to flush as she took a moment to answer.

"Something like that," She intoned. 'Oh, yes, I know your history very well, All Might.'

All Might smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. It's always nice to meet a fan." He, of course, noticed how her answer was not a 'yes', but he already knew she didn't like him. That was no surprise. "I was hoping you could explain your Quirk a little bit more to me. It was very interesting that you chose to pull the lights out of the ceiling rather than simply turning them off while fighting with Young Tokoyami," he led.

Izumi bit her lip. "Geez, you noticed that quickly, huh?" She flushed. "I can only pull things towards me or away from me. And it's only a small area, really. I can only really focus on an area that's about four inches in diameter," she started.

"Per finger?"

"Hm?" Izumi tilted her head before realizing what the man was asking. "Y-yeah," she laughed nervously. 'He's observant...'  The thought came with a certain amount of derogatory connotations. "It really depends on distance, and I have a pretty low weight capacity," she explained. "The closer something is, the harder it can be repelled, and the farther away something is, the easier it is to pull, although the weight gets exponentially higher."

All Might nodded. "So that meant you had to use multiple fingers to help protect people, I see, I see... You're very skilled with your Quirk," he offered. "A type of skill that usually only comes with real-life experience." Izumi narrowed her eyes, ready to dissuade the man if necessary. But he suddenly sat back in a casual manner. "I bet your father trained you very well."

Stiffness rolled through Izumi's body. 'So, he does-'  Fight or flight kicked in, but any adrenaline was cut off as All Might continued.

"Aizawa-san is a very demanding teacher even to his students, I can hardly imagine what his training regimen for you is," All Might offered a smile. Izumi blinked. '... Oh. Alright then.'  There was still an edge to her features, but she forced herself to subtly calm down. 'That father.'

"Yes. Dad and I trained most days while school wasn't in session." She technically wasn't lying. 'It wasn't the only training I did, but that's all you asked about.'  After a nasty run-in with a cop with a lie-detection Quirk a few years previous, Izumi had learned how to weave half-truths and white-lies into her answers. She didn't particularly enjoy lying... but that didn't mean she wasn't good at it.

All Might smiled. For some reason, it made Izumi want to trust the man, and it was setting her off-balance with her learned hatred. She wanted to hate him, and also wanted to like him. Why couldn't things just be straightforward? "The fruits are very evident. The difference in skill between you and many of your classmates has already been seen. Young Tokoyami was another one of the high scorers on the exam, and also has a Quirk that possesses a unique advantage over yours."

Izumi attempted a natural smile. "Thank you, All Might-sensei. Coming from the Number One Hero-"

All Might held up a finger. "Not the Number One Hero. Right now, in this building, my most important title is teacher."

"If he's the Savior of Japan, isn't he supposed to save you? Isn't he supposed to protect you? Protect your mother?"

Izumi suppressed a snort. 'That was so cheesy.'  She thought. "Alright. Coming from my teacher," she tried again, "that means a lot. Especially with how much experience you have with hero students and other heroes."

The hero beamed. "Of course, Young Midoriya! I must say, though..." His smile dropped towards a look of concern. "Your fighting style seems heavily sorted towards quick incapacitations. Against some people with Quirks that boost durability or protect vitals, you would most definitely be at a disadvantage."

Izumi bit her lip contemplatively. "That's true..." She perked up. "Oh, but I do have a weapon!" All Might leaned in inquisitively. "Mhm. I use a staff for w-when-" she stuttered, revising her statement on the fly, "-for when Dad and I train," she laughed awkwardly, scratching her scalp. She would prefer that the school didn't know about her vigilantism for as long as possible.

"Oh, I see," All Might nodded. "You are aware you can bring it to school, hm?"

Izumi blinked. She hadn't known that. "Eh? Ah..." She flushed, trying to think of what she wanted to say. It probably wouldn't be good if she had both her Telekinesis Quirk and her weapon at school, it would be way too easy to connect her to her vigilantism. "A-ah, I wouldn't want the rest of the class to think I have an unfair advantage." She tossed out. "Like you said, I'm already at a higher fighting caliber than most of them, some would probably be upset if I was given more advantages..."

All Might scratched his chin. "Ah, I see, I see... Yes, that would probably lead to some upsetting scenarios, seeing as how competitive class placements are." He became serious. "Young Midoriya, there is a reason I asked you to stay behind with me."

"Eh?" Izumi blinked and tilted her head to the side, blowing her green curls out of her eyes.

All Might nodded, his smile coming back. "Yes! You see, many of the lessons taught this year during heroics seem to be concepts that you have already mastered through your training with your father. So, rather than stalling your improvement, I would like to offer you advanced classes outside of school."

Izumi's eyes widened. Whatever she had been expecting, it most definitely had not been that. But at the same time, it sounded almost perfect... except the fact that it could lead to some awkwardness if the rest of the class found out. "That sounds wonderful, All Might-sensei. Who would I be training with? My father?"

"Nay! You already have plenty of experience with your father's combat style and teaching methods. Rather, you'd be learning with me."

Izumi walked out of the room two minutes later, slightly dazed. Only as she got into English with Hizashi and handed him her late excuse note did she fully grasp what had just happened. Not only had she just had a normal, relaxed conversation with the man who was the reason her mother was dead, who she had vowed to hate until he died, she had just accepted spending eight hours a week training with him. She softly banged her head on her desk, making a few people look at her. "Fuck."

TW for rest of chapter - Mild torture, moderate-to-severe PTSD. There will be a large gap of space when it's done.

"Tell me, Izumi, where is your Savior? Because... I don't see him here." Hisashi Midoriya questioned.

Izumi sobbed loudly in response. "I'm sorry, Papa... I'm sorry..."

"Oh, Izu-chan..." The words sounded sickly sweet coming from the mouth of the demon that inhabited her father's body. "It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong... It's all my own Quirk's fault, you know. I can't take Quirks from my own family members. I couldn't do it for my brother, for that damn Power Stack, and since it's transferred by DNA, I can't do it for any of his successors, either. That means I can't take it from you, either. But it's not your fault."

The words did nothing to assuage the girl's tears. "P-please... stop..." She begged. Blood was beginning to drip off of the operating table as it pooled from her leg. "I-I'll do anything, p-please..."

Hisashi's loving, if demented, smile slowly faded to a scowl. "Do. Not. Beg!" He commanded, Rivet Stab activating and piercing her arm. "You are going to be a princess! An empress! A goddess! And goddesses do not beg to mortals. I can't stop, Izumi. Not now. I won't stop until I have your Quirk. Awakening all of the Quirks in my collection... I would truly become unstoppable. We could become truly unstoppable."

"N-no!" Izumi defied, sobbing intensifying as the pain . "I-it would k-kill you, Papa!"

All For One growled. "I am immortal!" He howled. "I have given you your mother's Quirk! I have given you All For One! You have access to all of the power in the world, and all I am asking for in return is a tiny, little Quirk! Don't you want to help your Daddy?"

Izumi stared at him for a moment, comprehension breaking through the pain in her eight-year-old eyes. She was quiet for a moment, her chest heaving from the sobs she was keeping in. Finally, she spoke as evenly as she could. "Y... You... You're not my... You're not my Papa. You're the d-dev... devil..."

The Lord of the Underworld was quiet for a moment. "Don't say that, Izu-chan. You are my daughter."

"You killed-"

"ALL MIGHT KILLED YOUR MOTHER. WHERE. IS. YOUR. SAVIOR?" A suffocating presence filled the room, choking Izumi and silencing the mumbling Kyudai Garaki who was analyzing the girl's blood in the corner of the room. "IF ALL MIGHT IS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU, WHERE IS YOUR HERO? IF HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOUR MOTHER, WHY IS SHE DEAD? ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD."

ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD.

ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD.

ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD.

ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD.

ALL MIGHT IS THE REASON YOUR MOTHER IS DEAD.

Izumi shot awake. She had been having more of these nightmares - these memories - in the past few weeks. From before she had escaped. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes. Blinking them open sleepily, she stared at her scarred arms. Her hands. That damned Quirk of hers. No, she hadn't been born Quirkless. But, somehow, she felt like it almost would've been better if she had. Maybe then, her father would've stayed as Hisashi Midoriya. Maybe then, her mother wouldn't have been killed by [ALL MIGHT]. 

Izumi groaned and clutched at her head as the thought flashed into it. 'No! That's not what happened! She was killed by [ALL MIGHT]!'  Her traitorous mind refused to cooperate. Her own thoughts didn't feel like her own, and she knew why. She just wished she could do something about it. Every time she tried to accuse her [ALL MIGHT] of killing her mom, 'All Might' popped into her head instead. And it hurt like a bitch.

The green-haired girl stumbled into the bathroom, keeping the lights off. Ambient light filtered through from her bedroom anyway. Deep bags were set under her eyes, and said orbs were bloodshot and puffy. Had she been crying? She scrounged around for some anti-migraine medication. Finally, her fingers locked around a bottle and she quickly swallowed two pills. She squeezed her arm hard enough to feel pain, allowing it to distract her from the rhythmic pain thumping in her head.

'Breath in. Hold. 1, 2, 3. Breath out. 1, 2, 3. Breath in. 1, 2, 3. Breath out.'  She thought, keeping her eyes closed. After what was either a few minutes or a few hours, she opened her eyes and stopped squeezing her arms, the pulsating sensation finally going into remission. She shakily stood up to turn the bathroom lights on, but after managing to do so, her legs were still shaking so hard that she took a tactical retreat back to the floor, shuddering.

She wanted to curl up and cry. She stared at her arms again, cursing her Quirk. Not either of the ones that had been implanted into her. Her Quirk, which, by itself, would be absolutely useless. But, combined with All For One, with the ability to take Quirks... the Quirk that passively Awakened all of her other Quirks was simply... godlike. She hated it for all the power it gave her. She didn't want to be the strongest, goddamnit. She hated it for everything it took away from her. She just wanted her family back.

She wanted to cut it out of her body. But, she remembered, it would all be for naught. She traced some of the fainter, finer scars on her skin. No... that had already been tried. Her right arm crept down to her the base of her spine, near her waist. She twinged as it connected with the deep scar tissue there. It wasn't even scar tissue, really. It was a tattoo. A branding. A reminder of who she was. Who she belonged to. What her purpose in life was. How important those markings were. Those two numbers... "Zero-zero." She whispered to herself. A name. A title. A... Goddess.

Izumi Midoriya slowly pulled herself to her feet. Today was Class 1-A's first field trip. Hopefully, everything would go normally. For some reason, though, she wasn't holding out too much hope.

"After initial Quirk manifestation, it is possible for the user to undergo an "Awakening" later in life. The right emotional catalyst can cause Quirks to evolve on the spot. This results in one's Quirk gaining a new level of strength and/or new aspects to its nature that were previously not possible." - My Hero Academia Wiki, "Quirks".

Chapter Text

"Welcome, students, to the USJ! USJ stands for Unforeseen Simulation Joint, and it's where students may go in order to hone their skills in disaster scenarios. A lot of you seem to forget that villains are not the only injustice in this world! Natural disasters may strike at any time, anywhere, with no warning, and they can kill thousands within minutes." Thirteen, a hero in a spacesuit, informed the gathered Class 1-A.

Izumi could barely keep her eyes open as she attempted to listen. She hadn't gotten back to sleep after waking up earlier in the morning.

"That's right!" All Might gave a thumbs up alongside his signature smile. "It's not a very publicly-noted thing, but a lot of heroes find their calling in the Search & Rescue industry. In fact, my stats may be a little out of date, but... for every one hero you see fighting criminals, there are as many as four heroes who work in support or rescue!" 

'A one-to-four ratio?' Izumi thought, creaking her eyebrow upwards slightly. She slowly turned around and surveyed the class. That meant that, if the stats held up, it could be only four of them becoming combat heroes... Who would it be? She mentally berated herself as her attention snapped back to All Might. 'That's not how statistics work, Izumi... You know better than that!'  Not every hero was from Class 1-A of Yuuei. Their stats were slightly different.

"You will all be split up and grouped into random trios, and then randomly split into different areas! You will receive further instruction when you get to your area," Eraserhead spoke impassively. "Here's the list." He clicked a button on a remote and the class' names started to get scrambled randomly. Minoru Mineta had rejoined the class the day previous, and his previously perverted personality had been toned down slightly as he became more aware of how fragile his standing was.

That still left an odd group out, with only two people. And, as luck would have it, Izumi was one of those two people. And, even 'better', she was stuck with the Ice Prince himself... Shouto Todoroki. She glanced at her adoptive father, quirking an eyebrow. 'Were these really random?'  She challenged mentally, knowing the man would understand her thought process. He rolled his eyes. Izumi got the message nice and clear. 'Maybe.'  For real, though, what were the chances of randomly picking the two strongest students in class, both of which had previous training with a Pro Hero, for the only group with two people. Unlikely, at best.

They were in the tornado zone, it seemed. Izumi fidgeted as she started walking over, fiddling with the goggles of her hero costume as she waited to put it on. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed All Might flex and head outside of the USJ, off to fight more crime most likely. He had waved the class off when they left on the bus, and Izumi had watched a livestream of All Might sightings on her phone while they were on the way there. In the 15 minute drive, he had stopped two criminals, and still managed to make it to the USJ before them. 'The difference between our skill level right now...'  It frustrated her, goddamnit. How could there be that big of a gap?

For some reason, Izumi wanted to call out to him. Ask for him to stay. Not because she suddenly liked him now, no. Only because she still felt like something... terrible was about to happen, and she couldn't shake it. "So... what's your Quirk?" Izumi heard herself ask the boy beside her.

"Half Hot. Half Cold." The response was curt, but not impolite in tone. Merely... informative. Izumi frowned.

"What's it do?"

"I can make fire with the left side of my body, and ice with the right side of my body."

"Oh, you can make fire, too?" She had, like everyone else, seen his massive display of power during the Battle Trials. "That's... neat." She supposed it made sense. She knew who his father was, after all. It would be sorta weird for the prodigal son of Endeavor to not be able to use fire.

"Yeah."

"... Yeah..." She could tell he wasn't very interested in conversation, and it was sorta like talking to a brick wall, so she sighed and gave up for the time being. Hopefully, the frosty exterior would start to thaw as time went on, pun totally intended.

Izumi started to stretch as they waited for instructions. The tense feeling finally began to disappear from her body as she breathed deeply. Nothing bad had happened yet. There was nothing to be worried about.

What's that they say about tempting fate?

All at once, a suffocating presence began to fill the USJ. It felt... familiar, but also frightening. And that familiarity scared Izumi far more than the portal that had opened up in the main plaza, as well as the portals that opened up around them in the tornado zone. People slowly began to step through, and Izumi instantly recognized them for what they were. "Villains." She hissed. Todoroki's head snapped towards them.

"Okay."

A wide, lazy sweep of his arm sent ice hurtling across the area. It was mostly a desert canyon, although it flattened out towards the central plaza. Unluckily, Izumi and Todoroki had already made it to the far point of the canyon... which meant that they were as far away from their classmates as possible. Ice sprouted up from thin air, freezing villains as soon as they got out of their portals. They quickly began struggling, trying to move backwards, but the portals disappeared behind them.

They weren't anything special. 'It doesn't make sense... who goes through the trouble of organizing criminals to attack Yuuei, famous for its Pro Heroes and Security, but brings along street trash and weaklings?'  The only thing that made sense was that they were cannon fodder. "They're extras. Something meant to keep us in place. Let's get through and get to the plaza as quickly as possible," Izumi communicated to the white-and-red-haired boy, who only nodded.

"Hey, don't underestimate us, girlie!" A villain cackled. "You may think you're big because you're at Yuuei, but-" the man yelped as his foot was dragged from underneath him, and another branch of Izumi's Attraction Quirk attached to his back and yanked the off-balance man towards the girl, who intercepted him mid-air and slammed him into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

"Holy shit..." Another one of the villains muttered. "What the fuck was that?"

Izumi Midoriya grinned, her green eyes shining viridian as battle lust started to roll over her body. "That was a taste of real power." She bit her bottom lip and concentration as she counted out the amount of villains present. There were thirteen down in the canyon with them, and who knew how many up top. "... Damn..." She breathed out quietly. "Todoroki," she called, catching the teen's attention. "Cover the top, I've got the ones down here."

Excitement was barely breathing in the boy's eyes. Apathy was drowning most everything out. "... 'kay..." Izumi smiled at him, then turned back towards the rest of the villains.

"Ready?"

"Thanks for letting us hear your plan, brat," Izumi whipped around as a lady with what seemed to be spiky hair leapt at her from a canyon wall.

Izumi pulled the woman's face towards her gloved fist, knocking her out quickly. "And thanks for announcing your presence. Honestly, I-"

"-Midoriya," Todoroki interrupted apathetically. Izumi paused, barely having enough time to brace herself against the extended punch of another villain.

"Shit," she hissed. She reached out and grabbed at a villain with five fingers' worth of Attraction, pulling him to her, and then hopped onto a canyon wall as he sailed towards her, then gave him the maximum force of Repulsion, slamming him into the other canyon wall. Behind the green-haired girl, she felt cold spread as Todoroki began to target the people above them.

"That was brutal..." One villain whispered. "She might've just fucking killed him, dude. This job ain't fucking worth dying for, man." He spoke to another guy next to him.

Izumi flashed the man a winning smile as she latched onto his insecurities. "That's right. I could seriously harm you, kiddos." She thought she heard a snort from somewhere, but ignored it. "Tell you what - you let my classmate and I pass here, and you don't have to worry about a snapped spine or brain trauma." She kept up the smile, sending shivers down many of her opponents' backs. "Sound like a deal?"

Her response was one of the villains sending a small iron ball towards her with a glowing slingshot. She dodged it, but the ball bounced off the wall, picking up speed as it did. Izumi growled. She knew how this would end, and she couldn't allow Todoroki to get hurt. She didn't dodge the next one, letting it ram into her arm. It hurt, but it didn't break anything as it wasn't fast enough yet.

"See? She's not invincible," the man with the slingshot yelled. "They're just two kids!"

A man with glasses and a button-up sighed. "You're such a brute. She took your attack because she knew she couldn't dodge indefinitely. Honestly, you should stop talking and-" The man's sentence was cut off as an iron ball knocked him out.

"Honestly, never liked that guy anyway," the slingshot man grumbled. Izumi tried to latch onto his weapon, but found the slingshot to be intangible. 'Quirk-made,'  She thought regretfully. Lots of Quirk-Made weapons were intangible. Going for Plan B, she instead took his ammunition, pulling the balls to her, and then shooting them with great force back at him. He was down on the ground, coughing and definitely not getting up in the next ten minutes. 

"Anyone else?" She challenged, smirking. The nine remaining villains shifted nervously.

"I-" A villain started speaking as he made to start running at her. Izumi latched one hand onto his upper leg and another onto his lower leg, pulling them in opposite directions. The stress quickly began, as the villain was held in the air. The two hands of Attraction and Repulsion were working against each other rather than moving him anywhere, so he was stuck.

"You?" Izumi asked, grinning vindictively. "You what?"

"I-I yield!" The villain shouted. Izumi dropped him instantly, and he caught himself on the ground, but stayed there instead of picking himself up, and put his hands on his head, "This shit ain't worth dying for, guys. They're not even paying that much." The rest of the group quickly followed suit, laying down and putting their hands on their head.

"Good choice, kiddos," Izumi pipped cheerfully. One of the villains growled and placed her hands on the ground and started pushing herself up, but Todoroki stepped and put a foot on the villain's back.

"Stay down." The woman froze, and slowly lowered herself back down.

As the duo of hero students started to jog towards the opening of the canyon, Izumi could've sworn that she heard someone whisper, "Insane teens..."

There were more villains outside. Izumi growled in annoyance. She also caught side of the plaza. There was a huge, hulking figure there, as well as two others, that were aside from a large group of villains. And... Izumi squinted, suddenly stopped as she caught sight of the figure fighting the villains. "Dad..." She whispered. "Todoroki!" The boy turned towards her, disinterest on his face still. "How fast can you get us to the plaza?"

"Midoriya, no!" Aizawa shouted as he saw the girl and her partner approach the group. She took no heed, though, and the duo slammed into a stray villain, knocking him out. The two quickly spread out, working individually from one another. "Get out of here, Izumi! That's an order!"

"No!" Izumi shouted back, pummeling another villain with direct hand-to-hand combat. She had already used her Quirk a decent bit with those other villains, so she was settling for only using it when necessary, increased the force of her punches by pulling the villains into them somewhat. She was only using one or two fingers at a time, though, she couldn't afford to run out of stamina. These were real villains, after all.

Eraserhead couldn't stop fighting in order to continue the conversation. More villains came, although they were certainly being thinned out quicker now. He hated to admit, but these two kids were definitely helping out by being here. He would much rather his daughter be safe, but... out of the twenty students in the class, these two were definitely the most reliable. That's why they had been grouped up for the USJ. The real issue was their independent natures.

"Hey, hey, hey..." The man with hands all over his body complained. "That's no fair... I was seeing Eraserhead-san in action... But, now, he has to protect you two, too." The villain suddenly dashed towards the student closest to him, Izumi. She shot backwards, but tripped over her boot, sending her stumbling towards the ground. She couldn't see the villain's face due to the hand blocking it, but for some reason, she knew that he was grinning.

'Why does he seem familiar?'  She couldn't help but think as he closed in on her, his hand reaching out. If it wasn't for the hostile aura, it might've almost looked like he was trying to catch her fall. 'No visible weapon. No gloves. Contact-based Quirk? Five-finger contact is the most common form.'  She analyzed as the feet turned into inches. All of the sudden, though, milliseconds before the hand came into contact with her, an elbow came into contact with the villain's midsection, sending him flying.

"D-damn," he wheezed. "That might've been your strongest attack yet, Eraserhead-san. You're so cool... Protecting your students... But you're slowing down. You still have enough left in you for a good fight, though, right? The adventurer shouldn't lose before fighting the boss."

"Midoriya, get out-"

"-No, no, no!" The villain chuckled. "I want to fight you, now. All Might isn't here yet, so I still have some time to spare." 'All Might?'  Izumi questioned mentally. 'What do they want with him?'  "And I won't let her interfere. Nomu, restrain her." Faster than Izumi could blink, her body was suddenly contorted as a massive arm grabbed her around the waist and another kept her arms stuck above her head. She struggled, writhing, wiggling, and kicking as hard as she could against her captor, but to no avail. It was like hitting a brick wall, literally.

Todoroki had gone off to fight more villains. Apparently, he had had faith in their abilities. "Tell you what, if you beat me, I'll let the girl go. But, if you lose..." The villain cackled. "I'll tell Nomu to break her bones one by one in front of you." He suddenly seemed a lot more villainous than he had a few moments ago. "Although... I'm not the final boss. Nomu is." The man cackled. The other person present, a shadow apparition, made no movement or noise. They seemed familiar, too. Out of breath from struggling, Izumi gave up on it.

"Don't worry about me, Eraserhead-sensei," she called.

"Quiet, NPC!" The villain growled at her. "You're not important here." Izumi flashed her teeth at him, but made no other movement. There was nothing she could do, after all. "You know, it's been difficult to see with how much you've been moving around, but there's a brief moment when your hair falls." The villain had turned back to Aizawa. The teacher grit his teeth. He wasn't willing to entertain the other man's monologue. He dashed forward, tossing out his scarf, but it appeared that this villain had something to back up his talk, unlike many of the fodder. He caught the scarf instead of getting caught up in it, but Shouta was experienced - he pulled the scarf towards him as he moved towards the blue-haired villain, pulling him into his punch.

It connected well, but instead of getting thrown, the other man grunted and smiled, revealing that he had caught Aizawa's elbow as it dug into his stomach. "But... the time in between those moments has been getting shorter." The black-haired Pro Hero struggled, but the villain was deceptively strong and held him still. Finally, as predicted, Eraserhead's hair fell, and Izumi gasped as the skin of his hero costume first began to turn to dust, and then, underneath that... her dad's arm began to crack as the villain activated his Quirk.

The dots connected in the vigilante's mind as she finally recognized the boy. She had never met him, no, but she had heard about him. Blue hair, a Quirk that turned things to dust... "Tomura Shigaraki..." She whispered. She said it far too quietly for anyone to reasonably hear, but for some reason, the person made out of purple fog snapped their gaze towards her, and she got the worst feeling that they had heard. Dread settled in her stomach as she began to consider the implications...

'Papa is behind this.'  It made so much sense, too. It had been why, five years ago, instead of killing the Symbol of Peace, All For One had simply grinned and walked away after beating the man. Because he wasn't strong enough. Did that mean that All Might was strong enough, now? Strong enough to...

Aizawa broke away from the villain's grasp, gritting his teeth. His cracked elbow wasn't bleeding, but it still hung limply to his side. It seemed to be only surface damage, but maybe there was some nerve damage, too. "You're demented." He commented.

Shigaraki grinned wide enough to be seen past the hand covering his face. "Why, thank you." He took the initiative and dashed towards the Pro Hero, who swiftly evaded, although he stumbled a bit on the landing due to his arm. The game of cat and mouse continued for a few seconds until Tomura decided to change his game plan. "Nomu, go ahead and-" As predicted, Eraserhead leapt forward to interrupt the command, and Shigaraki's hand latched onto Aizawa's goggles, dissolving them. Aizawa's bloodshot eyes were strained as his hair rose up again, and the Decay stopped. Shigaraki chuckled as he began to count. "Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two..."

"No!" Izumi screamed, understanding what was about to happen. She tore off the glove covering her left hand and let the skin come into contact with the 'Nomu' holding her. She barely had time to process the fact that there seemed to be five different Quirks within the beast. Rather than thinking, she mentally reached out and grabbed at a strand, pulling it towards her. The transfer was over in seconds, and the beast roared in pain and dropped Izumi as it stumbled backwards.

"What...?" The villain muttered as he took in the scene, his attention attracted by the girl's shrill voice. "Nomu, what-" His sentence was cut off by Shouta's fist toppling into his face, sending him flying back. He laid on the ground for the second before slowly rising to his feet. "Hah... Hah! Hahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!" His laughter grew in pitch and frequency before he stared directly at Izumi. "So you're not just an NPC after all... I don't know what you did to Nomu, but it won't change anything in the end. After all, Nomu was bio-engineered to be the Anti-Symbol of Peace!" He declared.

Further conversation was disrupted by sunlight flooding into the USJ as the doors to the outside opened. "I am here!" The proclamation came. Shigaraki smiled.

"Yes... yes you are."

Izumi could do nothing but stare at the winds whipping around the USJ and the afterimages of the Symbol of Peace and the Anti-Symbol of Peace. She couldn't track them with her eyes, they were so fast. And all the meanwhile, Tomura Shigaraki didn't bother to do anything except monologue. "He's absolutely geared to destroy you!" The villain claimed.

'Destroy him?'  Izumi thought. From what she knew of her birth father's plans, which, to be fair, was dreadfully outdated, that didn't make sense. 'It makes more sense to not destroy him. Maybe... a test?'  She thought to herself. 'Unless his plan has changed...'

"Destroy me! Villains without true purpose like you? Pah!" All Might chortled. "Never!"

Shigaraki grinned maniacally. "This Nomu has five Quirks! Shock Absorption, Super Regeneration, Sixth Sense, Muscular Augmentation, and Reflect! He's the ultimate combination, designed specifically to counter you!"

"Shock Absorption?" All Might questioned, smiling as he threw another punch. "Not Shock Negation. That means there's a limit. All I have to do... is find it!" The blonde threw a strong punch that whipped the wind behind it, making Izumi gawk in awe. 'Power Stack... I can see why Papa wants it.'  It was probably silly for her to still think of her sperm donor as 'Papa'. That didn't change the fact that she did it, though.

'Perhaps...'  Izumi pondered as she stared at All Might's unfailing smile and unflinching fortitude, '... some of Power Stack's strength comes from its holder. I don't know if I could always stay positive like that.'  Finally, All Might landed an incredibly solid punch that blew the beast's left arm clean off.

Shigaraki's tone didn't change, however. "That was a strong punch... If that had hit me, or anyone else here, that would've killed them instantly. Don't tell me you're aiming to kill, All Might-sama..." The honorific was sickly and offensive as the boy said it. "... eh? Why isn't his arm regenerating?" The villain froze. "Super Regeneration can regenerate limbs! Kurogiri, why isn't he regenerating?" The villain began to throw a tantrum, scratching a fingernail at his neck. Suddenly, he calmed down. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Nomu, Reflect!"

A brilliant flash of light blew through the entire USJ, and Izumi instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, which only made the sonic boom a second later worse as it impacted her ear drums. After a few seconds of no input, the pair of lime-green eyes blinked open, sunspots flaring in them. She was still disoriented, as if shell shocked, and what she was looking at didn't make much sense.

All Might... All Might's shirt had been blasted off, leaving him bare on his upper half, and dozens of scratches covered his skin.

"You see, now?" Shigaraki howled in delight. "Although he has to pause to regain his energy for a minute afterwards, Reflect allows Nomu to redirect all of the energy he absorbed with Shock Absorption! You've just been hit with every single punch you've thrown this fight! There's no way-"

"You'll..." A deep voice interrupted the villain's triumphant rant. "... need more than a cheap trick to defeat me, villain." All Might declared, his blue eyes blazing with fury as he squared his shoulders up.

Shigaraki's eyes widened. "Incredible... as expected of the Number One Hero... But, still, why did Super Regeneration stop working? Did you cheat, you bastard?" All Might grinned, although it was more twisted in pain than his usual smile.

"No, but I will end this!" All Might adopted a steady stance and breathed in, facing the Nomu, who was still recovering from its use of Reflect. He pulled back, and... his fist shot forward in an uppercut that launched the Nomu through the roof of the USJ building, which quickly disappeared from sight. The Savior of Japan huffed as he tried to catch his breath, blood still streaking all over his body. He sent a glance towards the remaining two villains.

"Cheater!" Shigaraki raged.

"Tomura Shigaraki," the ghastly figure intoned, "heroes have arrived." And, indeed, they had. Heroes were beginning to assort at the entrance to the USJ.

"I don't care!" The villain screeched. "I'll kill him myself!"

"You can not defeat him in your current state, Tomura Shigaraki. It would be best to retreat and regroup."

The young man growled in anger. "Damn it!" He screamed, making to run forward, but a gunshot rang through the air and sailed through his palm, cutting a hole clean through it. "Gah!" He quickly reconsidered. "... Fine! Take us back, Kurogiri."

"As you command, Tomura Shigaraki." There was no tone in the thing's voice as a portal began to envelop the two. Izumi tried to rush forward and grab onto them, but found that she wasn't fast enough. 'Why didn't All Might stop them?'  She questioned as the duo disappeared, leaving not even dust behind. She looked towards the man, only a few feet away from her, and finally realized...

All Might was trembling. He seemed like he was spending all of his energy just remaining standing.

"Yo, Mido!" A voice came. Izumi twirled around and noticed Kirishima rushing towards the plaza. Izumi opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by a powerful voice from behind her.

"It's okay now..." The Number One Hero assured. "I am here!" His fist raised up in his signature pose. Izumi saw that he was still shaking, though. She was amazed that he still had the strength to move, no matter how personal feelings about the man. After not only enduring the Nomu's attacks, but also his own, never mind the hero work he had been doing beforehand... 'The gap between us is even larger than I thought,'  Izumi realized.

Before anything else could continue, though, cement walls rose up, completely encapsulating Midoriya and All Might. "We want to make sure all students are safe," Izumi heard the voice of Cementoss say from outside the faux room. "So, please gather in front of the gate. We will tend to the wounded here."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Kirishima exclaimed. "Alright, I'll do that! Hey, guys!" He called to an unknown group. "He said to gather in front of the gate!" The heavy footsteps shuffled away. Izumi was still mentally recovering from the experience, and so did not immediately turn around when she heard a deflating noise. It took a few moments until she was cognizant enough to look towards the noise, but she froze as she did. Steam was rising off from the center of the room, and...

Green eyes filled with confusion as they took in the scene before them. A tall, moderately-muscular man with no shirt, cuts and scrapes all over his body, spiky blonde hair, glimmering blue eyes, and a slightly sunken face. "What the fuck...?" Midoriya Izumi whispered, her mind understanding but her heart unwilling to accept it. "... Yagi-sama?"

Chapter Text

Izumi breathed in the fresh, slightly cold air of Japan's evening. The sun had nearly fully set by the time she was out of the USJ, and the sky was colored mostly violet.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" The EMT questioned, barely sparing the girl a glance as she checked over the members of the Help Us Company, who had been in the USJ as part of the rescue activities.

"I..." Izumi started, looking down at her arm. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she realized it didn't hurt anymore. "Uh, no. I'm fine."

The EMT nodded, still not looking towards her. "M'kay." It seemed the woman was solely focused on her duty. It was admirable.

Izumi walked in a half-dazed state towards the school bus. Dad was still working with the police, as was Hizashi. She didn't have anyone to pick her up, unlike her classmates. She'd probably have to wait until after the police were done talking to her fathers before she could go home, which meant... hours.

"Midoriya-san!" Someone called. Izumi blinked. "Midoriya-san!" The voice came again. Izumi twirled her head around. Was someone trying to talk to her? She finally caught sight of Ochaco waving towards her, her normally bubbly personality subdued, the second time Izumi had ever seen the girl doing anything other than smiling.

"Oh, Uraraka-san! I'm glad to see you're okay!" Izumi waved back. "I'm surprised you haven't gone home yet."

Ochaco walked over to Izumi, stopping just a few feet away from her. "Mhm, I'm glad you are, too. Kirishima-san said he saw you in the plaza, but then nobody saw you for a little bit. We were all so worried..." Izumi felt a little twinge of guilt for making them worry, but also a bit of warmth in knowing that maybe, just maybe... some people cared.

"Gomen ne," Izumi apologized, bowing, her hair making a small curtain around her face as she did.

Ochaco waved her off. "Nothing to apologize about! I was, uh, wondering..." The girl's voice became a bit nervous, and as Izumi raised her head, she realized the girl was twiddling her fingers. "... Uh... do you maybe... want to... walkhomewithme?"

Izumi tilted her head in confusion. "Hm?" She hadn't quite caught the other girl's question.

"Ah..." Ochaco seemed to shrink into herself. "I was wondering if you wanted to walk home with me... but you've probably got your parents coming to pick you up, and-" The girl's voice seemed to be getting more awkward as her self-doubt started to pick it up, so Izumi decided to just cut it off.

"Sure!" She smiled at the other girl, who froze.

"Eh?"

"Sure," Izumi said again. "I'd love to walk home with you. My parents are... busy, at the moment. It would probably be several hours before they could drive me home. Besides, safety in numbers, right?"

Ochaco smiled brilliantly, her face lighting up. "Thank you! And, yeah..." She giggled, scratching at her scalp. "My parents actually live in the Mie Prefecture, so... If it had been Aichi, maybe, but..."

Izumi blinked in understanding. "You live alone?" Ochaco nodded. "Geez... You're so mature, Ochaco-san. Or maybe I should call you Ochaco-senpai," Izumi teased, causing the other girl to flush and giggle as her shyness bled out of her. "Do you take the train?" Ochaco nodded. "Alright, so do I, so that works! I know the way to the station closest to here, if you don't." Izumi had frequented the trains for a few weeks, the cars a decently safe place to sleep, but the cost of getting on the cars constantly increased and soon enough it ate into too much money to be viable. Still, Izumi remembered much of the layout.

"Sounds like a plan!" The brunette agreed, and acquiesced to let the shorter girl lead the way. Izumi was glad for the chit-chat, which let her distract herself from the scene that she had witnessed as Tomura Shigaraki and the other villain were leaving. She currently had two theories, and she wasn't sure which one she wanted to be true.

True to her words, Izumi guided them quickly to the station, and they boarded in no time. "So, are you okay?" Izumi finally asked.

"Eh?" Ochaco tilted her head. "Yep, totally unharmed!"

Izumi wilted in concern. "No, I meant like..." she waved her hands. "Emotionally."

"Oh!" The brown-haired girl nodded in understanding. "Yep! A little shaken, but, really, it wasn't too crazy, y'know? The villains weren't trying to kill us, just capture us. Even if they were against us, I don't think we were in major danger. They're just people too, right?"

Izumi looked at the other girl's smiling, unabashed demeanor. 'I wish I could be naïve like that... but at the same time, maybe she isn't wrong. I don't know. I'm just glad she's fine.'  Mental trauma could definitely suck.

"How about you?" The question was thrown back easily.

Izumi blinked. She took a second to consider it. "I'm... fine, I think. A bit puzzled, I guess, but overall alright."

Ochaco nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I understand. It's really weird that they decided to attack the USJ like that, but I guess I can't be expected to understand the thoughts of villains," she giggled. Izumi shot her a smile. The train announced that Ochaco's stop was coming up, and the girl bounced up.

"Ah, Midoriya-san..." The girl was shy again. "Maybe, uh... Maybe you could spend the night, or something? We could watch movies, or... or something!" She offered. Izumi thought about it. 'Dad and Hizashi are probably going to be busy until the A.M, at least... I... I don't know...'  The green-eyed girl made the mistake of looking into the other girl's big, brown doe eyes that seemed to be pleading with her.

"Sure!" She blurted out before she could even think twice. And seeing her classmate happy, Izumi knew that she had made the right choice. She also finally connected that Ochaco didn't want to be alone. Her parents lived in the Mie Prefecture, and she was new in town and didn't have any roommates... Of course she wanted someone to talk with.

Ochaco smiled and clapped with excitement. "Alright! Although, I don't have much in the way of food. We could order pizza or something..." Suddenly, the girl had the excitement drain out of her and went pale as a sheet.

"Ochaco-san?" Izumi questioned with concern coloring her voice.

"My apartment is so messy..." Ochaco bemoaned. "Please let me clean it before you step inside."

Izumi chuckled. "I'm not going to judge you based on how dirty your apartment is, Ochaco-san. If it makes you feel better, though, I can walk you there, and then go and pick up some food to bring back?"

"Please," Ochaco begged. "You'd probably get like, second-hand diabetes or something." Izumi giggled slightly.

"Now I want to see it," she joked, making the other girl laugh, too.

"Be quiet and give me all your money."

Izumi groaned inwardly. She probably should've gotten more exact directions from Ochaco, but the gravity-defying girl didn't know her way around too well, either. "You really don't want to do this, bud. Not tonight. Well, not any night, but definitely not tonight. I've had a rough day, and-"

"I said be quiet. I have a knife, and it is pointed right at you." Indeed, there was something that definitely felt like a blade poking into her back.

"That's not even going to hit anything major," Izumi complained. "Like, if you're going to threaten someone, at least do it correctly."

"I don't think you quite understand your situa-" Izumi elbowed the man in the face. She registered the knife impaling her a moment later, yelping in pain as it did. More than likely, it was done on instinct. The blade was left in her as the man stumbled backwards. "You bitch!"

"Says the one who tried to mug a teenage girl," said teenage girl pointed out. "Told you, if you're going to threaten someone..." She pulled the knife out of her back and held it facing towards the man, curled in her palm. "Do it correctly." The man stumbled away quickly, scared out of his mind. Izumi looked down at the knife. A cheapo one, with blood stained on the blade. She tossed it away. Her shirt was ruined, of course. And... 'Another scar to add to the collection, I suppose...'  Izumi thought to herself, pulling a finger down to her wound.

She jerked the finger back in surprise. Her hand was dry. There was no blood. "What the fuck...?" Izumi whispered. Finally, realization set in. Just what she had taken earlier that day. "Super Regeneration..." She whispered. It made sense. It was why that Nomu didn't regenerate that arm that Yagi All Might blew off. That must've been why her arm wasn't hurting, either. Still, she tugged at her shirt. Maybe Ochaco had a sewing kit?

Something deep within her mind chuckled. Shouldn't she be more worried about just having been stabbed? Perhaps.

She made it to the pizzeria and back to Ochaco's house without any more incidents. The girl greeted her, smiling as usual. "There you are! I was worried you got lost!" The apartment seemed mostly clean now, although Izumi noted the multiple trash bags filled with minor amusement. Ochaco was dressed more casually now, with a tank top and sweats, and Izumi felt sort of overdressed.

"Ah, just a little bit! Pizza's still hot, though. Also, do you have a sewing kit by any chance?" Ochaco shook her head negatively. "Damn. I got my uniform caught on a low branch and it sliced through."

"Oh, geez, are you okay?" Ochaco spun her around - Izumi noticed that, despite all five of the girl's fingers connecting to her top, it didn't become weightless. Ochaco had better control over her Quirk than she did. Her eyes widened at the thought as something else popped into her mind. "Geez, that's a pretty big tear for just a tree branch!" The other girl exclaimed.

Izumi chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah... I'm fine, though."

"You've got a small scar here, too! It's pretty faint, though. I guess it's a couple years old."

"Ah, yeah... from a couple years ago," Izumi agreed faintly. She didn't have any scars there that she knew of, which probably meant it came from the knife.

Ochaco hummed in understanding. "Yeah, you've got a ton of scars, huh?" She blushed and covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry! That was probably insensitive-"

Izumi waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Yeah, I have a lot. I used to train really hard - being a hero's always been my dream, you know?"

The hero student nodded emphatically. "Yup, yup! I always admired how heroes were able to make other people smile just by being there, you know? Although, and please don't laugh," she added, getting uncharacteristically serious, "a decent amount of my motivation for becoming a hero nowadays is because, well... my family isn't exactly rich, you know? And so, just, it's something I already wanted to do, and..." She laughed awkwardly.

Izumi laughed and nodded, trying to put the other girl at ease. "Yup, yup, I understand! As long as your main goal is still trying to help people, being rewarded for your work is reasonable." She flashed the other girl a smile, making her brighten.

"Mhm!"

It just shouldn't be your first thought.

Izumi woke up from sleeping on the coach, one of Ochaco's fluffy blankets on top of her, to her phone buzzing rapidly.

"Yello?" She answered blearily, trying to blink sleep out of her eyes.

"Izumi!" The voice on the other end whisper-yelled. "Jesus Christ, I've been trying to get ahold of you for nearly an hour now. Are you safe?"

The teen sat up, suddenly very much awake. "Dad! Oh, fuck! I totally forgot to text you. I walked Ochaco-san home from her place after the whole... thing... and ended up crashing here." She heard a sigh of relief on the other end.

"She's okay, 'Zashi," she heard faintly from the other end. Then, louder, "Alright. I'm glad you're alright, although I wished you had texted me. Honestly, if I hadn't seen you as you were leaving I probably would've gone on a rampage trying to find you. Can you send me a location, at least?"

"Yep, yep. Sorry again."

"It's ok, Problem Child." Her dad sounded exhausted. And considering he was always tired, that was... impressive. Izumi felt bad for worrying him. "Alright, get some more sleep. Sorry for waking you."

"No problem, it was my fault anyway. L-love you," She squeaked out, instantly hanging up after, her face feeling like it was on fire. She quickly got up and went to the bathroom, and was washing her hands when she finally looked in the mirror. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

Her eyes... were scarlet. 'Your birthright.'  A hint of a whisper floated through her mind. "No," she muttered. She blinked a few times, but the scarlet did not disappear. 'Goddess.'  The phantom of a voice came again. "No," she said, louder this time. The scarlet was still present. 'Zero... zero...'  "No!" She replied, splashing water into her eyes. Finally, as she blinked the water out, her eyes were lime again. "That's not me... I did it to protect myself... To protect the heroes..."

'Yes...'  A thought hissed. 'Protect... Heroes...'  It ripped into her mind. 'Protect... Myself...'  Izumi shook her head rapidly, as if it would get rid of the thoughts. She had stolen that Quirk yesterday. It didn't matter if it was from a villainous monster. It wasn't hers. She had made the conscious decision. It hadn't been automatic, like it was before. She had consciously wanted to do it before it activated. "Never again..." She started crying, sinking to the floor. "I'll never do it again."

'Of course not...'  The voice in her head sounded suspiciously like her Papa's. 'Although, you know, Izu-chan... There's only three steps to becoming a tyrant. First, draw a line and say you won't cross it. Second...'  

"Cross it..." Izumi replied to the empty room, to her own conscience.

'Good girl. Third step... Repeat. You've already completed the first step. Make Papa proud.'

"... Make Papa proud."

Chapter Text

"So, Midoriya-chan, I'm sure you have many questions after what happened yesterday." A grinning animal with a scar over his eye stared at Midoriya from across his desk. Next to him sat two people; one on either side. One man was tall, skinny, and had short black hair. The other could've easily been mistaken for a professional basketball player, being tall and filled with lean muscle. "This is Detective Tsukauchi, and you seem to be aware of the person on my other side, Toshinori Yagi."

Izumi was silent for a moment. Her eyes flicked over to Tsukauchi. Then to Yagi. Then back to Nedzu. "Alright."

"Are you familiar with Detective Tsukauchi?" The bear asked.

"No." The detective twitched. "I have never met him before." Twitch. "My favorite color is red." Twitch. "My favorite food is pancakes." Twitch. "I like coffee more than tea." Twitch. "My deepest ambition is to run away and join the circus." Twitch.

"I believe you've made your point," the detective cut in. "She's met me before, although I don't remember her."

"I was younger then," The teen pointed out.

Nedzu smiled. "That is how time works. For coherency's sake, Detective Tsukauchi here has a lie detector Quirk."

"Oh, really?" Izumi feigned surprise. "I didn't know that." The man twitched. Izumi resisted the urge to stick her tongue out.

"Could we have a few true and false statements to ensure that his Quirk is working to its fullest on you?" She swore the bear-rat-thing was grinning vindictively.

"Sure. I have green hair. I have green eyes. My name is Izumi Midoriya. Uh... I am proficient in both Japanese and English." Izumi listed off a few facts, and the detective nodded. "I am six feet tall, Endeavor is my favorite hero, and the Hokkaido Prefecture is the smallest prefecture in Japan." The detective twitched all three times. "I think that the detective twitching when he hears a lie is not a major drawback of his Quirk, especially when it's trying to be kept secret." The twitch this time was less noticeable, although Izumi noticed with mild amusement that, instead, the detective's eye twitched instead.

"Wonderful, wonderful." Nedzu clapped his hands. "We'd like to ask you a few questions. Refusal to answer will be taken as admission to guilt. Sound good?"

Izumi wanted to snort. 'Sound good?'  She chortled internally. "Yeah, sure."

"Wonderful," the detective deadpanned. "We'll start with yesterday. Were you present in the USJ when it was attacked?"

"Yup." Izumi nodded. "I assume you need a verbal answer for your Quirk to activate?"

"Yes. Did you know that the attack was going to take place before the villains appeared?"

Izumi raised an eyebrow. 'Really? You think that I had something to do with it?' "No." The detective twitched. A breath of air was sucked in. "Wait, what?"

"How long before the attack did you know it was going to happen?"

"Wait, wait, wait, time out." Izumi held her hands up in a 'T'. "I didn't know the attack was going to happen!" The detective... did not twinge. "See?" She blinked. "Oh. I see, so that's how- I see. Okay, I knew about five seconds beforehand because I sensed a choking presence like... appearing." Izumi waved her hands. The detective, again, did not twitch. A breath was released. "Geez, that was mindfucking."

"My apologies, Midoriya-san. This is not intended to be stressful. However, yes, my Quirk does react with resolute specificity. Do you know who the League of Villains are?"

"The who what now?"

"A yes or no answer, please."

Izumi huffed, more amused than annoyed. "Alright. No, I've never heard of them." The detective twitched. Lime-green eyes rolled. "I've never heard of them before you mentioned them. Geez, that's a real bother." Finally, the detective cracked a smile.

"Yes, I suppose it is. I have only one or two more questions about the USJ events. Did you recognize any of the villains present?"

"No." Twitch. "Kinda." Nothing. "... Yes. I recognized one."

"Was he one of the criminals captured?"

"No. He was the blue-haired villain covered in hands."

Both the detective and Toshinori Yagi leaned forward in interest. Toshinori, Izumi realized, had bags under his eyes. It appeared he hadn't sleep well the previous night. "Alright. What can you tell me about him?"

Izumi sighed resolutely. "Not much. His name is Tomura Shigaraki , he has a Quirk called Decay which turns anything he lays his hands on to dust. He is very temperamental."

"Is that all you know about him?"

"Yes." Twitch. "No. But I'm not going to share more."

"Do you think it would be helpful in this investigation?"

"I don't know." Izumi replied honestly. She wasn't sure what investigation there was, or what they were looking into.

Tsukauchi nodded and leaned back, tapping his pen against his chin. "Alright. What do you think of the man sitting over there?" He pointed his pen at Toshinori.

Izumi frowned. This was the man who had been a blight upon her thoughts for much of the past thirteen or fourteen hours. "I... Uh, he told me his name was Toshinori Yagi. I first met him a few months ago, in this school." The detective twitched. Izumi breathed in sharply as the dots were forcibly connected within her brain. This was the option that she had hoped was incorrect. "He's... He's All Might." The detective did not twitch. Toshinori-- All Might-- sat backwards in his chair, slumping down as much as a seven-foot-tall man could slump down in a chair meant for someone two feet smaller than him.

"Well done, Midoriya-kun!" Nedzu praised.

The detective sent the principal a look. He turned back to Midoriya. "When was the first time you met All Might?"

Izumi was silent for a few moments. "I don't remember the exact date."

"Try to estimate," the detective pressed.

Izumi frowned. "About... six years ago, I guess."

"What was occurring when you met him?"

"I don't want to answer this question." That wasn't a lie, at the very least.

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it would be important to the USJ investigation?"

"No...?" Izumi tilted her head. 'Why would what he was doing six years ago be important now?'

The detective nodded resolutely. "Do you hate All Might?"

"No." The detective twitched. Toshinori's knuckles were white from the stress he was putting on them. And the entire time, Nedzu sat, sipping a cup of tea. "Yes." The detective... twitched again. Izumi blinked. The detective blinked. All Might blinked. Nedzu paused from drinking his tea for a moment, then resumed. "I don't know," Izumi finally spat out. "I want to, I don't want to, I don't know."

The outburst from the previously-calm girl startled Tsukauchi, but only served to make Toshinori sigh. "Uh... Alright. What reason would you have to potentially hate All Might?"

"I don't want to-"

"Please." Toshinori Yagi said his first word of the meeting. It was pleading. Regretful. It made Izumi want to stab the man and hug him at the same time. "Please."

Izumi pondered her options. Fighting out of the office wasn't unlikely, especially after what she had seen yesterday. Finally, she sighed and sat back down in her seat, absentmindedly realizing that she had even gotten up in the first place. "Fine. He didn't save my mother." All Might stilled.

"Is that the only reason why?"

"Yes." The detective twitched. "... He's become the sole pillar of our society. If he was to ever stop being a hero, society would start to break down due to the pressure placed upon it if it's not rectified." The detective did not twitch. The blond man's face paled and his chair creaked. Nedzu smiled behind his cup, but hid it expertly.

"Are those the only reasons why?"

"Yes." The detective twitched again. This time, Izumi made no move to elaborate.

"Answer, please." The detective requested.

Izumi started to scowl. "And what would I be admitting guilt to if I refused?"

"Nothing, Midoriya-kun," Nedzu assured. "This is no longer about the USJ investigation. You are free to leave at any time."

Izumi rose halfway, and then paused. Paused at how heartfelt the man - the Number One Hero - her former idol - had sounded when he asked for her to answer. And... a slightly vindictive part aided in her decision to sit back down as she plastered a smile onto her face. "Fine. I might hate him because he didn't save me." The words sounded so bitter coming out her mouth.

"Didn't save you?" Tsukauchi was offset by her personality shifts, no doubt. "Can you elaborate?"

Izumi's smile was still there, and just as obviously fake. "I'd love to." The detective twitched. She rose, and before a single man could protest she slid her shirt off of her head and dropped it on her chair. Her top half was now only covered by a bra, and many of her scars were exposed. The stabs, the slices, the slashes... the drills... the markings. The '00' near the base of her spine. And, above that, on her left shoulder blade, separated from her heart by only centimeters, the three letters. The ones that marked her as property. "A... F... O..." She enunciated every letter, slowly spinning around in order to look at the men's faces.

Tsukauchi's was horrified. That was to be expected. She probably looked like a prisoner of war or something. Nedzu was entirely still, his face no longer smiling. Instead, something akin to hatred glowed in his eyes. And Toshinori's... She didn't revel in his pain like she thought she would. It felt... empty, almost, as she stared at his pale face. His eyes held regret. No anger. No hatred. No disgust. Just... regret.

"I think you know what that stands for." She knew Toshinori did. It had been the first time she had ever truly met All Might, after all. When he fought All For One, and the man had beaten him soundly. Rather than kill him, rather than mortally wound him, her Papa had chosen to give the Number One Hero an old-fashioned kick in the side and told him to get stronger. As if he was disappointed. And he was.

"All For One..." All Might muttered. "I'm so-"

"Don't," Izumi hissed, getting in the man's face. "Don't you dare try to apologize. Words can never- never- make up for your failure."

The teen grabbed her shirt and slipped it back on. The detective finally nearly recovered, and asked her one final question. "Do you plan on telling anyone about All Might's condition or identity?"

Izumi didn't turn around as she grabbed the door handle. She gave the man one, final treat. "Yes." She didn't wait around to see Tsukauchi twitch.

"Damn." Tomura Shigaraki growled "Damn!"

"The mission was a failure, master." Kurogiri intoned.

"A failure?" A voice came in from over a speaker. "Even with my Nomu? How did you guys fail that badly?"

"It was not necessary to kill him here, Tomura," a deeper voice responded. "Although, it's good we did it under that cheap League of Villains name."

"We would've gotten him!" The young man raged regardless.

Kurogiri stepped forward and raised his 'hands' in a placating motion. "The plan was interrupted by one of the Nomu's Quirks failing at a crucial moment."

"Failing? My inventions never-"

"Enough!" A frigid cold blared through even the speaker at the man's tone of voice. "Explain."

"He's right, Sensei, they cheated!" Shigaraki complained. "Super Regeneration didn't recreate a blown off limb."

The mist-man nodded. "That is correct. Additionally, while a girl was being held hostage, she somehow managed to jostle the Nomu enough to get it to release her, and it seemed to be afraid of her afterward."

"Well, just ask it!" The higher of the two voices on the intercom sneered. "Unless you managed to lose it, too."

The room was silent for a moment before the suited being spoke again. "He was blown away. After losing his arm, Reflect was forced out too early, and All Might was not defeated."

"Tell me about the girl."

"Sensei-" It seemed the man didn't even care about not being able to kill All Might.

"The girl," the man pressed. "What was she like?"

"She had green hair, but most of her body was covered by a hero costume. What's more, she seemed to know-"

The man on the line cut the continued sentence off with what seemed akin to urgency. "Green hair? What color were her eyes? Think carefully."

Kurogiri hesitated. "They were also green... except, at one point, they were red. After the Nomu dropped her, I believe."

"Yeah, that's right," Tomura spat on the ground, glaring at the picture of All Might that had been slashed through on the wall. "That bitch ruined everything!"

When the voice over the intercom spoke again, it was noticeably gleeful. "Green and red, hmm?" He chuckled, a sound that made all three people hearing it shiver. "This is wonderful news. I would even dare to call this mission a success, then. And, Shigaraki..." The boy perked his head up.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"If you kill that girl, I'll kill you." All For One cut the communication line, turning around to stare at the picture on his desk of his daughter. "I'll see you soon again, Zero-Zero... I'm glad you've finally begun to accept your birthright, Izumi. Use the power you've been given. Get as close to me as you possibly can. I look forward to seeing the woman you've become."

Tomura Shigaraki glowered at the blank TV. "... Gah!" He finally shouted, flinging his uninjured hand towards some glasses, quickly beginning to dissolve them. Kurogiri sighed as he watched. Not wanting to listen to the outburst, the doctor hung up too, muttered as he did.

Intermittent words were heard. "Damn brats... lost... three..."Click.

Kurogiri sighed as he witnessed his second master rage. He couldn't do anything to stop this... even if he wanted to. His hand scratched absent-mindedly at his metal collar. He grinned in slight pain as they caught the groove of what had been carved into the metal. He'd find that girl that his Sensei was worried about. Maybe then- Maybe then... Maybe then, he'd start to remember.

And he'd do anything to remember.

Chapter Text

"So... what now?" Tsukauchi asked, finally done staring at the doorway the fiery teen had just walked through. The room was silent for a moment. Toshinori seemed to have aged twenty years, although that might just have been due to his Quirk being deactivated, and his head was in his hands.

Nedzu took a long sip of tea, but found that it seemed to no longer taste as good. "I think it would be prudent to-"

"I still want her," All Might intervened. The other two occupants looked at him in shock.

"Really, Yagi?" Tsukauchi wanted to physically hammer some sense into his old friend's thick skull, but knew there was little chance of that working. "She's... unstable! I finally remembered where I met her before, too! She's was or is a vigilante, and-"

"Tsukauchi-san," Yuuei's principal held up a paw to stop the man's tirade. "We know about her vigilantism."

"You don't understand! The guy who she caught said that she took his Quirk. Took his Quirk! I thought it was bullshit at first, but-"

"So what?" Toshinori seemed to be in the business of interrupting people now. "So what if she has All For One's Quirk? Quirks don't make people evil."

"She clearly hates him as well," The bear-rat piped up. A glare was sent his way accompanied by dark hair.

"I think that she's right for One For All." Toshinori raised his head, his eyes blazing a beautiful azure. "I failed her once by failing to save her. I have a chance to make it up to her now. She epitomizes what it means to be a hero, and her father, if that's what he is, being a villain doesn't change that. We can rise beyond our origins to become something infinitely greater."

'He's comparing her to himself,'  Tsukauchi realized. It was dangerous. "Her father is not just 'a villain'. He's the boogeyman of humanity - the worst of them all."

"I know that. God, Naomasa, don't you think I know that?!" All Might replied. "That makes no difference - not to me. I have a feeling that she's the one who should be the Ninth Holder, and you can not change my mind."

'I know...'  Tsukauchi regretted where his thoughts went. 'But I can change hers.'  Still... "Power like this shouldn't be decided on a whim, Yagi!"

"It's not about 'power'!" All Might rumbled, suddenly back into his (more) muscular form. "It's about being a hero. For all we do at this school, you can not teach someone how to be heroic. That is a choice that they must make constantly, consistently. Heroes are not made. They are born. One For All is simply a way to make a hero's soul shine brighter. And that girl, Izumi Midoriya... She has the brightest soul I've ever met."

Izumi flicked a tennis ball at the wall, then pulled it back with Attraction. She had been doing this for the best part of half an hour, the rhythmic thumping doing its best to fill the emptiness she was feeling. Wasn't anger supposed to be freeing, or something? She didn't feel freed, reinvigorated, nothing like that... She just felt... regretful.

And that regret made her feel angry again, this time at herself. It was a self-sufficient cycle, and a brutal one at that. 'They didn't deserve that...'  Izumi moped. 'Plus, there goes a whole heck ton of my secrets. I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to stay in Yuuei. Hell, I'll be lucky if I can stay out of prison.'

The door to her room opened. "Hey," Shouta greeted. He seemed to still be notably exhausted from the day before. Izumi stopped pulling at the ball, and it fell to the floor on the next hit, bouncing quietly.

"Yo," Izumi murmured. Shouta sat down next to her on the floor, quiet for a little bit. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just seeking comfort in the other's aura.

"... You're not expelled, if that's what you're wondering."

Izumi laughed mirthlessly. "You already know, huh? Bet they couldn't wait to go blabbering."

Aizawa shook his head. "It's not like that. You should've... You should've told me."

"Told you what?" Izumi questioned more forcefully than she intended. "That I was experimented on? Tortured? A freak of nature?"

"You are not a freak of nature." The green-haired teen felt Aizawa's black eyes bore into the side of her head. "You are just a child. It's not your fault. It never has been."

"I know."

"It's not your fault," Aizawa repeated.

Izumi grit her teeth. "I know."

"It's not your-"

"I know!" Izumi finally shot up and screamed. "I know, I know, I know!" She didn't want to be angry, she realized. But she had to be, because there was nothing else that she wanted to be. Or, maybe, nothing else she wasn't scared of being. All of the sudden, she froze.

Clothed arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry." Her dad sounded mournful, truly.

"I... Don't... You shouldn't..." Izumi started hiccupping, roughly wiping at her eyes as she pulled away. "I-I'm not worth feeling sorry for. There are so many people-"

"No." Shouta insisted. "You shouldn't have had to suffer, Izumi. Nobody deserves to suffer. I don't care if someone else suffered more than you. You shouldn't have suffered, either, and neither should they. But them suffering more than you doesn't make your suffering invalid. It's okay to not be okay."

Finally, the floodgates opened, and Izumi slumped to her knees, sobbing. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Aizawa knelt down and comforted her, albeit slightly awkwardly. He wasn't used to being in this position, but... "It's alright, Izumi. It's not your fault."

"I-" She hiccupped. "I stole one of that thing's Quirks. I didn't even-"

"It was a life or death situation," the Underground Hero consoled. "You probably saved All Might's life. Probably saved my life."

Izumi shook her head, the tears still coming. "B-But... I... I shouldn't-"

"Shh, Izumi..." Eraserhead comforted. "That... that Nomu... it wasn't a person. Not anymore, if it ever was. There was no processing in its brain. What you did, it was a good thing. You can never have a perfect rule - there's nothing that will apply to every single situation. You can come close, but sometimes, things just... have to happen." He engulfed his daughter in another hug. "You're not a bad person, Izumi. You did that to protect people."

The girl kept crying, and Hizashi found them in the same spot when he came home an hour later. Izumi wasn't crying anymore, but she certainly still needed comfort. And, as he walked away from the room, he could've sworn he heard his boyfriend say, "I love you too, Problem Child. That will never change." A thankful smile bloomed on the blond man's face. His family needed to be there for each other. He wasn't as close to Izumi as Shouta was, but... he would still help how he could.

"My Quirk... kills me slowly," Izumi admitted softly. "My body can't handle the strain of having multiple Quirks, although it's lessened because of the genetic predisposition towards them. But, whenever I took someone's Quirk, it became... so much worse..." She mumbled.

Aizawa's mouth dried. "The blood on your glove-"

"From when I took the electric guy's Quirk, yeah..." She was silent for a moment. "But, with this Quirk, it's almost like the opposite. Not only is it counteracting itself, it's also stopping my other Quirks from degrading my body. But... that seems to also be limiting it. It probably won't be able to... recreate limbs or stuff, since it's too busy healing my cells already."

"... How long have you known about it?" The black-haired man asked finally.

"Always." Came the immediate answer. "The day I got Telekinesis, I started coughing up blood. I-... We went to the doctor, and he said my body's cells were fighting each other, and they weren't sure why. My dad wanted to take the Quirk back, but I-I was so excited to finally have a Quirk, damn it! I wouldn't let him."

"Your dad...?" Shouta prompted, seeking confirmation.

Izumi slumped down. "All For One. Hisashi Midoriya."

Shouta frowned. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but... Everything had lined up. All For One wasn't exactly a secret, per se, to some of the Yuuei staff, but it wasn't something that was spread around willy nilly, either. Knowledge of a villain stronger than All Might, that they couldn't track, couldn't capture... It would rattle society, without a doubt. Endeavor would probably go insane trying to find him and take him down, that or lose his Quirk, and then they'd be without a Number Two.

"I see." He wasn't sure how else to respond. "And he-"

"Yep. Him and his 'doctor', although I'm not sure what place would ever give him a degree. He tried implanting- well, first, he tried extracting my Quirk. And then, when that didn't work, he tried implanting Quirks into me to try and break me. My body kept accepting them, though, killing me at an increased pace rather than destroying my mind. So he took them back. Eventually, he just... gave up. Said he didn't want to keep torturing his child. Told me to go and get stronger, and I think it's the same reason why he's letting All Might get stronger."

Shouta breathed in deeply. "And that is?"

"Awakening All For One. The Quirk," she added, to minimize confusion. "Right now, he can't take Quirks from people who share significant amounts of DNA with him, and he can't weave the Quirks together without conscious effort."

"Awakening... Like, a higher stage?" Shouta questioned, an eyebrow raised. The green-eyed teen nodded, and he took this as a signal to continue. "And you can do those?"

This time, Izumi shook her head negatively. "No. I have a 'copy' of his Quirk, although it's really just a rough imitation of it. It should've been a lot weaker, but with my original Quirk, it's nearly the same strength. I can't bypass the DNA relation, but I can weave them together... theoretically. I've never- you know," Izumi waved her hand, giving a half-hearted giggle-sob as a few tears leaked from her eyes. "Quirks awaken under stressful situations, right? They're a response to a true fight or flight scenario - so they can't be tricked into Awakening. So he's trying to ensure someone gets strong enough so that he can Awaken his own Quirk, and that way, he'd be unstoppable. He wants All Might's Quirk."

"Wait, All Might is related to that... Villain?" Shouta considered the implications of the question.

"T-technically," Izumi laughed awkwardly. Neither party involved mentioned how forced it was. "I'm not really sure- uh... It would be better to ask him yourself. I don't really know the full story."

The Underground Hero made a face. "All... right." He cleared his throat a little. "School was canceled today, of course, but we'll be back in there tomorrow."

"Just for the Friday?" Izumi snickered slightly, rubbing her tear-stained cheeks. She tried to keep her voice even. "Feels like they should just let us have the weekend."

"Yuuei didn't get to where it is by going easy on its students," Aizawa pointed out. "There's counseling if any-"

"-I don't need it."

"I didn't say you did, but it's there, it's confidential. Additionally, there's going to be the Sports Festival-"

Izumi stared at the man intensely. "It's still on?"

Aizawa clicked his tongue. "Yeah. I don't think it's a great idea, but... Nedzu wants to show that Yuuei is still going strong after the USJ attack. Plus, from the children they've talked to, nobody seems too distraught over it."

"And what if it gets attacked?" Izumi pointed out. "Has the principal decided it's worth the risk?"

"I don't pretend to know what goes on through that rat's head, but all of the faculty will be there, including All Might, as well as a slew of potential heroes who have children or siblings in Yuuei. For instance, the Number Two Hero, whose son is in your class, and the Number Sixteen Hero, Ingenium." 

Izumi scrunched her nose distastefully, but sighed. "I'm assuming you can't try and change his mind."

Aizawa sighed. "Definitely not. Once that evil rat gets his mind set on something..." They frowned in unison. "However, there is someone I've thought about transferring over."

"Oh?" Izumi inquired. "Who?"

Aizawa gave her a deadpan stare. "If I told you, you'd do everything you could to make sure he would win, and that's the exact opposite of what I want to happen."

"A 'he', hmm?" The teen gave a lazy smile. "I'll figure it out eventually."

"You're a menace, Problem Child," Shouta declared. "Anyway, I'm telling you now that, because you were the highest scorer on the entrance exam, you'll be the one leading the pledge, and will be the Student Representative for the freshmen."

Izumi's face fell. "I'm not doing that stupid pledge."

"Then don't. We can't force you. But you'll be saying something, and I know you don't like being put on the spot, so you better figure out something beforehand."

"When's the festival?"

"... Two weeks from now."

Green hair flew as the teen breathed in deeply. "Fuck... Alright. Am I allowed to get out early?"

"You're allowed to do anything, Izumi," Shouta smiled at his daughter. "As long as you get what you want out of it. The Sports Festival is going to be a way for different hero agencies to scout you, so if you already have someone in mind, you don't need to do well, but... I know how competitive you can get."

"That's fair, but..."

"The top three students get unrestricted access to the gyms for the rest of the year."

"I'm in."

"Use it, Izumi. Use your power." A deep voice came from a speaker.

A green-haired girl was sobbing. She was wearing a white hospital gown, but it was heavily stained with dark splotches all over it, and she didn't seem to be older than seven or eight. In the room with her there were two unconscious men, as well as a target set up against the far wall. "N-no, Papa..."

"Do it. Or else, next time, I'll go find one of those Pro Heroes you love and bring them here next time. And if you don't do it, I'll kill these two. I'll kill both of them now. Use your power. Save their lives." The child's resistance didn't last much longer. Still crying, she reached down and grabbed the first man's arm. The room went eerily quiet for a few moments until the sobs started back up. "Good girl," the voice praised. "Now... use it."

Izumi's lime-green eyes were flecked with red spots swirling around in them. Oddly enough, they seemed to be... attacking the green, almost, flaring out and gaining and losing in number. She aimed her hands towards the target on the other side of the room, trying to aim. The tears welling in her eyes made it difficult, though.

"Use it!" The voice demanded. By pure reaction, the Quirk activated. Two bullets shot out from her hands, one from either index finger. One hit the target in the shoulder, the other missed entirely. "Again." She shot again. This time, both hit the target, neither scoring. "Again." A four and a six. "Again, until you hit two bullseyes at once... or set the bullets on fire."

"Papa, it hurts," Izumi sobbed.

All For One ignored her. "Shoot!" Izumi coughed up a bit of blood onto the floor, and the sobbing returned twofold. "Shoot the target!" The child shot again, screaming in pain as she did. Both missed, one hitting the ceiling.

"Pathetic..." The voice muttered. "I thought you wanted to save people. How are you going to save people when you can't even use a Quirk correctly? Doctor-"

"Stop!" Izumi cried. "I'll... I'll do it..." She grabbed the second man's arm, and the room went quiet again. She stood up afterwards, coughing as she did, tears streaming out of her eyes. "I-I... I can do it... I'll... save..." Blood started dribbling out of her mouth. "I'll... save them..."

The room was fading out, blackness beginning to overtake her vision. She was starting to sway, but she held up her arms anyway. Just the effort of keeping them up felt like she was trying to climb through a waterfall of maple syrup. She breathed in, coughing slightly at the taste of copper in her mouth. Her eyelids were closing shut without her approval, and she could hardly feel anything as both Quirks activated and flaming bullets raced towards the target, igniting it on impact.

"Good girl, Izumi..." All For One chuckled through the speaker as the child fell to her knees. She had double vision now, and her nose was beginning to leak blood as well. "Kill them. Dispose of the bodies." He ordered to someone on the other side of the speaker.

"No..." Izumi muttered. The door to the room slammed open, and she thought she could see some large men picking up the men whose Quirks she had taken. "No..." She repeated again, straining to lift her head off the ground. She stared at one of the men, who was looking at her uncaringly as he picked up the kidnapped civilian. He began to hoist him up, and Izumi couldn't take it anymore. "No!" She screamed, and using the rest of her energy, she lifted up one of her arms and fired another flaming bullet.

Her green eyes closed and her head slammed back against the ground after she exercised the rest of her energy. She thought she might've heard a thumping noise as her world faded to black, but she paid it no heed. 'Sleep sounds really good right about now.' The small girl thought. And sleep she did.

Chapter Text

Izumi breezed into the gym as school let out. All Might was already there, although he appeared nervous. "Young Midoriya," he greeted as she approached. "I didn't know whether you'd show up or not."

"I'm here." Was her curt reply as she tossed her bag onto a chair and shed her uniform, her hero costume already on underneath it. "Don't waste my time, hm?"

Toshinori raised an eyebrow, ignoring the unsubtle jab. "Were you... wearing your costume all day?"

Green eyes pierced his soul. "Maybe." The blond man sighed, but cracked his knuckles instead of responding.

"Alright. Since this is our first training session, we'll just spar so I can get a better feel for your strengths and weaknesses. Did you bring your staff like I requested?" Instead of a verbal response, Izumi pushed a button on what appeared to be a black pill-like cylinder, which quickly expanded into her trusty staff. "Good. Obviously, I won't be going at full power. Begin whenever you're ready."

Izumi bit back a growl at the statement. She wouldn't be able to beat him at full power, she knew that logically. Still, having him go easy on her... sucked. "M'kay," she replied instead, and began her approach. She closed the distance slowly at first, but as she came within ten feet, she quickly leapt into action.

All Might tracked her with his eyes. She went left first, then right, then made a feint before planting the tip of her staff into the ground and spinning around with a kick. He caught it, but the girl adapted quickly, bringing around her other leg in a wider kick towards his head. All Might leaned back to avoid it, but the girl swirled her staff, dropping her body weight towards the ground, the opposing end hitting the inside of Yagi's leg before the opposing tip dug into the ground, stopping the girl from hitting her head. The sudden weight and attack forced Toshinori to drop the girl, and she bounced back after finishing the sequence.

"Well done, Young Midoriya!" The man praised, quickly revising his opinion of the girl. Regardless of whether he was going easy or not, being able to adapt so quickly and also land a successful hit on him was incredible. He tried to keep the events of the day before out of his mind, the scars- the scars... He blinked, and then breathed in. "My turn."

All Might launched from his starting point, flying past the girl, and then bounced off of the far wall at an angle. He was planning on going towards the side, but a sudden weight on his leg messed up his trajectory. Midoriya was using her Quirk... but it wasn't strong enough to forcefully move nearly 600 pounds of pure muscle while in motion. Still, it adjusted his angle enough that the hero was forced to instead bounce off of the floor, taking her new approach from the ceiling.

Izumi bounced back from the initial hit, landing in a handstand and bouncing again as All Might came in for another blow, but was finally caught in the air by the man's third grab. Before the pressure could get too intense, she found herself with her feet back on the ground again, although her world was still spinning somewhat.

"Well done, Young Midoriya!" All Might praised.

"Stop doing that," Izumi demanded. "We're not here for social hour. If you're here to teach me, then teach me. Don't tell me I'm good when I know I'm not."

All Might looked at the girl, concern written upon his face. "But you are good. Not many people can claim to have landed a blow on me, nor dodged not one, but two of my attacks," he pointed out.

Izumi rolled her eyes. "You're holding back. It doesn't matter." Her tone was still frosty. All Might frowned.

"Hm. Tell you what - I'll fight you at full capacity... but with my Quirk deactivated."

Green eyes narrowed. "I assume that's the form I met you on the beach in, hm?" All Might nodded. "Fine. After I win, you can go harder on me."

All Might gave a chuckle. "Alright." He slid into the gym's ring as he deactivated One For All, Izumi kicking off her shoes and following soon after. "Your go, Young Mido-"

"Go." Izumi cut the man off and they began to circle. "So, you're dying, right? That's what the whole thing with your activated and deactivated Quirk is, right?"

All Might frowned. "Yep. All For One and I fought six years ago, and he beat me. Instead of killing me, though, he simply injured me slightly. I assume you know about this?"

"Yeah," The green-haired girl replied. "That was the night I... escaped."

"I... see," Toshinori intoned. "It's not as bad as it could've been. One of my lungs was ruptured and unsalvageable, but I'm otherwise fine. However, despite all the training and effort I've put in over the past few years, I'm still barely above the level I was at then. If I hadn't been injured, I could've been much stronger now. I have to constantly fight against my missing lung and aging, and I fear that I'm nearing the end of my growth."

Izumi tested a swing with her staff, which the blond easily dodged.

The man grinned. "I assume you know about my Quirk, One For All?" Izumi's foot slipped for a moment, but she was back to circling as fast as it happened.

"I don't know what I don't know," Izumi replied, a non-answer. At hearing her opponent's huff, though, she rolled her eyes and continued. "I know that it was originally called Power Stack. It allows you to store up energy. It wasn't originally intended to be powerful, but when combined with the Quirk to pass Quirks on, it has morphed into what it is today."

All Might's eyebrows rose. "So you know just about everything. That makes this easier."

Izumi's eyes narrowed as her senses heightened. While the Number One Hero didn't seem like the type of man who would attack a relatively innocent teenage girl, Hisashi Midoriya also hadn't seemed like the type of man who would torture his daughter in an attempt to steal her Quirk. "Makes what easier?" She questioned.

"I want to pass One For All on to you."

Izumi stalled in her movement, halfway through a step, nearly falling over. Whatever she had expected... "What?"

All Might careened forward, throwing a punch which only the teen's instincts allowed her to dodge. "I want to make you the next bearer of One For All."

The girl grit her teeth and swung her staff at her opponent, but his semi-muscular frame allowed him to catch the weapon and tear it out of the hero student's grip, and it was subsequently thrown out of the arena. "I don't understand. Why me? I'm the daughter of your mortal enemy. An ex-vigilante. Some... teen with mental issues. Surely I'm not the best fit for it."

"That's what other people told me, too," Toshinori grinned as he sent a jab at the girl, who tried to fall into pace as she deflected it. "I don't care, though. One For All doesn't care about statistics, I can't find a successor from a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper. All I wanted to look for was someone with the spirit of a true hero. Someone who went out and helped people because why wouldn't they?" The girl sucked in a breath of air as the words hit true. "You help people. I don't judge progeny by parent - I would never dare to call someone a villain just because their parent was a villain."

Izumi felt the tears beginning to leak from her eyes, but did her best to ignore them. "Still, I could- I'm not- I- There's so many better people out there that could get this! Some- I don't know, some hero who already has some brilliant Quirk that could be combined better with it, someone tested-"

All Might chuckled. "Perhaps. But I don't want them, Young Midoriya. Someone who grew up with a strong, flashy Quirk - someone who's always been told they can be a hero, they get used to it. Accustomed, even. They start to lose respect for their own power, because they've never been without it. But, for someone who has never been told that they can be a hero, for someone who believes that they themselves can not be a hero, and yet still try to help others anyways... They know what it feels like to be on the bottom of society. And they know that nobody should ever be there."

The teen growled and threw a punch. "You don't know me. How do you know I don't help people for my own reasons? Maybe I want popularity-"

"-Then you would be more public-"

"-Or appreciation-"

"-Then you would stick around longer than to comfort them-"

"-Or maybe I just feel good for saving people,"

"Why would you feel good about saving people unless you thought it was the right thing to do?"

Izumi was silent. Finally, she sent an annoyed glare at All Might, as well as a spinning kick which he blocked with both arms, gritting his teeth. "If you try hard enough, anyone can find a justification for anything. If you're trying to see me as a perfect little hero, you'll try and fit any narrative in-"

"Except I'm not the one who's fitting narratives in, Young Midoriya." The girl froze. "You made up those arguments because you don't see yourself as worthy." Toshinori feinted to the left, but finally swept the girl's legs out from under her, sending her to the mat. "I'm not giving you One For All because you're the perfect hero already. There was something you told me on Dagobah Beach... Something that I think applies here. It was something like... 'They don't understand that they're not expected to come to a Hero School already prepared to be a full-fledged hero,' if I remember correctly."

Izumi panted from her place on the mat, out of breath from the fight. "Don't use my own words against me."

"Why not?" All Might challenged. "If you truly believe in those words that you said, there's no reason why they shouldn't apply to you here."

The green-haired teen pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Just because they apply to others doesn't mean they apply to me," she huffed, looking towards the wall.

"Young Midoriya." She turned her head towards her teacher to see him hold out a hand to her, ready to pick her up off of the ground. "I don't care what other people have told you. I don't care what you've told yourself. You can become a hero, Izumi. You can become a hero."

Tears began to stream openly down the girl's face. She grit her teeth and shook her head, trying to keep in her urge to scream. "I... won't steal your Quirk from you..." She finally whispered. She pushed herself up off the ground, the same way she always had, refusing the man's hand. She slipped out of the arena, retrieving her staff and collapsing it in a smooth motion.

"I don't need you to say yes now, Young Midoriya," All Might called out to her from his place in the ring. "But I believe you are the one fit to be the next holder of One For All. And unless you tell me 'no', I will not stop trying. You can become a hero. And, if I'm being honest, I think you already are one."

Izumi left the gym without replying, but the Number One Hero, with his enhanced senses, could hear her sobs far after the door closed.

The young holder of All For One wasn't going to let some damn hero tell her that she could be a hero eight years too late. She would face her problems the same way she always had...

Alone.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," Tsukauchi spoke hurriedly as he sank into a chair. "This is a matter of great importance."

Sir Nighteye looked at his old acquaintance with something akin to boredom. "Isn't everything?" His tone seemed to imply the exact opposite.

"Yagi is-" Naomasa checked the office to make sure there weren't any eavesdroppers.

"This office is secure," Sir Nighteye waved off his concern.

The detective cleared his throat and nodded. "Sorry. It's just- well, you know. Yagi is thinking of passing on One For All."

The hero's face didn't change. "Usually, I'd see this as being a good thing. But, considering you're coming to me in a panic..." In was an indication to get to the point, which Naomasa did eagerly.

"He has a girl in mind." Sir Nighteye's eyes narrowed. He had been intending to present Mirio as a worthy successor, although the boy was powerful in his own right with or without One For All regardless. "... she's All For One's daughter."

Mirai's yellow eyes widened in shock. "His daughter? Are you sure?"

"Positive. She has his Quirk, too. And..." The detective's voice trailed off, becoming slightly regretful at the words he was about to say. "... I have recorded evidence of her engaging in vigilantism."

Sir Nighteye blinked. "... You're thinking of getting her arrested so that he can't pass on the Quirk to her." It wasn't a question. There was a small amount of hatred concealed within the statement, too.

"The alternative is having One For All going to All For One's daughter, Sasaki!" Tsukauchi hissed. "She's unstable at best! At worst, she's in leagues with her father and we'll be all but handing it over to him!"

Both men were silent for a few moments after the outburst. "Unstable, she may be, but... I can tell you for sure that she is not working with her father."

Naomasa stilled. "For sure?"

"Indeed." Mirai leaned forward, his glasses catching the light. "When Yagi lost, that night... She's the one who called for help. I met her, briefly... She was a small slip of a thing... But there's no doubt in my mind that if she hadn't been there, Yagi would be significantly weaker now, or perhaps even dead. Rather than just a collapsed lung, he could've potentially lost his stomach, a kidney, anything, really."

Tsukauchi tried to moisten his dry lips. "Still... She's no doubt heavily scarred and traumatized. One For All would be better off in someone else's hands, such as Young Mirio..."

"Yes..." Sasaki made a face that signified he was very displeased with the topic. "It's horrible. We're supposed to be doing the right thing, Naomasa. To imprison a young girl just because Yagi wants to pass on One For All to her... It would go against everything we're supposed to stand for. And, don't forget, we could drive her towards the very thing we're trying to prevent. If we lock her up for helping people, who's to say that she wouldn't reach out to her father and join him? Bad things happen when you try to resist fate."

The detective glared. "You and your fate, Sasaki. You let the future control your present until it's too late to change anything."

"I think it's time for you to leave, Naomasa." Sir Nighteye stood up, his gaze steely. "I can show you to the door."

"No thanks," Detective Tsukauchi spat, pushing back his chair as he got to his feet. "I'd rather show myself out rather than be led by a cowardly fanboy."

Chapter Text

Mirai Sasaki glared at the cell phone sitting on his desk. The phone hadn't done anything, no, but the Pro Hero was upset. 'I should just call him...'  He thought. 'He'd be delighted to hear from me, no doubt.'  All Might had tried to contact him a multitude of times over the past few years, yes, but he had always let the phone ring. It was more a matter of principle at this point. If Yagi wasn't going to listen to his advice, his warnings-

Was he really about to break his silence for something that wasn't worth it? Tsukauchi was right, in a sense. The girl wasn't the best fit for One For All, without a doubt. There were dozens, if not hundreds of more viable candidates. Mirio Togata, of course, was among the top ones. Sir Nighteye had trained the boy himself, had glimpsed the child's spirit and potential... If Toshinori was looking for soul, he needn't look further.

He didn't agree with the plan of arresting her to prevent Yagi from giving her One For All, but... Yagi was very insistent once he made up his mind. Mirai didn't know if there was any other way to stop this particular exchange from happening. Unless...

All Might would never force the girl to accept. So, if she didn't want it... It was still dreadful. But... It was far better than Tsukauchi's plan of arresting her, and it didn't go quite so terribly against his spirit of upholding justice.

He just hoped Yagi would forgive him afterward. He dialed the detective's number.

Izumi huffed as she gathered her wits. Shouto Todoroki was a hell of an opponent to fight. So far, he hadn't been able to catch her, but that's because his massive ice attacks took time to make, and he was having trouble multitasking. Still... The teen glanced to her left and to her right, both sides carrying massive glaciers... She was running out of places to run.

That meant it was time to go on the offensive. She dashed forward and hopped off of one of the solid glaciers. Todoroki stumbled back, obviously not expecting her to come at him so fast. Then, Izumi made a mistake. A relatively minor one. She aimed for Todoroki's left side. He had only been using his right side and his ice all fight, so Izumi almost forgot that he could make fire with his right side. A blanket of heat appeared, and...

It disappeared. Izumi's strike landed, tossing the peppermint-haired boy backwards and out of the ring. There was applause from the class, all dressed in their hero costumes. It was Heroics Class, after all. Izumi stalked over to Todoroki, glaring as she offered him a hand up. The boy grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. Venomous green eyes stared into apathetic turquoise and gray eyes. "You were going easy on me," Izumi accused.

"No." Todoroki's answer was curt. "I do not use my left side in combat."

If anything, Izumi's glare worsened. "Why? Think you're that much better than us?" Todoroki scoffed, but didn't answer. Some emotion seemed to have snuck into his irises, but the girl couldn't place it. "Whatever." Izumi turned around. "Good fight, I guess."

"A wonderful display of sportsmanship," All Might applauded, in a different hero costume than the first day of class. "That dethrones Young Todoroki, and makes Young Midoriya the new Queen of the Hill. And next is..." All Might peered down at the list in his hands. "Young Bakugo!"

"Finally, some action," the ash-blond boy scoffed. "Better give me a good warmup, extra."

Izumi reentered the ring. The glaciers had already melted, courtesy of Todoroki. "I've heard the school infirmary has fluffy blankets." She heard an intake of breath from the sidelines, and turned to see Eijiro and Denki barely holding their laughter in. She rolled her eyes. Bakugo didn't respond to her jest, though. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes and settled into his fighting stance.

From what Izumi could tell, his fighting style took inspiration from All Might, but combined it with massive maneuverability. The boy was not to be underestimated. 'And, for some reason, he knew my parents...'  The thought threw Izumi back into her bad mood as she prepared to spar, too.

"Ready... Go!" The teacher shouted. Immediately, both sides rushed into action. Bakugo was starting out early with his Quirk, using explosions to gain speed. Izumi had started off sprinting, but had to slow down due to how fast her opponent was approaching. She dropped low into a spring kick, hoping to launch the boy upwards, but he instead flew around her with an explosion and hit her in the back with his Quirk.

Izumi was tossed across the ring, but didn't fall out. She righted herself quickly, springing to her feet. The boy was on her in a moment, throwing another attack that she had to roll out of the way of. If she remembered correctly, his Quirk was based off of... sweat? He was already starting to sweat, although the steam rising off of the ground due to Todoroki melting his glaciers hindered it somewhat. That meant that his Quirk would only get stronger as the fight went on.

She sprang to the side as Bakugo flew past her, and then pulled him back with all ten fingers of her Quirk. He came flying back towards her, but he was already righting himself in the air in order to face her head-on. 'Well, can't have that.'  Izumi thought to herself. She used four fingers of Repulsion on the blond's left arm, sending him spinning out of control, and then landed a solid kick to the teen's stomach, halting his momentum.

Izumi planted her foot on the boy's chest. "Wanna surrender?" She offered. In response, he only growled. He raised his right arm, but the green-haired teen reacted quickly, forcing it back down using her Quirk. Then, the left arm. It was repeated. Now, she was using both hands of her Quirk to force him down, as well as her foot on his chest. "If I were you, I'd surrender."

A sneer passed Bakugo's face. "Good thing I'm not you." The ground under him exploded as he used his Quirk under him, sending Izumi flying. She righted herself in the air, executing a shaky flip and landing in a crouch on the ground. She heard someone say something from the sidelines, but ignored it. She sprinted forward, and Bakugo propelled himself using his explosions. At the last second, Izumi jumped, ending up over the boy.

She reached out to use Repulsion on him in order to send him to the ground. What happened instead, though, was Bakugo launched himself to the side, instead causing Izumi to use Repulsion on the ground, sending herself upwards instead. It was an unfortunate downside to Attraction/Repulsion - if she tried to use it on something too sturdy, the effect was applied to her body instead.

Bakugo smirked, holding up one of his arm gauntlets. "If they designed this the way I wanted, this should've been storing up my sweat all fight. Which means, when I pull this pin..." Izumi gaped in shock. That kind of blast could kill her!

"Young Bakugo!" She heard All Might yell. "If you use that attack against a defenseless opponent, I will-" Bakugo pulled the pin. In a burst of desperation, Izumi yanked at his foot while falling, sending him off balance. The shot went wide, exploding into the roof. A few pebbles fell, but the structure held. Izumi landed on the ground harshly, getting the air knocked out of her.

"Damn," Bakugo spoke, not sounding disappointed at all. "Good thing I have a second try." He aimed his gauntlet at Izumi, but she was ready this time. The focused her attention on the small pin that seemed to be the activator for the support item and tore it off with Repulsion. It hit Bakugo in the face, giving her time to right herself as he blinked. She was breathing heavy. This was a much harder fight than expected, and she had already had pretty high expectations. The ash-blond growled as he processed what happened.

The green-eyed teen dashed in, hoping to end the fight as quickly as possible. Bakugo hopped back, tearing his gauntlet off of his arm and tossing it at his opponent. She dodged out of the way, but was thrown off-balance by the massive explosion that occurred as the boy detonated it. The tip of her glove was caught in the blast, but protected her hand somewhat. Her hearing was definitely impaired, though, and the naturally-gifted boy sensed it like a shark smelling blood.

He grinned, showing his teeth, and his eyes narrowed. He came in again, going low as he propelled himself with rapid explosions. Izumi immediately saw him preparing to do what he had done at the start of the fight, but a sudden thought occurred to her: 'He's far too smart to do that again,'  she told herself. Which meant... She took a chance. She whirled around the opposite way from the direction that the blond had come from last time, and was proven right as his shocked red eyes widened as she tracked his movements and grabbed him by the arm and flung him over her shoulder. There were only two problems with the move.

One: She wasn't concentrating. And two... the tip of her right glove had burned off. Both students were still for less than a second, and it could've been attributed to the stun from the massive throw. Bakugo rolled and jumped back up, and then tensed. He started moving, and then stumbled. Izumi took advantage of the mistake, pulling him towards her and then pushing him out of bounds. She felt terrible as she saw the shock and confusion in the boy's eyes. 

"Brilliant!" All Might clapped, but the rest of the class stared, shocked beyond belief. Finally, one person started clapping, and it was quickly followed by more and more people. Izumi rushed over, pulling Bakugo up quickly. They hardly paused at all, but the boy still seem shocked. He pulled his hand free from Izumi's, his breathing shallow and his eyes wide as he stared at his hands. He held his breath for a moment, and a few small sparks fluttered out of his hands as Izumi stepped backwards. The teen breathed a sigh of relief, the cockiness coming back to his eyes, although his breathing was still uneven.

"You... got lucky... extra..." He huffed out, then made his way back over to the sidelines slowly. Izumi much preferred the egocentrism to how scared the boy had looked.

"Next up, Young Midoriya versus-"

Izumi held her hand up, stopping the Pro Hero. "Actually, I'm pretty tired... Would it be okay if I stepped down?"

All Might nodded. "Of course, of course! In that case, it will be Young Ashido against Young Yaoyorozu!" The two girls took to the stage, one more energetic than the other.

"Let's give the others a good fight," Momo smiled.

Mina giggled. "After what we just witnessed? Let's just hope we don't bore them to tears!" Both girls laughed, smiling at each other. What followed was a much slower-paced match, and definitely not as destructive. It ended in a win for Mina after she cornered the older girl and then forced her out of the playing field. Izumi allowed herself to rest a little as Kirishima and Kaminari constantly tried to get her to talk.

"Your fights were crazy!" Kirishima exclaimed. "I can't believe how strong you are!"

Denki nodded, laughing. "Yeah! You went up against two of the strongest guys in the class and absolutely demolished them!" He agreed easily.

Izumi laughed tiredly. "I wouldn't say absolutely demolished them... I'm barely able to stand at this point, and if I hadn't gotten lucky with Bakugo loosing his footing, he probably would've beat me," she admitted. 'If I hadn't accidentally taken his Quirk... I would've most definitely lost, and that's not acceptable.' The green-haired girl grit her teeth. She needed to be stronger. Fuck, she needed to be stronger. A soft voice spoke up in the back of her head. 'You could always accept All Might's offer-...'

Izumi shook her head, causing the people around her to look at her in concern. "Are you okay, Midoriya-san?" Ochaco's voice came, filled with concern. Izumi turned towards her and smiled.

"Yep! Just thinking about what I could've done differently during the fight..." Izumi laughed, hoping it sounded genuine. The brunette seemed unconvinced, but let it go.

"Really?" Kirishima asked. "You seemed like a total powerhouse during that entire thing; I don't think I could've done any of that," the boy chuckled, ruffling his red hair.

"Well, of course not," Izumi reasoned. Seeing the boy's face fall slightly, she added on hurriedly, "But that's because you're looking at how I did it! If you were in that scenario, you would've reacted in your own unique way with your Quirk, probably in a way that I couldn't imagine!" She pointed out. The boy quickly brightened.

"Hey, yeah, you're right!" Kirishima smiled at the girl, who returned it, but quickly went back to her own thoughts. 'I won't take his Quirk. I don't deserve something that... that... wonderful.'  Her mind filled in the space against her will. She wilted at the thought, but found that she couldn't argue against it. She was just some sneak-thief who had somehow convinced someone good that she wasn't worthless. There were so many better candidates for the Quirk.

She was silent for a few moments, until Denki started talking to her. "Hey, Midoriya?" She perked her head up. "Wanna come hang out and get boba after school with us?" He questioned. Izumi considered it. Today was her off-day for training with All Might...

"Come on, Midoriya-san!" A high-pitched voice chipped in. That was Hagakure-san, someone Izumi had desperately wanted to talk to. "It'll be fun!" 

"Alright..." Izumi reluctantly gave in. "Is boba expensive?"

"... eh?" Denki stared at her. "Have you never had boba before?"

Izumi frowned. "No. I don't even know what it is, to be honest."

"It's a drink-"

"It's got fish eggs in it!" Kirishima cut in, snickering, making Ochaco roll her eyes.

"-that does not have fish eggs," the girl continued, "but it's pretty sweet and definitely really yummy. I'm honestly shocked that you've never had it before, considering how popular it's getting!"

Izumi shrugged. "I never really had money to spend on luxury items up until recently. Anything that wasn't essential wasn't on the table, ya know?"

Ochaco smiled sadly at her. "Yeah, I get that. But your parents never took you out for it, as like, a treat or something?"

Izumi was silent, staring downwards. After a second though, she seemed to snap out of it, giggling sadly. "Ah... You could say my parents never really bought too much for me." The rest of the group just sighed, stating how much of a tragedy was. They, of course, had no reason to think twice about what she was saying.

The same could not be said, though, for the white-and-red-haired boy overhearing the loud conversation.

Izumi checked her phone. She was using it for directions to the café, but she was most definitely lost. She was still in the middle of the mall, and she couldn't find a directory anywhere.

"You seem lost," a voice commented to her left.

The girl smiled without looking at the man. "No, I'm just waiting for some friends." The man twitched twice, finally gathering Izumi's attention. "Oh, Detective Tsukauchi-sensei!" She greeted as she finally turned. "I didn't realize it was you."

"I'm off the clock at the moment," the dark-haired man replied easily, shaking the girl's hand. "And, it's not a problem. I could probably guide you to wherever you need to go, I come here decently often."

"Oh, that'd be awesome," Izumi smiled. "It's a place called..." she peered down at her phone. "Café de Tea."

"Oh!" Tsukauchi nodded. "Yeah, it's on the upper level to the east," he pointed. "Actually, if it's not too much of a bother, I was hoping I could talk to you on your way there."

Izumi nodded slowly. "Somehow, I feel like this isn't a genial chat, but sure." They started to walk. "So, what can I help you with, de... Sir?"

"Well, a few things." The man sighed. "I was originally going to rush into this, but after giving it a bit of thought I figured I should talk it over with you first." Izumi tensed. This probably wasn't good... "I know you have the Quirk All For One." Izumi gulped.

"... Alright?"

The detective peered at her, as if trying to read her. "I would like to know how you got it."

The teen shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Well..." She thought about lying, but remembered it would be useless. She sighed. "If you know about my Quirk, then you probably know about the man named All For One."

Tsukauchi nodded seriously. "Did he offer you power? Money? Revenge? Is he having you do something as a task or favor?"

Izumi blinked. Finally, she realized what this was about. She couldn't help herself, a chuckle broke out. "No, no, no, and no." The detective did not twitch for any of the questions, and he stumbled, surprised.

"I..." He cleared his throat. "I seem to have been making a few incorrect assumptions, and I apologize, Midoriya-kun." He breathed in deeply. "Toshinori has been my friend for many years, and all I want for him is the best. I was..." He coughed, embarrassed. "I was under the belief that you might've been here under your father's orders in order to obtain One For All."

Izumi sucked in her breath. "All For One is not my father." She said it with no malice, no anger. Just pure fact. Tsukauchi twitched, but allowed her to continue. "He may be my birth parent, but it takes far more than blood to be considered family."

The man was silent for a moment. The shop was just a couple dozen paces ahead of them now. Finally, he spoke again. "I understand what you mean. I also..." He breathed in deeply. "I know that Yagi intends to pass One For All on to you. Do you think you'll take it?"

"No," the girl spoke without a moment's hesitation. "I don't deserve it. There are far too many people better qualified for that position than me. I'm..." She was reminded of her thoughts during Heroics Class that afternoon. "I think that a Quirk- a duty like that should be passed on without a bit stronger of a thought."

The detective chuckled, and smiled down at the girl. "I think I'm starting to see why he likes you so much." He fished something out of his pocket. "This is my card, with my number. If I can't answer for any reason, it'll be redirected to my secretary. I owe you a favor," he steeled his gaze slightly, "as long as you're not doing your vigilantism anymore." He held the card within his fingers, seemingly waiting for an answer.

Izumi bit her lip and grinned. "I'm not doing illegal vigilantism anymore. Helping Aizawa-san with patrol though, and using my Quirk when given permission, though..." She shrugged.

"Hah," Tsukauchi smiled, sliding the card into her hand. "Well... I'm glad you're starting to work on the side of the law now, Midoriya-kun. I dislike vigilantism, not only out of principle, but also because it can sometimes cause more harm than good. Getting guidance is a much more productive way to help people." He smiled and stopped walking, leaving Izumi to stop as well as she realized that they were at the café. "It was... very good to talk with you, Miss Midoriya. I hope you enjoy your time with your friends." He walked off, giving the surprised teen a small wave, which she returned after a few moments.

She turned around and headed inside the café, greeting her friends. "You're late, Mido!" Kirishima teased.

"Yeah, gomen," Izumi apologized. "I got a bit lost."

Denki chuckled. "Yeah, this mall can definitely be a bit of maze. Sometimes, I swear it's on purpose."

"Not on purpose," Mina rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. "You guys just don't come here enough!"

"Who was that, Midoriya-san?" Ochaco questioned, causing Izumi to blink out of her thoughts.

"Oh!" Her green eyes peered down at the card in her hand. "A... new friend, I think."

"Haha! Only you could get lost and somehow make a new friend while trying to get to the other side of a mall," the pink-skinned teen teased. "Now, are we getting boba or what? We were waiting for you, Midoriya. Didn't want you to miss out on this godly nectar~"

Izumi chuckled. "Yeah, let's order! You guys will have to tell me what's good."

"I'll make sure to order extra fish eggs for you," Hagakure teased.

Izumi did her best to focus on the girl, the shimmering outline barely, barely visible in the warm lights of the café, and laughed. "Yeah, yeah..." She thought about it for a second. "They're not really fish eggs, right?" The group laughed together.

Izumi enjoyed the afternoon. For the first time in a while, she could genuinely say that she felt like a normal teen. It would be the last time in a while, too.

Chapter Text

When is it worth compromising your morals? Is it for when it doesn't really matter too much? Because, after all, you hardly changed anything. Or is it for when it matters greatly, because the other alternative is potentially losing something or someone? Both? Neither? What are morals for if you're willing to compromise your integrity?

Everything starts with a first step. Even the journey down the River Styx.

"I, uh..." Izumi stared at the microphone. Past it, her classmates, the other classes, around them, parents, Pro Heroes, scouts... Izumi cleared her throat. "I wrote a speech for this, actually." She waved the papers in her hand in the air. "Worst three hours of my life, I swear." She released her grip, letting the papers scatter into the wind. "I don't need any of those, though." She grew bolder. "The purpose of this Sports Festival is to showcase the potential of Yuuei High School. Talent is something that everyone here has, in some way, shape, or form. But, as anyone who has experienced it can tell you... Talent loses to hard work. We're not here because we're the best..." Izumi leaned forward so that she was almost touching the mic. "We're here because we're going to become the best. I pledge to go beyond."

Izumi held her hands up. The papers that she had let fly earlier came soaring back to her, and she closed her eyes as she constantly switched between Attraction and Repulsion. Her eyes shot open after she found a rhythm, and they were glowing a vibrant hue of green. Two words. Nine letters. One piece of punctuation. "Plus Ultra!" She shouted.

"Plus Ultra!" The class around her responded, and Izumi finally hopped off the podium, bringing the pieces of paper with her as she did.

"Well said!" Present Mic screamed through the audio system. "Izumi Midoriya, of Class 1-A!"

"Midoriya." Todoroki got the girl's attention. "I will beat you."

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh?"

"Yes. Strictly speaking, I am stronger than you."

Izumi wanted to bite her lip, but instead forced herself to remain stoic. "You can say that all you want, but actions mean more than words, Todoroki-san. And if I remember correctly, I've been beating you in sparring, and you know what?" Izumi leaned in. "As long as you keep using only half of your Quirk..." She whispered into the boy's ear, "I'll crush you every... single... time..." She pulled away, smiling. "Best of luck."

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, nodded, and shifted towards the edge of the group. "Oi, Oi, Oi..." Kirishima stepped in. "Declaring war already? We should probably-"

"It's not just about declaring war, Shitty Hair," Bakugo snorted. "It's about showing the competition that you're here. And, you know what?" The boy grinned. "I'm the one you should be worried about." He began to laugh manically.

"Yeah!" Mina cheered. "This is going to be awesome!"

Denki slammed his knuckles together, electricity flaring. "Hell yeah!"

"Keep it down, heroics..." Someone mumbled. "You guys are, like, the only ones who want to be here..."

Izumi frowned. That was true - a glance around the pitch proved it. A lot of the students didn't seem to be very excited about the festival - and it made sense. It was like putting a businessman in a ring with Mike Tyson and telling him to 'have fun'. They weren't going to get picked up by business companies for how heroic they were, and they hadn't been training their Quirks for the past two months. It was something she had noticed before, too, during the Entrance Exam - A lot of Yuuei's process was focused around flashy, big Quirks. She had made sure to comment on it to her dad, who agreed vehemently that it was a stupid idea, but not something easy to change.

"Now, let's get started right away!" Nemuri Kayama, otherwise known as the Pro Hero Midnight, swished her riding crop in the air. "This first game is what you'd call a qualifier!"

"Yuuei does everything 'right away', huh?" Ochaco noted. 

Tsu nodded. "They have to. There's not enough time to waste it, kero."

"You sound like Aizawa-sensei," Izumi teased.

The frog-girl hardly reacted. "He's not wrong, kero." Izumi couldn't disagree, so she just smiled and stuck her tongue out instead.

"Every year, many drink their tears here!" Midnight announced, making the green-eyed girl raise her eyebrows. It seemed more like this was where the business, general, etc. students stayed behind every year. If the years of recordings she had pored over were any indication, at least. "Now, here is the fateful first game!" The R-Rated Hero swished her whip, the item making a cracking sound as it flew. A large screen with a wheel appeared behind her, the image on it not unlike a slot machine. It shook and made noise, but Izumi knew that was only a formality - there were only a few events large enough for the hundreds of students present.

Apparently, someone else knew that too. "It's an obstacle course..." she heard from somewhere near the General Studies group. She smirked. Indeed it was, and whoever knew that had probably been studying the festivals too. And that meant... Her smirk turned into a smile. Whoever said that was probably the kid her dad was trying to get transferred in. She made sure to imprint it into her memory, and went back to paying attention to the Pro Hero on stage.

"This year, it's... This!" The words 'Obstacle Race' popped up behind her, validating Izumi and the unknown boy. "All 11 classes will participate in this race! The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium--about 4 kilometers! However..." The white-suited woman leaned forward and licked her lips sensually. "There's a twist this year. Those who do well but do not qualify for the second round will instead have the option to participate in the General Festival, as recommended by our Number One Hero, All Might!" Izumi coughed in surprise, her body twisting of it's own volition to stare at the assembled mass of teachers.

All Might wasn't difficult to pick out. His eyes were shadowed, and his bulk was easily seen in his red costume. Not to mention his bright smile. Izumi narrowed her eyes at him, her mind racing. Had he done this to try and win her over? There was no doubt that he had read her essays, of course. She grit her teeth. She would not be- be- be bought! Surely the man had to realize sooner or later that there were better candidates for One For All than her... right?

"Our school's selling point is freedom!" Nemuri continued. "As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do!" She winked sensually at the crowd. Many of the boys cheered (and some of the girls), but most of Class 1-A understood what it meant - showcase your Quirks. Izumi's eye twitched. Maybe she would. Maybe she wouldn't. She was already out of her element in such a large crowd - she would much rather just... be hidden. But she couldn't - not if she wanted to accomplish her goals.

"Now, take your places, everyone!" Midnight demanded. Three green lights lit up. Her goals... For this festival, the green-haired girl had three. 'Goal number one... Make it to the top three so that I can get access to the gyms.'  The first of the green lights dimmed. 'Goal number two... Find the guy that Dad is trying to transfer into the Heroics Course and help him.'  The middle light went out. 'And third... Make sure that I'm strong enough. Strong enough to-'  The last light went out. "Start!" The host shouted, sending the whole group into a flurry loud enough to drown out Izumi's thoughts. 

Izumi stayed back for a moment as the doors opened. She remembered the stadium's layout well enough from when they had come in--the hallway was definitely narrower than the entrance, which meant the students would start to cram up. True to her hypothesis, it happened quickly. The green-eyed teen smiled brilliantly, and started running. Making a jump, she started hopping off of people's heads and shoulders, ignoring their protests and cries. She pushed herself out of the tunnel, and just in time, too, as she felt a familiar chill condense in the air.

The girl ran as fast as possible, barely making it out of the blast range as the tunnel erupted into snow and ice, propelling the peppermint-haired boy out in front, skating on a path of ice he was constantly making for himself. This part definitely favored people with mobility Quirks, as evidenced by Bakugo propelling himself over the frozen crowd quickly. Stealing a glance back, Izumi was surprised to see Momo pushing herself through the air by creating a rigid pole from her hand, and was excited at Kirishima having somehow made it through as well, as well as Mina gliding on the ice... somewhat.

"I won't let you get away so easily," Bakugo started, pausing for the deafening sounds of his explosions to take over, "you half-and-half bastard!" The flashes of light blinded Izumi slightly. She didn't have any mobility usages for her Telekinesis, so she was stuck with running. She was lucky, though. Her years of vigilantism had honed her body incredibly well, and she was both agile and durable. She was out of the range of the ice-floor that Todoroki had made, at least.

More and more people were passing her, though. With a small amount of pride, Izumi noticed that Minoru Mineta was among them - the small boy was bouncing from ball to ball, making sure to use them sparingly. Although he was still perverted, he was showing a lot more drive to stay out of the last place spot in the class. There were only unofficial class rankings since they hadn't taken midterms yet, but he was sitting somewhere around 17th. A few of the other students had tried to use the grape balls to bounce off of, but found their feet stuck to them and being forced to choose between giving up, or continuing on the ice floor with only one shoe. There was one poor kid who had tried to push the ball off with his hands, and was now stuck in a contorted position.

Bakugo passed her, and their eyes locked for only a moment. "Don't get in my way, extra." And then he was gone.

A shadow loomed. The first real challenge was afoot... Massive robots, much larger than the regular ones from the Entrance Exam. They seemed to be more decked out versions of the point-bearing robots, and the size of the zero-pointer. 'Well, this is dumb...'  Izumi noticed. 'This is only an obstacle for the first few people who come through up until the machines are destroyed. Then, it's just a waste.'  Speaking of destroying the machines...

Todoroki breathed in and crouched as one of the arms reared towards him. He breathed in, and Izumi noticed the frost coming from his breath, and knew what was coming. She started running forward as fast as she could - he was going to give them an opportunity, but only a few seconds... She heard him whisper something, but wasn't close enough to discern what it was.

The son of Endeavor swung his arm. A massive glacier, larger than the ones that he had been using in sparring, came forth, freezing the robots in place. It didn't destroy them, though, but it left a good few feet of ice on the ones closest to the center of the blast. Izumi didn't hesitate, bounding forward and sliding on the ice expertly to cruise through the legs of a robot, following behind Todoroki by only a few paces. She grabbed at the joint of one of the robot's legs as she passed by, yanking it down towards her, sending the robot crashing to the ground. A thick mist covered the area.

The green-haired girl heard explosions behind her, and knew that it meant that Bakugo was back. She redoubled her efforts, but it was no use. Bakugo passed her, then Iida, then Hanta, then Fumikage, then even more people she didn't know. She was falling behind, goddamnit! Her emerald eyes sparkled as she held out an arm towards the closest competitor. She didn't know how many people would pass, so she had to-

She blinked.

When had she started thinking like this?

'What the hell?'  Izumi jerked her arm back to her side, deactivating her Quirk. She had been about to hurt people. She had literally stepped on people in order to get ahead. She grit her teeth and started running faster. 'What's wrong with me...?'

She made it to the second obstacle. She couldn't afford to stop, not now. The people ahead of her were hesitating, and she could see why: a massive pit. There were ropes crossing between rocks, and Izumi instantly understood. Where was... She spotted her. "Ochaco-san!" She shouted. The brown-haired girl looked at her, a bit of fear in her eyes, although it was slightly abated once she saw the other girl.

"Midoriya-san! This gorge is-"

"No time!" Izumi cut the other girl off. "Use your Quirk on me and release it when I get to the rock!" Ochaco, for her part, hardly hesitated, clapping her hands onto the green-eyed girl's body. Instantly, she felt weightless, and she launched off the edge of the rock. Her weight returned as she was over the next rock, and she fell into a roll. Turning around, she stuck out both arms and pulled Ochaco towards her, who barely had time to make herself weightless. 'Yeah...'  Izumi thought with a bit of relief. 'That's right. It's better to work together.'

Ochaco landed a bit more roughly, but popped up smiling. "That was great! If I'm only making myself weightless for a few seconds, it hardly affects my stomach!"

Izumi sent her a thumbs-up. "Think we can make it to the end of this like that?" Uraraka gave her a thumbs-up in return, and nodded. "Alright!" Izumi let the competitive side that she usually suppressed flare. "Let's go!"

Working together, the duo made it to the other side in no time, although their stops still left them behind Todoroki and Bakugo, who were speeding along in no time, the latter simply ignoring the ropes entirely as he flew above them. Others weren't far behind, though, and as they got to the last obstacle, the top five were Todoroki, Bakugo, Ochaco, Izumi, and Iida. The last of the five was quickly catching up, though, and the gap between the first two and the rest was only getting larger. There was no way-

Izumi held her breath in. No way for her. "Ochaco!" She shouted, grabbing the other girl's arm. "Hold yourself weightless for as long as you can!" The girl looked confused, but followed the directions. The teen picked her classmate up, breathed in, and...

"FWOOMP." The sound was quickly followed by screaming as the brunette flew above the minefield, barreling past Bakugo and Todoroki, who paused from their fighting to burst forward. They had no chance, though - the human cannonball was just moving too fast.

"In first place..." Hizashi breathed in deeply. "Ochaco... URARAKAAAA!"

Chapter Text

It was almost a blessing that she hadn't gotten first place. Poor Ochaco, a ten-million point bounty on her head... Izumi looked at the other girl with pity. Teams were already starting to be formed. Izumi looked around quickly. There were only two participants that hadn't come from either of the hero classes, so, that had to mean that if she was looking for her dad's protégé anywhere, it would be within those five.

The green-eyed girl discounted Mei Hatsume nigh-instantly. The girl was far too bubbly and loud for her to ever get along with Shouta. So, that meant... The girl smiled. That meant that if it was anyone, it was the purple-haired boy.

She walked over to him and stuck a hand out. He seemed to be mostly keeping to himself, no doubt feeling a bit isolated due to the 42 students being made up of 20 from Class 1-A, 20 from Class 1-B, Mei Hatsume, and then him. "Hey, how's it going?" Izumi stuck a hand out as she reached the boy, who looked at her in what seemed like contempt.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I-" Izumi paused, and the world seemed to dilate around her. All of the sudden, it seemed like everything was a photographic negative - the colors were all switched, and she couldn't do anything. She saw and heard things still going on, but it seemed like it was all coming through murky water. 'What the hell...?'

"Tell me why you came over to me." The boy commanded her, his voice warbling.

Against her own will, Izumi felt her mouth start moving. "I wanted to make a team with you."

"Tell me why." The boy demanded.

Izumi resisted this time, and she noticed the boy wincing, but she eventually started speaking. "I... think... you're... the... boy... my..." Izumi strained as hard as she could, but it was like wading through syrup. It had to be some sort of mental Quirk - maybe forcing people to tell the truth? It couldn't be trust-related, or else she wouldn't be able to be thinking this. She felt her body start to shake and spasm as she fought harder. "That... my... father... is..." Her arm began to spasm. "Is... try-trying... to..." Suddenly, the effect broke, and everything righted itself. Izumi collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

"What the hell...?" The boy muttered. "You shouldn't be able to do that."

Izumi rose, squeezing her eyes and allowing them to readjust to the sunlight. "That was... an experience." She noted. "Some sort of..." Her long hair fell in a curtain as she tilted her head and thought. "Some sort of brainwashing Quirk?" She questioned, then nodded to herself. Her eyes narrowed as she thought more about it. "Probably activates upon answering a question. Is it instinctive, or do you have to activate it?"

The boy seemed taken aback by the question, but quickly regained his cool demeanor. "You're wrong. I don't know who you are, or what you want. Did you come over here to intimidate me?"

"No, I-" The effect started again. But, this time, Izumi was quicker to start fighting to get back to her body.

"Leave me alone." The world righted itself of its own volition. Izumi stumbled. "I can't believe you answered me even after you figured out what my Quirk was."

Izumi started to turn around, her mind already disregarding the words. She blinked. Why was she- She took a step forward, away from the boy. 'What am I-'  She took another step. There was a ringing in her ears, and it was constantly getting louder. She only took a few more steps before the ringing stopped, and a cool calm washed over her body. Why had she even wanted to talk to the boy to begin with? She couldn't remember, it probably wasn't important.

Ochaco had already formed a team by the time Izumi got back to the rest of the group. It was with Mei, Iida, and Tokoyami, it seemed. Most of the rest of the cast had grouped up, too. Izumi's next go-to, Kirishima, had already teamed up with Mina, Denki, and Hagakure. Shoji, Koda, Tsu, and Mineta had also teamed up, interestingly enough, and Todoroki, Momo, Kyoka, and Sero made another unlikely formation. She looked around, and...

There was only one person left. It seemed like they had realized it too, and didn't seem all too happy about it. Of course, they never seemed too happy to begin with, and it was probably why, despite finishing third, Bakugo Katsuki hadn't found a group before that. The boy's eyes twitched as they walked towards each other. Combined, they had 390 points, which wasn't a bad starting spot. "You better not slow me down, extra."

"I was about to say the same to you," Izumi crossed her arms. "Are you going to be the horse or the rider?"

The boy snorted. "I'll be the horse. You look like you wouldn't be able to hold my weight for more than a few seconds at best."

"Arm wrestle, then?" The girl challenged.

Bakugo scoffed. "Don't be stupid. If you want to be the horse, you be the horse. I'm just talking logically." Annoyed, the girl had to admit that the boy had a point. But...

"Don't you want to fly around?" She pointed out.

"No shit, Sherlock," the ash-blond snarked. "I'm going to be carrying both of us. You can use your Quirk to grab those shitty headbands, can't you, and you need your hands free for that. I'm not dumb enough to think that I can outmaneuver all of those shitty extras."

Izumi looked at the boy in a new light, nodding in approval. "You know, I thought you were an idiot, but I guess you've just proved me wrong." The male 'tsch'ed'. "Alright. You'll be the horse. Giddy up," she winked, and the boy crouched down, slightly huffing as the short girl looped her legs under his shoulders.

"Fuck, you're heavy," Bakugo commented.

Izumi smacked him on the top of his head. "Are you calling me fat?"

"I'm calling you strong, idiot." The boy rubbed his hair at the sting. "Muscle is denser than fat."

"Hm." Izumi considered it. "... Fine. You're off the hook this time."

The boy scoffed, and she instinctively felt him roll his eyes. "Whatever, extra. And, we're getting that ten million, got that?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," the green-eyed girl agreed easily. "I lost last round, and I don't feel like losing this round either."

Cavalry Teams:

Team A: Team Uraraka: Uraraka, Hatsume, Iida, Tokoyami
Team B: Team Todoroki: Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Sato
Team C: Team Mineta: Mineta, Asui, Shoji, Koda
Team D:Team Hagakure: Hagakure, Kaminari, Kirishima, Ashido
Team E: Team Tetsutetsu: Tetsutetsu, Honenuki, Awase, Shiozaki
Team F: Team Monoma: Monoma, Tsuburaba, Kaibara, Kuroiro
Team G:Team Kodai: Kodai, Bondo, Sero, Fukidashi
Team H: Team Kendo: Kendo, Yanagi, Tokage, Komori
Team I: Team Rin: Rin, Shishida
Team J: Team Kamakiri: Kamakiri, Tsunotori
Team K: Team Shinsou: Shinsou, Shoda, Aoyama, Ojiro
Team L: Team Midoriya: Midoriya, Bakugo

Shouta stared down at the pitch. He was 'commentating' alongside Hizashi, although his boyfriend was doing nearly the entirety of said speaking. "So, Eraserhead," he was elbowed in the side to ensure his attention was on the question, and he groaned in response. "Who do you think are the teams to watch out for? It's quite interesting, as four people obviously maximize a team's potential, but there are three separate teams that are only made up of two members!"

The grouchy hero narrowed his eyes and rubbed his nose as he tried to concentrate. "Hrm..." He yawned. "Team Todoroki is well-balanced. They have a very strong Emitter Quirk, and their main Horse can very easily support their weight. Team Ochaco is nothing to scoff at, either."

"And what about the smaller teams?" Hizashi tried to get some rapport going.

Shouta rolled his eyes. "You have your own opinions. Say them." The blond didn't budge, making the black-haired man sigh again. "Fine. Teams Rin and Kamakiri will have issues balancing attack and defense, as their riders don't have long-range versatility."

Hizashi grinned. "And what about Team Midoriya?"

Shouta gave his boyfriend the stink-eye. "Midoriya and Bakugo are both very independent workers, but have the skill and experience to back it up. If they can work together, they'll win. Otherwise, they'll fall apart."

"Bravo!" Hizashi clapped. "The official analysis of the Pro Hero Eraserhead!" Polite applause echoed throughout the arena, although special sound negation blocked the actual announcement from landing on the pitch. It wouldn't do to affect the judgements of any of the participants.

Shouta stared intensely at the pair of Katsuki and Izumi. He knew that they didn't work well together, but, hopefully, their shared desire to win would trump any animosity. He stared at Shinsou's group, too. Aoyama and Ojiro... Shoda, too... He sighed. The boy needed to learn that people would work with him without being hypnotized. What would he do if one of them got jolted during the match? For someone who seemed to despise his Quirk, he was very quick to resort to it.

The cavalry battle started. Almost instantly, Izumi tore the headband off of her head. They didn't need to play the defense game if they had no points to defend, after all. Bakugo agreed quickly. "Hey, Monoma!" She yelled at the boy with the inferiority complex. He turned her way. "Catch!" She balled up her headband and threw it at the rider, who caught it reflexively.

"Ahah!" The boy yelled triumphantly. "Class 1-A acknowledges our superiority-" He was interrupted by explosions as the duo didn't wait to hear him monologue.

"They're just using you as bait," Tsuburaba pointed out.

Monoma rolled his eyes. "I know  that. That's not the point, though."

"Then what is the point?" Kuroiro questioned. The blond had no response.

Bakugo, meanwhile, was easily supporting both his and his rider's weight with his explosions, although he had to keep using them constantly or else they sank too fast. "It's so fucking dumb that we can't go after the people directly."

"We can't do that because that's not the point of the cavalry battle," his green-eyed companion reminded for the umpteenth time in two minutes.

Katsuki scowled. "It's got 'battle' in the shitty name. That's fucking stupid."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Fuck off before I drop you, shitty Nymph Bitch."

"Nymph Bitch?" Izumi echoed. "That's a new one."

Bakugo gave a mixture between a cough and a snicker. "Because you're fucking green." Izumi rolled her eyes.

For a few minutes, they just sped around, Izumi grabbing headbands at random. It was eight minutes in before they even encountered a real fight. That was mainly because they were only going for two teams - Todoroki and Uraraka. Ochaco's team was speeding around the arena constantly, thanks to Iida, Ochaco, and Hatsume, and Tokoyami was working as an excellent defense system with Dark Shadow. Todoroki was simultaneously offense and defense, but he seemed single-mindedly concentrated on the ten million points as well. 

"Fucking half-and-half bastard!" Bakugo snarled, exploding towards the group.

"Through the air?" Momo gasped. "Is that even-"

"You're thinking too much," Todoroki said coolly. Momo's jaw swung shut. "You have to react, have to use your instincts." He swung his arm at the flying duo, forcing Bakugo to explode multiple times in order to dodge the resulting ice. The ash-blond haired teen had to use his Quirk multiple times more than usual to counteract the increased gravitational force brought by the green-haired girl sitting atop him. Sato's movement halted as Izumi used Repulsion on his chest, and Momo and Kyoka both bumped into the large boy's back, causing Todoroki to lurch forward. A quick pull, and Todoroki's headband was theirs. A stream of ice followed the duo, but they had enough momentum to evade it easily.

"Your explosions are getting stronger," Izumi noted, intrigued. "Usually people wear out the more they use their Quirk."

"Shut up, shitty extra. I can barely hear my own thoughts with your blabbering," Bakugo growled. "My Quirk uses my sweat."

"Ah!" Izumi brightened. "So the more you exert yourself, the stronger your Quirk becomes." She nodded, not that the other boy could see it. "That's extremely useful. Have you considered a physical stamina training regimen?"

"Please shut up," Bakugo groaned. They were possibly the nicest words he had ever said to her.

"We're going to be heroes together! I'll be Number One, of course, but you can be my sidekick!"

Izumi frowned. That felt... weird. Something was tugging at her consciousness, threatening to pull her away.

"Let's go after the shitty insomniac," Bakugo growled, already angling himself towards the purple-haired boy's group.

Izumi tilted her head even as air resistance pushed against it as they fell. She blinked as she stared at Team Shinsou... "No."

"Fuck'd you say?"

"No. Let's leave them alone."

"Fucking-" Explosions blasted twofold as Bakugo halted their descent. "The fuck do you mean, leave them alone?" He risked a glance up.

Izumi's face was entirely free of emotion as she spoke. "Let's leave them alone."

"What the hell...?" Bakugo narrowed. "What do you mean, leave them alone?" He asked again, using Explosion again to propel them upwards for a moment.

"Let's-" As soon as the girl started speaking, the ash-blond headbutted her in the stomach, making her cough and sputter. "W-what the fuck? What just happened?"

Bakugo growled. "I headbutted you. I think you got brainwashed or something."

Izumi gasped. "Oh! Fucking- Yeah! I remember now. Christ. That purple-haired kid has a hypnosis Quirk. I think it's based off of responding to a question, but I'm not certain."

"So, can we go after him now?"

"No," came Izumi's curt reply. "I don't want to risk being wrong about the activation requirement. If he catches you mid-flight, we're fucked," She stated bluntly.

The explosive teen wasn't particularly happy about the response, but he understood the reasoning. "... Fucking whatever. Two minutes left," he noted. "It's go time." Izumi grinned and nodded.

"Onward, my noble steed!" She cheered.

Bakugo growled. "Fuck off, fucking insane Nymph Bitch."

From down below, Mineta bemoaned his fate as he looked at the lone pair in the skies. "Lucky bastard..." He wept.

"Isn't that green-haired girl cute?" He heard someone call from outside.

Mineta nodded vigorously. "Did you see her a-" The world went blank.

The green-eyed girl rubbed her stomach. "Did you have to headbutt me so hard?" She complained.

"Stop complaining, Freckle Whore."

"You just have nicknames for days, hm?"

Bakugo groaned. "Fucking shut up."

"I can almost feel your heart defrosting," the girl teased. There was only a minute and a half left in the battle, and they still had to corner Team Ochaco. The plan was to take advantage of their weightlessness and simply yank them towards them and allow Bakugo to snag the headband.

Bakugo simply grunted in response. He used multiple explosions to start propelling them towards the floating Team Ochaco.

"Ooh, finally getting tired?" Izumi teased. "I suppose that makes sense. Even if you have more sweat, your body still feels exhausted-"

"Shut up!" The boy's temper finally flared. "Fucking extra. Have to constantly carry your fucking ass, meanwhile you've only grabbed four fucking bands, fucking-"

"Weren't you the one who decided to be the horse?" The green-haired girl snarked. "Don't push your poor decision making on me." Katsuki's face grew red and he started bouncing around with explosions sporadically. "Woah, woah, woah, horsie! You're gonna buck me off!" She wrapped her legs around the boy's torso, but she was still swinging around.

"Fucking good," Bakugo spat. "I should've just been the rider from the start. You're just dragging me down, shitty fucking extra."

"This was your plan!" Izumi shot back, wrapping her arms around the boy's body, curling up against his back. They started to tilt backwards as the center of mass shifted. "We're falling!"

Bakugo didn't make any move to use his Quirk. "Fucking fine by me if it gets you off."

"Do you want to lose?" Izumi spat, finally beginning to get anxious, her eyes starting to glow. "Here I thought you were all about being the best-" Explosions, massive ones, echoed as Bakugo shouted in anger, shooting them away from the ground. "We only have fifteen seconds! We need to go, now!"

Rapid explosions shot them through the air, and as the seconds ticked down, they got closer and closer to Team Ochaco, who were running out of places to evade.

"Dodge left!" Izumi heard the brunette rider shout. That wouldn't do. She yanked the group towards her and Bakugo, and thanks to their low overall weight, they came quite easily. Seven seconds left. Team Ochaco dropped like a stone as their rider released her Quirk, and Bakugo quickly followed suit, tilting his arms out so he didn't blast the girl sitting on his shoulders.

'So... close!'  Izumi grunted with effort. Her arm reached out, she pulled-

Only to meet thin air. A thin cord- no, a radio jack had wrapped around the headband and pulled it off. Three seconds. Izumi mentally calculated, and took a risk. There was no chance they were getting the 10,000,000 now, but... She knew Team Ochaco had spent the whole battle defending. And that meant that those had been the only points that they had had. Izumi tore a bandana off her neck at random and forced it towards Ochaco with as much Repulsion she could muster. She didn't get to see if it worked.

"And that's the end of the battle!"

Bakugo wouldn't even look at her. He was furious, of course.

"In first place, Team Todoroki!" Midnight announced. "With an incredible 10,001,295 points!" The crowd erupted into cheers. Bakugo's scowl deepened.

"Next, in second place!" The Pro Hero continued. "Team Midoriya! An incredible duo effort, which managed to net them a respectable 1745 points! An amazing feat, considering their number disadvantage!" More cheers, although not as emphatic as before. There was an image on the screen of their exploits, Bakugo's murderous rage on full display as they raced towards Team Ochaco.

A loud explosion echoed as Bakugo slammed his fist into the dirt. "Second isn't good enough, damn it!"

"After that, playing a quiet game, getting 1195 and avoiding major altercations, Team Shinsou!" There weren't many cheers, but still a polite smattering of applause, as there hadn't really been anything going on surrounding the team. Izumi's face sunk as she realized that maybe she had failed in her goal at the end.

"Finally, last, but not least..." Midnight breathed in deeply, letting the suspense build. Izumi leaned forward eagerly, letting a bit of hope seep through. "With exactly 70 points... Team Uraraka moves on to the next round!" The arena burst into cheers at the reigning champions from the first round moving on. "Already the main target from the get-go, the team did a wonderful job of evading until the last few seconds! After they lost their ten million point headband with not even five seconds left, a surprise benevolent action from Team Midoriya, one of their largest competitors, ensured that they didn't end up with a donut!" On the large screens, there was a close-up slow-motion replay of Izumi tearing the 70 point headband from around her neck and forcing it to wrap around the brunette's head with enough force that it pushed the teen's skull backwards as it wrapped around her forehead.

Izumi smiled mournfully at the sight. 'At least, something I didn't fail at...'  Her smile didn't stay sad for long, though, as Team Ochaco came bounding over with tears in their eyes.

"Midoriya-san!" Ochaco cheered, smiling and bouncing. "Thank you so much! I really owe you--this is twice now you've helped me out in the festival," she said, smiling and sweatdropping.

Iida bowed to her, waving his arms in his customary jerky motions. "Much appreciated, Midoriya-san! I shall cherish this opportunity you have given me!"

"Much appreciated, Agent of Chaos," Dark Shadow appeared from Fumikage's back as he nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Midoriya-san. Thank you, Bakugo-san." The boy 'tsch'ed' at his name and turned away, making the crow-like teen sweatdrop.

"Your moves were so cool!" Mei nodded quickly. She pulled out a measuring tape and started wrapping it around different parts of the green-haired girl's body.

"Hey, hey, hey-" Izumi tried to object, but she wasn't heeded.

"We're going to make such cute babies together!"

Izumi's eyes narrowed in incredulity. "I may not have had sex ed, but I'm pretty sure that's not how-"

"No, silly! My inventions!" Izumi stared blankly at the girl.

Ochaco chuckled and stepped in. "Hatsume-san is from the Support Course," she explained. "She calls her inventions her 'babies', since she worked really hard on creating them."

"And because of how often they blow up!" Mei nodded in agreement, causing the four people listening to sweatdrop again.

'I don't think that's how babies normally work...'  They all thought in unison.

"Ah..." Izumi finally spoke. "Well... Yeah. It was no problem," she chuckled, rubbing her scalp. Bakugo pushed himself off the ground and walked away, growling under his breath.

Mei blinked. "What's wrong with him?" She questioned.

Izumi smiled sadly. "He wanted first place." She paused for a moment. "We both did."

Chapter Text

The third round was one-on-one duels, which was unsurprising. The third round was always one-on-one duels. Izumi read over the bracket, memorizing it as best as she could.

There had been something of an interesting development. From Team Shinsou, Ojiro and Shoda had forfeited their places in the third round, stating it was a matter of honor. Shinsou had scoffed at them, but hadn't commented on it. Izumi knew it had to be something with the rider's Quirk, and felt bad. If only she had remembered sooner, she could've warned them... Since that left only 12 people remaining, and 12 people, of course, didn't create an even bracket, the crowd had voted on a team to make up the four missing spots, and by a narrow margin had chosen Team Hagakure over Team Tetsutetsu.

Izumi had mixed feelings over it. On one hand, she was excited her friends got to advance, but on the other, it would make it all the more rough if she had to go up against them.

Still... Tenya Iida. It was a rough first match-up. Telekinesis wouldn't do much against the boy - he was heavy already, never mind his metallic engines. And she was not going to resort to using All For One again. She already felt disgusting enough from the most recent time against Detective Tsukauchi.

Her best hope would be to push him out somehow, but that was where the easy stuff ended. Their match was third, too - not a whole lot of time to think about it. Especially when she thought about the two matches ahead of her...

Izumi sat in Class 1-A's reserved section, looking down at the pitch below her, waiting for the first fight to start. She knew how it would end, but that was irrelevant.

"Hey!" Someone called. Izumi turned to see Ochaco waving at her.

The green-eyed teen waved back, smiling. "Hey, Ochaco-san! How's it going?"

The brunette bounded over, sitting down right next to the shorter girl. "It's going wooooooooonderful!" She exclaimed. "My parents called and told me they were watching, and that they were really glad I had made friends who were looking out for me." The girl giggled. "That's you, of course!" Izumi laughed at that.

"Ochaco-san, Midoriya-san!" Tenya shouted over to them. "You are being too loud, you might bother the other viewers!" He swung his arms as standard.

"You're being louder than us, you know?" Izumi questioned, making the boy freeze for a few moments before he finally quieted down.

"I see..." He slid his glasses up his nose, then nodded. "This is most shameful! I apologize!"

Izumi giggled. The boy's personality had been growing on her. "It's fine, it's fine, just come sit with us!" Ochaco nodded in agreement, patting the seat next to her. The tall boy quickly acquiesced, slamming down in the seat next to them.

"So, who do you guys think is gonna win?" Ochaco questioned. It was Todoroki versus Ashido.

Izumi sighed. "As much as I love Mina-san, she has no chance against Todoroki-san." 

"Hm." Tenya pushed his glasses up his nose. "I don't know. Mina-san has trained very hard, just like the rest of us."

Ochaco smiled. "Mhm! Although... Todoroki-san is very strong. The only people who've beaten him in sparring are you and Bakugo-san," she spoke to Midoriya.

Said boy was sitting nearby, and overhearing the words, grunted. Izumi frowned. He was taking the second-place finish rather hard. It would be a shame that he would have to settle for second place again, since, at this point, Izumi had no intention of losing. Quickly, she remembered that Ochaco was waiting for a response. "Ah! Yeah..." She rubbed her scalp. "It's a shame he's only using half of his Quirk, though."

"Half of his Quirk?" Kirishima slid into the seats behind them. "Whaddya mean?"

"Heya, Kirishima. Oh, and Kaminari, too!"  The black-and-yellow boy sent a finger gun at her as he sat next to the red-haired teen. "Well, Todoroki-san's Quirk is Half-Hot, Half-Cold, right?" The group nodded. "Well, he's only using the cold part of it. He can make fire, too."

"Fire?!" Ochaco gaped. "He's already so strong..."

Kirishima sunk down in his seat. "Bro... That's not manly. Some people just have it so easy."

"Hm," Iida acknowledged. "Still, it would be wise not to count Mina-san out just yet."

Said girl walked out on the field, waving at the crowd, who were all cheering for her. Todoroki was already out there, simply... waiting. He didn't look very interested in the fight, either.

"For the first round! We have the number two finisher of the Obstacle Race, and the rider of the number one finisher for the Cavalry Battle! It's Shouto Todoroki!" The crowd cheered. All of the sudden, the temperature in the arena increased and Izumi had to cover her eyes as a bright flash lit it up. "And there's his father, the Number Two Hero, Endeavor! Talk about a family of talent!" The crowd cheered again at the side of the blue-and-orange man. Izumi did so too, out of obligation more than anything else, but she scowled.

Something about the man simply... rubbed her wrong.

"And, his opponent, the slip-and-slide queen, Mina Ashido!" The crowd cheered once again, and the girl grinned and bowed as the cameras focused on her. It was quieter than it had been for Todoroki, but not by much. "Ready? Three... Two... One... Fight!"

The arena instantly chilled. It seemed like it was going to be over instantly, too, as Todoroki swept his arm lazily across the field. A massive amount of ice swept towards the pink-skinned girl, but to Izumi's surprise and the spectators' delight, the teen dodged it, sliquifying a path for herself as she started practically skating around the field using the acid secreted from her feet. Todoroki didn't give any indication that he really cared, and he started sending more and more ice at the girl, who was quickly running out of places to dodge.

Finally, with the arena now at half of its original size, the girl started sliding towards the boy. He sent a few spikes toward her, but she dodged to the left. Finally getting annoyed, the peppermint-haired boy focused in. He slammed a fist on the ground, and a wave of ice began to spread from it, shooting Mina into the air.

Finally, she was left with no place to run, flailing around in the air. Todoroki drew his arm back, and...

"I concede!" The shout was clear, and the match was over. The Ice Prince breathed out a breath of frigid air and let his arm fall harmlessly. A hand of liquid cement shot up and caught Mina as she fell, cushioning her impact.

"And the winner of the first match is Shouto Todoroki!" The crowd erupted into cheers once again. Izumi looked down the row to see Momo comforting Kyoka, who was covering her ears. 'Poor girl...'  Izumi thought to herself. 'I can't imagine having to deal with loud noises with a hearing Quirk.'

"That was great!" Ochaco cheered.

"Yes!" Iida agreed. "Although Mina-san did indeed lose, she lasted an incredibly long time and did very well!"

Izumi nodded in agreement. "Yup! Oh, Ochaco-san, don't you have to get going?"

"Huh?" The brunette tilted her head. "What for?"

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Your match, silly!"

Ochaco gasped. "Oh, right! I was so wrapped up in the match I totally forgot!"

"You should have a few minutes," Iida reassured. "I assume they have to wait for the ice to defrost from Todoroki-san."

The girl sighed in relief. "Whew, thank goodness. Alright, well, just in case, I'll get going!"

"Good luck, Ochaco-san!" Izumi smiled at the other girl.

"Thank you!"

Izumi relaxed back in her seat, although she knew that she and Iida would have to get ready for their match soon, too. "Hey, Midoriya." The girl swung her head around at the unexpected voice. "Can I talk to you?"

"You wanted to talk?" Izumi questioned, her voice echoing somewhat as she and the red-and-white haired boy found themselves in a tunnel.

The boy stared at her unnervingly. She felt a bit of sweat appear as he just stared at her. "Ochaco's match is on right now..." The green-eyed girl gulped. "Erm..."

Finally, the other teen spoke. "You say that you'll always beat me if I keep holding back."

Izumi sighed in relief. 'So that's what this is about...'  "Yeah." She nodded. "You have such a wonderful Quirk, and yet, you're limiting yourself by only using half of it. Even worse than that, you're insulting everyone else by not using your fire. You're leaving yourself open to attacks, to hypothermia, and yet you're still just breezing by."

"It's not a choice," Todoroki stated seriously. "I made a pledge. A pledge to never use my fire in combat. And yet, every time we fight..." He sighed. "I find myself losing."

"Hm." Izumi acknowledged, but stayed quiet so the other boy could continue.

"This fire..." He held up his left palm, letting a small flame tickle it. "It's not mine. It will never be mine." He shut his fist, extinguishing the flame. "You've been taking classes with All Might, right?"

Izumi stilled. He shouldn't have been able to know that. "... Maybe."

"Endeavor's my old man. You know that. You also know that he's been stuck as the Number Two Hero for forever, even though he debuted only three years after All Might. I don't care if you've been getting training from the Number One Hero. It just gives me more of a reason to beat you," he declared.

Dimples poked out as the freckled girl smiled. "Now you're getting fired up!"

Todoroki shook his head, tempering the other teen's excitement. "No. It's not that." He sighed heavily. "My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a hero, he won a name for himself with crushing force. Because of that, the living legend, All Might, is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn't surpass All Might, he moved onto his next plan." The boy's peppermint-striped hair cast a shadow over his face as he leaned forward. "Tell me, Midoriya... Have you... Have you ever heard of Quirk Marriages?"

The world seemed to freeze, and for a moment, Izumi couldn't breathe. "Oh... Oh no..."

Todoroki nodded. "That thing that became a problem for the second and third generation after Quirks appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your Quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage."

"Todoroki-san..." Izumi whispered, horrified. "Do you mean...?"

The boy nodded. "My father is a man with both money and accomplishments. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might." The green-haired girl felt like she might be sick. "It's so annoying... I won't become the tool of scum like that." It was the most emotion that Izumi had ever heard out of the boy. "In my memories, my mother is always crying," Todoroki continued. "'Your left side is unsightly', she told me." He covered his face with his left hand. "That's what my mother said as she poured boiling water on me. Basically, I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's Quirk..." He admitted. "I'm going to win first place without using it at all."

Izumi was quiet for a few moments. "I... don't understand," she admitted.

Todoroki stared at her. "What don't you understand?"

"You keep calling it his Quirk..." She bit her lip. "But... it's your Quirk, isn't it? It's not his fire any more than my Attraction is my mother's. Even though he... Even though he had a part in creating it, it's not his Quirk anymore."

Todoroki shook his head. "No. They are entirely separate. My ability to create ice is my mother's Quirk, and my ability to create fire is my father's."

"No," Izumi insisted. "I've had-" She cut herself off. "I've spent countless hours on Quirk theory, Todoroki-san. That's not how that works! They may be varied, but you don't have two separate Quirks! Half-Hot, Half-Cold is your Quirk! Half-Hot isn't Endeavor's Quirk!" She exclaimed. "Half-Cold isn't your mother's Quirk! It's just yours!"

Todoroki grunted, and his demeanor turned frosty again. "I should've known better than to think you would understand. I had thought you would know what having a parent like that would be like, but-"

The temperature dropped. "What did you just say?"  Izumi hissed, pushing herself off the wall and getting into the other boy's face.

His apathetic mask was back on, though. "You obviously haven't gone through the same sort of life that I have. Your parents are obviously-"

"My mother is dead."  The red-eyed girl informed the teen. "And that- that devil killed her. You would do best to not bring either of them up."  The temperature reverted itself. "I think we're done here Todoroki. And, for what it's worth..." She trailed off as she started to walk out of the tunnel. Her head flipped around, and she affixed the boy with a harsh stare. "I would give anything-anything, to not have my Quirk."

Todoroki stared after her, confusion on his face, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of fear in his heart.

"Next up, we have the Philanthropic Princess herself, Izumi... Midoriya!" The crowd cheered, evidently still inspired from her performance earlier on in the festival. "And against her, the progeny of some of the greatest speedsters we've ever seen, a hero family renowned for generations... Tenya... Iida!"

Izumi glared in front of her. The Class Representative was a tiny obstacle, nothing else. She was kidding herself if she thought he'd be a challenge. The crowd was cheering, she tuned them out, listening only to the pumping of blood in her veins. Todoroki had gotten her pumped up. Fucking... Quirk Eugenics. Pah! As if his father constantly fucking training him to be stronger was bad. Hers had actively tried to murder her in the name of 'science'. At least Shouto's father was trying to make him stronger rather than make himself into a god.

"I'm sure we can expect a brilliant match! All ready?" Both competitors nodded, not that it mattered. Iida seemed to be raring to go, unknowing of the fate he was about to be damned to. "Three... Two... One..." Both competitors sucked in a deep breath. "Fight!"

Iida blasted off. He was coming in quickly, but it wasn't the fastest Izumi had ever seen. And if she had beaten faster... She twisted her head, keeping the boy in her sights. He jumped back in shock, abandoning his kick. "Damn..." He muttered. "I'll have to go faster!" His engines flared, and he sped up quickly. Izumi could see the flames coming out of them as he prepared for his next attack. "Engine Boost!"

He blasted off again. Izumi dodged based on pure instinct, her body ducking as a kick passed over her head. 'He's gotten faster!'  She thought. 'But he can't stay that fast!'

The boy came at her again and again, and she dodged. All she needed was a single moment... A kick slammed into her arm, pushing her back. Her body was durable, though. She slid backwards. Finally, an opening! The boy was huffing and puffing after the attack. A whole hand of Attraction grabbed onto his face, and he wasn't fast enough to pull away. Her natural strength took over, forcing it forward. Then once he was unstable, she repelled him, bending his body over and forcing him to kick his legs out so he didn't snap his spine. Her hand quickly followed after again, applying mass Repulsion with each finger. Considering the fact that there was no distance between the two fighters, the Quirk was at its strongest.

"Yield." The girl snarled.

"No." The engines on his calves shuttered, giving her an indication of what he was about to do. She chose a leg at random and started applying Repulsion to it.

"Yield or I'll snap your leg in half." Her eyes were blood-red, but she was still in control.

Iida finally allowed some panic to break through his façade, grimacing. Was it worth it...? No, the boy decided, it wasn't. "I... I yield..." The pressure eased off instantly, and Izumi stopped straddling him, letting him get up.

"Good game. Nice try." The words were ingenuine in nature.

Iida didn't understand that, though. He simply didn't have the malice in him. "Good match, Midoriya-san! I felt so close, but I still have a ways to go."

"Mhm," the girl agreed, not offering him any advice or consolation.

A wave of concern flashed over the boy's face as he recognized the girl's odd mood. "Are... Are you okay, Midoriya-san? My kick didn't hurt you too much, did it? You should go and see Recovery Girl-"

"Oh, Iida-kun..." The girl's scarlet eyes flashed as she swung her head around, smiling widely. "I've never felt better."

The rest of the matches were much less eventful. A surprising upset was Denki over Kyoka, as well as Eijiro over Momo. Bakugo versus Fumikage was also a very powerhouse-packed fight, but Bakugo had the upper hand with his Quirk and eventually pulled it out. Ochaco's fight, which Izumi only saw a replay of, wasn't very long. She bounded over to Aoyama, and as soon as she placed a hand on him, the fight was effectively over. Floating freely, using his Quirk would push him out of bounds, and he couldn't attack physically.

Hagakure could only hope to evade Sato, and she wasn't comfortable being naked on national television, so she was essentially Quirkless. She put up a decent fight, but the sugar-consuming teen simply outmatched her. The girl had a hit-and-run style of attacking, which Izumi found intriguing, but she simply couldn't do enough damage to the boy.

Kyoka versus Denki was interesting. The electric boy had started the match off by jokingly flirting, to which the girl responded with a blast of sound, which nearly sent him out of the ring. However, he recovered well, and he started dashing around the ring. In the enclosed space, Kyoka could only run for so long. She couldn't respond well to the constant aggression, but as her pulse increased she plugged a jack into a wrist-bracelet, sending her heartbeat echoing throughout the ring, not allowing Denki to get close.

Finally, faced with the ultimatum, the boy went for his go-to move: Indiscriminate Shock. The purple-haired girl stood her ground, letting out a massive blast, but it was torn apart by the electricity ripping through the field that eventually sent her unconscious. The yellow-haired boy was the victor, although his brain was too fried for the moment for him to even comprehend it.

Bakugo and Fumikage were simply poorly matched. Although Dark Shadow was powerful, it was the middle of the day, and Bakugo's Quirk generated light. As soon as the other boy figured it out, connecting it to Izumi's actions at the original Battle Trial, the fight was all but over.

Hitoshi Shinsou versus Mei Hatsume, the two non-Hero Course students, was a quick match. Mei seemed to be trying to show off her support items, but Hitoshi was having none of it. When the girl finally got annoyed at him not trying to attack her, he captured her with his Quirk and forced her out of bounds. It was silly, really--he was practically advertising his activation requirement.

Kirishima had narrowly trumped Yaoyorozu. The item-creator simply didn't have enough time to create anything powerful enough to stop the red-haired boy. She eventually started fighting with a slingshot, but the other teen had good enough reaction times to block them with his hardened arms. Momo's stamina wasn't her strong suit, either. After just a few minutes, she ran out of energy, and Kirishima slammed her out of bounds, making sure to soften his shoulder beforehand. He gave her a hand up afterwards, and the crowd cheered at the display of sportsmanship. And, just like that, the first round of matches were over.

End of Round One

Chapter Text

Todoroki versus Ochaco was an interesting match. Todoroki seemed... agitated, to say the least, and seemed intent on finishing the fight quickly. The brunette, however, had no intention of allowing that to happen.

"Three, two, one, fight!" Todoroki swept in, creating his ordinary glacier in an attempt to end the match instantly. Ochaco seemed to have taken inspiration from Mina, however, and lifted herself up with her Quirk, releasing it once she was above the blast zone. She slid down the top, hopping quickly as she moved to get in close. Todoroki narrowed his eyes, creating a new glacier to crash into the old one, sending them both shattering. Ochaco jumped off and rolled with the impact, moving back into a run quickly.

Endeavor's son hopped back, creating distance. He tried the move he had used to finish his fight with Mina, slamming his fist into the ground, but Ochaco seemed to have thought around it, using the momentum of the first impact to dodge the remaining hits. Todoroki swung his arm again, small rivet-like structures coming out of the ice to shoot at Ochaco, but she returned her own gravity to mess with her trajectory, making it back to the ground safely.

"Not going to get me that easily!" The girl declared, dashing in again. With the gravity removed from her shoes, she was practically gliding across the ice. The peppermint-haired boy's eyes narrowed in concentration. His breath turned frosty, and then...

He made an uppercut motion, and massive pillars of ice extended from the arena's floor, blocking Ochaco's path. Unable to slow down, she slammed into one and bounced back. Todoroki was quick to capitalize on this, creating a path for himself to get on top of the pillars and look down at the girl below. He started to send dozens of ice spikes at her, each one destroying the rink where they hit, the girl pushing off of the stalagmites to stay ahead.

Suddenly, Ochaco jumped. She landed on the side of the first pillar, then jumped again. In no time at all, she was up to Todoroki, who found himself struggling to stay breathing normally as his body temperature began to dip. The girl jumped towards the other teen, reaching out in a wild grab. The pale teen slid out of the way, and Ochaco found herself on the opposite side of the arena... smiling.

"Thanks for letting your guard down." The girl's palms touched, and Shouto was suddenly faced with the realization that there was... a ton of ice above him. His ice. "Ultimate Move: Hailstorm!" Ochaco shouted, letting all of the ice fall. Todoroki grit his teeth - he didn't have a lot of options. And when the alternative was losing... He clenched his hand. He would not lose.

The arena heated up. Shouto breathed in... and raised his left hand. The spectators had to close their eyes for a moment as the flash became too bright. Flames spewed from the boy, and within seconds, all of the ice in the arena had evaporated. Todoroki was left panting, and Ochaco's eyes were open with shock... and, perhaps a small amount of jealousy. She swayed, but dug her foot into the dirt.

"Damn..." She breathed out. Then, she made one final dash towards her opponent. The boy struggled to steady himself after expelling so much fire, but he managed to raise a clumsy guard. He needn't have bothered, though, because...

"And like that, Ochaco Uraraka has fallen unconscious. That means Shouto Todoroki is the winner of the first fight of round two!" The crowd was silent for a moment. Then... A single clap started, and it instantly turned into a roar at the brilliant displays that had taken place.

All of that, however, was drowned out by a single person. "Yes, Shouto! You have finally ceased your childish insubordination!" Endeavor, the Number Two Hero rumbled, staring at his son in unbridled giddiness. His omni-present flames were flaring outwards, forcing the people that were sitting near where he was standing to scooch farther away. "Accept your flames!"

His son gave no indication of having heard him, breathing heavily, eyes wide. He was staring in shock at the sight of the girl on the ground before him. It took him a few moments before he started stumbling away, running back to the safety of the tunnel with shaky legs.

Red eyes pierced the boy's approaching form as Izumi got ready for her fight. "'I made a pledge to never use my fire in combat'," the girl mocked. Todoroki stopped moving, supporting himself by holding the wall. "Guess I know how much your pledges mean, now."

Todoroki released a shaky breath. "I-I was overwhelmed," he breathed out.

"Uh-huh?" Izumi leaned in. "And then what? Did it feel good? Did you feel..." Her breath tickled his ear as she whispered, "... Powerful?"

The peppermint-haired boy stumbled away from the other teen. "M..." He wheezed. "Midoriya-san... Are you alright?"

The girl growled. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine!" She shouted. Her hair started to billow in an unseen wind. Suddenly, her right eye twitched, and a smile blossomed on her face. "Your daddy dearest sure seemed happy to see you try your hardest." She stepped past the boy, heading towards the arena for her fight. "Don't you dare hold back against me."

Todoroki stared at the girl as she passed, a bewildered look on his face. Resolution followed not long after, however. He clenched his right fist. He needed to do this.

"Three! Two! One! Fight!"

Izumi didn't spring into action this time. No, instead, with her eyes closed, she breathed in... Breathed out. Sato eyed her warily, eating some sugar. He ate a couple gummy bears, but, as he began to put them away, he paused, and then ate a few more. His muscles began to bulge as his Quirk activated.

"Good luck, Midoriya-san," the boy offered.

A slow smile spread across the green-haired girl's face. Her eyes flashed open, glowing blood-red. "Oh, I'm pretty sure luck gave up on me a long time ago..." She said. "That's okay. I gave up on it, too."

A knock on the door surprised Shouta. Hizashi was busy commentating and seemed not to hear it. Shouta frowned, but stood up. It wasn't like he was doing anything, anyway...

The black-haired hero opened the door, incredibly surprised to see a head of white and red huffing behind it. "Todoroki?" Aizawa inquired. "What are you doing here?"

The boy paused for a second to catch his breath. Then, in a quick spurt, "I think Midoriya-san is under some sort of brainwashing." Shouta stilled.

"Are you certain?"

"Not absolutely, but..." The boy breathed in again. "Her eyes were red, and she's been acting incredibly aggressive."

"Red?" Eraserhead questioned seriously. "How long have they been like that?"

Todoroki shifted nervously. "... Ever since right before her match with Iida. I... Had a confrontation with her, outside the arena, and I brought up her parents. She had been normal before that, but she suddenly became aggressive, and her eyes were glowing red."

Aizawa's throat went dry. "Al... Alright. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Do you think that Sato is in danger?"

The teen didn't answer quickly. Finally, when he did... "I'm not sure."

It seemed like the air around Izumi was pulsating. Her hands were spread open by her sides, and her fingers seemed to constantly be flexing and unflexing. Her hair was floating, too, and billowing like crazy while it did. Sato tried to rush in, but it was like hitting a wall. He simply couldn't get closer than about five feet away. He tried to force against it slowly, but for every inch he gained, the pressure increased. He finally came to the limit just outside of arm's reach of the other teen.

"Oh, so close..." The girl said. "You've got this Sato! You can do it!" Her voice wasn't teasing, but the words most definitely were. The boy grit his teeth, but there wasn't much he could do. And, as if a switch flipped, he started to lose the battle. His feet were dragging through the ground as the force started to actively push against him, displacing earth and stone underneath them. His bulging muscles simply couldn't do anything. "If only you weren't so hopelessly outmatched..." Izumi spoke regretfully. Her voice turned sharp. "Oh well."

The girl shoved both of her arms at the boy, and it was only then that he realized that they had stayed at her side the entire time. 'She wasn't even trying?'  Sato questioned as he flew backwards. He landed barely inside the threshold of the ring, and scrambled back into a fighting position. He breathed in deeply, trying to think about what he could possibly do in this situation - he couldn't directly attack his opponent, and her Quirk was in intangible force. But... she didn't always fight like this. In fact, he couldn't remember a single time she had done something like this - she usually preferred to not use her Quirk while fighting. So, maybe, maybe... He had a chance if he could outlast her.

He ran in again, trying to get to her. Telekinesis slammed into him, though, and forced him back, even stronger than originally. He came back and back again. Finally, he looked at Izumi, his opponent, and he realized... She wasn't getting tired at all. She was smiling at him, and breathing normally.

Then... Something odd happened. He found himself staring at her eyes, and noticed just how red they were. 'Aren't her eyes... Green...?'  He questioned. "Midoriya!" He shouted.

"Sato," the girl responded flatly, an eyebrow raised.

"Why are your eyes red?"

The pressure faltered, and Sato stumbled forward, surprised. "My eyes aren't red," the girl challenged, and then the pressure came back, blowing Sato backwards as he struggled to regain his footing. "Can't you see?"

Yes, the baker could see. Her eyes were very, very clearly a deep scarlet. "I can see just fine, Midoriya-san. Check the billboard if you don't believe me!"

The girl's head flashed towards the video screen overlooking the arena, and she gasped as she saw that the other teen was correct. As if a switch was flipped, her eyes snapped back to their usual shade, and all of the pressure in the arena disappeared. Sato didn't dare approach, though. "Sato, what...?" She blinked, her head darting around. "What in the world...? Our fight...!" Sato nodded grimly. Something had been wrong, then. But... What?

"What's wrong?" Midnight questioned, waving a flag. "Come on, continue the fight!"

The duo were spurred into action. Izumi started running forward, her Quirk remaining inactive. Her fighting style was totally different now, and she seemed to be using her normal moves. She was fast enough that Sato was having trouble keeping up with defending, never mind counter-attacking. With more strength than should've been possible in her tiny frame, she was stronger than Sato was normally, but definitely not while his Quirk was activated.

Still, the boy had no chance to counterattack. If he failed to block even a single punch or kick, he would probably be out of the fight. He grit his teeth and defended, continuing to search for an opening. He finally found his chance when she dropped low for a kick. The sugar-consuming boy sprang backwards, and then leapt up and brought his fists down where the girl's leg would be...

And hit nothing but air.

He stumbled forward, and noticed with horror that he was running out of time, even with the extra sugar he had consumed. Izumi was back on him in an instant, a strong punch landing on his calf, sending him to the ground. He rolled, countering with an uppercut that Izumi leaned to the side of before landing a quick jab that knocked the air out of Sato. Wasting no time, the girl put him in a hold, and as he was out of sugar-strength, he was unable to break her grip. Finally, he tapped out, and Izumi released him quickly.

She helped him up. "You alright?" She asked. "I didn't hurt you too much, did I?" She sounded extremely concerned, which Sato found that, oddly enough, he preferred to the way she had been at the start of the fight. An emotionless Midoriya just wasn't right, and it had scared him.

"I'm... doing alright," he huffed. "That was a good fight. Are you doing alright?" He questioned his classmate.

She nodded. "Don't worry about me. Let's get you to Recovery Girl." They hobbled out of the arena together, Izumi supporting the boy's weight, and the crowd cheered as they left the stage. Interestingly enough, though... Sato noticed something as the girl helped him get to Recovery Girl's room safely and quickly.

She still wasn't breathing heavily.

"Midoriya!" Shouta called as he found her sitting outside of Recovery Girl's room. The girl turned towards him, her face brightening.

"Dad!" She responded.

Her eyes are... green.'  Aizawa noted, embracing his daughter in a hug. "Are you alright?"

The girl was silent for a moment. "Y-yes?" She didn't sound sure. "O-oh! Todoroki-san!" The boy had been following Aizawa while looking for the girl.

"Midoriya-san," he breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you feeling a bit better?"

She nodded quickly, tears forming slightly in her eyes. "Sorry for worrying you guys..."

Aizawa leaned back, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "You're worth worrying about, Problem Child... I'm just glad you're alright."

"Mhm," Izumi tried to smile, managing a little half-grin.

"You should come up to the announcing booth with me," Shouta recommended.

The green-haired girl nodded easily. "That-that sounds like a good idea. Could I... Could I talk with Todoroki-san for a second first, though?"

Aizawa noted that the boy seemed on edge, and nodded. He stepped away from the pair to let them talk. He wouldn't listen in, even though it was probably a good idea to do so.

Izumi stared at Todoroki, who seemed tense. "I'm... I'm sorry," she spoke first.

The red-and-white-haired boy blinked, as if that wasn't what he was expecting. "What for?"

"For-for yelling at you in the tunnel. You didn't deserve-" She was stopped by a pale hand being held up.

"No. You were right. I... I've been holding back, and you guys deserve more. Uraraka-san proved that."

Izumi's eyes widened, and she bit her lip, thinking. "You..." She breathed in. "You shouldn't let Endeavor control your life, Todoroki-san. Even if you're choosing to only use your ice, you're still letting him control your life by making your decisions around what he wants or doesn't want. It's your life, your Quirk." She pressed.

The peppermint-haired teen nodded slowly. "Per... haps..." He acknowledged. "For some reason, though..." His mismatched eyes stared into her green ones. "I think you need to take your own advice, too." He began to walk past her to where Aizawa was waiting for them to finish, leaving behind a shocked girl with tumultuous thoughts. 'Oh, Todoroki-san...'  She thought to herself, dropping her head into her hands as she began to start crying. 'It's not that simple for me.'

Bakugo was agitated. Something was fucking wrong with the Nymph Bitch, and considering what he had overheard earlier between her and that half-and-half bastard, he wasn't surprised. 'Auntie Inko is dead...'  He was still trying to wrap his head around it.'The fuck does she mean by 'that devil killed her', though? Uncle Hisashi? He was always pretty nice, though...'  He tried to consider it. He didn't remember either of Midoriya's parents well enough.

Something was wrong with Izumi, though. She had been acting so fucking... weird. She was almost as aggressive as he was. He tried to remember her tone of voice as she talked to Todoroki, and shivered slightly. The malice present had been so... out-of-place in the girl's voice. She didn't seem to be nearly mean enough to achieve anything near that level of anger or hatred, and she had been acting strange ever since.

He wasn't blind, either. He noticed her eyes turn red. He just didn't know what the fuck it meant.

"Hey, good luck, Bakugo-san!" Kaminari waved at the boy from across the arena.

Bakugo affixed him with a glare. "Luck ain't got shit to do with it, extra."

"Fight!"

Chapter Text

"Midoriya." Todoroki got the girl's attention. "I will beat you."

Todoroki grimaced as he remembered the declaration of war that he had made earlier in the day. With the raw power Izumi had displayed in the past two fights, he was beginning to seriously doubt if he could do it without using his fire. Even if she wasn't under the brainwashing or whatever had been going on... He had spoken with Sato after Recovery Girl had cleared him. The boy seemed to have his own interpretation of what was going on, and that was while her red eyes had been influencing Izumi... they hadn't been changing her actual power.

"She still seemed perfectly fine after the fight was over," the boy explained. "Even after she was back to 'normal', she still fought against me and overpowered me without breaking more than a light sweat."

Todoroki grimaced at the notion. He could swear that the girl had far too much combat experience and knowledge for a normal person. It was on par with his at least, which had been constantly trained by Japan's second-best hero for a decade.

There was no time left for consideration, though. They were facing each other, the arena clear and the crowd's fervor intense. Izumi's now-viridian eyes were filled with an unreadable emotion, but her body was tensed up with anticipation. Todoroki had his right side slanted backwards, ready to gather strength for his attacks.

"Three..."

A gray eye and a turquoise eye narrowed in preparation. Shouto heated up his body a bit.

"Two..."

Izumi breathed in deeply, packing oxygen into her lungs.

"One..."

Hizashi's voice echoed over the pitch, his excitement starting to spill over.

"Fight!"

Todoroki had, evidently, learned to be more cautious when facing the girl. Instead of trying to end the fight early, he set up a first line of defense, raising a pillar of ice beneath himself to lift himself up a dozen feet or so. Then, letting the frost connect his body to the ground, the pillar acting as a conduit, the ice began to spread to the floor around him.

Izumi smiled, though her eyes were still flighty. She seemed... uncomfortable, to say the least. She began running forward, and slid on the ice floor towards Todoroki. The boy prepared for an attack, but instead of going directly for him, the girl instead decided to attack the base of the pillar, cracking it quickly. Even if it was Quirk-made, it was still just ice. The peppermint-haired boy created a slide and slid down to ground, ensuring he wasn't stuck with a disadvantage.

The girl was on him quickly. Todoroki panicked and began to start sending glaciers towards her, backing up as he did. The green-haired teen, however, pulled a move similar to Mina and began sliding on the ice spikes that were created, relying on athleticism rather than a Quirk, though. She caught up to him quickly and landed a solid kick to the boy's chest. Instead of being pushed backwards, however, the boy managed to grab the girl's leg with his right hand and froze it to his chest, keeping her off-balance. He quickly landed a blow with his left hand, but he had always trained more with his Quirk than his body, and the blow, while damaging, was not nearly enough to end the fight.

As it was, Izumi grit her teeth, but powered through the pain. She lifted her unfrozen foot off the ground, the sudden weight pulling Todoroki forward, and spun quickly to land a powerful kick to her opponent's chest, breaking the ice covering her other foot and sending the son of Endeavor flying backwards, although he still landed well inside the ring. Izumi stamped her foot a few times, breaking off the remaining ice crystals.

Todoroki grit his teeth. At this rate, he'd most definitely have to use his fire. Indeed, Izumi seemed intent on making him do so. She gathered up shards of ice with her fingers and shot them at the peppermint-haired teen. The frozen water was, of course, incredibly light, and barely took up any energy. Todoroki dodged the first wave, but she just kept sending more and more barrages. Eventually, he was forced to make a decision.

He breathed in, closing his eyes for only a moment. 'I won't let my father control my life anymore!'  His turquoise and gray eyes snapped open with a raging intensity that was previously unseen. He thrust his left arm forward, and flames poured from his open palm. The fire was uncomfortable, but not painfully so. The arena was quickly cleared of any ice, the dihydrogen monoxide quickly turning into water vapor.

Out of the steam, though, Izumi approached again, running at him. She feinted, but he was prepared for it, blocking the attack. Todoroki let loose a quick spurt of fire, forcing her back, and then sent ice at her, catching her shoulder slightly, drawing blood. She grit her teeth, then came back again. A flurry of blows ensued, Todoroki letting loose frost or flame depending on which side the girl attacked, but he could feel himself tiring quickly. He ended fights instantaneously, with big, sweeping moves. He had done the big moves, but the fight was still going, and he was slowing down. He needed a change of plan.

Preemptively, he let loose a burst of ice, the green-eyed teen's instincts the only thing keeping her from being turned into a popsicle. With the girl pushed back, Todoroki didn't hesitate a moment to let loose his left side. He wasn't good at controlling it, and he found it bursting out much faster than he wanted it to. It wasn't like with his ice, where he knew exactly what he wanted and how much power to use. It was just... there. And it was massive.

The fireball exuded from his palm was singeing his skin, and he suddenly felt a new emotion - worry. He was worried for Izumi. But, he couldn't stop the power from seeping out, the flames continuing to spew and spew towards the girl, so bright he had to close his eyes, and he had to stabilize his left arm with his right lest his flames go everywhere. It took a few moments before he could open them again, squinting and blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. And, he saw...

Power.

There was no other way to describe it. His flames were spewing out in a dome. He could feel the impact, too, he realized - the reactionary force was pushing back against him. Izumi was holding out her arms, and simply letting her Repulsion go constantly. With nothing to attach to, the force spread out, creating something of a wall, forcing his flames away from her. The red-and-white-haired hero student grit his teeth and started pouring more power in. The fire in his hand, the fire in his heart ate it up greedily and demanded more and more. But, no matter how much he put in, the girl never faltered. The wall of force was getting closer and closer, one step at a time, practically a mirror to Sato in his fight against Midoriya. This time, however, there was no stopping.

Ten feet. Eight feet. Five feet. Four feet. Three feet. Two feet. The heat of the flames got more and more intense, but Todoroki found that he simply could not stop them. The valve of power flow to his Quirk Factors was stuck in the 'on' position. One foot. And then, just like that... It was over.

Izumi's hand clamped around his, forcing it shut. And just like that, the power was gone. It couldn't come out anymore, and Todoroki found himself only being held up by willpower. Willpower was not enough to stop the freckle-cheeked girl, though. Her green eyes were glowing, and her skin was flushed. But, the son of the number two hero knew... He had been massively, hilariously outmatched when he had declared war on his classmate.

He wasn't the same as her. He was strong - he knew that. He had known it his entire life, and his father had ensured that he remembered it. Both parts of his Quirk were strong. But... Beat Izumi Midoriya with only his ice? The thought seemed laughable, now. He couldn't beat her with his ice. He couldn't beat her with his fire. He couldn't beat her with both of them combined.

No, no. They were not on the same level. To her, he was an ant. And to him... she was a deity. With that last thought, darkness began to overcome his vision. He only heard one thing as it crept towards the center of his sight, and only saw one thing.

A kind, genuine smile. Honest words. "Good match, Todoroki-san."

The stadium was in shock. Even Class 1-B was silent, including Monoma.

What... What had they just watched?? The fight between the duo had been... intense wasn't a strong enough word to describe it. The strength of the two fighters was simply... enormous. It didn't feel like a fight between two fifteen-year-olds. No, it felt like a fight between heroes. Or a hero and a villain. The amount of power that had been present outclassed most Pro Heroes, and probably every single one below the Top 200.

Todoroki's fire and ice was blatantly powerful, his massive attacks and alterations to the field around him easy evidence of that fact. Midoriya, on the other hand, was a much more reserved force except for when she needed to show more. That dome at the end - it could easily be considered a hero's Super Move. A barrier of pure force. See, there was something interesting about Quirks. A lot of their power depended on how creative the user was.

Take the Rabbit Hero: Mirko, for example. The Number Seven Hero had a simple mutation Quirk - a rabbit. On its own, it was a very simple Quirk, nothing special. But she had honed her unique capabilities into her original fighting style, allowing her to become one of the top heroes without sidekicks or any real agency, although she had had support from the HPSC. She deserved her spot though, no doubt about it.

But, there was another piece to it - Superpower levels. Or, as they were more commonly known, S-Pow levels. A measurement of how much Quirk Potential a person had, basically. They weren't adjustable, although people grew and declined in them with age. The average teenager had about 50 S-Pow levels, while the average adult had anywhere from 100-200. A random, average first-year hero student might have 400-800, or perhaps a bit higher for prestigious schools like Yuuei or Shiketsu. The average low-tier Pro Hero had 750-1500, while the Top 200 reached closer to the 2000-2500 range, the Top 100 averaging in the 3000-4000 range, and the Top 10 Pro Heroes in Japan coming near, or even surpassing the 5000 S-Pow level mark, essentially making them one-man armies. Endeavor himself was above 6000 S-Pow levels. All Might, however... his S-Pow levels were unknown. Many discussions had been held on it, but his true power was just as unknown to the public as the man's Quirk. Expert analysts placed it as possibly even above 10000, though.

It was very important to recognize, though, that just because a person had a large amount of S-Pow levels didn't mean that they were strong. One had to train to activate their potential, after all. A Pro Hero with 1000 S-Pow levels would probably be stronger than a random citizen with 1500 S-Pow levels.

The two teenagers in front of them, though... Their activated S-Pow levels, their natural inclination towards Quirk usage... They had to have been above 2500 at least. S-Pow levels weren't something that you could train. For better or for worse, it seemed like maybe, just maybe... These two had been destined to be strong.

"Well... What an amazing match!" Even Present Mic seemed to be in shock. As if his words had sparked something, the stadium erupted in shouting and cheers at the incredible battle. "Ladies and gentlemen, the end of the first semifinal battle of the first years' Sports Festival! Izumi Midoriya is the first of our finalists!" The stadium grew even louder. An imposing presence, though, was oddly silent.

Endeavor stared at the empty pitch in shock. His son, his legacy, his dream... had accepted his fire. And then... he had lost. After a few moments, the man turned around resolutely. This was... It was not failure. He would not give up on Shouto - he would not let the boy burn himself out like Touya had. He would train him more, harder. That girl... She was strong, too. Shouto would need to overcome her. He nodded to himself, already making up his mind. He walked out of the stadium, silently, but filled with very different thoughts than he had when he entered.

It took a few minutes for Cementoss to repair the arena, and in the meantime, a replay of the fight showed and different Pro Heroes gave their two cents on it. Bakugo growled in agitation as he waited.

He was reminded of what Izumi told him during the Cavalry Battle - His opponent's Brainwashing Quirk most likely activated upon a verbal response to a question. So, all he needed to do was not respond to anything. That'd be easy enough.

He was summoned onto the pitch by Midnight once it was rebuilt. His opponent entered the field, too, seemingly disinterested. Hitoshi Shinsou, hmm...? The boy didn't look that impressive, but maybe it was a front. Nymph Bitch didn't look that strong, but what he had just seen... He cleared his mind. He couldn't be thinking about the Freckle Whore until he was facing her next round.

"Three! Two! One! Fight!" The countdown was quick. The crowd seemed like they weren't sure of what they were to expect from the fight - the previous battle had been incredible, but how was anyone supposed to match up to that?

"Geez, you sure seem like a villain," The purple-haired teen shot quickly. "Explosive Quirk, explosive personality... Bet you hurt a lot of people, huh?" Bakugo's eye twitched, but he didn't respond. "Oh, not responding? You think you're that much better than me just because you're in the Hero Course?"

'I underestimated him...'  Bakugo thought to himself, beginning to move forward. 'He's much more irritating than anticipated.'

The General Studies student noticed the boy moving towards him. "Damn..." Shinsou muttered. "He must know about the activation requirement. I'll have to try as many different things as I can..." He began to ready himself as the Hero Student began to rocket towards him with his Quirk. He rolled out of the way like Eraserhead had taught him, dodging the first hit. The boy came back with a vengeance, though, more explosions rocking the air.

Hitoshi grit his teeth. He had to focus solely on dodging and blocking - his body wasn't durable enough to take more than a few explosions. "What's wrong? Can't hit the wee little 1-C student? Guess 1-A isn't as good as everyone thinks." The ash-blond still didn't respond, but his face tilted in anger. An egomaniac, then. That was a start, at least. "You're never going to be as good as those other two students before you," the insomniac taunted.

Bakugo's mouth opened, but it shut without making a sound. A massive explosion slammed into Shinsou, who went tumbling back. He righted himself before he could fall out of the arena, though. He hadn't come this far just to be snuffed out like this! "Geez, you're strong! You know, you're so lucky. You were born with such an amazing Quirk. You were probably told you could be a hero all your life, huh?" The explosions faltered. A weak point - much more effective than the egomania, maybe. Hitoshi grinned, and tried a new angle. "Honestly, you should just give up. You're not hero material."

"Don't tell me what to do!" A wide smile spread across Hitoshi's face. 'Got you.'  He snatched the connection that had formed eagerly, and watched with satisfaction as the ash-blond's face went blank. "Walk out of the arena." He commanded the boy. Katsuki took a single step in the inverted world before everything righted itself again. He wasn't out of the ring - no, he was back to normal. Hitoshi watched in shock as his connection was broken for the second time in a day. "That shouldn't be possible!"

Bakugo connected the dots instantly. "... Ahah. So pain will break the connection, huh?" He recalled headbutting Izumi to make her snap out of it. "Tough break." Bakugo held up his blistered forearms, which had taken constant damage from his Quirk. "I'm always in pain."

End of Semifinals.

Chapter Text

Ochaco smiled behind a head of cotton candy. "This festival is awesome!" She cheered.

"Totally!" Kaminari agreed. "It sucks that we all got out so early, though..." His face drooped into a frown.

"Yeah, that's totally not manly!" Kirishima grunted, crossing his arms. "At least Bakubro and Mido-bro're in the finals."

"Speak for yourselves..." Sero groaned, falling farther back into his seat. "I didn't even make it to the third round!"

Mina stuck her tongue out. "Sucks to suck! Guess we're just better than you!" The tape-Quirked boy groaned, but didn't respond.

"Why do you call Midoriya Mido-bro if she's a girl, kero?"

Kirishima thought for a moment. "Well... because she's so manly!" The group laughed at the predictable response from the red-haired boy.

"Hey..." The brunette of the group frowned, pausing from eating her sugary confection for a moment as she looked around in confusion. "Where's Tenya-kun?"

Green eyes stared at red from across the battlefield.

Katsuki growled as he waited for the fight to begin. Izumi, on the other hand, didn't seem to be worried about it in the slightest. She was still a bit tired from her last fight, too. Against Shinsou, though, the ash-blond hadn't expended too much energy.

"Three... Two... One..." The crowd grew in anticipation. "Fight!"

"I con-"

"Don't you dare," Bakugo snarled, startling the girl.

She frowned at him, raising an eyebrow. "Hm? Why not? Don't you want to get first place?"

"First place ain't worth shit," the boy snarled, poising to explode. "Not unless I earn it."

"Oh?" Izumi narrowed her eyes. "Hm..." The teen considered. "You want to fight, even if it means that you might lose?"

Bakugo grinned. "If I lose, I never should've been first to begin with."

The green-eyed girl licked her lips slightly and smiled. "Well, alright, then. Don't blame me if you end up regretting this."

"I'm confused," Denki frowned. "Did Izumi just try to forfeit?"

"Mhm," Sato nodded. "She probably felt bad for... uh..." His eyes darted to Todoroki, who shook his head. "Uh... For getting so competitive in the early rounds."

Kirishima deflated. "That's so lame! Being competitive is great! She shouldn't be angry about that," he admonished the girl from the stands even though she couldn't hear him.

"Quiet!" Mina demanded, standing up and leaning on the seat in front of her, which was, thankfully, empty. "They're getting ready to go!"

Indeed, they were. Bakugo darted forwards with his explosions, and Izumi dodged deftly. They continued back and forth like this a few times, Bakugo attacking, Izumi dodging. She was incredibly nimble, of that there was no doubt. Todoroki frowned. "Izumi will win if this keeps up..." He observed.

"Eh?" Toru's high-pitched voice came. "What do you mean? She hasn't hit Bakugo once!"

"You can't beat what you can't hit." Todoroki's response was flat. "Midoriya-san has vastly superior endurance to Bakugo. While he tires himself out with his Quirk, she'll still be fine."

Kyoka nodded in agreement. "He's right. But... Why isn't she attacking? She hasn't seemed like she's fought like this before, as far as I can recall." It was silent among the group for a few moments. Then, suddenly, there was a gasp. "Yaoyorozu-san?" The purple-haired girl questioned, turning to the girl sitting beside her in concern.

"I think I've figured it out..." The heiress' eyes were wide with concern and dismay. "I... I hope I'm wrong, but... I think she's trying to make sure Bakugo-san is as strong as he can possibly be, since his Quirk is based around his sweat."

The group shifted their eyes to the pitch, where the cat-and-mouse game continued, the explosions constantly getting larger.

"Oh no..." Sato groaned, frowning.

In contrast, though, red-hair waved through the air with excitement. "Oh yeah!"

"Fight back, goddamnit!"

Izumi smiled. "Oh, I am, I am..." She twirled out of the way of another blow, ducking instinctively to dodge the follow-up, the blowback pushing the aggressive teen away from her.

"Fuck's that even supposed to mean?" He came back with another push.

Izumi dodged.

An uppercut.

Izumi dodged.

Slamming down with an explosion.

Izumi dodged.

A feint, then a second feint, explosions upwards, then a sweeping leg.

Izumi dodged.

A growl. Pouncing forward, aiming for a tackle.

Izumi dodged.

It was a massive contrast to the green-haired girl's previous fight, which was action-packed with traded blows all over the place. Against Bakugo, however, it looked more like a choreographed dance, what with the explosions, which were beautiful from afar, and the fast pace at which the two moved and the narrow evasions.

"What?" Bakugo thundered. "You think I'm not good enough to use your Quirk against? Is that it? You think that half-and-half bastard is better than me?"

Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Well, he is. At least, right now. Your explosions aren't nearly at the strength of his ice or his fire."

Bakugo growled in rage, coming back with an increased fervor. Izumi pushed him away with Repulsion, which would've sent him flying out of the arena if he didn't negate it with explosions after a moment. The speed of the game increased, but still, Izumi was an unreachable goal for Bakugo.

"You should-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Bakugo shouted, interrupting his opponent. He flew at her, reinvigorated, and his explosions were getting increasingly stronger.

Izumi smirked. "Are your explosions at their maximum potential yet?"

The ash-blond stumbled, but was back at his prime in just a moment. "Go fuck yourself," he snarled.

"I'll take that as a yes," Izumi nodded. "Alright, play-time's over then."

"Weren't you the one who told me I shouldn't blame you if I regret this?"

Izumi winked at the boy. "Your goal is to win. Mine... Well, I've already accomplished mine." If anything, this infuriated the boy more.

"DIE!"

"And Katsuki Bakugo is unconscious!" The crowd was silent at the spectacle before them. "And that means... Izumi Midoriya is the winner of your Yuuei First Year Sports Festival!"

The crowd roared with approval, although it seemed a bit... uncertain. It hadn't seemed like a final match - indeed, The match between Todoroki and Midoriya, or even Todoroki and Ochaco, seemed like a much more impressive match than the final one between Midoriya and Bakugo. She had let him tire himself out, and then had brought him to kingdom come even despite his larger explosions. Even the victor seemed disappointed.

The awards presentation was much more boisterous, since All Might was bestowing the medals. It took a few hours of waiting for Bakugo to wake up, so in that time, the hype had grown even whilst the General Sports Festival was underway. It had ended with a victory by a Support Student, which was actually incredibly impressive. It had allowed a lot of the Support and Business students to show off their respective individual talents, which Izumi had to admit was entertaining.

"Finally, in first place..." All Might trailed off, smiling, looking around the crowd. "Izumi Midoriya!" The crowd cheered as the blond man lifted the medal onto the girl's head, then around her neck. "Congratulations, Young Midoriya," he whispered to the girl, still smiling.

The girl's face twisted as she tried to figure out a response. Finally, she ended up with just a simple, "Thanks."

All Might didn't seem too disappointed as he turned back around to face the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen..." He boomed. "Your Yuuei First Year Podium!" Cameras flashed and the crowd cheered again.

To the green haired girl, it all seemed too over the top.

The purple-haired boy waved to the crowd, sharing the third place podium spot with the red-and-white-haired Shouto Todoroki, who was locking eyes with his father, who seemed to have broken his eternal mood of displeasure for once. Bakugo was sitting angrily on top of the second place podium spot. He had bitten at All Might when he tried to place the medal on his head, but the hero had done so anyway. The boy hadn't actually bitten down, expecting the intimidation tactic to work. He didn't take the medal off, though.

Izumi gave a forced smile and waved. 'Because... I'm going to become the best.'  She raised her hand in All Might's iconic 'Plus Ultra' pose. Cameras flashed. The crowd cheered. And then, it was all done.

"Congratulations again, Young Midoriya."

"I assume you didn't request to see me just to say that again," The girl frowned. She looked around All Might's office - it almost looked like a fan room, as if someone had designed it for him and put all their memorabilia in there.

Toshinori Yagi chortled. "No, no. Please, sit." He waved a hand to the chair across from, which looked comfortable enough. Izumi only hesitated a few moments before sitting down. She had gotten... Well, comfortable wasn't quite the right word when she was with the hero, but she had worked past the misguided hatred of him being unable to save her mother. Kinda. "So, Izumi... I watched your fights! They were incredible!"

Izumi blushed and shrugged, not used to nor wanting the praise. "Ye-yeah. It... They obviously were made better by having such strong opponents." The green-eyed teen half-grinned and sweatdropped, scratching the back of her scalp.

"Humble!" Yagi approved. "Anyway, no, you are correct that I wanted to talk to you. I would like to bring up the topic of One For All again."

Izumi's good mood dissipated. "Of course you do..." She grumbled. "Haven't I proven enough that I'm not the one who should have it?"

All Might stared at the girl barely more than half his size in confusion. "Haven't you... What?" He threw his head back and gave a deep laugh. "Quite the opposite, Young Midoriya! This hesitation where most would beg for this new power - It's an explanation in itself!"

"I don't want more power," Izumi replied, getting heated.

All Might grinned at her. "But you want to save people." Izumi froze up, and the Number One Hero knew he had her. "You want to make sure that nobody has to suffer in the same way you do." Izumi didn't respond, her eyes wide, her mind racing. "Your capabilities, your knowledge, your drive - they are all phenomenal. But even from the moment I first talked to you, Young Midoriya..." The blond giant pointed to his heart. "... I knew in here."

The girl began to shake, bringing her knees up to her forehead and locking her gray sweater-coated arms around them, and she started to cry softly. Yagi began to feel like he might've been wrong about having convinced the teen, but she finally raised up her eyes, tears still streaming down her face. "I'll do it." 'Anything to help other people. Anything.'

The transfer was incredibly straightforward. Yagi offered her three options - blood-to-blood, spit in her drink, or eating a strand of his hair. Izumi countered with a fourth - she'd take it with her version of All For One. The Hero had stoutly declined, so she instead went with the strand of his hair.

She stared at it dubiously. "I wash my hair every day!" Yagi declared proudly, puffing up in a standard superhero pose.

Izumi inspected the hair. "Oh, yeah? What scent of shampoo do you use?"

"Blue."

Green eyes peered up at the man inquisitively. He did not seem to be joking. Izumi just sighed. It would be best to get it over with quickly. She plopped the thin piece of DNA in her mouth, gagging slightly. Blue, indeed. She didn't know how something tasted like Blue, but this hair surely did. She swallowed with a bit of effort, and then it was done. She didn't feel different...

"It takes a while for it to take effect," the Pro told her.

Izumi nodded, her face still wrinkled as she tried to rid her mouth of the taste. "Can I throw it up?"

Yagi scrunched his face, thinking. "... Probably not."

The teen sighed. "Great."

Izumi glared at the toilet bowl as she laid sprawled on her bathroom floor. It was the same night she had received One For All, and it wasn't long before the side effects started to come back full force. Super Regeneration had balanced out All For One, Weak Attraction, and her original Quirk, as well as it itself. Past that, its effects were negligible. That meant, with a Quirk as 'large' as One For All... She was out of 'memory'. And it wasn't even close. She was probably close to twice her maximum storage.

And, now, she was throwing up blood. Instead of her brain destroying itself, it was her body doing it instead, somewhat like the reverse of the Nomu at the USJ.

The girl considered her options. She could try and give it back to Yagi, but she didn't know if that was even possible. She could try and give it to someone else, but who? She didn't have the experience nor resources. The third option was that she could just try and... brave it, basically, and hope that the strain lessened. As if that had ever happened before. The fourth option, the most likely realistic, and also the least favorable...

She could take another durability or regenerative Quirk.

It seemed like the best overall outcome. And she hated how easily it came to her and how logical it seemed.

She didn't want to just take Quirks. She already felt terrible accepting One For All, now that the original hype that Yagi had built up was fading, even though he had been offering it to her for weeks and weeks. She didn't want to... She didn't want to turn into a devil. Not like her father had. She didn't want to turn into All For One, too. She wouldn't just take Quirks for herself. But, as a headache began to pound, and more blood and bile began to pool in the toilet, it seemed like she had less and less of a choice.

Her vision began to darken and her head began to pound as the headache started to turn into a migraine. Izumi groaned, turning off the lights with her foot, the movement jostling her stomach yet again.

Step one: Draw a line.
Step two: Cross the line.
Step three: Repeat.

Izumi felt her head fall as the world went dark, and then she knew no more.

Chapter Text

Izumi blinked her eyes open blearily. She... Wasn't in the bathroom. She wasn't anywhere, actually. She was just in an empty space. Everywhere she looked, there was just... nothing. Not darkness. Not black. Just... nothing. She looked down - she could see herself, yes, but there was no visible light source. 'Some sort of dreamscape...?'  Izumi questioned. 'This doesn't feel like a dream, though... Nor a nightmare...'

There was no way to identify anything. Izumi sat up from her laying position - She... didn't have her scars on her arms? Her hands rushed down to her lower back, feeling no scar tissue from her branding. She was entirely alert, now. Just what in the hell was going on?

"Oh, you're here already..." A voice muttered.

The green-haired girl's body twisted as she looked for the source of the voice. Her eyes widened as she took in the form of what appeared to be some sort of... specter?  "Who are you?" She questioned, pushing herself into a crouching position facing towards the man.

"Aha, I like her, Yoichi!" Another voice.

Finally, there were footsteps - something new in this weird realm. "I told you you would," a young voice responded. Izumi was constantly twirling around to identify these new figures. 'I'm in a dream... They can't hurt me too bad, right...?'  She reasoned to herself to keep herself calm.

"Who are you all?" The teen questioned again.

"Ah!" The man who had said he liked her shouted, like that explained everything. "Yes, yes. Well, we are the past users of One For All." He said it like it was no big deal, but...

"... Huh?"

"You are the one Toshinori passed One For All onto, right?" A voice asked from right next to Izumi's ear, which made her shriek and twist away.

Another voice grunted. "Of course she is. There's no other way she could've gotten here."

"Dears, dears, stop scaring the poor girl," A feminine voice called out. "Hello, Izumi-chan!" A woman with long black hair padded into the middle of Izumi's field of vision. She looked... kind, at least. She leaned down. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Nana Shimura."

"U-uh...?" Izumi's eyes darted around. 'Should I know her...?'  "H-hello, Shimura-sama...?"

The woman waved her hand. "Oh, none of that! Just call me Nana - We're kindred spirits now, you know. That over there is Daigoro Banjo," she pointed at the loud man, "then there's En," she pointed at the guy who seemed to have a style similar to Best Jeanist and was mostly silent, "and then there's Hikage Shinomori," the young woman pointed to the man with the scar over his face and the lines cracking his skin. "Those two," the black-haired woman pointed at the two shadow-like figures, "probably want to stay silent for a bit. And lastly..."

Izumi felt the urge to turn around. She did, and came face-to-face with a thin young man with white hair. "Yoichi Shigaraki," the man intoned kindly, holding his hand out in greeting. "It's a pleasure to finally get to meet my niece."

Izumi came to, hearing a banging on her door. "Izu-chan, we're going to be laaaaate~" Hizashi called. The green-haired girl groaned as she sat up again. It was discomforting to wake up from being conscious and suddenly back to being on the floor after having already gotten up.

"Jus-Just a minute!" The green-eyed girl called back, realizing that her adoptive father was probably waiting for an answer. She pushed herself off the floor, looking into the blood-and-puke soaked toilet, gagging slightly at the sight and smell. She flushed it, making sure to not throw up again, and washed her hands, then splashed some water on her face. She quickly got ready, grabbing her bag and heading out to catch the train with Hizashi to school. Shouta had already gotten there, considering he had been up all night.

Standing there on the train with Hizashi, it was... nice. It was relaxing. While she wasn't as close with the blond-haired man as she was with Aizawa, his presence was still soothing, and he was good at recognizing when to talk and when to be silent.

"Rough sleep last night?"

"Huh?" Izumi tilted her head at the sudden question. "Y-yeah... I suppose so," she laughed awkwardly. "I had some really weird dreams," she admitted.

The Pro Hero nodded. "You know, little listener, they say that all dreams have a meaning. Maybe it's worth looking a bit deeper into them, thinking about what you saw."

The teen agreed easily. The train lurched as it slowed to a stop, and they disembarked, the duo holding hands as they entered the busy streets of Musutafu for the short walk to the Yuuei grounds. Whispers started to break out, quickly recognizing both Midoriya and the Pro Hero accompanying her - after her victory in the Sports Festival, she had quickly started to pop up all over the internet. It was no surprise that people knew her now.

But... Could they at least have the decency to stop being so obnoxious? She was literally trying to get to school, goddamnit! She breathed in, and then breathed out. She needed to stay calm - why was she so on edge? One step at a time. She could make it one more step, right? Yep. One more step? Mhm. She made it inside the premises and breathed in deeply, trying to get back to her relaxed state.

"Does it ever get better...?" She murmured, mostly to herself.

To her surprise, though, Hizashi put a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, eventually. It can die down, or you can go into the Underground business. People-society is fickle, you know? Soon enough, they'll be on to the next big hero, the next big crime, the next big..." The blond wiggled his hand in the air. "Anything."

Izumi frowned, but nodded. She knew that. It still felt weird to be on the other end of it after having been a hero fangirl for years, though. She seized up slightly at the thought - She was becoming a hero. It was really the first time she had acknowledged it, and it felt so... Weird. She had spent her entire life thinking she was going to be a villain, and then spent years as a vigilante, and now, she was a hero student at Yuuei - the strongest in her year, at that.

The yellow-haired hero smiled as if reading your thoughts. "Yeah, it's weird. You've spent so long trying for something, and now that you're getting there it almost feels like you're giving up for some reason, hm?" His face was knowing, and Izumi blushed and nodded. "Well, hopefully this afternoon, we'll make it a bit more real. We've got a surprise for you kids there." Izumi tilted her head inquisitively. "Nope! No hints!" Hizashi stuck his tongue out at her, and she stuck her tongue out back. They laughed, and the rest of the walk to class was a lot more carefree than the travel there.

"We're choosing hero names?" Ochaco gasped, stars shining in her eyes. She wasn't the only one excited - most of the class was, in fact. The only ones who weren't outwardly so were Bakugo and Iida, the latter being the most surprising. The boy had always been very vocal about upholding his family name, but he seemed... mentally absent from the class.

"Hey, you okay?" Izumi nudged the boy, who was startled in shock as he seemed to be knocked out of his thoughts.

It took him a moment before he actually registered what his green-haired classmate had asked. "Oh. Yes!" He nodded. "I am simply... Very interested about choosing my hero name."

Green eyes stared incredulously. 'You're a terrible liar, Iida-san. You don't have enough practice with it,'  She thought to herself. However, when she spoke, all she said was, "I see. You know I'm always available to talk, right?"

"Of course, Midoriya-san! However, I already have a name in mind," the boy admitted, faking honesty. He turned back to the front of the classroom. "However, we must pay attention to Midnight-sensei." Izumi sighed, her eyes downcast as she turned back to the front. 'You know that wasn't what I was talking about.'

Choosing her name was exciting, there was no doubt about that. However... Izumi had no idea what she'd choose. Her Telekinesis didn't have any name that she could make with it too well, and she wasn't about to advertise All For One - or One For All, she remembered with a jolt. She had almost forgotten about it. She looked down at her hand, flexing it a bit. She didn't feel different, like she could level buildings with a single punch. All she felt was... a bit of pain coursing through her. She was still slowly decomposing, probably. She most likely had only a few days until she started to feel harsher effects.

She clenched her fist. She had to make a decision - and soon.

Hero names. What were they about?

"What do hero names mean to you?" Midnight questioned the class.

"They tell people what I can do!"

"They let others know what I'm best suited for!"

"They make sure people know who I am and can support me!"

"They fuckin' sound cool."

Izumi held back a chuckle at some of the answers. However... She frowned. She was still no closer to a final solution. 'Make sure people know who I am...'  She considered. 'Who am I? What am I truly meant to be in this life?'

Her hands were still, and she didn't have anything written down on her paper when she was called on by Midnight. However... She had something in mind. It wasn't concrete, no, but she said it anyway.

It didn't feel right, no, but... It didn't feel wrong. It was a starting point. And God knows... Everyone needs one of those.

"Back to internships." Aizawa returned to the podium. "Those who got offers will get a list of their offers, and they can pick from those. Everyone else will get about forty agencies from around the country to choose from. Many are Yuuei alumni who have worked closely with the school, and will cover a lot of different tasks. For example, Thirteen will focus on Search & Rescue, whereas Shishido may focus on patrolling large areas." The class nodded in understanding. "Good. Now, these are all of the offers that came in for you guys." A screen lit up.

Todoroki - 2461
Bakugo - 1857
Midoriya - 685
Uraraka - 284
Tokoyami - 231
Iida - 219
Kaminari - 184
Kirishima - 92
Yaoyorozu - 86
Ashido - 63
Sato - 49
Kyoka - 18
Hagakure - 7
Sero - 2

"Now, normally, these would be a lot more spread out," Shouta explained, waving his hand at the results. "However..." He stared intently at the corner of the classroom that housed the power trio of Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo. "All eyes were on those three this year." The class didn't even object at the unfairness - they entirely understood how the heroes had felt. Those fights - they had been utterly insane.

"Wow, you're impressive, Todoroki-kun!" Toru cheered. "You got so many offers."

The boy waved her praise off. "Most of them were just because of my father," he grumbled. 'My father...'  Todoroki thought to himself. He had visited his mother the day before - for some reason, it had felt wrong to visit her alone. He hadn't wanted to bring Natsuo, no, nor Fuyumi... He had wanted to bring Midoriya. And he couldn't quite fathom why.

She- Rei- His mother had been overjoyed to see him, of course. She had apologized profusely, too. Todoroki didn't accept because he couldn't figure out what she was apologizing for. She understood, smiling sadly. "And that's exactly why I'm sorry."  She had told him. She had taken his refusal in stride, and enjoyed the time that he spent with her. She had asked him to return again, although she added that she knew she didn't deserve it.

Shouto hadn't hesitated to say yes. He apologized for taking so long to visit her - he felt guilty for making her wait nearly a decade. She smiled sadly at him, pulling him into a hug. Instead of responding, all she said was..."I love you."  And, really... She hadn't needed to say anything else.

"I can't believe that Midoriya didn't get the most offers," Kaminari admitted. "She was absolutely crazy in there. I mean, less than Bakugo? Seriously?"

A small explosion popped. "The hell's that supposed to mean, extra?" Denki sweatdropped and apologized quickly to the aggressive blond before turning to Mina. "That's why," he mouthed. The pink-skinned girl giggled and nodded in agreement.

"They didn't offer her so many because of how massively she won by," Mineta said. The grape-Quirked boy was thinking intently, a more common sight than his first few days of class would've led one to believe. "A lot of the heroes don't want to do an internship with her because they know she's stronger than them and they don't wanna be directly outdone by a first year hero student."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Momo nodded rapidly. "That was very smart, Mineta-san!"

"Thank you." The boy smiled. He seemed to have matured a bit... "Smart enough for a kiss?" He puckered his lips and wiggled with his hands together... But only a bit.

Izumi pondered what that meant for her as she started reading down her list of offers. She recognized a lot of the names on the first few pages - Endeavor (this one was a bit surprising, she was thinking that she might have to avoid an assassination attempt from the man), Best Jeanist, Ryukyu, Uwabami, Fatgum, and more. There were a few notable absences, though - Hawks, for one, All Might, and of course, Ingenium. The girl's green orbs glanced over to her classmate. He didn't seem to be suffering, but... His poor lies had sort of... torn through his façade.

Her eyes caught on a name. And, like a burst of fresh air, she knew exactly who she wanted to intern with. She smiled, looking up at her dad. He smirked, amused. He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, 'Who?'  Izumi just smirked back.

'You'll find out.'

Izumi breathed in deeply as she accessed the faculty gym for the first time. It was much nicer than the student gyms, for sure. Neat, too, was that it was private - she could use her Quirk comfortably in here. She stretched for a few moments - even if she had never had gymnastics training, she still understood the basics. Once she felt nice and limber, she set up a punching bag. She stood a bit away, and... pushed.

Lightning sparked over her skin - multiple colors. It tingled, but it wasn't like she was getting electrocuted. It wasn't like Kaminari's lightning, or the-

That wasn't important. The arcs looked... entrancing, almost. There were green ones, red ones, pink ones, black ones... She wished she knew what they meant. Still, it felt like there was so much power available underneath the surface of her skin, like it was trying to push it's way out. Now that she was acknowledging it, she realized... This must've been the discomfort she had been feeling all day. This was what was causing her edginess - She was trying to repress her new Quirk, almost. That was never healthy. She knew that firsthand.

Her arm started to shake. 'I'm holding the power in...'  She noted. It wanted to be active - to move! So she let it. She burst forward in a chromatic burst and slammed her fist into the punching bag. The chain holding it up shattered instantly, and the sand-filled bag was launched to the other end of the gym, exploding on impact. Izumi herself was tossed backwards.

It took the shocked girl a few moments to truly comprehend what the fuck had just happened. "What the hell...?" She muttered, thinking. She looked down at her hand. Her glove - her reinforced glove had absolutely shattered thanks to the impact of the punch that she had just thrown. The arm-sleeve of the uniform she was borrowing had been entirely torn and was in tatters. If she hadn't been wearing her glove, her hand probably would've been broken. "Holy shit..." She breathed. So... this was Power Stack. While her original Quirk augmented her other Quirks, One For All seemed to do that for her physical capabilities.

'Moderation, then...'  Izumi slowly got to her feet, slouching against the wall for a few moments. She reversed her stance from what it was previously, this time with her left side away from the second bag she had hung up. She breathed in. 'Moderation. I know how to do that.'  She nodded. She threw the punch, and the bag flew again, snapping off the chain once again. This time, however, instead of smashing against the wall, the bag slid on the floor for a couple dozen feet, slamming into the base of the wall. It was definitely worse for wear, but still usable.

Her other glove, however... Izumi stared down at the dented piece of carbon fiber. She needed a new set now. Still, the second punch had been much more reasonable than the first. Without the glove, it still probably would've cracked every bone in her hand, yeah, but it was better than the first time, which would've most likely vaporized her arm.

A flash caught her attention, and she realized that her arm was still glowing with the power of One For All. She waved it as a kneejerk reaction, the glow following it and electricity arcing for a few moments until she came back to her senses. It was... Comfortable, almost. Like a warm blanket. It wasn't hurting her - no, it felt almost as if it was coating her arm, protecting it, even.

"Well... That's... Odd..." Izumi observed. She had definitely never seen All Might like this. Maybe it was something to do with its interaction with her original Quirk? 'I keep referencing it as 'my original Quirk'...'  Izumi noted. 'Probably because I like to pretend I don't have it. But... Still, it deserves a name, I think. All For One... Power Stack... One For All... Hm.'  She put a finger on her chin, thinking. 'Well, if I sort of follow the pattern...'  She thought to herself. 'Maybe something like... Power Multiplier? Power Awakener?'  No, those sounded silly almost. Then, another idea occurred to her, and she raised an eyebrow, considering it. 'Evolution...?'  She tested. It sounded right, correct. Like, yeah - that's just what it was. Her Quirk was Evolution.

The green-haired girl scratched her scalp as she realized how stressed she had suddenly gotten over the relatively minor thing. 'Oh well...'  She shrugged her shoulders. The glow finally began to subside from her hand now that she wasn't using it. "That was about twenty-five percent of the power..." She said to herself, thinking. "The first punch was strong, but it was definitely nowhere near the level of All Might's punches..." She acknowledged. She analyzed Pro Heroes all the time. Now, though, it was time for her to analyze herself.

She walked over to the punching bag and picked it up off the ground. She hooked it back up quickly, and then prepared herself. 'Well, I can't use my hands again, in case I go overboard, so that means I'll have to test it with my feet...'  She took a new stance. 'I'll start with as low as I can possibly go.'  She didn't activate One For All for the first kick. The bag rattled, a normal noise. She went for a second one, barely activating One For All at the moment of impact. That didn't go as well, her leg being blown back, although she didn't take too much damage, her shoe was definitely ruined.

"Damn..." She cursed at herself for her carelessness. "That's probably not the best idea. How about...?" She prepared herself for a third kick. This time, she activated One For All beforehand and let the energy simmer for a few moments, doing her best to tone it down as much as she could. 'Moderation...'  She thought. 'Moderation.'  Once the energy felt calm, she surged forward. Her leg snapped towards the bag even faster than intended, and it swung back and forth wildly - but it stayed on the hook. Izumi smiled as she observed her progress. She would increase it as incrementally as she could until it began to hurt too much.

White teeth flashed as the green-eyed girl smiled. She had plenty of bags, and she had plenty of time. And, oh yeah, the most important part - plenty of drive to save others.

"Are you sure I can't get you any water?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you very much, ma'am." Tensei Iida stared at the door closing behind the nurse as she turned off the lights and wished him good night. He was getting the best care possible thanks to being insured by the HPSC. He grit his hands into a fist, though - they couldn't do miracles. Healing Quirks that healed people that weren't the user were usually not very strong, usually relying on activating the other person's own natural capabilities, such as Yuuei's Recovery Girl.

His natural capabilities couldn't bring back function to his legs. The doctors had tried. The surgeons had tried. And, though he had tried to put on a brave face for his little brother, he was scared. He still wasn't sure that he would make it out of the hospital bed ever again, and even if he recovered, he wasn't sure if he wanted to without his legs. He couldn't be certain Stain wouldn't come after him again. He slammed his fist down on the bed. He was defenseless, damn it! Training for years, guidance... He had let them all down. He had been the lesser combatant just one time - and it had cost him dearly.

The door to his room opened, letting light stream in. "No water, thank you," Tensei spoke without looking up.

"Oh, I'm not a nurse." A voice giggled.

The former Pro Hero's head shot up. His heart rate started to spike. "Who are you?" He questioned, panic beginning to rise in his voice. Was this it? Someone come to finish the crippled Pro Hero Ingenium off as he laid in a hospital bed? "Are you a villain?"

"A villain?" The person responded, completely flabbergasted. "No. No, I am not. I'm here to help you, you know. It's not very nice to call people trying to help you villains." The shadowed figure admonished. "You still want to save other people, right?" Reluctantly, Tensei nodded. What other choice did he have? "Alright. I can help you do that."

The dark-haired young man thought it over for a moment. "And... What do you want in return? Surely you aren't doing this out of the good of your heart."

"Well, I kinda am, actually." The casual response shocked Ingenium. "But, if you're really insisting, a favor in the future could be nice. And-or, you know, fixing whatever Stain attacked you for. Be a better person. Train harder." They nodded, their face concealed behind layers of cloth. "Oh, and of course, don't tell anyone I was here. That's always a help."

"Hard to tell anyone when I don't know who you are," Tensei pointed out.

For some reason, he got the idea that his mysterious guest grinned. "Yeah, that's sort of the point. You in?"

The dark-blue-haired young man thought it over for a few moments. The choice was easy, though. "Eh... What the hell."

Chapter Text

'I did it to ease his suffering...'  Izumi reasoned, looking at her hands, which were shaking. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the classroom, giving it the true ambiance of a delightful Friday afternoon. She wasn't in pain from One For All anymore, which was... yeah, it was good, but she still felt slightly sick at how she had accomplished it. 'He was dying and in pain,'  she told herself. 'It would've been far cruller to not take his Quirk.'

It was probably right, but it still didn't make her feel any better about it. She kept drawing lines. And then she drew more, and more, and more. And she kept justifying crossing them. How had it come to this? A year ago, she had been perfectly fine pretending All For One didn't exist. Now, she had used it to take multiple Quirks. This time, she had even sought it out. 'You're disgusting...'  Her mind spat at itself. 'You keep trying to say it was to ease his suffering, but let's be real... You didn't care about that. That's just your convenient excuse.'

Izumi shook her head wildly. "Something the matter, Midoriya?" Midnight's voice came.

"Uh..." The green-haired teen was pulled back to her thoughts. "Just... Just excited, that's all!" She waved her hands in faux embarrassment.

The white-outfitted teacher accepted it readily. "That's fine! Today is the day you all are making your final decisions on internships, after all!"

The class whooped and hollered. Izumi was excited about that, too. It just... It was difficult to focus on it at the moment. "So, Izumi, who'd you choose?" A pink head poked over the teen's shoulder.

"Oh, hey, Mina-san!" The ex-vigilante greeted. She reached into her back, pulling out the folded piece of paper where she had signed up for her internship. "Well... I chose..." She flashed the paper. "The Rabbit Hero: Mirko."

"Woahh!" Mina's eyes were wide with awe. "The Number Seven Hero? You're so cool, Izumi. I didn't get any offers nearly that high," the pink-skinned girl admitted.

Bakugo grunted from behind the duo, announcing his presence. "Mirko? She's strong, but her Quirk is very different from yours. Nearly the exact opposite. Why're you choosing her?"

Izumi scrunched her nose up, then turned around. "Hello to you, too, Katsuki." The boy went still. "I... My Quirk had a mutation after the Sports Festival that focuses more on the physical aspect of it all. From my dad's side," she explained. "So I'm interning with Mirko to get a better handle on it."

"Don't call me that." The boy's voice was quiet and serious, not like his expected reaction of explosiveness.

Izumi narrowed her emerald eyes and leaned in. "Why not?" She smirked. "Aren't we friends, Kat-su-ki?"

"Fuck off, shitty extra." He scoffed. "I thought we..." He trailed off and shook his head. Suddenly, his normal temperament came back, the moment lost to the sands of time. "Fuck you looking at, you damn extras? Get the fuck off my desk!"

At that moment, though, Midnight slid through the door. "Aaa-pplications in!" Nemari sang, swiftly taking her place at the front. Izumi was ready to turn hers in, unaware of red eyes boring holes into her back.

'That's not what you used to call me, you shitty fucking Deku...'  The boy growled. A sudden thought rolled through his head, causing him to reel back and blink as it processed. 'Didn't Uncle Hisashi have a fire-breathing Quirk?'

"So, Ochaco-san, who are you interning with?"

The brunette waved to the other girl as they got out of school. "Hey, Izumi-san! I'm interning with Gunhead! Also, we've known each other for months, now, you don't need to use -san with my name. Heck, you've even been to my house!"

"Oooh?" Mineta appeared, squeezing his way into the conversation. "What happened there?" He was flung away by Izumi, who essentially ignored the fact that he had even appeared.

"Alright, Ochaco," she tested, nodding in approval as the name rolled off her tongue. "In return, though, you have to just call me Izumi!"

"Deal!" The two high-fived and laughed.

"So, Gunhead?" Ochaco nodded. "That's smart - You did really well in the Sports Festival, especially against Todoroki! With how poorly your guys' Quirks are matched, I think you did amazingly."

"Huh?" The brunette tilted her head in confusion.

Izumi gave a look of concern. "You know, since Todoroki is a long-ranged emitter, and you can't exactly make fire weightless."

"Oh!" The girl's brown eyes lit up in understanding. "I hadn't really thought of it that way." She laughed and scratched her scalp, making the other girl laugh too.

"Always a better way of looking at something," Izumi nodded. Ahead of them, sprinting, was Tenya. "Oh... Poor Iida-san... With what happened to his brother..."

"Oh, you know too?" Ochaco asked. "Ah, I assume it was probably on the news... The Number Sixteen Hero attacked..."

Izumi nodded morosely. "I just wish he'd talk to us... I tried to get him to talk a bit, but he kept shutting me out."

"Me too. When he's ready, though, I suppose..."

"I've heard that Ingenium is recovering well, at least."

Ochaco blinked. "You have? How?"

"O-oh, just..." Izumi giggled airily. "Online, y'know?"

The taller teen nodded. "You seem really well informed about heroes!"

"Mhm!" Izumi nodded. "I've always admired heroes. When I was a little kid, my Quirk came in late, and so for a bit, I was convinced I was going to either be a Quirkless Hero or an Analyst, so I started picking it up as a hobby and found that I absolutely loved it," she admitted. "Now I just kinda... know where to look for things."

Ochaco bubbled with excitement. "That sounds so awesome!"

"R-really?" Izumi sweatdropped, smiling and laughing a little bit. "I don't-"

"Totally!" Her friend interrupted the green-eyed teen's self-doubt. "It just displays how you never gave up, I'd say. That kind of spirit is important in being a hero!" The girl nodded seriously, and Izumi couldn't help but agree. "Speaking of your Quirk, though... You said in class that it mutated?"

"Oh, you heard that?" 'Well, no point in denying it now,'  Izumi thought. "Mhm. Although, I'm not sure if mutation is really the right word. When I was, uh, you know, doing that whole... thing with Todoroki, with the fire and stuff," Izumi waved her hands, "I was actually using my Quirk in an entirely new way, and I've found that I can, you know, uh... apply that in different situations to different parts of my body in order to give myself a sort of 'power boost'," the teen rambled, and Ochaco listened, enraptured.

After the other girl was done, the brown-haired teen nodded and laughed. "That didn't really make sense to me, but that sounds really awesome! It sucks that you didn't apply to Gunhead's agency with me, though, it would've been so fun." The round-faced girl suddenly pouted a bit. "Mirko didn't send a request for me..." She mumbled.

Izumi laughed at her friend's disappointment. "It is what it is. Maybe we can coordinate next time if there's another thing like this, though!"

The other girl nodded. "Yeah! I wonder when the next time'll be..."

"Ah, who knows, who knows..."

"So..." Power Loader stared at the girl in front of him. "You need stronger gloves?"

Izumi nodded. Rummaging around in her backpack, she finally pulled out her dented glove. "This..." She wiggled the accessory around in the air. "... is what happened last time."

"Where's the other one?" The teacher asked, leaning forward to inspect it.

"Vaporized. Literally," Izumi elaborated upon seeing the man's look of confusion. "I had to tone it down for the next few attacks."

The young Pro Hero blinked at the glove in front of him, grabbing it and inspecting it closer. "Holy shit..." He muttered. "There's a bit of a problem, though. The only way to make it stronger would be to use, perhaps, Buckypaper. However, that would be incredibly expensive. So, you'd either need a way to supply it yourself or submit a request to Mr. Principal. You'd need a very large amount, not only for making the gloves, but for making back-ups, alterations, compensating for losses or explosions."

"Explosions?" Green-eyes narrowed. As if on cue, an explosion rang out and a pink-haired girl was spat into the hallway, a trail of smoke following her. "Hatsume-san!" Izumi gasped. Before she could run over to help, however, the girl hopped up.

"I'm alright!" She gave a massive grin and a thumbs-up. "Hey there, Midoriya! I've been expecting you!"

"You... have?" The green-haired teen questioned, dumbfounded.

The grin turned into a massive smile. "Nope! But you believed it." Mei chuckled. "Anyway, you need gloves? Alright. Get me the stuff, I already have schematics drawn up for them. At least, I do up here." The girl tapped her forehead. "Strong and flexible, I assume? I'll probably need some of your hair, too, if you wanna be able to use your Quirk through it. Alright, good talk, got to get back to doing stuff, byeee~" The girl slipped back into the workroom.

"Is this... Is this how people feel when they listen to me talk about Quirks...?" Izumi mumbled.

"Probably," Power Loader confirmed. "Anyway, although she is probably a mad scientist, Mei is undoubtedly one of my best designers and inventors out of all three years that I teach. She'll be able to work with just about whatever you need. But... Yeah, explosions."

Izumi nodded. "Alright, now I just have to get the materials..." She mumbled. "I don't think I have enough time to order them, since internships start in five days... So, how...?" Her emerald-eyes widened. "I've got an idea."

It might not work, but it would be interesting regardless. She felt a little bad about taking advantage of her classmate, but... it was mutual improvement, right? Sure. Kinda sorta. Close enough, at least. "Hey, Yaoyorozu-san," Izumi greeted.

"Midoriya-san!" The girl responded over the phone. "You know you can call me Momo, right?"

The green-eyed girl laughed. "I don't know, that feels so informal," the girl admitted. She didn't have quite the same relationship with the heiress that she did with Ochaco.

"Well, how about Yaomomo, then?" The black-haired teen suggested. "A mixture."

"Hm, alright..." Izumi wasn't sold on it, but it was whatever. "So, uh, I have a probably... odd, request."

There was a bit of shuffling on the other side of the line. "I see. While I am a little bit low on lipids at the moment, there are plenty of other ways to hide a body."

"Huh?" Izumi was confused for a few moments. "I don't..." There was something that sounded like muffled squeaking on the other end of the line, and Izumi finally realized that the other girl was laughing at her expense. "Oh, you!" She laughed too. "No, actually, it was something related to your Quirk."

"Oh, you're a really good analyst, right?"

The pale-skinned teen blushed, blood rushing to her cheeks. "I-uh... I don't know about really good-"

"Nonsense! I'd love to help you out, and in return, you can analyze my Quirk!" Izumi blinked. That worked out... incredibly well, actually. "If that's fine with you, you're welcome to come over at the moment. My parents are out at a dinner, so..."

"Uh-" Izumi blinked. "Uh, yeah, sure! Are you sure your parents would be fine with me coming over, though?"

The older teen didn't hesitate. "Of course! Although, if you were a boy instead..." Momo chuckled. "Alright, Midoriya-san! I'll just text you my address, and you can just text me when you get here so I can unlock the front door for you!"

"Alrighty, see you in a few."

Izumi's jaw dropped as she checked the address again. This was where her classmate lived?! Had Momo given her a joke address or something? As if on cue, however, the gate swung open for her. "Midoriya-san!" Yaoyorozu greeted from over an intercom. "Come on in!"

Izumi trekked up the short path to the door, which Momo swung open before she had even knocked. "Hi, Midoriya-san!"

"H-hi, Yaoyorozu-san..." Izumi looked around as she stepped inside. "You weren't waiting by the door for me, were you?"

Momo giggled awkwardly. "Ahaha... Nope! Why would you ever think that? Anyway, welcome, welcome. Can I get you anything?"

"U-uh..." Izumi looked around. "I feel like if I even accidentally step out of place I'm gonna break something worth millions," she admitted. "Erm... I'm good on food or drinks though." Yaoyorozu hadn't mentioned that she lived in a mansion.

Momo waved it off. "You'll be fine! Most of these are super durable. Just try not to sneeze, the air is dry enough that you'd probably cause untreatable damage to some of the tapestries. That was a joke," the black-haired girl added on quickly afterward, probably remembering that the smaller girl didn't seem to share her sense of humor. "So, you wanted to do something with my Quirk."

"Oh, yeah!" Izumi was brought back from admiring the beautiful home. "So, first off, how exactly does your Quirk work?"

"Oh, well, that's easy. I can use the lipids in my body to create any non-living thing I can think of. I need to understand the molecular structure of what I'm trying to make, though."

Izumi nodded. "I see. So, how exactly does the creation process work?"

Momo frowned, thinking. "Uh... Let's see. I'm pretty sure my body just repurposes the cells from the lipids, and then I have to break apart cell bonds and create new ones for the new elements."

"First off, that's incredible." Yaoyorozu blushed, trying to wave the compliment off, but the green-eyed teen continued without stopping. "Second off, what are the limits of the Quirk?"

"Oh! Well, usually, it's just energy consumption," the teen admitted. "For example, with my current body mass, I'd have a very difficult time even producing a gram of, for example, uranium, never mind the radiation that it would cause." The duo finished walking, Momo having led them to (presumably) her room, which was a massive space that was probably nearly as big as Hizashi and Shouta's flat.

Izumi slumped down into a comfy chair, thinking. "Alright. How much more difficult is it to create bonds than atoms, or vice versa? Or, in more practice, would it be more difficult to make Calcium Oxide or Beryllium Fluoride?"

The onyx-eyed girl thought for a moment. "Hm..." She murmured. Then, she held out her hands. In one, as the girl concentrated, small solids began to appear in either palm, and after a few moments, she stopped. The pile in her left hand was much larger. "Much easier to create the Beryllium Fluoride. What does that mean, though?"

Izumi nodded. "It probably means that you're more restricted to the conservation of mass than anything else, considering Beryllium Fluoride has two bonds versus CaO's ionic. Which is absolutely wonderful news."

"Oh?" Momo inquired. "How so?"

"Yaoyorozu-san-"

"Call me Yaomomo!"

Izumi bit her lip. "Yaomomo... san." the older teen rolled her eyes, but didn't interrupt. "From what I can see in class, you've been trying to mostly make things out of standard materials." The girl nodded slowly. "However, some of the best- the strongest materials that we know of are actually made from really light materials."

"What do you mean?" Momo tilted her head.

Izumi waved her hands. "So, you know, like... A cannon, right? Usually you'd use iron or steel." Black hair bobbed in affirmative. "However, the molar mass of iron is 55.45 grams, which is about five times more than carbon."

"But carbon wouldn't be sufficiently strong enough to make a cannon..." Yaoyorozu countered.

The green-haired girl nodded readily. "Yep. But diamond would be. And diamond is just carbon." Momo stilled. "And since you're more limited by mass than by energy, it would be much easier to make a carbon-based molecule than an iron-based one. Diamond has four bonds instead of the normal two bonds that graphite would, which is why it's much more durable. Carbon molecules actually make covalent networks, which are..." Izumi blushed as she realized she was rambling. "S-sorry! Y-you probably already know all of this, I just get-"

"Midoriya-san..." Momo interrupted the girl.

"Y-yes?" She squeaked, worried if she had offended the other girl.

The heiress' head popped up, her eyes sparkling. "You're a genius!"

"I-" Izumi was cut off by the other girl slamming onto her with a hug. "-ack!"

"So, you need basically a material that's like diamond, but bonded vertically, too?" Momo confirmed.

Izumi nodded. "Yep! It's another covalent network, but it's a lot, lot stronger. I think that if you had the chance, you should try practicing making it. You could even sell it. N-not that you would need to, I suppose," Izumi chuckled and scratched her scalp, remembering the literal mansion they were sitting in. She and Momo were sitting on the floor, different crystalline structures scattered around them - a ball, a small dagger, a slate, and more, all made of pure diamond. The value of it was easily enough to afford the down payment on a house, if not just buy it outright. And Momo had made them in under ten minutes, expanding about as much energy as it would've taken to make a tungsten cube.

"Alright, well, let me try." Momo concentrated. After a few moments, a bit of light began to shine as the carbon molecules were arranged. Just like every other time, Izumi gaped at the beautiful sight. It took a few minutes, but finally, a large prism emerged, landing on the ground with a solid 'Thunk! '

"Whew..." Momo laid back and wiped the sweat beading on her forehead. "That was... Crazy..." She huffed.

"That was incredible!" Izumi cheered. "Do you want me to grab you some food or something?"

"Sure..." The black-haired teen breathed out. "Let me... Go with you..." The green haired teen got to her feet and helped her classmate do the same. "Don't forget... the buckypaper..." Izumi knelt down and picked the block up, the entire thing barely weighing a few pounds. It looked pretty neat, too, sort of like a black diamond, although it was only somewhat translucent. "You can... take one of the diamond things, if you'd like." The heiress seemed to have mostly caught her breath.

"Oh, I don't-"

"Please," Momo insisted. "Think of it as like... A gift for helping me with my Quirk!" Well, when it was put that way, Izumi found it difficult to refuse. She hesitantly picked the diamond dagger up. The blade was about six inches long, with a decent sized handle. "Here, too," the girl had quickly made a sheath.

"T-thank you, Yaomomo-san..." Izumi stared at the beautiful item in your hand, her eyes getting watery. "I don't know how I could ever repay you for this..."

Momo laughed. "You don't need to, silly! That's how gifts work." She smiled at the smaller girl, who smiled back. "Now, let me show you the kitchen. We have a chef, actually..."

I HAVE BEEN SENT FAN ART
YES (Thanks u/ScribbleBee)

Izumi/Bakugo @ Cavalry Battle - SnuggleBee
https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleBee/pseuds/ScribbleBee

Chapter Text

Izumi held a gloved hand up hesitantly. The graphene was working extremely well. So far, it was taking blows that were as strong as her body could handle at the moment, and that was all she really needed. Breathing in deeply, Izumi knocked on the door three times. The loud knocks resounded throughout the empty street, and Izumi still stood, alone, silent. After a few moments, she started to get angry. 'Did Mirko give me the wrong address?'  She huffed mentally.

The house was large, yeah. It was in a really nice neighborhood, too, on the outskirts of Tokyo, but it really didn't seem like a hero's headquarters. Izumi knocked again, harder this time. As she was knocking for her sixth time, however, the door swung open, causing her to stumble slightly.

"Whaddya want?" A moody voice grumbled. "I'm not buying girl scout cookies."

"Are you Mirko?" Izumi asked quickly. The door wasn't all the way open, and there was a single red eye peering at her from the darkness.

The door began to close. "Not signing autographs. Scram."

"Wait!" Izumi stuck her foot in the doorway, wincing as it slammed against the metal slab. "I'm your Yuuei intern!"

"Eh?" The door opened. Rumi Usagiyama inspected the girl in front of her house, peering at her. "Oh... I suppose you are. I didn't realize you actually accepted. Whatever, c'mon in." The Rabbit Hero turned away from the door, letting the green-haired girl walk in. She closed it behind her.

'What in the...?'  Izumi scrunched her eyebrows. She was two minutes into the internship and everything was already going shit off the rails. "Erm, Mirko-sensei-"

"Just call me Rumi unless we're working." Izumi finally got a good look at the hero as she stood in front of her open fridge, drinking carrot juice straight from the carton. Mirko wasn't in her hero outfit, instead only wearing yoga pants and a loose t-shirt.

The teen bit her lip. "Alright, erm... Rumi-sensei, did you not know I was coming?"

"Nope." The woman popped the 'p'. "I totally didn't expect you to accept the thingy-mafucker, either," Rumi waved her hand that wasn't holding the carrot juice carton in the air. "Like... at all."

"Why'd you offer it, then?" Izumi questioned, confused beyond belief.

The white-haired woman shrugged. "Eh. Felt like it, I guess."

The teen didn't know how to respond to that, so she stayed silent for a few moments. "Uh... Does that mean you have nothing planned?"

"I was supposed to plan stuff?" Izumi stifled a groan. 'Is it too late to switch to Endeavor's Agency?'  "Whatever." The hero waved it off. "What were you supposed to do here, anyway?"

The green-eyed girl began to flush red in anger and humiliation. "The purpose of the Yuuei hero internship is for hero students to get an idea of what working as a hero can be like. I'm here to understand what day-to-day operations are like, as well as get a feel for a hero's non-televised activities."

Rumi picked at her teeth with a nail. "Sounds boring. Basically, you're here to be my assistant, right?"

"Mhm!" Izumi brightened. 'Finally we're getting somewhere.'

"Cool!" Rumi smiled. "First task: pick us up some pizza."

"... Eh?" The green-eyed teen's mirth was cut short quite quickly. "Seriously?"

"Yuh-huh. It's eight in the evening. I've already worked for ten hours today. I'm tired." As if to accentuate her point, the Pro Hero yawned. "Anyway, here's 6000 yen. Get me a large meat lovers. Get yourself... something, I guess." The Rabbit Hero tossed the money at her new accomplice, who caught it despite being startled.

"What's your favorite... pizza... place?" The heroine started to snooze, showing no indication of having heard Izumi's question.

'Fuck...'  Izumi sighed. 'Please tell me it doesn't stay like this.'

Izumi came back to Rumi's house holding two large pizzas. Her body froze as she saw the front door widely ajar. 'Robbers?'  She questioned mentally, her body going into fight or flight. Carefully placing the pizzas on the ground, she flicked the bracelets around her wrists, courtesy of Mei Hatsume, which instantly transformed into her gloves. "Rumi-sensei was in there..." She muttered. How safe her internship proctor was depended on the nature of the home invasion. If it had been planned to attack the hero, she might be in danger if she had been taken by surprise. Otherwise, the rabbit-woman would most likely be fine.

The girl's green eyes glowed as she crept into the house. She felt out with her Telekinesis every few feet - it wouldn't do to become another hostage. Or, worse, a victim. Izumi tried to not think about that possibility. So far, there hadn't really been anything out of place. But, as soon as she got to the living room where Mirko had been sleeping...

It looked like a tornado had swept through the place. Izumi clapped her hands to her mouth to prevent herself from gasping. She had been silent thusfar. However, it was truly a horrifying sight. The room was mostly dark. The sofa was overturned, lamps were on the floor, coffee tables scattered around the place, and Rumi herself was nowhere to be seen. A sudden breeze tickled her neck, and she felt goosebumps prick up on her arms. As if a switch had been flipped, Izumi darted forward, falling into a roll to face the place she had just been standing.

A black-suited figure was standing there, their fist having impacted the ground where the teen had just stood. Their body was covered in baggy clothes so as to not give any hints to their identity away, and beneath that there appeared to be a black carbon-fiber jumpsuit that shined in a familiar pattern whenever the light hit it. 'They're well-prepared...'  Izumi thought with dismay. 'What's their Quirk? Probably something physical or negligible, considering they tried to hit me with their hand...'  She noted. The assailant's face was covered by a mask as well, goggles protecting their eyes, once again giving no hint to their identity.

The figure rose, clearly content with the amount of time they had given the girl. Without a word, they fell into a fighting position that felt oddly familiar to Izumi, who fell into a fighting position of one of her own. She had brought her staff to Tokyo, but it was with her backpack, which was outside with the pizza. That meant all she had was her body... and her Quirks. The figure pounced forward faster than should've been possible for someone of their size, and Izumi was grazed by a punch as she dodged out of the way. It didn't hurt... much.

She swung back with her own punch, but the suited figure dodged it with ease. The girl's momentum carried her forward, and instead of remaining off-balance, she transformed it into a kick, surprising the figure, who received a foot in the side for Izumi's efforts. A feminine grunt followed, which Izumi filed away for later. She tried to go for another punch, but her fist was grabbed and the green-haired girl found herself being thrown into a wall.

Izumi coughed as she quickly pushed herself off the ground. Her body's senses pricked again - 'This is unusual.' - and Izumi barely had enough time to raise her left arm in defense as the invader kicked her. The kick proved to be much more powerful than the previous punch, and even with her increased durability, Izumi flew to the side and crashed into the wall, her sleeve in tatters and her arm bruised and bleeding.

She grit her teeth and held back a sob. The pain hurt, yes, but she needed to keep fighting. This wasn't someone that she could lose to and come out the other end alright. If she lost here, there was a good chance she'd either be kidnapped, tortured, or killed. With that morbid thought in her mind, Izumi allowed the power of One For All to flow through her veins. Only about ten percent - she needed to keep the person alive in order to figure out where Mirko-sensei was - which would have to be enough. Small arcs began to glow as she concentrated it in her legs and arms. She breathed in deeply, her green eyes beginning to glow.

She shot forward. "Woah-" The figure began to speak. They disappeared from her sight, but she felt her body prick and let her instincts guide her as she allowed her leg to come around in a high roundhouse kick towards her right side, fueled by her massive amounts of momentum and the snap of her leg. "-woah, woah, that's-" the kick impacted, and both figures stopped still in their tracks. "-going to break my house, dude!"

The figure had caught Izumi's kick. In doing so, however, it had blown away a decent portion of their body-covering suit, revealing the assailant to be none other than Mirko herself. Izumi gaped at the reveal, and as she did, the lights in the room came back on full force, confirming indeed that the person Izumi had been fighting was Mirko.

"M-Mirko-sensei?" Izumi gasped, her foot getting dropped.

The woman waved her hand, which was a mixture of red and purple, in the air, and blew on it. "Fuck, that hurts," the white-haired hero growled. "Yeah. It's me. Big surprise!" She grinned a toothy smile. "Good job, kiddo. You held your own much better than expected. Most festival winners seem to think they're on top of the world after beating up some other fourteen year olds. That didn't look like Telekinesis, though," the woman pointed out.

Izumi gaped. "I- Uh- Ack-" She coughed, the pain in her arm suddenly coming back full force. "Damn, you kick hard..." She shook her head. "I don't understand...?"

Rumi patted the younger girl on the head. "All good, all good. Basically put, I set this up to see what you'd do. See what you're good at or not. Is the pizza still good?"

"The- uh- yeah...?" The mixture of seriousness in the answers did nothing to put her at ease. "It's... outside...?"

Mirko nodded in approval. "Always make sure the snacks are safe before you do something. First rule of being a hero." The woman stuck her pointer finger up, then rolled her eyes. "Anyway, yeah. I'm Mirko, the Number Seven Hero. I always send invitations to the winner of the Yuuei Sports Festival - I like powerful people, you see." The woman grinned and brought her face close to Izumi's. "I like fighting them even more. 'Course, I can't just go around fighting teenagers," the woman quickly whirled around, shrugging. "Sometimes they accept my invites. Sometimes they don't."

"So this was all-"

"A test, mhm. Anyway, that last kick was way stronger than a normal kick. What was up with that?" The Hero pressed. 

Izumi averted her eyes. "I- uh, it's- Whenever I use my Quirk on surfaces that are out of its weight class, the force is instead applied to my body. So, if I use a bit of Telekinesis from my leg on a wall or something, my leg speeds up really fast. Or, if I use both of my hands, it's applied to my body."

Mirko grinned toothily. "That doesn't quite make sense, but that sounds cool as hell. This internship is gonna be way more fun than I thought it would."

"Wait, so you did know I was coming?" Izumi tilted her head. "What was all that bullshit for, then?"

Rumi shrugged. "Kinda wanted to see how you'd react, if you had a superiority complex or some shit like that. Also..." Her head rolled, and the white-haired woman gave a lazy grin. "I really wanted pizza."

The second day of Izumi's internship was much better than her first. She didn't go on patrol with the hero - Mirko seemed to have something against it personally, but once the woman was back, apparently working only a shorter shift of six hours, the Rabbit Hero showed the teen her basement...

A full-sized training dojo. There was weight lifting, resistance training, dummies, bags, practically everything someone could need. The walls were reinforced, too, and there was a healing station set up. State of the art, supposedly. And, of course, there was a fighting mat that covered nearly the whole floor.

"First up, training. What's your main fighting style?"

"Uh... Well, I like quick takedowns." Izumi didn't quite understand the question.

Mirko gave the girl a look. "Yeah, no shit. I mean, martial arts? Boxing? Kickboxing?"

Izumi grimaced. "It's more of a... just 'do whatever' thing."

The Pro Hero sighed. "Goddamnit... Alright. First off, what do you like to hit with more: your hands or your feet?"

"I mean, if I had to choose one, it'd be my feet, but I use both my hands and my Quirk just about equally, too." Mirko facepalmed. "I-I can't do the speed trick with my arms as easily?" Izumi offered. It wasn't quite true, but her arms weren't quite as durable as her legs were.

"That's... A starting point, I suppose. Here, repeat my motions."

The duo went through multiple different styles over the course of the next few hours. None of them felt quite right for Izumi, although she was certainly better at picking up some than others. "This is such bullshiiiiiiit-" Mirko growled, punching a bag and sending it swinging. "We've tried over thirty styles!”

Izumi was on the floor, her body sore from all the different body parts that she was using. "Yeah... Fuck. Learning to do parkour wasn't half as hard as this shit."

"Parkour?" The red-eyed woman was back by Izumi's side in a moment. "Well, why didn't you say so? Here, try this one." Rumi swung her hips, tensing her calves and then... dove on the ground? The Pro Hero fell into a vault, pushing herself up towards the ceiling, which she then jumped off of to land a devastating blow to the bags. "How'd that look?" She called out to her intern. The girl didn't respond, so the adult turned around to figure out why.

Instead of irises, the girl's eyes were filled with stars. "That was so coooool! What type of fighting style is that? I've never seen anything like it!"

"You wouldn't have." Mirko winked at the awe-filled teen. "After all, it's my personal style."

Izumi stared at the diamond blade that Yaomomo had given her as a gift. It was unexpectedly light - lighter than a steel dagger would be, of course. It was all carbon, after all. What she was holding in her hands was probably one of the rarest things in the world - pure diamond, no imperfections whatsoever. It was sharp and strong. She swished it in the air in front of her, and for a moment, she could swear she could hear it split the atoms as it dove.

She switched hands, giving it a few more swings. She wasn't naturally ambidextrous, so she had to work to keep her left hand as suitable for fighting as her right. It felt like it almost didn't have enough weight on it, actually.

Izumi's eyes widened. Did that mean - she hopped out of the window onto the back lawn of Mirko's house. It was dark, but not cold, luckily enough. Izumi didn't bother with aiming, she just made sure she wasn't facing any people. She breathed in... and released. Repulsion latched onto the knife as it flew, pushing it faster than the girl could throw it, and then Attraction pulled it back to her hand.

Green eyes shined. Oh, there was so much she could do with this.

Chapter Text

"So, we're going into Tokyo?"

"Yup," Mirko confirmed with a nod. "It's important that you get an idea for the bigger city. Right now, we're just on the outskirts so you don't see too much. I'm here because I can't really afford a place in Tokyo," the woman rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, sliding her hand against her neck to make an impression of a dead person, "but I usually go into the city to patrol. There's a lot more crime because there's a lot more people, especially lower-middle class people, living there."

Izumi nodded in understanding. "That makes sense, I suppose. Why does the lower-middle class part matter, though?"

Mirko raised an eyebrow. "Well, why do you think people commit crimes?" Izumi fell silent.

'Why do people commit crimes?'  The green-haired girl thought to herself. 'Greed?'  Her mind immediately flashed to All For One. He always wanted more power. It wasn't a matter of money for him, not really. 'But he's not exactly your 'standard' villain...'  She considered. 'Lower-middle class...'  "Necessity?" 

"Bingo, kid." The Rabbit Hero flashed finger-guns at the teen. "A lot of crimes are committed out of necessity, although there are some serial criminals who get addicted to the adrenaline or massive amounts of money. What's the difference between a criminal and a villain?" She quizzed.

"Oh, I know this one!" Izumi nodded quickly. "A villain is any criminal who uses their Quirk to aid in their crime or does a Quirk-based crime, such as illegal Quirk usage."

Mirko grinned. "Yup, yup. Kinda weird that you knew that so quickly, but whatever." Izumi tensed a little, but then laughed and eased up. Her years of vigilantism felt so far away at this point, even though it had only been a few months. "So, what I'm going to do is patrol normally, and I want you to follow me around on the rooftops of the city. Whenever you lose me, you can call me, and I'll add a tally."

"What do the tallies do?" The intern tilted her head in confusion.

Rumi grinned wickedly. "Add more time to your training tonight."

Mirko definitely knew the city better than Izumi did. She had only been to Tokyo a few times, after all, and it was massive. At this point, though, they were in Hosu City, one of Tokyo's wards. It was pretty lower-class, though, with a lot of factories, and like Mirko had pointed out, a lot of lower-middle class workers. It was very interesting to see - although humanity had improved in the past few centuries, there was still a decently-sized class of people who were essentially working paycheck to paycheck.

The Rabbit Hero was moving quickly, although she still stopped every now and then to take pictures with civilians. It was very important to be recognizable if you were a top hero, after all. The day was mostly uneventful, and by the time they stopped for lunch, Izumi was bored. "So, whaddya like on your sandwiches?" Mirko asked.

"Uh, steak and cheddar?"

The 26-year-old nodded. "Get some protein, get some dairy, get some wheat. I approve, I approve." The duo stopped in front of a small shop and headed inside quickly. A few people were inside, and a few of them nodded at them, but nobody seemed to go crazy about the Number Seven Hero being in the same shop as them.

"Ah, Rumi-san!" The shop owner greeted with a warm smile.

The white-haired woman threw up a peace sign with her fingers and winked. "Wassup, Ichino-san?"

"I'm doing well," he nodded. "I see you've brought a guest with you. Is it that time of year again?"

The hero nodded. "Yep, yep, this lil' rascal's Izumi Midoriya. She's better than most so far, though." The woman leaned over and bonked her elbow on the green-haired girl's head and rested her head on her hand. "Doubles as a wonderful headrest."

"I'm not that small," Izumi complained.

The Pro Hero rolled her eyes. "You're fun-sized, kid. Like literally a foot small than me, easy." All three busted out laughing. "So, I'll take my usual, and the squirt'll take a steak and cheddar. Pack on some veggies there if you want to, she needs the muscle."

Izumi groaned, but didn't protest. She knew it'd be futile anyway. 'So, Rumi-sensei comes here often?'

"Alright, kid. You've done pretty good so far, only lost me three times which means thirty minutes of extra training. But, it'll only get harder as the sun sets. So... Rest up for now, you've definitely earned it."

Yeah, the night was harder. An explosion burst in the distance. Izumi gulped in a breath of air and tore her eyes off of Mirko. Her phone buzzed.

Mirko

Do not go towards that explosion. Stay here.

Below her, there was a small shockwave as the Rabbit Hero kicked away towards the source of the damage. Izumi only thought for half a second before tucking her phone in her pocket. 'Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. And, I can always just say I didn't see it.'

Izumi ran across the rooftops swiftly, using only a single percent of her One For All: Boots, as she had taken to calling it, so she didn't cause too much damage to the buildings below her. The energy still thrummed within her veins when she did this, but it wasn't as bad as it was normally. She was almost to where she had seen the explosion originate when her nerves tingled, telling her to look below her. 'Still don't know what the fuck's causing that,' she grumbled internally.

When she looked down... 'Well, shit.'  Usually people didn't run around with fucking katanas and masks, right? And was that... "Iida-kun?" She called out, hoping she was wrong.

The boy looked up at her, his glasses flashing. As Izumi looked at the situation more, she saw a small figure huddled on the ground. Who the hell was that?

"Oh, so your friends have arrived," a deep voice intoned. Just hearing it made the girl shiver; it reminded her of her father's. It was cold. It was unforgiving.

"Midoriya-san! You can't-"

Izumi ignored the warning as it was coming past the boy's lips. "Do I even want to know what's going on?" She got a good look at the man who was opposing them and her body froze. "Stendhal..." She whispered.

The man grimaced. "Haven't been called that in a long time, girlie."

"That's Stain!" Iida yelled from behind her. "His Quirk-"

"Paralyzes those whose blood he consumes. Bloodcurdle, he calls it." Glowing green eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I've studied Stendhal extensively."

The villain grinned. "Another hero, hm? This one came for revenge - now, that doesn't seem very heroic to me."

"For his brother, who you tried to paralyze."

The man grinned. "Succeeded in paralyzing, you mean."

Izumi shook her head, smirking. "Not quite." The man seemed confused, so Izumi used that as a chance to leap into action. They were in an alleyway, so there were narrow walls on either side of them, which she started hopping off of, the chromatic glow around her increasing in intensity as she slammed down with her leg. Stain jumped back, but came forward quickly to try and land a blow on Izumi. She dodged it, but only barely.

It was a close quarters fight, and Izumi had to focus on keeping power in her hands and legs so she could deflect the katana's blows whenever it came at her. The man was too fast for her to land a solid hit on him, but she was also agile and had avoided being nicked thusfar.

Iida still couldn't move, though, and she had finally identified the other person in the alleyway as Native, a Pro Hero and understood the situation a bit better. Probably Native first, then Iida... She was broken out of her thoughts by the villain speaking.

"You... You're different. You're not like those two... You're..." The villain smiled wickedly. "... Pure. A real hero in the works, maybe... What are you doing, trying to protect these corrupt pieces of filth?"

"Protect people?" Hisashi Midoriya knelt down, an eyebrow raised. "Why would you want to protect them?"

It was a question she had been asked many years ago. And still, through everything she had experienced, all of the darkness she had seen... her answer was still the same. Determination never wavered in her eyes as she answered the man who had once been Stendhal. "Because... What else would I do?"

The villain laughed, howling. "Brilliant! Brilliant!" He grinned, leaning backwards as he prepared to run at the girl. "Show me more... Show me more of your wonderful, wonderful spirit!" He dashed forward, even faster this time. Izumi winced as she slammed into the wall to avoid, then ducked as another blade whirled through the air. She finally ran out of luck though as a kunai sliced through her leg, making her hiss in pain.

"Time's up." The man was already over to the thrown blade. "You did well, though, if it's any consolation. I won't kill you. I look forward to seeing the hero you will one day become." He reached down to lick the blade, but the metal flew out of his hands and towards the girl.

Red eyes darted towards her in shock. "Oh, we're just getting started." The multicolored glow that had already been present around the girl began to flare brighter and brighter, as if her soul itself was responding to her ambition.

"You were holding back..." Stain noted with dismay. He eyed the exit to the alleyway behind her. He was already tired from his previous two fights, and this girl herself was no joke. He wasn't in the right condition to face her at the moment. He also stared at the downed forms of Native and Tenya and grit his teeth. 'I can't leave. Not without finishing my duty.'  "You know..." He let a bit of a menacing aura seep into his voice, enjoying seeing the hairs on the girls' arms stand up as he did. "If you keep this up, I might have to kill you."

"Then so be it." There was no hesitation in the green-haired teen's voice. "I would never be able to live with myself anyway if I allowed you to kill those two."

Despite himself, Chizome began to smile fully. Finally... He had thought, for so many years, that the only person who could ever live up to his standards would be All Might. The Number One Hero, the Savior of Japan. And he began to think that maybe he was expecting too much. But this girl, this... hero student... She had proven him wrong. No. He wouldn't kill her. But he wouldn't let her get in the way of his duty, either.

"You're impressive. You could work with me, you know. This hero society-"

"-it's corrupt, I know." Izumi nodded. Iida, who was frozen on the ground, looked at her in shock. "But killing those who don't live up to your standards isn't the way to fix it. All you're doing is creating sympathy and villainizing yourself."

Stain's eyes were filled with anticipation. "I will stain my soul so that society can see how pathetic their faith in heroes truly is."

"And what if all you're doing is attacking the product instead of the factors?" The girl challenged. "Even if you keep killing corrupt heroes, more and more of them will appear thanks to the system that allows it!"

Chizome's face twitched. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. Someone like you, who has always been able to be a hero, you haven't seen the other side like I have."

"I never thought I could be a hero." Green eyes stared intensely into red ones. "I always thought that I'd be some street trash destined to die unremembered, unloved. All that kept me going was the chance to help one more person. But someone finally found me, and they told me that maybe that one person should be myself. I can't control what other people did to me. I can't forget my past. But what I can do is shape my own future."

"Big words," Stain commended. He settled back into a fighting stance. "But you still have yet to back them up. Since we're still both standing still though, I must admit that you have my respect. Tell me, hero student... What's your hero name? It's too rare to find someone who has the true soul of a hero."

"I don't know about 'true soul of a hero'..." Izumi's head was down, looking at the ground, but she was keeping her senses open. "I'm just someone trying their best. And, my hero name? I hope you remember it, because it's truly important to me." The green-haired girl raised her head up slowly, her green eyes blazing with power as she got ready to continue the fight. "My hero name... is Zero Zero."

Chapter Text

"What will you do if you encounter someone stronger than you?"

Izumi tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Hisashi Midoriya smiled, sitting on the park bench next to his daughter. They were staring out at the sunset together. "What if you run into a villain that you can't beat?"

"Well, I'd beat them!" Izumi smiled, giggling. "There's nobody stronger than a hero, daddy!"

"Nobody stronger than a hero, you say?" The man considered it. "Well, what would make a hero the strongest?"

The girl furrowed her brows, thinking for a few moments. "They never give up!"

"Hm." Hisashi nodded his head. "Tell me, Izu-chan... Would someone still be a hero if they did bad things?"

"Nope!" The girl's answer was immediate. "Heroes do good things!"

"But what if they did bad things for good reasons? What if they were trying to save this society from itself?" Hisashi challenged, patting his daughter's green hair comfortingly.

Izumi, for her part, seemed to be doing her best to think about it. After about a minute, she finally said, "... I dunno what that means!" She nodded with authority.

Hisashi laughed. "Well, what if there were bad things that heroes couldn't stop, but regular people could? But, because those regular people relied on heroes, they weren't able to stop the bad things from happening. If someone was trying to fix that, could they do a few bad things along the way?"

Izumi's green eyes shined with uncertainty as she bit her lip. "I... I dunno... I guess, if they were trying to help people?"

The white-haired adult scratched the scruff on his chin, and after a few moments, he laughed. "I love you, Izu-chan." He patted her on the head. The girl giggled too, the tense atmosphere created by the questions immediately dispelled.

"I love you too, Papa! You're my hero!"

Something in Hisashi Midoriya fractured at that moment, and almost instantly put itself back together. Heroes had to be the strongest, huh?

He'd make sure that he'd keep his daughter safe.

He'd make sure that he'd be someone his daughter could call a hero.

He'd be the strongest, because he was a hero. Because, after all, he was trying to help people. And, if he did a couple bad things along the way... Well... The red-eyed man smiled. He'd do that, to save humanity from itself. He smiled down at his perfect little tool daughter. She'd help him, too, because she had something he needed. Something he needed in order to save the world. He just hoped that she would forgive him afterward.

Izumi dashed towards the red-scarfed man, her fist impacting his face thanks to her unexpected speed increase. The man flew backwards, but he landed with his feet on a wall, repositioning by jumping off. Using the same move that Izumi had, he dashed along the walls, bouncing whenever he needed some more momentum. He came directly at the girl, and she coated her arm with One For All to block the blow. Sparks flew for a few seconds as the metal and pure energy clashed, but it was interrupted as a knife flew down from the sky and sank into Izumi's arm.

She yelled out in pain, and the lapse in concentration allowed for the villain's blade to push her back, opening a thin slice along her arm as it did. Stain learned from his mistakes as she flew back, licking the blade without a word, refusing to give her a chance to use any other tricks. Izumi gasped in shock as everything below her neck became frozen.

"Midoriya-san!" Iida yelled out in despair. He was still frozen, though.

"It was a good fight," Stain admitted, rising from his crouch. He flicked his serrated blade through the air, the excess amount of the green-haired teen's blood flicking off into the alleyway. "I will not kill you. However, I must purge these false idols from society." He strode over to Izumi's downed classmate. "You shall be an offering to a more just society," the villain intoned, almost like a ritual.

"And you will be a murderer remembered by none," Iida spat. "You will always be the man who tried to paralyze my brother."

"I don't need to be remembered," Stain spoke with conviction. "This duty of mine is not for recognition, it is not for glory. It is to save this world from itself." He raised the blade, preparing to plunge it into the boy's back.

"No!" Izumi screamed as the boy fell, her eyes glowing red. As if the scream had summoned something, the air pressure in the alleyway... shifted. Stain was thrown against one of the alley walls, but instead of falling, he remained pressed against there, his body looking as if it was being crushed. The green haired girl... She hadn't moved, no, but her body was floating now. 'Weave them together! Weave them together! One For All... Telekinesis... Together!'  Her Telekinesis didn't require her to move for it to be used, and by powering it up using the energy of One For All, she had overcome its greatest weakness - the linearity to her body. It was straining her, that was for sure, but she could keep it up for at least a few minutes.

Stain struggled to tear his head from against the wall. "W-What...?" His head slammed back against the brick, a loud 'crack' echoing as his jaw was dislocated, the criminal looking at Izumi's floating form this time. "H-How...?" The pressure faded, allowing him to fall against the ground in an unsteady crouch. A pained chuckle erupted from his lips. "I-" he coughed, "I can see why... that damn bratty child... is obsessed with you..."

"I don't know what that means," Izumi admitted. Her eyes were red, but unlike the previous times, it didn't seem to be influencing her. "But I won't let you kill those two. I don't care if I have to shove my body in the way, as long as I'm breathing, I won't let those two die!"

The Hero Killer stood up straight, stumbling slightly as he did. "That childish little shit... Shigaraki... Keeps some picture of you with him. Wanted me to murder you, he did." He held his jaw and skull, pushing everything back into place with a crack. "I can't be bought, though. I'm no hitman."

"You were the ones who attacked U.A." It wasn't a question. "And you want to add me to your numbers."

"Yeah. Come on, you've got so much more experience as a villain, sir." Tomura Shigaraki's voice was bored, lazy. It was very clear he didn't believe a word of what he was saying.

Stain narrowed his eyes. "What are you after?"

"For now, I just want to kill All Might." Any chance of joining the League of Villains, as they seemed to be called, went out the window. Their goals were entirely different, it seemed. All Might was the one true hero of this society, after all. "I want to break everything I don't like," Shigaraki continued, still apathetic-sounding. "Damn kids like this, too... Everything..." The gray-haired man held up a photo of a green-haired girl in a recognizable outfit - the Yuuei sports outfit. "I want you to kill her."

"Why don't you kill her yourself?" The little brat didn't look too strong.

The villain scoffed, a bit of irritation seeping into his voice. "I'm not allowed to. My Sensei wants to keep her alive, for some reason..." Tomura leaned forward, his red eyes flashing with hatred. "It's far better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

The red-scarfed murderer scoffed. "Of course, you're just someone else's lapdog. I was foolish to be interested. You're the type of person I hate the most. I seek to improve this society, both from its false idols and its true demons. You have no ambition, you have no drive. You're just some petty child who was given power and wants to let other people know that..." Stain drew his sword. "... and you must be culled."

A sai fell into the Hero Killer's hand from his sleeve. "But... I won't let you keep getting in the way of my duty!" The villain declared. He dashed towards the girl, who was still floating.

She wasn't so good at the minute movements since she couldn't control her body still, so Izumi settled for just dodging as many blows as she could. Small nicks appeared all over her body, but One For All was flowing all around her body like a cloak, stopping the worst of the damage from occurring. The Cell Wall Durability Quirk she had taken from the old, dying man in Hosu City General Hospital the same night she had given Super Regeneration to Tensei to repair his spine was being boosted up as well, supporting the protective layer even more.

The man had been 118 years old, and his body was afflicted with so many diseases and wounds that the doctors simply couldn't treat due to his Quirk. He had wanted to die, too, he had been in so much pain, and if someone like Aizawa had used his Quirk to cancel its effects, the man would've died anyway. As it was, though, his cells were simply so durable that his own body refused to let itself die, and he was just in constant pain. So... Izumi had needed the Quirk, and she had helped that man. She wished she could've kept him alive, but he admitted that he himself wanted to die so he could see his wife again. So Izumi had taken the Quirk, and they had both left with something they wanted.

Now, kept coming after her since she was in between him and Native and Iida's downed bodies. "Leave us behind, kid!" Native yelled through his pain. "He doesn't want to kill you. He only wants us two!"

"Please, Midoriya-san!" Iida begged. "This is my fight! I must avenge the name of Ingenium!" He grit his teeth, staring at the villain with hatred.

The girl barely spared him a backwards glance. "Didn't you always say that you wanted to be like your brother, Tenya-san? I don't remember ever seeing a look like that on Tensei Iida's face," she admitted. The boy faltered. "Stain might be right. A true hero isn't someone who is in it for the money. It's not someone who's in it for the fame. It's not someone who beats up people in revenge or hatred. A true hero is someone who protects people for the sole reason of protecting them. I... I hated All Might for many years. But, recently, I've been able to truly come to terms with the fact that he is someone who is truly trying to help people, simply because he has been given the power to do so."

"Midoriya-san..." Iida murmured with wide eyes, staring downward in shame. How had he let his judgement get so clouded. Tensei-... Tensei never would've come after the Hero Killer for revenge.

Stain cackled. "So you do understand!" He dashed at the girl. A sword slashed and met a wall of energy, but he wasn't deterred. "There is no room for fake heroes in my world! They must all be purged!" He slashed again and again. "I will not-" A sudden elbow impacted his head, sending him skidding into a wall.

"Huh. Guess I can move again," Izumi noted, clenching her hands and wiggling her fingers to make sure they could all move correctly. "But you guys still can't?" She questioned, staring back at the other two. Neither of them could do anything more than shake their heads. "Well, let's see... It's based off of blood ingestion, so there are a few possibilities. The amount of people he's done it to, the amount ingested, blood type, or S-Pow levels," she listed. "If it was the amount of people, it still probably should've been one of you guys. The amount of blood shouldn't be a factor because he had plenty, so it's one of the last two."

Shaky laughter echoed throughout the alley, sending chills throughout the three heroes' bodies. "W-Well... Done..." Stain climbed out of the indent in the wall, stumbling on shaky knees.

"He's still up?" Iida said in disbelief. "He's been hit with enough force to level a truck at least."

The villain coughed multiple times, spitting out blood. "My Quirk is based off of blood ingestion, and the amount of time someone is paralyzed depends on their blood type. Not that it'll help you..." He stared down at Tenya with a menacing glare that would've been enough to freeze him had the boy not already been paralyzed. "And I will never fall. Not until... until my duty has been completed."

"Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story..." Izumi murmured with sadness. Stendhal, Stain... He had had so much potential to truly help the society that he had correctly seen as corrupted. But... He had been too shortsighted. One For All spread along her body, covering her completely, and she upped the percentage up to twenty percent. She got even faster than before, but somehow, so did Stain. No matter how repugnant his actions, the villain had most definitely trained his body to its absolute limits.

Ever since three centuries prior, and even more so since the beginning of Quirks, the human body had evolved at a rapid pace. The muscle density, the average intelligence, the energy usage, they had all increased greatly. The body had had to get stronger to contain Quirks, too, which increased the process to an even greater degree. The average IQ, while still 100 by definition of the term, would have been equivalent to a 125 in the twenty-first century. The average weight was up by about twenty percent, and the average body fat composition was down by nearly forty percent. The average human was healthier and stronger nowadays.

It was why Pro Heroes like Eraserhead could swing around the city or jump a dozen feet into the air with ease. Guns had mostly fallen out of fashion too because a bullet was, really, simply not built for very durable things. Normal bullets couldn't penetrate solid metal, and the average human body was nearly that durable nowadays. This didn't really matter for human on human combat since the average strength had risen too, but the soft metal of a bullet wouldn't do that much damage to a person. They would still hurt, yeah, but they didn't pack that much lethal force except in higher calibers to the point that it was very inefficient to use them in combat. A notable example were snipers, which still packed enough punch to severely injure or kill a human with a single shot. Eventually, though, even those would probably become limited in use.

Quirks, meanwhile, were much more powerful. That was why the yakuza or villains used their Quirks instead of things like guns, although blades had still somewhat stayed in fashion because they were able to apply greater pressure, but the blade needed to be made out of more durable materials than before to still be useful.

If Aizawa was being used as a measurement, Stain was twice as strong based on pure physicality. His muscles were more dense, his reaction speeds faster, his motor control more precise. But... he was still limited by his flesh and bones. Taking all these powerful hits, not to mention the drawn-out fight, was starting to make him tired. His breathing was shallow, and his eyes had begun to become dilated. He was starting to resort to instinct, but the lack of active thought was actually making him faster rather than slower. It was also making him sloppy, though.

He was single-minded in his pursuit to get to Iida and Native, who still somehow weren't unfrozen yet, amazingly enough. He was throwing everything he had at Izumi, which included his body, his knives, daggers, swords, shuriken, and various other weapons that he somehow managed to hide on his body. If she was stupid, Izumi might've even thought he had some sort of pocket dimension that he was pulling them out of.

The black-haired man's tongue was sticking out of his mouth in his crazed frenzy, and he hardly faltered whenever Izumi pushed him back with her combo of Telekinesis and One For All. Finally, though, Izumi could tell that unless she hit him harder, the fight would never end. Stain would draw energy from his ideals even when he had nothing left in his body. She breathed in deeply...

Superchromatic energy pooled in her legs. She bounced to the left, dodging around Stain. Repulsion burst from her old position, pushing the villain deeper into the alleyway, his red scarf flailing behind him as the man flew. Izumi jumped downwards, just as Mirko had shown her with her style three days prior, and Attraction grabbed onto Chizome Akaguro from the mouth of the alleyway. As he flew forward, his eyes frenzied, not understanding his position at the moment, Izumi shouted, "One For All: 25% - Boundless Sweep!" 'Damn, I need better Super Move names...' 

The momentum of the ex-vigilante was halted as he came into contact with Izumi's glowing leg, the energy of the attack multiplied exponentially as the countering velocities impacted each other. A small shockwave blasted as Stain was sent all the way to the end of the alleyway, a cloud of debris rising into the air like a ghost. Izumi slowly fell back to the ground, her boots clicking on the asphalt as she approached the downed villain.

As she approached, though... The Hero Killer got to his feet unsteadily. The green-haired teen quickened her pace instead of slowing down. Stain was swaying from side to side, but he still kept a firm grip on a knife in his hand. His pupils had dilated to the umpteenth degree, and his eyes were bloodshot, but he was still conscious... somewhat. He was purely on fumes and instincts at this point. As long as his duty was unfulfilled, he would not-could not rest. Disregarding who it was, the drive was incredible, admirable.

Izumi flicked her wrists, a soft whirring filling her ears. She wasn't in danger from the Hero Killer, not anymore. He would not kill her, but he would do anything to get past her, and she couldn't allow that. As she got close, the man tensed, but she was on him in a moment, the combination of Telekinesis and One For All that she had nicknamed 'Gravity' pushing the villain onto his knees, his arms pressed against his sides straight down.

"You can rest now..." Izumi whispered, her ruby eyes staring into Chizome's scarlet irises. Her hand found its place on his forehead, and he stopped resisting. "You can rest now."

Chapter Text

The energy was buzzing again.

Izumi scratched at her wrist absentmindedly as Iida tied the Hero Killer up. Her body was vibrating again, thrumming with energy. They were in front of the alleyway where the fight had taken place, and while Native had called the police and Izumi had notified Mirko, the blue-haired boy still hadn't said a word. The explosions were still going, no rhythm in sight and chaos everywhere. The energy inside Izumi began to push, and the green-haired girl struggled to keep it in.

The brother of Ingenium noticed. "You should-"

"-Yeah. You keep him tied up, take care of Native until first aid responds." The boy nodded, not wasting any energy. Izumi quickly gathered energy and began to leap towards the closest explosion, the shockwave ringing in her ears, drowning out the sound of Iida telling her to be careful as she zoomed away.

The energy was still thrumming when the police found Izumi. "Oi, Hero Student! You Izumi Midoriya?" One of the task force members called out to the girl as she was carrying someone out of the attack site.

Izumi nodded, not stopping in her stride until the man reached her and put his hand on her shoulder firmly. "You're needed for questioning in the Hosu City Police Department. And-" the man jerked back, looking at his hand. "Is that blood? What the-" Finally, he took a closer look at the girl, realizing she was shaking and blood was seeping through her costume. "Holy shit! We need to get you to the hospital! What are you doing, still working like this?"

Despite her injuries, the red-eyed teen glared at the officer, who instinctively shrank back. "I'm busy." She laid the man she was carrying safely down out of the way of harm.

"You're literally-" the officer sighed. "There are other heroes around, young lady. Right now, you need medical attention and then we need to bring you down to the precinct."

Blazing crimson stared into the man's eyes, who still had trouble meeting them with confidence. There were- there were too many emotions in there, too strong. "No." The scarlet eyes began to glow and the hand on the girl's shoulder was forcibly removed. The officer gaped, but found himself unable to move as a wave of fear and submission washed over him, too strong to ignore. "I. Am. Busy." The girl crouched down, and what seemed like a rainbow of energy gathered around her legs.

"Midoriya!" The girl faltered at the shout. Her head whipped towards the source, seeing Mirko. "The fuck are you doing?"

"U-uh..." The assertive demeanor from before had all but disappeared. "... Helping?"

The Rabbit Hero stomped over. "Bullshit. You're-" she glanced at the police officer behind her, "You're... just my intern at the moment. And right now, you're going to take a break. And instead of impeding the police, you're going to cooperate with them."

"Mirko-san!" The police officer greeted, feeling the pressure on him disappear with great relief. "You said Miss Midoriya was your intern, correct? Did you by any chance grant her the ability to use her Quirk tonight?"

The white-haired woman paused for a moment, her gaze slowly shifting between Izumi and the officer. "No, I did not... Why do you ask?" She finally said, slowly.

"Right now, we're under an order to bring her in for illegal vigilantism."

"Against who?"

The officer clicked his tongue with trepidation. "The Hero Killer, Stain."

Mirko gaped. Finally, her calm visage collapsed. She stared at Izumi in shock. "You found Stain?"

"I-"

"-and you didn't tell me?" The woman continued in outrage. "The fight of a decade, and I-"

"Miss Usagiyami," the officer stepped forward, "I'm afraid this is a serious issue. Not only could your intern face charges, but you could as well. It seems your classmate, Tenya Iida, is also in the hospital recovering from his injuries. If it would make it easier, we can have you recover there instead of the precinct."

The green-haired girl licked her lips subconsciously, then frowned. "I get the feeling I don't really have a choice in this matter."

"I see now why you are training to be a hero, Miss Midoriya." The officer offered her a small smile. "You have wonderful instincts."

The energy was buzzing again.

"You've got a visitor, brat," Mirko grumbled, walking into the hospital room. Izumi's wounds were healing quickly, but there were a great deal of them, and some blood had to be infused. Izumi and Iida sat up in confusion - who would be visiting them? Someone from school?

Instead of anyone that they recognized, however, in walked a tall... dog-man? Not like Hound-Dog, though. He had an... imposing presence. "This is Hosu's chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae." Izumi gaped at the sight, but quickly berated herself. It should've been expected. Both students got up and bowed.

"You don't have to bow, woof." The man spoke. Just like Asui, he made the noise of his Quirked counterpart. "You must be the U.A. students who brought down the hero killer, right?" It was a rhetorical question, but Izumi tried to prompt her own answer.

"I don't have a clue-"

"-Izumi-san-" Iida tried to interject, but Izumi talked over him quickly.

"He's not here to praise us, Iida." The boy gaped for a moment, but then swung his jaw shut with an audible clack. The chief of police, for his part, seemed mildly amused at the interaction.

"I see, woof." The man nodded his head seriously. "Regarding the Hero Killer we arrested... He had fairly serious injuries, with many bruises, fractures, and broken bones, and is receiving treatment under strict guard, woof." The students nodded. Izumi grimaced at the words, although they weren't unexpected. 'He just wouldn't stay down!'  She justified. The officer continued, "Since you are U.A. students, I'm sure you already know that when superpowers were still becoming the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards and made sure Quirks were not used as weapons."

Izumi studied Manual's face. The Pro Hero seemed to be doing his best to remain stoic, his face twitching upwards every few moments. 'He wants to smile...?'  Izumi pondered. 'I don't really know what could be humorous about this situation... He's at risk of losing his license, if I remember correctly.'

"People who did so were quickly stopped. However, there was always a large portion of people who were willing to use their power to their own ends. And, if the police stepped in with their powers, that would effectively make them above the law. So, a compromise was made - Heroes, woof. For an individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others--actions that would normally be appropriate to denounce--to be accepted officially is thanks to early heroes who followed the ethics and rules of the profession, woof." Izumi grimaced again. It seemed like she was doing that a lot. "Even up against the hero killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their Quirks... without specific instructions from their guardians or supervisors is a clear violation of the rules."

"So I was supposed to let them die?" The green-eyed teen felt the words burst out of her mouth quickly. Unlike usual, though, she didn't regret them immediately. "I should've sat down at the entrance to they alleyway and texted Mirko-san for permission to use my Quirk while a villain stabbed a hero and my classmate to death and let them die in an alleyway right before my eyes? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Izumi-" Mirko held out a hand, but the chief of police held out his arm to stop the woman.

"You must understand, even vigilantism for the best reasons is still vigilantism, woof. And if we allowed this case to go unpunished, then every other time it occurred, this would be brought up as well." The dog-man leaned in closely to stare at Izumi. "Many vigilantes are just trying their best to keep people safe. But there are some who do not, who use it to skirt around being called a criminal. And those are who we cannot allow the excuse to." Izumi bristled at the implication, but held her tongue for the moment.

Iida looked between the two with confusion, but stayed silent. "At least..." Suddenly, the dog-man leaned back, and the tension in the room suddenly eased. "That was the official opinion of the police, woof." Iida blinked rapidly. "From what I heard from Native-san, the Pro Hero you guys saved, you were paralyzed for nearly the entire time, young Iida. And when you weren't, you were acting in self-defense from the vigilante."

"I see!" Iida lit up with understanding. "But what about-"

"However..." The pressure came back. "Native also reported that Stain spoke multiple times about not wanting to kill you, Miss Midoriya, woof. And, while you could have removed Iida and Native from the alleyway, instead, you chose to fight the Hero Killer, eventually ending the fight with overpowering force." Brown eyes stared into green ones intensely. "Why did you decide to fight instead of flee?"

Izumi bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as she began to shake with anger. After a few moments, she spoke slowly and distinctly. "In front of me was the man who had killed multiple Professional Heroes, who was trying to murder another one, as well as my friend. I had the capability to defend myself-"

"-And what if you didn't?" Izumi stopped for a moment, gaping at the man. "What if you had been unable to defeat the Hero Killer? And, since you had decided to fight him and lost, instead of rescuing the people you were trying to save, Native, Iida, and potentially you yourself could've died, woof." Izumi felt her throat close up. "Not only that, but the location of the fight was analyzed by forensics and was connected to a multiple-years-long string of vigilantism in the general Musutafu area."

"Izumi..." The man's stare softened slightly. "I'm not mad. But... the more open you are with your abilities, the more attention you'll get, and that leads to a greater chance of being connected to your vigilantism." Izumi opened her mouth to argue, but Aizawa held a hand up. "I know you haven't been caught yet. But if you do something big, and then someone watches a video of it or something and then runs into a vigilante using the same exact Quirk, things start to become obvious." Izumi closed her mouth, her words dying in her throat.

She had been warned. Of course, her dad had been right. But it had all seemed so... so... insignificant when he had just told her it. Experiencing the result of it physically, though - it was so much worse than she could have ever predicted.

"I can see by the look on your face that the connection was indeed true, woof." The man nodded as he said it, leaning back.

"I- I-" Her throat was too dry. Words wouldn't come out. It felt like they were getting clogged, backed up, even.

The man scratched his chin. "Of course, vigilantism can not be allowed, woof. And if we charge you and Mister Iida, as well as Pro Heroes Manual and Mirko, it would be unlikely that any of you would be able to work as heroes ever again."

"Is this-" Izumi tried to speak, but Mirko waved frantically from behind the man and mimed for Izumi to stop talking. The green-haired girl's jaw swung shut. She was in a precarious position, no doubt.

"Of course..." The dog had definitely witnessed the exchange, but seemed to pay it no mind. "That would only happen if the fight was made public, woof." The pieces finally started to click into place. Izumi's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as she began to understand what the general idea was behind the meeting. "Of course, it would be very selfish of me to even insinuate that you two should give up the glory-"

The teen didn't even let the man finish before agreeing. "I won't say a word!" Her classmate agreed too, quickly.

The dog-man smiled. "I am very glad to hear that, woof. Just between you and me," he leaned in close to the girl and whispered, "I am deeply in gratitude and amazement at your capabilities, young Miss Midoriya. From what I heard from Native-san, you functioned as a proper hero in that fight." He leaned back again, and his smile disappeared slightly. "However, young lady, you have shown a tendency towards vigilantism. And even though it is very evident that you wish to help people, bypassing the law is not the correct way for you to do that. So..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope. "This is for you. It is not optional if you wish to continue your hero studies, as well, woof." He handed the envelope to Midoriya, who took it warily, staring at it.

The man nodded, and at long last, it felt like the interrogation was finally over. "Personally, I don't want to be the one to punish promising young talent over one big mistake, woof." The man's dog lolled out, and he gave a thumbs-up. "And, I am not allowed to say this in my official capacity, but not as chief of police, but instead as a resident of Hosu City and a citizen of Japan... Thank you." The man bowed, and Izumi and Tenya bowed back deeply.

"We'll still get a bit of flak for not being there with y'all," Mirko stepped in, "but seriously, kiddos, nice job. Still, though..." Mirko walked over to Izumi and looked her in the eyes deeply. "You found one of the best fights of the decade and still didn't call me!" She playfully whacked the teen on the head, and they both laughed.

"Gomenasai, Mirko-san."

"I am also sorry," Iida walked over to Manual and bowed to the man. "I went behind your back-"

The aquamancer held up a hand to stop the boy. "It's alright. But you caused a lot of trouble for others. If you truly understand what you did wrong, then learn from your mistakes and don't do it again!"

"I won't!" Iida promised, then righted his body.

"That goes for you too, brat. Learn from your mistakes," the Rabbit Hero instructed her intern. "Also, I got word from the doctor that you're free to go whenever you're ready."

Izumi nodded seriously. "I'll do my best. And, alright. I'm all healed up and feel fine."

The Rabbit Hero grinned. "Alright. All this talk has gotten me fired up - let's spar!"

The energy was buzzing again.

Izumi lazily floated the envelope above her finger using Gravity. She was using the same method to train it as any of the other Quirks that she had received - starting off small and working her way up from there. From what she could tell, though, it was literally her Telekinesis and more. At this point, she was still having to actively, consciously activate One For All, then consciously active Telekinesis, then consciously mix the two together. It was a multi-stage process, and took at least fifteen seconds if she wanted to be able to control the output at all.

She knew she would have to open it soon, but it still felt like a foreboding task. It was mandatory for her to do whatever was inside there if she wanted to become a hero, they said. What could... What was it?

Suddenly, the curiosity was burning bright within her like a bonfire. Focusing with Gravity, she squinted and bit her tongue as she slowly slid a finger horizontally, forcing pressure outwards so that it would open the envelope. It took more than a minute, constantly observing the flow of power so she didn't tear the paper to shreds by accident. After she was done, though, a deep sigh of relief echoed as Izumi released the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. 

The enclosed letter was very simple.

Identifier: Izumi Midoriya                                    Age: 15 y, 10 m                                       Pro Hero Vouch: All Might

              You are formally invited to participate in the Vigilante Rehabilitation Program . Due to a notable lack of violent incidents and a vouch of responsibility from a Pro Hero, you have been given the opportunity to have your vigilantism record wiped upon successful completion of the program. Additionally, as the program's final test is the Pro Hero Examination, successful completion of the program will also result in the obtaining of a Professional Heroes' License, a permit the grants civilians the right to serve as a professional hero and utilize their quirk in times of danger and necessity.

              You, if you choose to accept the offer, will go through a post-interview-determined amount of lessons subject to alteration by your Paroling Officer, and will be approved to take the Licensing Exam upon approval of your Paroling Officer.

              If you refuse this offer, you will instead be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Thank you.
The Hero Public Safety Commission (TKY, Japan)

'Well...'  Izumi considered as she processed what she had just read. 'It sure was nice of them to give me a choice.'

Chapter Text

The energy was still buzzing.

"Midoriya-san!"

"Oh, Iida-san!" Midoriya greeted with a wave. It was technically their last day of internships, but, in light of the recent attack, she had been told to take a break. "How's it going?"

Iida nodded rapidly. "It's going well! The doctors fixed up my arm very well, however..." The boy hung his head low. "... I'm thinking of... maybe not returning to Yuuei."

Green-hair waved in a curtain as Izumi twisted her head rapidly. "What?"

"Yes." Tenya sighed and then pushed his glasses up. "I acted in a very rash, brutish manner in going after the Hero Killer. In fact, what I did was most definitely illegal, and I put multiple people at risk." Tears started to drip down his face as he clenched his fist. "How can I be a hero-"

"Stop with that." Izumi's voice was soft, but demanding. "Iida-san..." She put a hand on his shoulder and looked into the boy's eyes. "You're not at a hero school because you're already a perfect hero. And-and yes, I... don't think you're a perfect one, yet, either. But you're willing to change and improve yourself. And I don't think you're going to be the next Ingenium-" At seeing the look on the teen's face, Izumi quickly changed course. "-but not because you can't be a hero. You can't be the next Ingenium because each Hero-each person in this world is different from each other. You won't do the exact same things that your brother has, because he's already done them. But what you can do are different, bigger things that can help new people. Now..." Izumi put a small finger on the bottom of the other boy's chin. "Chin up," she pushed, "and smile. Show the world that you're ready to go beyond." She winked. "Plus Ultra!"

"Plus Ultra!" The boy resounded. A bit of tension had been relieved from his posture. "Thank you, Midoriya-san... I think I needed that. Also, my older brother has invited you to have lunch with us. It would mean a lot to him if he could thank you in person."

"For-" Izumi blinked. "Oh! Of course!" She smiled. "Lead the way."

The energy was still buzzing.

"Alright, I'll go grab us some pizza." Tenya headed towards the front counter quickly. Izumi smiled at Tensei Iida, the Pro Hero Ingenium, sitting across the table from her.

"Miss Midoriya!" Ingenium greeted. "It's very nice to meet you. I can't thank you enough for protecting my baby bro... ther?" The young man stopped in confusion as the teen across from him put her finger to her lips.

"Don't talk..." She mouthed. The man looked at her in confusion, so she took that as a cue to start talking. "I'm glad to see you've recovered well, Ingenium."

The man stiffened rapidly, and his eyes widened. 'I recognize that voice...' "Y-you...?"

The girl smiled. "Me." Those green eyes seemed a lot more striking, now. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention my little escapade to your brother, or, of course, anyone else. They don't know, you see, but I couldn't just let you stay bedridden while I could do something about it."

Tensei sat back and exhaled for a few moments. He popped his jaw, and eventually came to a decision. "Al... right." He acquiesced. "It's actually a bit comforting, in a way." He laughed awkwardly. "I was a bit worried I had sold my soul to the devil for a chance to get back on my own two feet."

The green-eyed teen returned the laugh. "No devil here," she gave him a peace sign. "Anyway..." Izumi leaned forward with a grin. "Can I get your autograph?"

The energy was still buzzing.

All Might nodded. "Yes, I think that this could be highly beneficial. It's all theatrical, after all," he chuckled, scratching at his cheek. "I still must say... It's worrying that One For All is reacting so strongly to you. You say that you experience a bit of its energy every now and then?"

"Mhm," Izumi nodded. "Every few days." 'Liar.'  The shadows whispered. "It's not that strong, though," 'Liar.' "Are you saying that nothing like that ever happened to you?"

Toshinori shook his head negatively. "Nope. For me, rather than learning to ramp One For All up, like it is for you, it was learning to ramp the power output down so I could still function in day-to-day life. Even now, with my minimal power, I have to ensure that my steps are soft when I'm walking, that my voice is soft when I'm talking, and that my hands find the perfect balance between gripping something too soft and too hard. My injury, in a way, has almost been relieving in a sense." He laughed. "When I'm in my day-to-day form, One For All is much weaker."

"Alright..." The teen considered. "Do you think it has anything to do with this sort of... 'sixth sense' I've been feeling?"

The blond-haired man leaned in, pondering seriously. "A sixth sense, you say...? Well... Have you ever heard of the name Hikage Shinomori?"

Izumi jolted in her seat. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed. "I forgot to tell you, but... well... y-yeah..." She stuttered out. "I kinda... met him?" Electric blue eyes peered at her in curiosity, prompting her to go on. "I-uh, well, I fell asleep one night and I had like... a hyperrealistic dream?" 'Liar.'  "And... there were a bunch of people there, and they were... talking to me?"

Yagi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think we really need to clarify what constitutes as 'worth notifying me immediately'..."

"W-would that fall... under it...?" Izumi asked, concerned.

"Yes." The Pro Hero sighed. "Yes, it would. First, can you tell me who you saw?"

"Well..." Izumi felt a bit of depression seep over her. She felt like she had failed Yagi, a little bit. Ever since she had properly processed the facts that, no, he hadn't killed her mother, and, no, she couldn't reasonably hold him responsible for her mother's death, she had definitely felt closer to the man. "There were... seven people, I think? I didn't really get to see two of them, but there was a very nice lady named...." Izumi squinted to remember. "Nana? Nana Shimura, I think." All Might went deathly still. "And she introduced me to, uh, a guy named En, one named Daigoro, and another one named Hikage, who I guess was probably the guy you were talking about? And then the last was the first user of One For All, and, uh, I guess, my uncle, Yoichi."

"I... see...." The man in front of her seemed to have aged heavily very quickly. "Then, you must've been able to access the part of your mind that I've hardly even managed to scratch. The remnants, the vestiges of One For All from the previous users stand castle in their own private reality, in a way. That's... incredible, to say the least. Even more likely, and equally incredible, you've probably already begun to start accessing their Quirks."

"Their Quirks?" Izumi asked with alarm. 'Is that why One For All took up so much of my storage space?'

"Yes," He nodded. "Hikage Shinomori had a Quirk called Danger Sense. Most likely, this 'sixth sense' is actually his Quirk passively activating. I have done a bit of research on all of the past users, but I wasn't able to find very much on him other than that he lived a very remote life and died very young."

"... due to having multiple Quirks in him..." Izumi realized. All Might nodded gravely in agreement. "But, you're like, fifty, right? Why aren't-" Her eyes widened. "Because you're Quirkless?" Toshinori nodded. Izumi's mouth opened, and then clicked shut. "Alright." She heaved a sigh. "That's... Alright." She nodded, more to herself than anyone else. "I'm just- gonna move on from that. You think this energy might be because another Quirk wants to manifest?"

"It's possible." Yagi sat back and nodded. The mention of Nana seemed to have drained a lot of energy out of him. "I wish you would've told me beforehand," he admitted. "There was someone I considered having you do your internship with, who has a bit of experience with One For All... If I had known that you had seen the vestiges, I wouldn't have thought twice."

"I'm sorry..." Izumi moped.

All Might waved her off. "It's a simple oversight. You didn't mean anything malicious by it, no need to apologize. But, while we're on the topic, is there anything else you feel like you need to ask me?"

"N..." The green-eyed teen stopped, biting her lip as she reconsidered. "Well... Maybe. D-do you think... there's any way I could get into Tartarus to see Stain?" She rushed out the last part of the sentence, as if saying it faster would relieve her of the guilt she felt on the topic.

Yagi thought for a moment. "To return his Quirk?" She had immediately texted the man about it as soon as she had gotten out of her battlelusted-mindset in the hospital in Hosu. "Doubtful. Even if you could get in, the entire prison is built with Quirk Dampeners, never mind the security, and the publicity it would give your Quirk. I know you don't want to hear this, but..." The man sighed. "It might be best for you to just keep the Quirk."

The green-haired girl stilled. "No."

"Izumi-"

"No!" The teen stood up, her chair being pushed out behind her. "I refuse!"

"Young Midoriya, please calm down."

Izumi's teeth were bared, and it almost sounded like she was growling. "I will not become like my father!" She stalked out of the room, almost fast enough to avoid the whispers of her own darkness. 'Liar.'

The energy was still buzzing.

"Alright, everyone!" All Might corralled Class 1-A as they stood in front of a large arena. "Welcome back from your internships! Since you just got back, we'll be doing something fun today, a way to show off what you learned over the break!" He declared. "This is Field Gamma! It's laid out like a large labyrinth, with many factories. Inside, there are many interconnected walkways and dead ends. I'll be sending a signal from somewhere inside--once you get that signal, it's your job to find me! You'll be split up into four groups of five, and the first member of each group to find me gets a point! Of course, you should be keeping destruction to a minimum..." He clearly pointed at Bakugo, who 'tch'ed'.

"Didn't have to point at me, asshole..." He growled quietly.

"Ahem." All Might cleared his throat into his fist. "Anyway. The first person of each group that gets three points will move on to the next round! And then, those four students will face off against me, and whoever gets three points first there might win a special prize!" The man smiled. "Who is ready to go beyond?"

"Plus Ultra!" The class cheered, but quickly calmed down.

"Hey, wait," Kaminari began to point out, "isn't this biased towards speed-based Quirks like Iida's?"

"Hey, yeah!" Kirishima agreed. "That's like, totally not manly!"

Izumi rolled her eyes. "No, it's not. Weren't you guys listening? It's a labyrinth in there. Speed means nothing if you go the wrong way."

"I dunno what a labyrinth is..." A certain pink-skinned girl admitted.

Bakugo grunted. "It's like a maze, extra."

"Oh, than- hey, wait, who are you calling an extra?" Mina exclaimed.

Izumi giggled at the interaction. It was nice to have a bit of her 'normal' life back after the insanity that had been the past week. Although, really, was there anything normal about her life anyway? No, but that couldn't stop her from pretending every now and then.

The commotion continued. "Will we get to choose the groups?"

"Good question! No! They have been chosen for you, and are as follows!" A hologram opened up behind the man as he extended his arm. The only group important to Izumi was her own: Group D, with Tsu, Kyoka, Ochaco, and Sero. The five grinned as they locked eyes, their competitive spirits flaring out behind them. Izumi suddenly sweatdropped. 'Why is Ochaco practicing martial arts...?'

The energy was still buzzing.

Bakugo grabbed Izumi's wrist roughly and started dragging her behind him. "I know you're lying, extra." He finally spoke only once they were isolated, letting her wrist go.

"Geez..." Izumi rubbed her now-sore wrist with minor annoyance. "I know I'm cute-"

"Cut the act," the blond growled. "I ain't leaving 'til I get answers."

The green-eyed teen crossed her arms. "Answers about what?"

"Your Quirk. Uncle Hisashi had a fire-breathing Quirk, and you said you went with Mirko cause you had a Quirk mutation tending towards your dad's side. This shit doesn't add up." Izumi stilled.

"It was a-"

A few sparkles popped in Bakugo's hands. "If you say multi-faceted Quirk, I'll blow you up right now," he threatened.

Izumi glared at the boy. "It was a freak mutation. That what you want to hear? I don't know why you even care. What else would it be?" Bakugo faltered as his eyebrows creased. "Yeah. You didn't even think about that, huh? You were so caught up on something you thought was right you didn't stop to think about whether or not it was logical." The girl shook her head pityingly at the boy. "Get over yourself, Bakugo."

The boy was so shocked by her brutal tirade that he didn't move an inch to stop her as she stepped past him and back towards the rest of Class 1-A. Thoughts raced through his mind. The most prominent, of course, was... '... but then how did she know what I was about to ask?'

The energy was still buzzing.

Izumi stared at the receiver she held in her hand, strolling around and familiarizing herself with the area as she waited for the distress signal from All Might. 'I should probably apologize for walking out on him earlier at some point...'  She reminded herself. All of the sudden, the receiver pinged, breaking her out of her thoughts. She smirked. "Well, guess that means it's go-time," she spoke aloud to nobody in particular.

She charged up One For All in her legs, and her intuition told her to go into the air. She'd learned enough that it wasn't worth going against her instincts. She hopped up, and as her momentum halted... she stayed still in the air. 'I'm... flying?'  She questioned. No, she couldn't control herself. 'Floating, then?'  What the fuck was she going to do with this? For a few minutes, she was stuck in the air until the receiver on her waist pinged again, jolting her and sending her plummeting back to the ground. She focused on making it back to the ground safely, and once she did, she checked the receiver.

It seemed Sero had found All Might first, and that was the end of round one. She growled in frustration. 'Well, maybe if I wasn't stuck in the god-damned air...!'   Izumi huffed. There were still some more rounds.

The second round saw much of the same as the first, except she was now... vaguely moving. It was closing to lazing around than anything else, but if she tilted her body in specific ways she would drift a little bit. Sero scored a second point, and the jolt once again was able to shock her down.

Onto the third round, though...

Izumi cracked her knuckles and spent a moment popping the rest of her joints. 'It's go time...'  She whispered mentally, breathing in deeply. She jumped upwards, and then, as her weightlessness activated, she pushed again with One For All, and... went nowhere. She grimaced.

"Problem solve, Izumi, solve solve solve..." She was an analyst, goddamnit! She could figure out a stupid fucking Quirk! She deactivated the Floating Quirk, and as she plummeted, she reactivated it again and kicked with One For All, with more success. She was moving only a short distance, of course, since it seemed like the Quirk focused on removing all momentum rather than just downwards momentum, but it still worked. If she kept One For All activated in her legs for as long as she could hold it and held the Floating Quirk on a constant cycle of activating and deactivating, she could sorta move through the air.

And, if the results were anything to go by... A bird's eye view was the best type of view to have.

Group A results: Iida, 3, Todoroki, 1
Group B results: Tokoyami, 3, Sato, 2, Yaoyorozu, 2 
Group C results: Bakugo, 3, Shoji, 2, Mineta, 1, Aoyama, 1, Hagakure, 1
Group D results: Midoriya, 3, Sero, 2

...
. . .
.  .  .

The energy was still humming.

Chapter Text

The energy was still humming.

Breaking Headline: Hero Killer "Stain" Escape From Tartarus Prison!

Izumi gaped at the title of the news story. Escaped? From Tartarus? That was simply impossible.

"Further coverage comes from Ikenai Shinrai. Ikenai?"

The screen flashed to a young man standing in front of Tartarus prison. There was a great deal of bustling activity behind him, with multiple helicopters with search lights, and a great deal of prison staff and police interacting. "Thank you. Yes, you read that correctly. Hero Killer Stain, otherwise known as Chizome Akaguro, escaped from Tartarus early yesterday evening. He was aided by an unknown person outside of the facility who, using an unidentified Quirk, was able to impersonate a security guard and gain access to the Hero Killer's cell. The security guard who was impersonated's identity is being kept anonymous, but preliminary investigations have led to them having a low chance of being in league with the perpetrator. Back to you."

Click.

The television turned off. Izumi stared at her dad, who was staring at her in discontent. "Did you know about this?" The green-haired girl questioned Aizawa.

He sighed and nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. "Mhm. Got informed just a few minutes ago, and figured I'd break it to you easy. Guess that's out of the window, though." He chugged the rest of his mug before slamming it on the table. "You know you can't seek him out, right?"

"I don't want to," Izumi protested, "but he has allies, apparently. If he realizes I took his Quirk, he might come after me anyway. It's dangerous-"

"-and he's dangerous," the black-haired man countered. "I know you want to return his Quirk, but with or without it, he is an incredibly skilled fighter. Returning it might just enable him to continue his spree of murders."

Izumi was silent for a few moments. "... I did a bit of research, you know."

Shouta groaned. "Izumi-"

"The heroes he killed all had anonymously published records of illegal activity-"

"-Izumi-" The Pro Hero tried to interject again, but the green-eyed girl talked louder.

"-and the cities he killed in saw both a decrease in crime and an increase in hero potentials." Izumi finished, her hand twirling around a shimmering knife in her hand. "I'm not saying that killing people was right-"

"Good," Aizawa was finally able to cut in, "because it wasn't. The ends do not justify the means. Just because the end result happened to work out in a vaguely positive way doesn't mean that anything he did was right."

Izumi swallowed, not speaking for a few moments. Finally, when she did, all she said was, "I know." As if a switch had flipped, though, the teen sprung up and cracked her knuckles. "Anything interesting in the mail today?"

The Underground Hero blinked at the abrupt change, but a single look at the girl confirmed the previous conversation was closed and buried. Any attempt at bringing it back would just result in strife. So, instead, he nodded towards the table. "Mhm. A letter from the HPSC--Probably about your..." Aizawa's face contorted in an odd, indescribable way for a moment. "... rehabilitation mentor." The word was sour in his mouth. There was nothing wrong with Izumi, damnit. She didn't need to be rehabilitated... It wasn't his fight, though.

Oddly cheery, though, Izumi grinned. "Thank goodness. I almost thought they were gonna ghost me, to be honest." They shared a quick chuckle over that.

"You're... fine with all this?" Shouta confirmed.

A chink in the armor. Izumi's façade cracked for a moment, allowing a bit of anger to shine through her smile, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Not really," she admitted, "but I don't really have a choice. All I can do is hope that, in the end, it'll all be fine." Her smile came back, almost blinding. "Love ya, pops." She rapped his chest lightly with her knuckles as she retrieved the letter before retreating to her room.

The door was open just long enough for Aizawa to get a glimpse of the comfortable atmosphere inside; a beanbag pillow, a large carpet, the walls painted a soft pink with soft yellow lights that they had strung up together around the ceiling shining faintly above. Her desk for homework was nestled in the corner, and against the wall was her treadmill.

"Love you too, kiddo..." He said before the door closed. Shouta's black eyes stared at the door for a few more moments, concern evident in them. Something had felt... different... with Izumi the past few days, and he couldn't figure out what or why. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white as he held his breath for a few moments before finally sighing slowly. He would... He would just have to trust in his daughter, and hope that, when it mattered, she'd trust him, too.

The energy was still humming.

"Final exams?" Izumi blinked.

"Yup!" Ochaco gave the other girl a big thumbs up. "Kendo-san said it might have something to do with the robots from the entrance exams."

"That doesn't make sense, Cheeks." Bakugo growled from across the room. "A lot of us are here because we were able to easily fuck those damn bots over before we even started training, and they were just distractions at the Sports Festival. Ain't shit that they'd have that be our final test."

A black ponytail waved softly. "You have a good point, Bakugo-san..." Momo started, and her face suddenly peered up to be filled with tears. "But must you talk like that?"

Bakugo growled, but instead of firing back, he just tch'ed and turned away, exiting the conversation. Momo's face brightened, and she sent a thumbs-up at the rest of the group, mouthing 'Progress!' at them, making a few of them chuckle softly.

"Well, still..." Mina grumbled. "If it's not robots, then what?"

"Search and rescue, maybe? Kero." Tsuyu suggested.

Iida considered it. "Perhaps. That is a good idea, Asui-san."

"Call me Tsu, kero."

"Hm..." Izumi considered. "But S&R was only a little bit of what we learned this semester, it'd be a bit odd to only test us on that."

"So, maybe S&R, maybe... movement? And maybe some combat?" The Yaoyorozu heir theorized.

The group collectively shrugged. Someone new entered the conversation. "Something I don't have to guess on is how difficult the dumb written test will be..." Kaminari moped.

"Agreed," said his red-haired companion. Tears began to stream out of both of their eyes. "I don't understand how you guys are so good at all of this stuff and so strong... it's not fairrrr-"

"It's because they're cute!" Mineta declared, forcing himself into the conversation and pointing at the wall of class standings, drawing everyone else's attention.

Academic Standings - Class 1-A

1 - Izumi Midoriya
2 - Momo Yaoyorozu
3 - Tenya Iida
4 - Shouto Todoroki
5 - Tsuyu Asui
6 - Katsuki Bakugo
7 - Minoru Mineta
8 - Kyoka Jiro
9 - Mashirao Ojiro
10 - Mezo Shoji
11 - Ochaco Uraraka
12 - Koji Koda
13 - Rikido Sato
14 - Fumikage Tokoyami
15 - Toru Hagakure
16 - Yuga Aoyama
17 - Eijiro Kirishima
18 - Hanta Sero
19 - Mina Ashido
20 - Denki Kaminari

"Wait, how the heck is Mineta so high?" Sero exclaimed. Upon the purple-topped boy's glare, however, he meekly added, "N-no offense, of course..."

Huffing, the small boy crossed his arms. "I studied."

"Ochaco, too." Tsuyu noted. "Halfway through the term she was at fifteenth, but she's risen to eleventh."

Uraraka blushed. "That's... Erm..." She twiddled her fingers. "M-Mostly thanks to the tutoring I've been getting."

"A tutor?" Kirishima's eyes widened. "Who? Please? I'll pay, I'll uh, I'll walk their dog-"

"I'll charge their phone for them," Denki chipped in, half-jokingly. "It's probably just some local professional, right, Ochaco-san?"

If anything, the girl's face became even more red. Mortified, she finally meeped out, "Y-yeah...!"

Izumi glanced curiously as the trio of boys groaned in defeat. "We're doomed." Uraraka was avoiding eye contact with anyone, and instead, she was staring off into the classroom. Izumi traced the line of sight... to ash-blond hair. The green-haired girl gaped in disbelief. Now wasn't that a pairing?

A sudden flash in her peripheral vision caught her attention. "Hey, uh, guys, I'll be right back." Izumi spoke abruptly, interrupting someone. She stood from her seat and dashed into the hallway. 'There's no way... he couldn't have...'  Down at the end of the hallway, a flash of red and silver turned the corner. 'Is he looking for me?'

Her shoes squeaked as she dashed down the hallway. She turned the corner, only to see... a dead end. Nothing was there. A sudden pressure pressed on her shoulder, and the teen immediately tensed and jumped forward, turning midair to land in a combat-ready stance.

"Impressive instincts, Young Midoriya," All Might said to the girl, mild confusion on his face. "Is anything the matter?" He was currently in his powered-up form, which made sense, considering it was the school day. Izumi hopped upright, brushing herself off and flushing.

"S-sorry, All Might-sensei," she apologized. "I, uh..." Her voice lowered. "I thought I saw Stain." She admitted.

"Oh!" Yagi blinked. "Yes, I saw on the news that he had escaped. Fret not, though, there's not a chance he could reach you here. Yuuei's security is the top of the line, after all!" The man smiled, but faltered as he saw that the teen wasn't returning it.

"I know, but..." The green-eyed girl trailed off and shook her head. "Sorry for bothering you. I should probably head back to class, now."

"Oh, yes!" Toshinori nodded. "Even if he is your father, I doubt Aizawa-sensei would appreciate you skipping class... if he's even awake." They both chuckled.

As they walked back to Class 1-A in silence, though, Izumi couldn't stop mulling over the thoughts storming in her mind. 'I know that Yuuei is safe, but... if it wasn't him, who the hell did I see?'

Unknown Location

All For One glared at the message on the screen in front of him, his red eyes shimmering in anger. A... complication in his plans. He didn't like complications. And, even worse, he had nobody to blame this on except for himself. Usually, he had so many plans layered upon each other that it didn't matter if there were minor inconveniences, they could be worked around. If it was a personal connection, either side of the equation could be removed with little issue or worry. But, no... This was a side-plan. Just something that had... fallen into his lap, so to speak, which could really only result in positive outcomes. Or so he thought.

Wolfram was a very simple man, after all. It was very clear that he wanted to steal the device for his own use, which was why All For One had had the foresight to 'grant' him a self-destruction Quirk that could be remotely activated alongside the Muscular Augmentation one that he had given the man. No, that wasn't the issue.

The issue was the updated guest list for the I-Island Expo. More specifically, the newest person, brought specifically as All Might's "Plus One".

His daughter, Izumi Midoriya.

Hisashi Midoriya twiddled a coin through his fingers as he thought about the implications of his daughter being close to his rival. On one hand, it could be very good. On the other hand, it could be very bad. And, if he remembered correctly, they had both happened to end up in the same place this year... Yuuei. All For One bit his cheek as he thought. He thought, and he thought, and he thought.

And, eventually he came to a decision. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to... devote a few more pieces to the game.

The energy was still humming.

"Oh, you're watching too, Izumi?" Uraraka questioned, walking into the monitoring room where the aforementioned green-haired girl and Recovery Girl were already sitting.

"Mhm," the green-eyed girl responded. "My teammate's Bakugo, so, even if I wanted to..." She shrugged. "Bet you'd have a better time working with him."

"Me- Uh- Huh- Erm- I- What?" Ochaco flushed and averted her eyes. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about."

Izumi raised an eyebrow. 'Real convincing...' She thought humorously. "He's your tutor, right? Kirishima told me you three studied together."

The brunette drooped. "I- I don't know if studying is the right term for it... He just kept yelling at us and pounding the information into our brains and getting mad when we forgot."

"Did it work?"

"W-well, yes, but-"

Izumi giggled. "Sounds like studying to me, then. I'm surprised you're not trying to make plans with your teammate, though."

If it was possible, Uraraka drooped further. "It's Aoyama..." she bemoaned. "Not a chance of getting through to him." An image of the boy admiring his reflection flashed through both of their minds, making both girls sweatdrop.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying."

Ochaco nodded. "That's why I thought I'd try to use everyone else's fights for reference. But, if you don't mind me asking, Izumi..."

"Hm?" Green eyes darted over curiously.

Ochaco bit her lip. "Is there... Do you know Bakugo?"

Izumi scrunched her eyebrows at the question. "What do you mean? I'd like to think that we all do after the past few months, even if he's an antisocial jackass."

The brown-haired teen quickly giggled at that, but got serious again. "I know, but I mean, like... outside of school. He... Keeps asking about you whenever we're in study breaks. Like, your childhood n' stuff..." The girl wiggled her hands at the end.

The green-haired girl was no less confused. "... Huh. That's... No, I don't. Although, it's odd that you mention that. I don't actually... remember much of my childhood...?" Izumi stated, although her reply was so confused by the end it almost came out like a question. "Like, I, uh, well... It's difficult to explain. Just... I don't have many real memories of it."

"Real memories?" Uraraka questioned.

Izumi cleared her throat. "Looks like Kirishima and Sato are starting."

"Oh, yeah!" Ochaco turned towards the screen. "They're up against Cementoss-sensei, right? Beat him up for making us read Macbeth!" She cheered.

"They're going to lose," Izumi immediately replied. "In fact, I gander a lot of us will."

Uraraka froze. "Eh?" Her head tilted as she looked towards Izumi. "Just because they're teachers? Why are you being such a downer?"

"Just being a realist," Izumi shrugged. "A lot of these matchups are intentionally bad on purpose. They're setting us up to fail so we can get stronger."

Her friend's face scrunched as she crossed her arms. "They're gonna win anyway. I believe in them."

Izumi sighed. "Alright."

The match went exactly as expected. "Break through!" Uraraka cheered as the duo started smashing the walls in front of them.

"They've already lost..." Izumi sighed. "Think about how much energy Cementoss-sensei is expending to make a wall, and compare that to how much energy it takes them to break one. Never mind that Sato-san has a very short time limit compared to most other Quirks. As far as I know, Cementoss-sensei has nothing like that."

"Izumi-san!" Ochaco whined. "Let me cheer for them... please?" She begged. Izumi huffed and looked away, but said nothing more. As expected, though, Cementoss won easily.

Match One Result: Cementoss vs. Kirishima & Sato - Cementoss Victory
Match Two Result: Ectoplasm vs. Asui & Tokoyami - Ectoplasm Victory
Match Three Result: Power Loader vs. Iida & Ojiro - Power Loader Victory
Match Four Result: Eraserhead vs. Todoroki & Yaoyorozu - Eraserhead Victory
Match Five Result: Thirteen vs. Ochaco & Aoyama - Thirteen Victory
Match Six Result: Mr. Principal vs. Ashido & Kaminari - Mr. Principal Victory
Match Seven Result: Present Mic vs. Jiro & Koda - Present Mic Victory
Match Eight Result: Snipe vs. Hagakure & Shoji - Hagakure & Shoji Victory
Match Nine Result: Midnight vs. Mineta & Sero - Midnight Victory

One by- Er, two by two, Izumi watched her classmates lose against their teachers. And so, when it was her time, she grumbled, but prepared. It would just be so much damn easier if it wasn't...

"What the hell are you looking at, extra?"

Izumi sighed. "You. We need to strategize."

"What fucking strategy do we need? You can sit back, and I'll fucking kill him!"

Green orbs rolled humorlessly. "Yeah. Kill the Number One Hero. Right. Have you not noticed all of our classmates losing?"

Bakugo growled. "I'm stronger than those extras. I'm stronger than you."

"The Sports Festival results beg to differ," Izumi pointed out, already irritated.

"Because you just fucking ran!"

"I exploited your weaknesses," The green-haired girl pointed out slowly, as if talking to a baby. "What do you think All Might is going to do? And if you say "fight me like a man", I'll just surrender here and now."

Bakugo spat on the ground. "Just don't get in my way, Nymph Bitch. If you do, I'll fucking kill you."

Izumi just sighed as the siren blared. "Team Midoriya and Bakugo, practical exam. Ready, go!"

Bakugo immediately started strolling down the street. "Bakugo, wait!"

"Stop fucking following me!"

"Why the fuck have you been asking people about me?"

The ash blond-haired boy stumbled for a moment, but quickly regained his pace. "The fuck do you mean, insane bitch?"

"Uraraka told me that you've been asking her about my childhood." Izumi finally managed to make it in front of her teammate and blocked his path.

Katsuki stared down at her, glaring, his bright red eyes straining with anger. "Well, you haven't been exactly forthcoming, you damn bitch. Don't fucking worry, she didn't tell me anything anyway."

"That's not the point!" Izumi growled, blocking the boy again as he tried to move around her. "Your obsession with me is creepy!"

"Oh, that's creepy?" Bakugo muttered. "No it isn't. You want to know what is creepy? That feeling when my Quirk didn't work against you in our spar. You not recognizing me now when a couple years ago you couldn't stop following me around, and pretending not to remember me. You lying about your dad's Quirk. Or, I don't know, your eyes fucking turning red like your dad's and becoming extra strong all of the sudden. That's what's creepy."

Izumi gaped at the boy. "W-what...?"

Katsuki stepped past her and pushed the girl out of his way, sending her stumbling and falling onto the road. "Stay the fuck out of my way, extra. I don't know if you're really even Izumi fucking Midoriya, but right now, I don't care. Don't fucking follow me, or I'll kill you, too."

Very few things mattered to Kyoryoku Hageshi as much as success. In front of him, on a table, laid four vials, each a different color, all luminescent. "Are you ready?" The question was more of a formality. At this point, they had come too far, knew too much for them to truly say no. And, after all, they had sought him out.

"Yes, I am." A woman's voice spoke. "Give them to me."

"This will hurt," Kyoryoku warned. "It may kill you."

"If I don't get them, I'll die anyways!" The woman growled loudly. "I know the fucking risks, doctor. Just fucking do it."

Hageshi sighed. "Alright." He took the four vials and placed them into the machine. Pressing a button, all four quickly drained. First was the pink one, which would serve as the base, then the blue and orange pieces, which would be the main components, and finally, the glowing green liquid, which would keep everything together... theoretically. As the four liquids mixed, they formed a light, glowing brown. The mixture began flowing through a tube, the other end of which was inserted into the woman.

UV lights began to glow as Hageshi retreated from the immediate vicinity. He managed to put his earmuffs on moments before the screams started. And, as he listened to nothingness, he smiled. 'Progress.'

Chapter Text

The energy was still humming.

"Young Bakugo!" All Might's voice boomed throughout the city. "I see you're approaching me alone. Trying to buy time for your partner to escape?"

"Tch. As if. I'm just here to prove that I'm the best. I don't need some extra getting in my way."

The Number One Hero clenched his jaw, almost unnoticeable. Instead of responding negatively, though, he instead chuckled. "I look forward to your efforts, Young Bakugo!" Without further warning, his costumed arm reared back and blasted forward, the added weight on his arm dragging him forward slightly as he failed to properly adjust. Wind bellowed through the alley, blasting the boy back. As it kept roaring through, explosions started to echo as Bakugo began to fight against the air pressure.

Another punch was thrown, however, and Bakugo was sent flying backwards, tumbling out of control.

A flash of gray light burst through the street as Izumi raced onto the scene, catching Bakugo mid-air, the momentum sending them down roughly to the concrete, dragging them back a few meters before the green-haired teen dug her feet solidly into the asphalt.

"Young Midoriya!" Yagi grinned. "Glad to have you join us!"

Bakugo pushed the other teen away roughly. "Fuck off, extra. I don't need your help to deal with-"

"Can you shut up with your goddamn pride for just two seconds?" Izumi burst, cutting the blond off. Her eyes never left All Might's form. "You can't beat the Number One Hero. Not as you are right now, Katsuki."

"Don't fucking call me that!"

"Fucking FOCUS!" The faint scent of ozone was beginning to fill the area as the different colored energy arcs from Izumi's body began to fill the area.

Bakugo finally took a moment to look at her seriously and gaped. "What the hell...?" He muttered as he witnessed the Quirk usage.

His mistake was proven nearly instantly, however, as the air pressure shifted and Izumi was forced to push Bakugo out of the way, taking All Might's punch instead, her body being flung down the street.

"Deku!" The explosive teen yelled out, acting half on instinct.

Even as she was flung away, red eyes locked onto shocked viridian ones as the girl mouthed one word. "Useless."

"Now you're separated!" All Might interrupted the revelation. "Now what shall you do, hero?" Bakugo grit his teeth and exploded towards his teacher. "Another head-on attack?" The faux-villain clicked his tongue disappointedly. "I expected-" He was cut off by Bakugo sending his sweat downwards, blowing up the ground, making the road unstable and creating a cloud of smoke. All Might coughed and waved the smoke away as fast as he could. 'They got away...'  He noted. Yet, despite how annoyed he should have been, Yagi couldn't help the smile that bloomed across his face. 'Good.'

The energy was still humming.

"Can you fight?" Bakugo growled, his head poking barely around a corner, watching for All Might.

Izumi stared at him. "You called me a deku."

The blond clicked his tongue. "I called you Deku. Not a deku."

"Because... that was your nickname for me, wasn't it?"

Katsuki stilled. "We have bigger problems right now than your shitty memory, Freckle-"

"We knew each other." Somehow, it was still a shock to Izumi despite all of the signs, never mind Bakugo outright telling her. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did!" Bakugo growled, his gaze flipping around towards the girl. His gaze, which would normally make people shiver in terror, and she accepted it like a caring memory. "I- Fuck!" He punched the wall of the building he was hiding behind, cracking it slightly. "I thought you were just-"

"Pretending?" Midoriya's head was tilted.

"Yes! I just- I- Gah!" An explosion echoed as Bakugo blew up the wall of the building. Within seconds, the air pressure shifted as All Might found them.

"There you are, students!" The man cleared his throat. "Ahem! I mean, heroes!" The man grinned. "I'll let you- Gu-urk!" He was cut off as a blow struck him in the side, sending him flying into a building down the street. Gray energy crackled as Izumi retracted her fist.

"I don't know if we can outrun him," Izumi admitted, staring at the hole that she made.

"'Course we can't," Bakugo growled, glad to be rid of the previous topic of conversation. "What we need to do is distract him and put him in a position where he either lets one of us go or gets captured."

"Yes, you do!" All Might's voice echoed. "Easier said than done, of course!" He emerged from the hole, barreling out with a small boom as he flew towards the duo. He crashed into the opposing wall, jumping off of it and aiming a punch at Bakugo. Explosions rang out as Bakugo dodged, but All Might persisted, throwing another punch, eerily similar to how the hero had moved when he had first sparred with Izumi. Bakugo was sent flying.

A sonic boom rang out. All Might twisted, catching Izumi's fist in his hand and twirling around, sending her flying in the opposite direction as the hero used his student's momentum against her. "Ahaha! Brilliant. However, it's still not enough, heroes!" A puff of smoke appeared, and Bakugo blazed back onto the scene. He engaged in a close-quarters fight, but he simply couldn't do meaningful damage to All Might, even though some of his attacks got through. 'Tsk... These weights are heavier than I first realized.'  The Pro Hero noted absentmindedly. "You'll never get anywhere like that!"

"Bakugo!" Izumi stumbled out of the ruins of a building. "You have to retreat!"

"What?" Ash blond hair whipped as the boy turned. "Fuck th-" He took a hard punch and was sent towards the girl, sending them both back into the building. "Get off of me!" The explosive teen's voice could be heard echoing.

A heavy sigh. "You're the one on top of me."

"Tch."

"At least work with me." Green eyes shimmered with annoyance, an odd sheen settling over them.

Bakugo glared. "I'll keep him busy. You can run."

"No, we can't split up." The green-haired girl's voice was much calmer now, and she seemed to be breathing steadier as she thought. "Neither of us can hold him off for more than a few seconds alone. We need to decide whether we're going to fight or whether we're going to run."

A crimson eye twitched. "Whatever." Despite his words, he made no noise of disagreement.

"... Well?"

"Well what?" Bakugo snapped, not moving Izumi an inch.

She raised her eyebrows and lowered them quickly, challenging the boy. "Are we fighting, or are we running? I'll follow your lead."

The blond clenched his teeth, the muscles in lower jaw working. "Why are you following my lead? I've seen your- your... Quirk mutation..." He spat. "It's not like you're weaker than I am."

A strong hand gripped Bakugo's chin and forced him to look into Izumi's blazing viridian eyes. "Strength doesn't matter. Not right now. Right now, you need to lead us to victory. And I'm going to trust you to do that, so you need to take control and trust me to back you up."

The boy froze in place, thinking ferociously over her words. After a few moments, he let out a shaky breath. "Alright." He gently pulled the girl's hand off of his chin. "So, here's what we're gonna do, extra..."

The energy was still humming.

A strong punch rocketed towards All Might's face. He shielded it with his arm, throwing another punch back, which was dodged, barely catching a hint of emerald locks. An explosion rocketed as All Might twirled around to block the new attack, pure instinct telling him to dodge to the side afterwards as a supercharged kick brushed his side. The hero chuckled, hardly slowing down. He parried a blow aimed at his face, but in return, took one to the arm from Izumi. Wincing, the hero shifted his attention to what he deemed the greater threat. "Looks like playtime's over."

He threw a strong jab, expecting the girl to dodge. Instead, he was shocked as the girl changed tactics, pulling him in and then elbowing him in the chin for massive disorientation. A large explosion resounded, Bakugo's fists afterwards coming down onto Toshinori's back, sending him into the ground, a shockwave impacting. Wasting no time, however, the faux villain jumped back up nearly instantly, only to see... His opponents were dashing away.

"Heading for the exit, hm?" He observed. "Interesting. We'll see how long that lasts when I..." He thrust his arm forward and jumped, letting the blowback propel him faster than the students could run. His calculations were a bit off due to the weights, but after a few skids, he landed pretty soundly in front of the gate, his blue eyes blazing as he grinned at Bakugo and Izumi. "What were you leaving for? The party was just getting started!"

To his surprise, both teens grinned. "Who said we were leaving?" Izumi sang, dangling the cuffs around her finger, not missing the way that All Might's eyes fixed on them. She grinned, leaping forward. All Might guarded warily, not wanting to be caught out by the handcuffs, but he was struck by surprise, as well as a boot, as Izumi went low and then hooked her foot around his neck, slamming him into the ground in a burst of gray.

All Might, in the position of a push up, slammed his hands onto the ground, pushing both him and Izumi into the air, the latter flailing wildly. "Sorry, Young Midoriya."

Defying all expectations, the girl smiled as the hero's muscular arm shot towards her. "What for?"

The punch slammed into the girl, sending her hurtling across the arena. "Bakugo has reached the exit! The students win!" The intercom announced. In shock, All Might whipped his head around to stare at the sight of the ash-blond-haired boy, indeed, on the other side of the exit gate. It took a moment, but after Yagi got over his shock, he let out a deep laugh.

"Well done, Young Bakugo! A wonderful plan!"

"Whatever." The boy scoffed, but the teacher could see him struggling to not burst into a prideful smile at the praise. "Don't you have a student to go take care of?"

Toshinori nodded. "Indeed I do! Well done, Young Bakugo!" The hero was then gone in a burst of yellow aimed towards where Izumi had been hit towards.

Bakugo frowned, muttering a few words under his breath. "You said that already..." But the hero - his hero - was already gone.

All Might reached Izumi in just a few moments, and saw that she was already on her feet, smiling. "So, how'd I do?" She chirped as soon as her teacher got close.

"Fooled me perfectly, Young Midoriya! You did well," he praised. "However..." He trailed off, pondering his next sentence. "Never mind. You'll find out soon." He nodded to himself, leaving Izumi confused. "Now, let's get you back to your friends, hm? I'm sure they'll want to congratulate you for your victory over the Number One Hero!" His sentence was intended positively, but Izumi frowned.

"It wasn't really a 'victory'," she protested softly. "Besides, it was all Bakugo's plan anyway, he should be getting the credit." All Might's eyebrows narrowed in concern, but he waved it off after a few moments.

"Nonsense, Young Midoriya! You played your part perfectly, even if you didn't make the plan, and," Toshinori stepped in closer and whispered, covering his mouth from the side, "you are adapting great to One For All, using it brilliantly. I'm very proud of you, Izumi." He grinned and pulled away, the last sentence seeming to cheer the girl up as she was smiling again.

"Thanks, All Might-sensei," she replied, smiling up at him. Both of them knew... She wasn't just talking about the compliment.

The energy was still humming.

"What do you mean, I failed?" Izumi yelled into the emptiness of her room, staring at the online progress report on her phone. The fancy phone, which Yamada had gotten her (against her will, of course), was by far an upgrade in comparison to the broken-down one she had been using when she was still homeless. She sighed, flopping down on her queen-sized bed, the silky covers enveloping her warmly. Yep, there was no mistaking it - in bright red, bold letters... 'Izumi Midoriya: Final Exam Result - FAILED.'

Growling, Izumi tossed her phone, quickly pulling it back to her hand before it slammed into the wall, and turned it off. "How the fuck did I fail? Bakugo got out of the exit gate! They didn't say both of the students had to get out!"

A knock resounded from her door. "What?" She snapped, bitterness overflowing.

Aizawa opened the door, dressed in his hero outfit. "Bad time?" He guessed, taking in Izumi's agitated state.

"Maybe," the girl grumbled, pulling herself into a sitting position. A thought occurred to her. "Why did I fail the exam?"

"Oh." Aizawa blinked, evidently surprised. "Well, I didn't grade yours, but my guess is-"

"Bakugo got out, though! We passed!" Izumi interrupted, her hands clenched.

"And what if it had been a real villain?" Aizawa challenged, taking the wind out of Izumi's sails. "As you probably guessed, the purpose of the exam wasn't to satisfy the win-conditions. No, those were arbitrary goals to focus on. That was simply a logical ruse. It wouldn't make sense, either; why would we, a hero school, forbid students from going to the training camp if they... didn't pass the exam?" Izumi gaped for a few moments, thinking through the statements.

Finally, after a few moments, she pouted and scrunched her nose. "You guys are assholes." She griped.

Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Perhaps. Anyway, do you want to hear why I think you failed?" Izumi nodded. "Alright, keep in mind that this is just my conjecture, I can't be certain. We'll be telling the students the reasons in person on Monday, too." Izumi didn't seem swayed, so Aizawa sighed and continued. "My guess... It's because you didn't overcome your flaw."

"My flaw?' Izumi stopped pouting and tilted her head, resting it on her hand, her elbow laying on her electric green bed sheets.

Aizawa nodded. "Do you remember the... second time we met?"

Izumi thought for a second. "Mm... hm!" Her face brightened as she remembered it. "You got me out of those vigilantism charges," she winked and shot her dad finger guns, who just sighed.

"Yeah. While you were being treated in an ambulance..." He prompted, and Izumi just shook her head, motioning for him to go on. Aizawa rolled his eyes. "To put it plainly, you're too self-sacrificing."

The room was silent for a few moments.

"... eh?" Izumi blinked. "What do you mean, 'too self-sacrificing'? That's, like... the definition of being a hero."

"You can't save people if you're out of the fight." Aizawa's eyes bore into Izumi's. "You took multiple hits for Bakugo, and at the end, you let yourself get pummeled so Bakugo could make it to the exit without All Might's interference."

Izumi grumbled. "Well, it worked, didn't it?" She crossed her arms in indignation.

"And if it had been a real villain instead of All Might, you would've been dead," her father pointed out. "So, yes, even though your teammate passed the exit gate, you didn't overcome your biggest weakness."

The green-haired teen grumbled for a few moments. "I guess I get it."

Shouta leaned back. "Like I said, I could be wrong. Those are just my thoughts on it."

Izumi nodded slowly. "Alright. Thanks..." She let out a long breath, not quite a sigh, and leaned back on her bed as her adoptive father left the room. 'The second time we met, huh...?'  She laughed softly. 'It was so long ago, it feels like an eternity at this point. In reality though... It's barely been ten months.'  And what a ten months it had been. She stared at the ceiling, thinking over the past year, and just how different things were. Early July... it had probably been right around when she had gotten stabbed.

She chuckled. That wound was hardly a scar now, and definitely not her worst one. She continued going over her thoughts until, quietly, peacefully... She drifted off into slumber.

The energy was vibrating intensely.

"What the fuck?" Izumi blipped into a dream realm that was no longer unfamiliar to her. "Oh. It's here. Uh... hi?" She called out to the empty space.

"Come." A voice said from behind her. Green hair whipped around to see En.

"Oh, fuck! You scared the hell out of me, man. Anyway, what do you mean-"

"Come!" The former user of One For All was more insistent this time, and Izumi quickly started moving. It was weird to describe, since there wasn't physical space, but all of the sudden... Everything appeared.

It seemed like there was a stand-off going on. Nana and Daigoro were facing off against... "Is that Stain?" Izumi gaped at the sight of the villain inside of her mind. "What the fuck? How the fuck?"

Nana noticed her. "Oh, hey, Izu! Just a bit-" She grunted, pushing herself out of the way of a sword, "-caught up in something here. Mind helping?" Izumi blinked a couple times, shaking her head and opening and closing her mouth, but finally just settled in for slamming a devastating punch into Stendhal's blind spot, sending him careening away.

"What the fuck is going on?" Izumi asked again, settling into a fighting stance.

"Woah, language!" Daigoro chided. "This guy showed up a couple days-or, at least, what passes for days in this place, ago, and didn't say a word. Just started fighting. Hasn't stopped yet, and he's pretty damn strong. You know him?"

"Yeah, he's Stain. A villain. How the fuck did he get here?"

"Did you take his Quirk, by any chance?" Yoichi appeared out of the void. He didn't have a scratch on him, but Izumi knew it was probably because he wasn't a fighter. "That would be my best guess."

Izumi nodded slowly. "Yes... But, what does that have to do with him being here?"

"Same way we're here," Hikage spoke, also seemingly materializing. He was injured. "Quirks have part of a user's soul in them. So, when they're passed from person to person, a bit of that soul gets passed on, too."

"But... what about my other Quirks?" Izumi questioned. "They're not here."

Hikage shrugged. Yoichi swooped back in, though. "Well, it depends. How'd you get your other Quirks?"

Izumi thought for a moment. "All For One gave them to me."

The white-haired man nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. My brother..." He coughed gently into his hand. "He has an, erm... method... for, uh... crushing the spirits of the Quirks he acquires." Izumi gaped.

"W-what?" A loud smash echoed behind her as Nana sent Stain flying back into a non-existent wall, making the girl jump. "Crushing the spirits?!"

Yoichi nodded seriously. "Yes. When he intended to keep a Quirk or transfer it to someone else, he would first have to crush the original owner's spirit. When it was willingly given, it was easier, but when taken by force, it became harder in proportion to how strong-willed the victim was."

"Willingly given?" Izumi narrowed her eyebrows incredulously.

Yoichi shrugged again. "The beginning of the Quirk Age was... very different than it is now. Some people saw the Quirked as monsters to be hated, some people hated themselves for having Quirks. My brother could change that, and he did so, buying the allegiance of those he did so with. He would take a Quirk from someone who didn't want it and give it to someone who did, and in doing so, would buy both of their loyalties."

Izumi processed the information slowly. "Alright.. But I don't want to keep it. I- I took it by, well, not by accident, but I intended to return it immediately."

"And you can't now." It was an observation, not a question.

"He's a serial killer who was in a maximum security prison, but then escaped."

"Doesn't sound like maximum security then." Daigoro entered the conversation, apparently taking a break from fighting. "Geez, that guy has incredible tenacity." Hikage joined the fight. Izumi just nodded. "So, returning it isn't an option."

"I'm assuming he'll seek me out," Izumi admitted. "He probably knows that I did something to his Quirk. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't happened yet. I don't want to crush the spirit, though... But with you all fighting..." Nana went flying past them, slamming into an unseen barrier.

The ex-hero grimaced, but gave them a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about us. We can't die in here, we're mainly just fighting because we've all died once, and that's enough for us."

Banjo nodded. "Had enough of getting my intestines crushed for two lifetimes." He grinned, but Izumi went pale.

"Looks like it's about time for you to wake up again, niece." Yoichi acknowledged as the dream world began to get blurry. "Alright. Think about what you-" the rest was unintelligible as the dream drifted to shadows and oblivion.

The energy, finally, blessedly... went quiet.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, her dad was right. "Too self-sacrificing," she whispered quietly to herself as she read the red letters off of the paper. "Exam: Failed." She glanced around. "Well, who else...?"

Everywhere she looked, there were green letters and cheering. Kirishima and Kaminari both had tears streaming down their faces as they hugged each other in joy. "I can't believe we passed!"

Izumi shrank back. "Certainly... At least one..." Her eyes darted around, hoping to catch a glimpse of red. "Katsuki, certainly...?" She stole a glance behind her. The boy was impassive, staring at the ceiling, his letter laying flat on the desk. The green-haired girl's eyes pricked with tears as she turned away, trying to rid herself of the sight of the green "Exam: Passed" on the boy's paper.

"As you all have realized by now," Aizawa's dry voice cut through the classroom, "you were not solely graded based on whether your team passed or failed. You were also graded based on your individual difficulties and challenges, as well as your reactions to success or failure." 'Reactions to success or failure?' Izumi stared at her teacher in dismay. "If you failed, you received the results earlier than those who succeeded. Those of you that failed will be receiving additional lessons at camp.

"Ah, who the heck failed?" Kirishima bellowed. "If I passed-" An explosion interrupted the boy, and everyone turned to Bakugo, surprised.

"Shut up, insensitive extra. The people who failed probably feel like shit, and you're just making it worse." It was... surprisingly intuitive for the blond.

Eijiro chuckled awkwardly and scratched his head. "Yeah, I suppose you're right... Sorry, all. Or- I mean, anyone who failed, but also, like-" A weak tase from Denki sent the boy into his chair, effectively removing his foot from his mouth, the teen's red hair sticking up even straighter than usual.

 "Good. Now, as you all know, summer break is about to start. August eighth will be when we leave for the training camp - you're responsible for showing up on time. You've all been sent lists of what to bring, and if you lose it," a pointed cough was sent in Mineta's and Kirishima's directions, "it's also online on the school website. Other than that..." Aizawa released a heavy sigh. "Enjoy the half-day."

"Say, Kurogiri, you know what I hate?"

"Heroes, this corrupt society, and anything that stops you from getting what you want," Kurogiri listed in a monotone voice. If his lack of caring bothered Tomura, the silver-haired man didn't let it show.

"Yes. And Sensei said I could destroy anything that I hated..." The villain's voice grew slightly bitter. "So, why...?" He tossed a square of what seemed to be paper into the air with his index finger and his thumb. "Why, why, why...?" He muttered, watching as the rectangle slowly fluttered downwards, spinning as it did. "Why..." Quick as lightning, Tomura rose from his sitting position and slammed his hand into the falling object, slamming it flush against the table. "Why can't I destroy her?!" He yelled to the void as the photograph of Izumi Midoriya, the winner of the First Year Yuuei Sports Festival, began to dissolve.

Silver hair flipped towards the shadowy figure. "Contact Giran. Pay him double. Get us some high level NPCs this time. I don't care anymore." Tomura grabbed his three-fingered gloves off of the counter. "You know what they say..." He began to chuckle wickedly. "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, cause if you ask for forgiveness, it's just treachery, but if you ask for permission and do it anyway..." The young man cracked his neck, attaching his father's hand to his face. "Then, it's treason."

7 Days Ago

"So, you wanted to talk to me, All Might-sensei?" Izumi peeped her head through the Number One Hero's office door.

"Yes, yes, Young Midoriya!" The man smiled. "You see, I know you have an analytical mind that's a wonder, if I do say so myself. I know you must be busy over the summer break with your friends..." The hero paused for a moment, giving the girl a chance to interrupt if she needed to and, after a few moments, continued. "I received an invitation to a tech event from an old college friend of mine, and was also given the option to bring a plus one. So, I was wondering if you, as my successor, would join me and start to get to understand just how important the proper connections can be!" The man's boisterous personality seemed to be far past the point of turning off by now.

"Oh, what event?" Izumi tilted her head. "Have I heard of it?"

All Might chuckled. "Well, most likely... The event is the I-Island Expo-"

"Yes!"

"Hm?" The hero stared at the teen in front of him, stars in the place of her eyes as she began to salivate, and sweatdropped a bit. "Well-"

"Please take me!" The girl dropped down to her knees and started praying to the man, who just chuckled.

"Alright, then."

Izumi slammed a kick into the punching bag, sending it careening backwards. Energy sparked around her as she quickly spun around the bag and hit it again, sending it back the other way. The actions were repeated over and over, as they had been for the previous two hours. The door to the gym opened, but Izumi paid it no heed. At least, not until the shadowy presence became overwhelming. Reacting on a dime, Izumi placed her face to the intruder warily.

"Tomura Shigaraki..." She acknowledged. "How are your limbs?"

The silver-haired man growled lightly. "Not wise to test me, Hero Student. Not unless you want to end up like your dear ol' sensei," the villain's voice turned mocking.

"You don't have backup with you," The girl noted.

Tomura scowled. "And neither do you. What do you say we have a little talk?"

Izumi mulled it over for a moment. It couldn't hurt... "Fine."

A grin spread across Shigaraki's cracked lips. "Wonderful. Well, Miss Izumi... It's very difficult to find out anything about you." The man plopped down on the ground like someone who knew he was in control of the situation. "No history, no records, no address... I hate it."

"You hate a lot of things, don't you?" Izumi challenged. "And, you found me here anyway, so it couldn't have been that difficult, hm?"

Shigaraki shrugged. "Meh. I guess you're right. You know what I hate the most, though?" He mused aloud. "Heroes. This goddamn society. Stain. And, most of all..." Red eyes flashed. "You."

"Me?" The green-haired girl raised her eyebrows. "Well, for someone like you, I suppose I should be honored. But... Why me?"

"Because, supposedly, you're 'off-limits'..." Shigaraki scowled. "I'm not supposed to kill you."

It was time to take a risk. Izumi leaned forward, smirking. "Because All For One doesn't want you to?"

Tomura jerked as if struck by fire. "You know Sensei?" Instantly, he was mumbling. "Hm... Yes... Perhaps... Definitely." After only a few moments, the villain smiled and stared Izumi directly in her eyes, back on his feet. "So you're All Might's successor. I see. Mhm... Uh-huh..." He nodded to himself. A chuckle escaped his lips. Slowly, another one. After a few seconds, it was a cascade of maniacal laughter. "Wonderful! This is just perfect! I thought you were just some essential NPC, but no! You're a mini-boss!"

Izumi stared at the blue-gray-haired man in a bit of confusion and concern. "I... Have no clue what you're even saying."

The man grinned. "That's alright. You don't need to understand." He breathed in deeply, calming down from his small tirade. "You just need to die." He started moving quickly towards Izumi, who stumbled backwards. The casual way he talked about killing her threw her off, and she stumbled backwards in confusion, tripping as she did.

Instantly, the visage of Tomura was above her. For such a skinny, lanky man, he was uncharacteristically fast. Energy sprang to life as Izumi propelled herself backwards, wincing as she slammed herself against the wall, away from the villain. "Hey, hey, hey... That's no fun." The villain snarked, moving again.

Izumi's breath was elevated. She was tired - she had been training for the past two hours nonstop, and she was flustered, too. Still, she wouldn't go down without a fight simply because Shigaraki willed it to be so.

Gravity slammed against the villain, flattening him against the wall. "Hu-urk!" He coughed, getting the air knocked out of his lungs. "That... Mu-ult-!" His attempts to fight back against the gravity pressing down upon him were futile, and the wall started to dissolve under the touch of his fingertips. Suddenly, he fell to the ground, collapsing onto his elbows and knees, struggling to breathe. When he looked up, Izumi Midoriya was gone.

Tomura Shigaraki slammed a fist onto the ground. "Damnit..." He muttered. "Damnit!" He noticed a small list on the ground, probably left behind in the girl's haste to leave. He grabbed at it, fully expecting some stupid-ass homework, but his rage slowly subsided as he began to read. "Haha... Hahaha... Ahahahaha!"

"I... Need to be stronger." Gritting her teeth, Izumi resolved to not let anyone know how weak she had just felt. She punched a wall, feeling a vindictive burst of satisfaction as she felt it crack under the force of her blow. "What I have now, it's not enough." 'If I can't even stop a bratty underling, how the fuck am I supposed to fight that devil?'  The green-haired girl questioned herself. She quickly ran through the array of powers that laid just beneath her skin - Evolution, All For One, One For All, Telekinesis, Super Regeneration, Cell Wall Strengthening, Bloodcurdle, Float, and Danger Sense...

Emerald eyes suddenly pricked with tears. 'All this power, and I can't do anything with it.'  She felt like she could scream at the frustration of it all. "Is it too much to ask for to feel like, just for once, I'm good enough?" She whispered aloud, the stars beginning to shimmer into existence as the sun dipped over the horizon. "Just once?"

"I dare say you've been 'good enough' more than once, brat." A thoroughly-humored voice whispered from a few meters behind her. To her surprise, there stood a young man, with... were those staples in his body? Much of his skin was charred, and his overall appearance was gaunt.

The sound of a tongue clicking echoed behind Izumi. "It's crazy that she literally ran to us, isn't it? She's pretty cute though, I can't imagine what she'd look like with blood all over her..." The voice was dreamy, not threatening, even though the implication was terrifying.

"Now, now, Himiko, there's no need to threaten her like that." A third voice came from a nearby rooftop. A thud echoed into the alleyway as the figure jumped down. Izumi took the moment to observe the situation. The girl who had spoken looked to be about her age, with blonde hair and a devious smile, while the third voice was a sort of turtle-man.

Izumi settled into a fighting stance, though her muscles were aching. "You guys seem to have me at a disadvantage - I sense this wasn't a coincidence."

The turtle-man spoke up again. "Nope. But, we don't mean you any harm - well, kinda," he chuckled awkwardly, "but, like, not really."

A discontented sigh echoed from the first figure. "Spinner, do us a favor, shut up." The turtle-man's, apparently Spinner, jaw clacked shut. "Good. Now, listen, brat - you have something we want."

"Money?" Izumi asked, unimpressed by the good cop-bad cop routine.

"Nope, nope, nope!" The schoolgirl-villain clapped with glee. "Blood!"

Another sigh erupted from the scar-man. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Why am I the only normal one?'. However, he quickly regained his composure and sent a grin in Izumi's direction. "Not quite. You see, the thing we want..." A deep chuckle rumble echoed in the man's chest. "... is our sensei's Quirk."

Chapter Text

"Aren't you guys worried I'm going to steal your Quirks or something?" Midoriya raised an eyebrow from the backseat of the van that the quartet were sitting in. She was unrestrained except for the seatbelt she was wearing.

Dabi, the scarred man, was driving, and shrugged. "For one, Stain said that you seemed to avoid doing it unless it was a last-ditch scenario. Secondly, all three of us are skilled fighters even without our Quirks. Third, we're literally in a moving van that I have control of. If you tried to start something I could swerve us off a cliff and we'd all be dead."

Izumi shuddered. "You say that so... casually." She accused.

"I've died once," Dabi commented nonchalantly. "It's not too much of a big deal."

"Is that why you're all... stapled up?" The green-haired girl asked.

The temperature of the van seemed to drop. "You ask too many questions."

A few moments of silence ensued. Spinner finally spoke up. "So, why am I the one in the back again?" He complained.

"Because Toga would try and slice her up within five minutes."

"I wouldn't try to do it!" The schoolgirl complained. Her smile spread wickedly. "I would do it."

Izumi tried to not let her emotions show on her face, but... she was scared. Fuck that, she was exhausted. Training and then fighting with Shigaraki - 'How did he even get into the Yuuei gym?'  Izumi questioned, but almost immediately disregarded it. 'They have a teleporter, that's right.'  She remembered the portal-man from USJ, and then wished she hadn't. She still remembered the way he had stared at her after she had said Shigaraki's name. A sudden thought occurred to her. 'Dad knows I'm alive.'

Tomura had all but confirmed that, too. He wasn't allowed to kill her because her dad had forbidden it. A certain rage began to spring up from within her, and she began to shake with anger. 'So, he's just fine with me not being around? Doesn't fucking care about me one fucking bit?'  Yes, she knew, logically, she was literally complaining about the fact that a criminal overlord was letting her go free, but her heart still screamed with anguish. A small part of her, maybe one that was still six years old, still loved him.

No, that was a lie. All parts of her loved her father. It's just that maybe, in that one piece, the love outweighed the hate she felt for him, too.

"Oi, no funny business," Dabi warned, bringing her back to the present. It was then that the green-eyed girl realized that the van had stopped, and all three inhabitants were looking at her warily. 'Oh.' Perhaps it was because the van was shaking.

Instantly, the shaking stopped. "Oh. Sorry. I was..." She didn't quite know how to explain it, but for some reason, Dabi's face softened.

"Panic attack?" He turned back to the front. "I used to have to calm my kid brother down from those..." Izumi frowned. She didn't like the calm, collected conversation between them. It made them seem too... human.

'This could've been you,' A voice whispered. 'If dad had never found you and you were still a vigilante. Maybe you might've been in the passenger seat, keeping an eye on someone else.'  The voice in her head sounded vaguely like her, so she elected to ignore it. 'You can't ignore it forever...'  A dreadful serpent's venom started to trickle. 'Your problems won't stay still for long.'

Aizawa glared at his phone. His damn problem child... wasn't picking up. Yeah, sure, this wasn't the first time this had happened. But, last time, there had been a reason for it, a reason for her altered headspace. Usually, she was so observant that he found himself wondering if she didn't spend all of her time staring at the phone in case he called. This time felt different, though.

He sighed. He felt like it was an invasion of privacy, but at this point, he couldn't ignore the feeling in his gut that said something was wrong. He opened up the tracking app in his phone and connected to the phone that had been set up using it. It was... not too far away, near one of Yuuei's off-campus gyms. He grit his teeth. It wasn't moving...

It would be worth it just to check up on her. Right?

His fears were proven correct, though, when he found the phone laying on the asphalt, something shiny sitting next to it. "Maybe she dropped it on her way out of the gym..." He reasoned under his breath. Was the screen cracked? He knelt over it, picking it up. The screen seemed intact. The thing next to it, though...

Was that a knife made of diamonds? Diamonds were scratch-resistant, but not particularly strong. So, who the hell-

"Fuck..." Aizawa grumbled, standing up straight and fishing his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a few numbers in quickly. "Hi. Yes, this is Shouta Aizawa from Yuuei High School. No, she's not in trouble. However, this is somewhat of an emergency, so could I speak to Momo please?"

"You guys are having your little tea times in a cottage in the woods?" Izumi deadpanned.

Dabi rolled his eyes. "Something like that. We needed a place big enough to fit all of us, but still be close enough to civilization to survive."

"'All of us', you said?" The green-eyed girl leaned forward. "How many of you are there, anyway?"

"Six of us, not including Stain-sensei."

Izumi gaped. "T-that many?" 

"Well," the scarred man shrugged, "two of them are just allies instead of followers, but-"

"'Followers'? Is this a cult, or something? Oh, geez, I'm not gonna get sacrificed, am I?" Perhaps she should've been doing more than feigning panic, but Izumi felt oddly calm about the situation. It didn't seem like they were trying to harm her... yet.

"No, no, no, nothing like that," Spinner assured her. "We just want to get our sensei's Quirk back."

Izumi nodded slowly. "And then I get to go home?" Both men winced, slowly looking away from her and refusing to look her in the eyes. "And then I get to go home, right?" Izumi growled more forcefully, making Spinner sigh regretfully.

"Not... quite," he admitted. "Stain-sensei wants you to join-"

"-Well, I'm not going to, so you can fuck off and let me go home." Green orbs blazed as anger rose to the surface, bubbling just beneath her skin.

"Can't do that, kiddo," Dabi spoke regretfully, and the teen had difficulty discerning whether or not it was genuine. "You're a hostage. Kinda. Beyond just your Quirk, you're a Yuuei Hero Student with close connections to multiple teachers, including All Might."

"A... bargaining chip," Izumi spat bitterly, understanding.

Dabi avoided her gaze again, marching her up towards the house, careful not to touch his skin to hers. 

Izumi crossed her arms, wishing bitterly that it wasn't July so she could justify covering up all of her exposed skin. The scars on her forearms were out for all to see, although, mercifully, none of the three escorts seemed to care too much. Calling Toga an escort, though, wasn't quite correct, considering she was mostly prancing about on her own. "You're mistaken if you think you'd be getting anything out of me..." She muttered. "They don't care about me." 

The black-haired man clicked his tongue. "Somehow, I highly doubt that."

They made it inside the house without incident. There was very little in the way of convention, from what she could tell, the only thing still left with a semblance of normalcy was the kitchen - at least, on the first floor. Everything else seemed to have been turned into a training dojo. It was... unnervingly efficient, and not unlike Mirko's basement, from what Izumi could tell. And, training...

Stain.

The world seemed to freeze itself like a bad record scratch. He wasn't wearing his costume, so, instead he was just a normal, if slightly disheveled, looking man... except for the nose. The green-haired girl breathed faster, teetering on the edge of hyperventilating as she looked at the man, the silhouette that had been haunting her for days upon days. He was still a force of destruction, even without his Quirk. He effectively dismantled the training dummy in seven ways in under a minute, the Quirk-boosted product putting itself back together each time.

Finally, he stopped, sweat glinting off of his chin. "Izumi Midoriya. It's good to meet you again, at last."

"Sure." The curt response didn't seem to surprise the man in the slightest.

"You seem like someone who appreciates action, and I-"

Izumi cut him off, waving her hand. "Spare me the propaganda. Here's the deal: I give you your Quirk, you let me go home."

Red eyes locked onto her, amused. "You seem to think that you hold room for negotiation here. I could already tell you wished to be rid of my Quirk the instant you had it-I'm just doing us both a favor by facilitating it. Tell me, haven't you felt... violent these past few days? Maybe a little..." The villain peered at her. "Bloodthirsty."

Izumi knew what he was doing, and she hated that it was working. "I'm not worth anything to you as a-"

"That's where you're wrong," Stain's stare got more intense, and she shivered under his gaze. "Fighting you in the alley - you have the makings of a true hero. But that seed needs to be fostered, and there is only so much I can do from this side of the line of the law. I want you to join my cause."

Green-hair bobbed as Izumi swallowed deeply. She seemed to take a few moments to think about her words. "I-... I don't..." She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to breathe evenly. "Hero society is corrupt, I'm not arguing with you there." Stain smiled in glee, his face brightening, but the girl continued. "Murder isn't the way to go about it, though. You cheapen your own message by spilling blood." Stain opened his mouth to respond, but before a single word could escape his mouth, an explosion rocked the house.

"What the fuck was that?" Dabi exclaimed, blue flames flickering within his palm. Izumi eyed it warily. 'So that's his Quirk...' She noted. 'Blue flames are remarkably hotter than red ones, from what I remember...'

They didn't need to wait too long for their answer as the front door to the house was literally ripped off its hinges. Beyond it, Izumi could see the remains of the van that they had travelled in, most likely the source of the explosion that they had heard. But, in front of it was a woman with long, white hair, sickly pale skin, and gaunt, blackened eyes.

Within a second, those soulless eyes had locked onto Izumi. "Target located." If Izumi was in a boxing match with any metaphysical entity right now, she'd be beating the shit out of Luck and asking what she had done wrong.

Chapter Text

'This is so fucked up,' Izumi thought to herself as she dodged something that seemed to resemble some sort of pincer. The fucked up part wasn't fighting the villain, no, it was doing it alongside the people who had literally kidnapped her five minutes prior. "Duck!" She heard herself shout, and Spinner, the turtle-man, seemed to trust her intuitively and did, dodging under a glob of green... something that came from behind him, which started sizzling as soon as it touched the ground.

"What the fuck is this thing?" Dabi cursed out, throwing a heap of blue fire at their opposer, a single... woman? Woman didn't seem like the right term, though. It was humanoid, yes, but everything about it felt wrong. As if a billion different things had been shoved together and then left to ferment in the pits of Tartarus, and this... thing was the result.

The first thing of note was it-her?- 's appearance. Humanoid, yes, but only barely. It had four limbs, a body, and a head, but instead of normal arms there were blade-like appendages, and her eyes seemed to be empty voids, while her skin seemed to be rotting away.

No, not seemed to be... it definitely was. When she had first appeared, she had definitely already been pale. But, now, necrosis was starting to set in in various parts of her body.

The next issue was the fact that the woman most definitely had multiple Quirks. The blade-arms were one, a second seemed to be telekinesis, a third was acid and fire-based (although the latter had been abandoned due to being completely obliterated by Dabi), and a fourth took the form of some sort of mobility on the woman's feet. It seemed like wheels, but Izumi couldn't be sure. She also theorized that the woman had a fifth Quirk that revolved around some sort of tracking ability given how she had found them, and then her weird phrasing.

"Target located," She had said. And, unfortunately, it had been made clear which person was the target: Izumi.

There might've even been a sixth Quirk, some sort of pain-blocking or negation, as the woman seemed to show absolutely no pain at the state she was in, not her skin deteriorating nor the blows she took. Dabi had gotten a good blast of fire in on her, and Spinner had gotten in a good stab before being knocked out of the fight. The man's sai was still sticking out of the villainess' stomach, but she hadn't bothered trying to pull it out or cauterize the wound with her fire, instead content to let it sit and bleed.

The green-haired girl ducked under a blade as the villain made to attack her, transferring the momentum into her legs as she swept the women's out from under her. Instead of falling, the white-haired woman simply thrust her arms out, blowing herself away and resituating herself on the battlefield, this time attacking Toga, who had been busy with the swarm of who-knew-what that had accompanied the women. They were like birds from hell or something, and seemed to be entirely mechanical.

The blonde schoolgirl (was she a schoolgirl actually, or just pretending to be one?) was caught by surprise and was body-checked into the swarm, which quickly began to peck at her as quickly as they began to resume being sliced into bits as the girl regained stability and went back to slashing.

It seemed like Izumi was the only one the woman was trying to kill personally, as if it hadn't expected for the others to be there. "Behind me, brat," Dabi hissed, pulling Izumi out of her thoughts and behind him roughly. Any trace of bantering that had been present before was gone now, replaced by a soldier, and the green-eyed girl preferred it greatly this way. It was far easier to hate the scarred man when he wasn't acting like a person.

The woman approached again, side-stepping Dabi's attempted blast of fire, and rushing through the man's reactive second-burst that had been a testament to his instincts, giving him a long slash down the length of his torso and sending him to the ground, gasping with blood spurting everywhere. Izumi tried her best not to feel sorry for her kidnapper, but... he had been hurt protecting her.

Something broke within her. 'I don't need to be protected, goddamn it!' Her right arm flew out, One For All and Telekinesis mixing together in a comfortable and semi-familiar blend, Gravity pouring out as she slammed the woman into the ground, Izumi gritting her teeth as she pressed harder, harder, harder-

Something hit her in the back, sending her to the ground. 'Another-?' Izumi didn't even have time to comprehend what had just happened before the woman was on her. Luckily, someone new came to her rescue.

"You're not allowed to die yet, Zero Zero," Stain growled as he slashed, connecting with the woman's body, blood still pouring from the stump where his left arm had been. He had been the first one to fight the villainess, and, despite getting a few good hits, had eventually been caught out by surprise too many times from the multitude of Quirks and had been injured heavily. Due to his halved strength, the slash was nowhere near enough to kill, but it did still send the woman skidding back. "Where the fuck is Fjara?"

Despite the circumstances, Izumi couldn't help but crack a joke. "Was that a sneeze?" The villain seemed to roll his eyes, not answering.

Side by side with the villain, Izumi felt unnatural fighting alongside Stain, and she doubted anyone would blame her. The results, however, seemed to argue against it. Stain jumped forward first, approaching the white-haired attacker with reckless abandon, a frenzied smile crossing his face. Apparently, for all of his words, he was truly an adrenaline junkie.

Izumi backed him up by pulling out the woman's feet from underneath her, sending her stumbling, but she still managed to divert Stain's sword with one of her arms, but was unprepared for the man dropping his sword in favor of a hunting knife, which sunk deep into her chest. For a moment, Izumi thought that was it, but she was quickly proven wrong as, once again, the woman simply ignored the blade, smacking Stain back. Izumi rushed back in, using Telekinesis to grab the discarded katana and, with her other hand, summoned the hunting dagger.

Now, that seemed to hurt, or at least irritate the woman, blood beginning to pour from the wound. The villainess shrieked, but... the game was now over. It wasn't even a conscious act, really. More like a learned instinct that Izumi didn't process occurred until the villainess froze in place as Izumi retracted the blood-stained blade from her lips. She hadn't even needed the katana, but she still followed through, hitting the woman on the back of the head and sending the monster into the ground, its white hair splayed out as it laid, face-down, in the dirt.

Izumi rolled the body over, discarding Stain's weapons, and gasped.

The woman was dead.

It was undeniable. In the thirty seconds she had been down, she had died. Not from Izumi's blow, but from whatever the fuck was inside her body. Her skin had begun to sag and in some places even burst open, goop pouring out of her wounds instead of blood. And, while the woman who had torn off the house's door hadn't been beautiful, the corpse was nothing more than a wrinkled hag.

Izumi's face suddenly changed shade to match her hair, and she puked. Then, she puked some more. Her stomach was empty long before the retching finished, but when she finally looked up with teary, bloodshot eyes, she felt like she wanted to puke again. The swarm of mechanical birds seemed to be mostly destroyed, but Toga and Spinner were still fighting them, preventing them from reaching Dabi and Stain, who were still down. It was almost... admirable, maybe. They seemed like they actually cared about each other.

The green-eyed teen shook her head. She couldn't afford to think like that. She had to get out of here before the others recovered or Fjara or whoever Stain had mentioned showed up to restrain her. So, she pushed herself to unsteady feet, her legs shaking, and gave one last glance at the corpse of the woman who had tried to kill her. A thought occurred to her, one she knew she wouldn't dare to repeat to anyone and one she felt ashamed for thinking. 'Good riddance,' she huffed. 'Good riddance.'

One For All was charged in her legs as she began hopping from limb to limb as she raced through the forest of trees. After a certain point, Izumi flung herself into the air and let Float encompass her body. She pushed up higher and higher, and then twisted her face in concentration as she tried to combine One For All and Float into a single, cohesive Quirk, and wasn't quite failing, but wasn't quite succeeding, either. She wasn't moving all too fast, perhaps the speed of a light jog, but this way, she was able to navigate much better to the city she was looking at in the distance.

'My energy is being drained at a horrifying rate,' the girl noted as she continued drifting. Her speed was slowly picking up, but she still wasn't going too quickly. The city was getting closer and closer, though, and her speed was starting to increase drastically as she began to hurtle towards the ground. In her surprise, Izumi let go of the Quirks she was using, and scrambled for a Quirk that would help her. She cycled through a few options, one of which was literally just taking the hit and hoping she would be fine, before she came to the obvious conclusion.

Resisting smacking herself on the head in annoyance at herself, Izumi activated Float again, the regular kind this time, and her momentum halted just a few dozen feet above the ground, stopping her from faceplanting into asphalt.

"Mommy, mommy, she's flying!" A kid said, pointing a finger up at the green-haired teen.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she is," the woman replied, disinterestedly. "Come along now, honey."

As the kid scrambled to get back to his mom and hold her hand again, he threw one last look at Izumi and the girl responded with a wink and a thumbs-up before dropping to the ground. The boy lit up, and Izumi couldn't help but feel like she had just made his day. She felt invincible, she felt like-

Shit.

"Do you know how worried I was?" Aizawa paced back and forth in front of her. His eyes were more bloodshot than usual, and he was holding a cup of coffee in his right hand.

"Sorry," Izumi replied meekly. "In my defense, I didn't have much of a say in being kidnapped..."

The black-haired Hero sighed. "Yeah... yeah, I know. I just... can't help but be worried about you, Izumi."

"Sorry, dad," she said again. "But, I'm safe now, so... that's good, right?"

The man stilled for a few moments. Finally, he responded, "Yes, I'm glad you're safe, Problem Child." He walked over to her, setting his coffee down on the side table, and hugged her closely, and the girl melted into her adoptive father's embrace. The two stayed like that for a few moments before a camera shutter clicked, and they both looked accusingly at the faux-innocent face of Yamada. 

Then, suddenly, the tension broke and the small family of three laughed and embraced in a group hug. One of them, however, was having an additional thought. 'I refuse to let this happen again. I won't lose you, Izumi!' Aizawa swore. 'I won't!'

Chapter Text

It was that night when the reality of the day truly set in. The green-haired girl was almost in a daze.

'Murderer.' The shadows whispered to her. 'Killer.' And she was. She had killed whoever that woman was, hadn't even tried to save her. 'You felt so good doing it, didn't you?' Formless entities whispered to her, the words a question but not questioning. They poked and prodded, only going away when all of the lights were on, illuminating every corner of her room.

Hero posters stared down at her, their valiant forms looking, staring, judging her. She couldn't stand it. She tore them off the wall with her Quirk, shooting them all into a corner. Some part of her was still thinking, at least, because she didn't rip any of them. The hero figurines went next when Izumi tried to sit down at her desk, each glare they gave her feeling pitiful, mocking. She wasn't weak, goddamnit! She wasn't weak!

'You're strong...' The shadows crept back in. 'But you're useless. A waste of power.' More voices joined in. 'A waste of space.' 'A waste of air.' 'A waste of time.'

"Go away..." Izumi sobbed into her pillow. "Go away..."

The shadows didn't heed her instructions. Sensing weakness like vultures, they dove in with vigor, tearing apart their meal, piece by piece, until only a husk remained.

"Young Midoriya, are you ready?"

Izumi blinked. Where was- Oh, right. The airport. "Yes, sir!" She finally chirped, putting in far too much effort to make the response sound genuine. Regardless, the man beamed at her. He guided her with a gentle hand on her back. He was in his regular form at the moment, and nobody spared them a second glance. Well, perhaps a few women, but nobody went to bother them as if they had seen the Number One Hero. They made it to their terminal quickly, the digital signs reading "I-Island: Loading in 8 minutes!"

"What seats are we in, Yagi-san?" She questioned. In response, the man handed her a ticket, and her eyes widened. "First class?" She whispered excitedly. She had never even been on a plane before, never mind in first class seating.

"Indeed! The man who invited me is one of the lead researchers on the island, and a great friend of mine. As such, his invites have a large priority, even over the normal faculty invites sent out."

Green eyes blinked curiously. "Is it... David Shield? He was your American side-kick, right?"

All Might chuckled softly. "Sometimes, I forget just how much you know about me, young lady. Yes, indeed, it is David Shield who invited us."

"Does he know about One For All?"

Toshinori shook his head negatively. "No, he doesn't."

"Why not?" Izumi leaned in curiously. "If you've known him for this long, surely you can trust him with that."

The Pro Hero chuckled awkwardly. "Well, yes... But, knowing him, if he knew that I was getting weaker due to passing One For All on, he'd do anything in his power to reverse it. He's... very attached, should I say, to my early days of fame. Quite like Sir Nighteye, really. If he was aware, he'd probably try and design something in order to keep me healthy instead of focusing his considerable talents on something that will benefit many more people."

"Couldn't keeping you strong help save a large amount of people, too?" Izumi questioned.

All Might shook his head. "Not quite. Since I have passed One For All on, I am merely left with a few embers." Seeing Izumi's face, he quickly continued, "But I don't regret it a single bit! But even if I was healed up to full at this very moment, I would still only have a limited amount of power. It would be much better for him to focus on designing something to help more people than just me."

Izumi frowned, but didn't dispute. Overall, the reasoning was correct, but... From what she knew of him, David Shield was an incredibly intelligent researcher and inventor. The mere idea that he wouldn't be able to figure out there was something wrong with All Might seemed... illogical. The signs were glaringly obvious if you knew what to look for, too - his public appearances had lessened, his solved cases had lessened, everything had been on the downturn for multiple years, a concave down parabola that barely showed him getting back to his pre-fight glory.

She bit her lip. She had an idea. She just hoped that her mentor would forgive her.

"Toshinori!" A brown-haired man greeted the duo as they left the loading bay. "It's great to see you!" He leaned forward in an embrace, which was easily reciprocated by the Number One Hero, who was in his puffed-up form.

"David!" Yagi boomed in response, grinning widely. "It's great to see you again as well! It feels like it's been far too many years!"

A new voice emerged. "Uncle Might!" A girl squeaked. The playful side of the hero seemed to emerge as Izumi watched in awe as he put a hand above his eyes and squinted, as if he was trying to peer into a foggy abyss instead of the hopping girl below him.

"I could've sworn I heard my name!" He boomed, continuing to look around.

Finally, the girl jumped high enough to latch onto the man's arm, being a good two or so feet shorter than him amusingly enough. "Uncle Might," she whined. "Why'd dad get a 'hello' and not me?"

Toshinori brought his head back in faux shock, eyes pretending to widen as he took in the sight of the girl. "Well, if it isn't little Melissa! You seem to have grown an inch or two since I last saw you! Or maybe a few dozen!" He exclaimed, laughing deeply.

The girl, Melissa, laughed too, letting go of the hero's arm. "It's been seven years! I can't believe you never visited us," she pouted.

"I-Island is incredibly difficult to get access to," Yagi noted, nodding. "Combined with the busy lifestyle of a Pro Hero, it can be very hard to find any available time for me to visit that wouldn't require me to rush right back to Japan." The girl groaned, nodding. Suddenly, her gaze flicked to Izumi and she brightened.

"Is this the pupil you mentioned? She's adorable!" Melissa gushed, rushing over to Izumi, who was taken aback by the sudden attention, having been perfectly content to let the conversation progress. She had actually been mildly embarrassed, feeling as though she was intruding on something private. "Is your hair natural? It's so green!"

Izumi gaped for a moment, not used to being on the receiving end of the inquisitive gaze the girl gave her. "U-um, yep! Green my whole life!"

"Melissa, don't crowd the girl," David laughed, moving forward to greet Izumi as well. "It's good to meet you. Any friend of Toshi's is a friend of mine." He held out his hand, which Izumi shook.

"It's wonderful to meet you as well, sir! I'm Izumi Midoriya. I've read a lot about you, both from your early days as a sidekick with All Might-sensei, as well as your contributions to Quirk development and research!" Her enthusiasm didn't have to be faked. She truly had learned a lot from reading about him. "I think that your early works on the evolution of Quirks were definitely very inspiring for me," she began to ramble, but cut herself off as she heard a deep chuckle, knowing it belonged to All Might. She flushed, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "S-sorry. I get a little e-excited, sometimes."

For his part, the inventor didn't seem to mind. "Always great to meet a fan! Melissa is a lot like you, so don't worry about it! She's quite the little inventor herself - I bet you two would get right along! However, we should probably head to the tower - it looks like a lot of the arrivals are getting close to overcoming their anxiety at meeting All Might."

Izumi blinked, suddenly remembering that the man beside her was one of the most popular people in the world. "O-oh, yeah!"

"Lead the way, old friend!" Toshinori smiled at David, and so the man did.

"... and enjoy yourself with the festivities, alright? Just remember to make it to the dinner tonight, yes? I hope you remembered to write a speech!"

David closed the door behind his old friend, sighing as he turned back to the computer, bringing up old records of the tracker that he had implanted (with consent!) decades prior. It was his own work, so of course it had remained accurate, and it showed... All Might's S-Pow levels rapidly fading. He groaned - his friend had to know, right? Was he keeping it secret on purpose?

He pulled up another screen, showing the calculations he had made with his device. Previously, he had theorized that it could've boosted Toshi up to possibly even twice his original level, but, now, he'd be lucky if it even got him back to where he had been six years ago. If the downward trend continued like it had... David didn't know.

"So, you do know." A voice noted with minute traces of awe.

David whirled around. "M-Midoriya-kun? How'd you get in here?"

The girl tilted her head, her eyes seeming to almost glow in the dimmed lights of his lab, seemingly confused, a slight frown on her face. "Well, you kinda... Closed the door on me before I could leave..." She scratched her chin awkwardly. 'Oh. That's right - she entered with Toshi.' David finally recalled.

"E-er..." The scientist's eyes darted quickly around the lab as he minimized the screen with his calculations in what he hoped was a discreet manner. "Know what, if I may ask?"

The girl didn't seem threatening. In fact, she seemed quite peaceful. "All Might-sensei is weakening." She said it factually, easily, as if it was just simple knowledge to her. Simple knowledge that the Symbol of Peace was fading. David couldn't help but be upset at her nonchalant attitude towards it.

"Yes! Something has to be wrong with his body! S-Pow levels don't- Wait, why am I telling you about this?" He shook his head frantically. "I think you need to leave. Toshi should only be-"

"No," she interrupted. "He didn't want to tell you. He thought you would spend every waking moment trying to fix him if he did, and he knows you better than I do. But..." Izumi leaned in, interest plainly visible in her eyes. "I do know a lot about your inventions. And that screen you had up- those were advanced calculations. Ones that could only be done with trials."

Brown hair flailed as the man shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Viridian orbs pierced into him, freezing him in place. "You're... very defensive..." She noted, confused. "Please, Shield-san, I know you're doing what you think is best for Yagi-san. But that doesn't explain why you're so frantic."

Something inside David cracked. "I can't let the Symbol of Peace fade!" He shouted. "The world needs All Might! I can do something about it, so I refuse to just-"

"Would he want you to spend all your time on this?"

"He's far too self-sacrificing!" The words seemed to shake the girl, so David continued. "He'd be willing to die to save a single person, even though it's obvious that he needs saving, too!" The room was silent for a few moments, only filled with the sound of the inventor's heavy breathing.

Finally, Izumi spoke again. "This is why he should have told you..." She muttered to herself, seemingly irritated. "Ugh. I want to tell you, but..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "No. You need to know." The girl seemed to nod to herself. Her eyes opened again, and she fixed David in her sights. "Okay. You might want to sit down for this. What do you know about All Might's Quirk?"

David reluctantly sat in his office chair, confused about the question. "Er... One For All. It grants him superhuman strength, endurance, stamina... Everything, really."

Izumi sighed. "Yes. However, there's another aspect to the Quirk... It can be passed on."

"What?"

The green-haired girl nodded. "Mhm. I know from your research that you're aware of the effect of blood transfusions from compatible individuals. It works similar to that, however, it's the effect of a Quirk and somewhat more... complete." She gestured widely with her hands as if to accentuate her point.

"I've never heard of a Quirk like that," the inventor challenged, furrowing his eyebrows. "Surely, Toshi would've told me."

Izumi held up a finger. "But, think about it. All it would take is a single Quirk that's able to pass Quirks on, and then it would be around pretty much forever, right?" David nodded slowly. "... If I need to prove it to you even further, I can show you." Izumi held an arm out, letting energy coalesce around her arm, the multicolored sparks bursting off as she does, illuminating the room. The energy filled the inventor with a sense of familiarity, seemingly nudging him playfully as his eyes widened.

"It's true..." He breathed out. Suddenly, he snapped back into focus. "Alright. In that case, I need to stop something that I put into motion. The calculations you saw, the device - you were right, it has been tested. But the higher-ups here, even higher up than me, they didn't like that. They felt like it would create a global demand and power fluctuation if it began to be massively produced. So..." His voice cracked. "I... might've hired some actors to pose as villains in order to retrieve it?"

"Okay," Izumi frowned. "So, just call it off."

The inventor nodded. "Alright, I'll send them a message. Thank you for informing me of this, Midoriya-kun. If you hadn't... well, I don't even want to think about all of the potential problems that could've caused. Now, why don't you go enjoy the festivities? I'm sure Melissa would love to show you around. You're free to use your Quirks here, as well, since I-Island is in international waters. If I remember correctly, there's a variety of challenges set up near the mall area!"

The green-haired girl gave a grin and a thumbs-up in response. "Of course, Shield-san! I know you were just trying to act in All Might-sensei's best interest."

The girl left, allowing David to finally be alone with his thoughts for a moment, sorting through all the new information that he had obtained. With a note to talk to Toshi later about trust (he ignored the hypocrisy in the statement), he sent a message to Wolfram and his crew informing him that, while he would still be paying them, they no longer needed to go through with their plans. He smiled, glad at the crisis that his old friend's young student had just helped avoid. 'She'll make a fine hero one day, I'm sure.' He nodded to himself. 'Absolutely positive.'

Chapter Text

"Oh, Mido, you're here!" Kaminari waved as he took in the appearance of his classmate.

Green eyes brightened. "Oh! Kaminari, hi! I-" She took in his outfit, and had to stop herself from chuckling. "W-what are you wearing?" The electric boy was dressed in a cheap tux and dress shoes, notably out of place from his normal casual wear. He was also... carrying a serving tray. The pieces clicked into place. "Oh, I see."

"Doesn't it make me look simply dashing?" Another boy declared. He was much smaller than the other two high schoolers.

"Hello there, Mineta." While the boy had come a long way from the start of the school year (he hadn't groped any girls in months!), Izumi still wasn't particularly excited to see him. He was also wearing a cheap tux.

Kaminari shrugged, seemingly a little embarrassed. "Y-yeah. Unfortunately, we didn't get any direct invitations, since we didn't do well in the Sports Festival or anything, n-not that I'm jealous of you!" He added on the last part hastily, waving his hands wildly in his defense, although Izumi just chuckled and resolved to not mention that the reason she had been invited had instead been due to All Might. A sudden thought occurred to her - would she have been invited anyway had All Might not already invited her?

"I know what you mean. I wonder how many of our class is here..." The green-haired girl put a finger to her chin, thinking.

"Oh!" Mineta jumped at the chance to assist. "Momo and Kyoka were here, too!"

"Mhm!" Kaminari confirmed. "I also saw Ochaco, Bakugo, and Eijiro, and I wouldn't be surprised if Tenya and Todoroki were here, too, considering they're from hero families. The first three just stopped by about an hour ago, and then they went down to the hero festivities."

"Hero festivities?" Stars appeared in Izumi's eyes. "Say less!"

"Oh my God!" Izumi squealed. "That's the number sixteen hero in America! Do you think he'd let me analyze his Quirk? Or! Or! That's Ms. Interpret! Her Quirk allows her to invert people's momentum! I think I have a- Oh, I left my notebooks at home..." The girl mumbled sadly.

"Do you ever shut up?" Bakugo groaned, having met up with the girl just a few minutes prior.

Unphased, the girl grinned, her dimples growing. "Nope! It's part of my feminine charm," she teased. To her disappointment, though, Bakugo didn't flush in the slightest. "Have you seen Todoroki anywhere? I heard from Kaminari that he was here."

"Half n' Half? Haven't seen the bastard anywhere," Bakugo scoffed.

"'e was ovah at uh practish moun'in, I dink!" Ochaco piped in cheerfully, pausing from eating her cotton candy. "Ghis shtuff tashtes delicious!"

"How is 'delicious' the one word that you managed to pronounce correctly there?" Bakugo deadpanned, a stark contrast to Izumi's smile.

"Thanks, Uraraka!" She thought for a moment, pausing. "Wait, like, a whole mountain?"

It wasn't a whole mountain, unfortunately, just a replica hill with a bunch of outcroppings. It wasn't the smallest thing by any means, but it also definitely wasn't a mountain. There were various targets set up around it, and as far as Izumi could tell, the idea was to knock all of them down as quickly as possible.

It seemed that Todoroki had already been there, as he seemed to hold the fastest time with just under twenty seconds. So, naturally, Class 1-A's resident ash-blond maniac took that as a personal offense. "Stupid Icyhot bastard ain't gonna be number one of anything while I'm around!" He declared.

Izumi wasn't too interested in the first two attempts Bakugo made, the first one taking over two minutes, the teen having had used it for scouting purposes, and the second one taking just under thirty seconds. The third time, however...

"Die!" Bakugo shouted, blasting off. His first two attempts had left him with plenty of sweat to use as fuel, and his explosions were thusly massive.

"17.81 seconds!" The announcer announced cheerfully. "This puts young Katsuki Bakugo in the lead for the backstage pass prize! This pass, of course, works for any of the events held during the Expo, and will allow the holder to meet the heroes behind the scenes after the show!"

"Back... stage... pass?" Izumi enunciated the syllables slowly, soaking them in as if life force was being pumped into her soul. "Meet... the heroes?"

"You literally go to a hero school, Izumi," Kaminari tried to reason with the girl. "You don't need-"

She was too far gone, though. "My turn!" She announced to herself, and began marching towards the mountain. A few moments later...

"W-wow! In an incredibly astonishing display, Izumi Midoriya takes first place with a score of 5.64 seconds!"

"He's... not responding," David whispered, confused. I-Island had cell service throughout the entire landscape, so there was no reason for Mr. Wolfram to not be able to reply to him. He supposed there was the small chance of his phone being out of battery...

His optimistic heart playing him for a fool, David sighed, turning off the messaging app and getting back to planning for the dinner party that would occur in less than four hours. Wolfram would get back to him eventually. He was sure of it.

All For One stared at the screen in front of him, mildly amused. His daughter being on I-Island had changed many things, but, at the same time, very little. She was not going to come to harm, of course, but he doubted a simpleton like Wolfram would ever have been able to outsmart her in the first place. Wolfram had gained an additional self-destruction Quirk implanted, and had gained a few extra associates. Of course, he had no clue as to the nature of his newest 'allies'' purpose on the team. His disgruntlement at their presence, however, enforced the idea that the man had been attempting to steal the device for himself, which All For One had, of course, already known.

No. The new allies were to ensure that he understood the full potential of his daughter's current state. The... the gifts she had acquired along her journeys. He knew that she had been taking Quirks for herself, thanks to the destruction of the Nomu. But, she couldn't be too strong, since the Nomu had been able to overpower her at first anyway. But, with the addition of One For All... Well, who knew? Power Stack, when he originally had it, had never been able to affect the other Quirks he had. But, now, in One For All... What could it have done to the copy of All For One in Izumi's veins?

He felt almost giddy at the thought. His greatest achievement, the greatest possible scenario occurring, all with no interference from him. When he had forced Izumi to watch him almost murder All Might that fateful night, his intentions had been three-fold. He had wanted her to see him defeat All Might, the Symbol of Peace, the Symbol of her Hope, the Savior of Japan. That was reason one. He had also wanted to have her watch him spare the man, such that she would realize that he was not evil - he did not want unreasonable chaos and bloodshed. He wanted her to support him. Third... He wanted her to be aware of her potential. His little goddess. Limitless, boundless power...

Yes. Once he had Zero-Zero back, he would worship her. And, in turn...

She would serve him.

"Do I have to wear heels?" Izumi complained to thin air as she opened up her suitcase haphazardly, strewing clothes out and around her room. She was only complaining to herself of course, and she knew the answer to the question already. Hizashi had packed her an outfit, and it was glammed out to the brim - unfortunately, it left the bottom of her legs open which meant that her trainers were not an option. Hizashi would kill her, Toshinori would die of embarrassment, and Dad would sigh disappointedly. Probably in that order of severity, too. Which meant that the only option left were the four inch heels, also known as fucking STILTS. She would be wobbling like crazy. She would probably trip like an idiot. Really, she would prefer fighting--well, she'd prefer the adrenaline rush to a lot of things, so that wasn't the best comparison. But, let it be known... she knew it would be terrible.

Sighing, she unfolded the dress. It was... Pretty, she supposed.  It was a nice cream color, ending in a slant cut. The design looked Greek, and featured some sort of gold belt around her waist to tighten up the appearance. It also included a crimson bow to tie her hair up, considering the color of it would clash with the dress if it was allowed to lay flat. And then the black torture devices that clamped around her feet, of course. Hellish. She tested out a few steps, eventually coming to a point where she could walk at a semi-reasonable pace without feeling like she was about to fall over.

"This would all be so much easier if the dress was just a bit longer," Izumi griped to herself. Sighing, she double-checked her make-up, and then she was out of the door.

Momo was the only one even remotely close to being as dressed up as her, as well as, surprisingly, Bakugo. The rest were wearing cheap suits and cheap dresses, making Izumi sigh. Just another thing to not complain to Hizashi about. She was grateful, but she was going to suffer this evening, that was for sure.

"You look so nice!" Momo complimented. She was standing with Jiro, who still managed a punk theme even in a dress. They had all agreed to meet up and head to the dinner together. She would've gone with Toshinori, but he had left even earlier to help prepare. He even had to make a speech! She didn't envy him, even though Izumi knew that Yagi didn't mind the spotlight in the least. She was looking forward to hearing it.

Or, at least, she had been, until the lights went off and the room entered lockdown mode.

Green eyes flickered with electricity as Izumi Midoriya let out a full smile. Oh, yeah. Now this would be interesting.

... if only she wasn't wearing heels.

Chapter Text

All Might shook his head at her frantically through the glass, and Izumi grit her teeth. She could see the steam rising off of his form - he'd end up destroying his vestiges of One For All if she didn't step in! As she looked, however, she also saw David and another man being taken away by armed villains. Judging by the panic on his face, the green-eyed girl could very easily entertain the idea that this had been unexpected. Perhaps the people paid to stage as villains hadn't liked the inactivity? Or, perhaps, they had never gotten the message to stop?

Whatever it was, though, Izumi couldn't believe her own traitorous thoughts as she seriously considered the potential of leaving Toshinori bound. He seemed to be pleading to her with his eyes to not interfere, but... if any of the villains really wanted to, they could end the Symbol of Peace right then and there. He was defenseless at the moment... right?

Izumi started for a moment, thinking. How could I-Island have possibly developed bonds to hold All Might? The answer to her came only a moment later - Quirk Suppressants were probably mixed in. Which meant that... Not only was Toshinori unable to break free, he was actively killing himself in order to resist the draining effects the Quirk Suppressants were having on his body.

Not. A. Chance.

The ceiling shattered as a chromatic blur passed through it, but even before the guards had processed it, Izumi had already hit the ground and made her first jump. She focused on her legs--her powerful legs which could take even more of One For All than her arms, channeling the energy up to thirty percent and feeling her bones creak in protest. That didn't matter, though--these were criminals. She couldn't afford to be too slow here. She had kept low to the ground with her bounce off the floor, and she used her momentum to sweep the feet out from under the first guard, popping up to slam a hand down onto the man's back, sending him into the floor, dazed and probably unconscious.

The first gunshots echoed across the room, and Izumi moved quickly. There were three more guards, all in the other corners of the room, which meant that she had to be careful. She bounced off of the ceiling, utilizing the techniques she had been taught by Rumi, spinning in mid-air to land with both feet on the nearest guard's chest before bouncing off again, sending her back into the air and the guard into the wall, his helmet cracking loudly.

Izumi allowed herself to gain a bit more confidence, and, of course, that was where things began to go wrong. The room darkened somewhat as she moved towards the next guard, and she faltered during her step, falling onto the ground as the lights dimmed further. 'No, that's not quite right...' She grunted as she forced her body to keep moving. 'The room isn't getting darker, something is in front of my eyes!' She swiped at her face, but nothing changed, and the darkness continued to grow in intensity.

Green hair flailed as Izumi shook her head rapidly, getting the best glimpse possible of the room while she could still see, and made her move towards the closer of the two guards remaining. Her elbow smashed into something soft, and she took the yelp as a sign that her attack had met its mark. She moved towards where she remembered the last villain to be, kicking with her left foot, meeting... air.

Pain blossomed in her right arm as a gunshot echoed. 'He shot me.' The thought came through instantly, but she felt no emotions alongside it. Shock? Adrenaline? She wasn't thinking about those things, though, simply reacting. 'He must've moved. I got hit in the right arm, which means...' She blasted to her right, landing a side kick to the man's chest. The darkness quickly cleared as contact was made, meaning that it had probably been the word of the last guard's Quirk.

She rushed over to All Might, breaking him out of his bonds. "Young Midoriya!" He gasped out. "You shouldn't have done that. You could've been greatly hurt!"

The girl didn't know what came over her, but perhaps the spirit of something vengeful. She slapped All Might across the face, hard. He shut up quickly, turning back to her, confused. "You are not allowed to kill yourself to keep up appearances," she hissed quietly. "You aren't allowed to die, Yagi-san." The Symbol of Peace looked at her, concern evident on his face, but, after a few moments, nodded.

"I won't die, Young Midoriya," he promised quietly. "I should go after David, you should-"

Green hair flailed as Izumi shook her head. "No. You have to stay here; if they're in the control tower, they'll know something went wrong and'll lock everything down. I stand a chance of making it up there without things getting messed up," she explained. "You need to stay here and rest. Make sure the citizens know they're safe." She didn't know where the bravery to give All Might orders came from, but, for some reason, the man listened to her.

He didn't seem like he wanted to do it, but... he acquiesced. "Be safe. Your arm-"

"I've had worse," Izumi waved the worry off. They both knew it was true. It hurt, but she was an expert at ignoring the pain. Like a bullet, she shot back up through the ceiling, lightning trailing behind her. It was mostly green, but there were some other colors mixed in still.

"Oh, this might be an issue, huh?" Izumi stared at the 'Out-Of-Service' sign on the elevator, which must've been shut off when the island was locked down. "Fuck... Outside? Maybe. I still haven't really used Gravity on myself much..." That brought her to a second choice; One For All. It was something she had been avoiding greatly since the fight with Stain, the first one, that was, recalling how the dog-man had looked when he talked about Stain's extensive injuries. 'It's just a building,' she told herself. 'Just a building. It can't feel pain. They can always fix a building.' 

Yes, that was true. She didn't like using One For All against things. She was mostly using it for movement, and she knew that was a waste. And she hated how she still had to convince herself to utilize it any other way. Green pooled around her legs as she burst out of the building, then jumped upwards. It reminded her, somewhat, of her first Hero Basic Training class, with the windows, as she reached out and grabbed at the building to pull herself through a window, the glass shattering around her as she landed on the floor. Her dress flared around her, no doubt gaining a rip or two, making the girl wince as she thought about Hizashi's reaction.

"The fuck was that?" A voice called out, and flashlights appeared as people got closer. 'Security?' Izumi hoped to herself, standing up slowly. Within a few seconds, two men had approached her. "It's one of those brats, Mike."

"Ah, damn. Should've known those hero kids wouldn't follow rules," the second guy, who appeared to be a brawler, cracked his knuckles. They didn't have security uniforms on...

Izumi gulped. "Hey, uh, I'm just a little lost."

"On the fourth floor of a locked down building? Coming in through the window?" The man named Mike cracked his neck. "Yeah. I believe it. Don't'cha believe her too, Charlie?"

The other guy made a weird face. "Well, no, not really..."

Mike sighed. "You have no sense of fucking humor, man." He turned back to Izumi. "Anyway, no getting in the way kiddo."

"Wait!" Izumi held up her hands. "Aren't you guys supposed to be actors?" She questioned the duo. "Wolfram-"

"You know the boss-man?" Charlie asked, peering closer at her. He stared closely, and his eyes lit up like flood lights, illuminating Izumi brightly, causing her to cover her eyes. "Oh fuck!" The lights shut off. "It's that fucking mini-Might brat the boss was talking about!"

Mike facepalmed. "You really need to work on not spilling all the information, Charlie. You're lucky I'm here to clean up for you."

"Clean up?" Izumi responded, though the sentence wasn't really for her.

"Yeah." The brawler turned back to the green-haired teen, a sneer on his face. "Sorry 'bout this, brat."

Her instincts screamed danger, and she dodged to the side, a hole being punched through the dress that Yamada had gotten for her. "Oh, you're in for it now," Izumi growled, green energy sparkling around her. "That dress was vintage, you asshole!" She made sure her One For All output was only at 8%, then dashed forward and slammed her left elbow into Charlie, sending him flying back into a few cubicles. Mike took advantage of her paused momentum and slammed a punch into her arm, managing to hit nearly exactly where she had been shot, making her yelp in pain as she was pushed back.

"You withstood that well," Mike grinned menacingly, cracking his knuckles again.

Izumi's eye twitched. "You're way too cliché," she responded. She dashed forward, bouncing off the ground and twisting in the air so that she could push off the ceiling, driving a knee into Mike's collarbone, a crack echoing in the air. The green-eyed girl winced at the noise. "Sorry." She jumped off Mike. "So, what can you-" The downed brawler began to shuffle, growling out as he did, finally pushing himself off the ground. "You're still fucking moving?"

The villain didn't respond. Instead, his neck cracked at a sharp angle, the loud noise echoing throughout the room, and then slowly went back to normal. His eyes were glowing red, and his hands seemed to be glowing the same color. "Oh, you're fucked now, kiddo."

The green-eyed teen dashed back, warily staring at the brawler. 'Some sort of damage-enhancing Quirk? It might activate through pain, or maybe broken bones... Probably the best way to-' Her thoughts were suddenly cut off by her being grabbed from behind. She jolted in shock and attempted to elbow her captor in the stomach, but hit a wall of muscle.

"Got her!" Charlie spoke, no doubt grinning.

The red-eyed man smiled back, beginning to approach quickly. He wound his arm up, as if stretching it out. "Good one, Chuck. I'm gonna enjoy this one."

Izumi struggled more, beginning to push against the floor, moving both her and Charlie (was Chuck a nickname?) back until they hit the wall. The man grunted and his grip loosened, and the hero-in-training pulled an arm free. Mike kept his approach steady. Further progress was stopped, however, by a commanding voice ringing out through the room.

"Cease."

Against her will, Izumi found her movements stopping. So did Charlie's struggling, and Mike stopped approaching her. All of their heads moved towards the source of the noise, which stood at the doorway to the room... A tall, lanky man with pale skin and purple hair. He was wearing a suit, but it looked... off. The tie was loose and undone, the cuffs flipped outward, the collar up, and buttons seemingly buttoned haphazardly.

"Better," the man sighed. "You two fools. She was ordered to remain alive, unless you want to tell me you didn't realize that it was Izumi Midoriya's whose stomach you were about to try and fail to put a hole into." Mike opened his mouth, presumably to protest, but the man cut him off. "Shut up." The brawler's jaw clacked shut audibly. "Good. You're much more tolerable when you don't speak."

"Who... who the fuck are you?" Izumi questioned, finally getting over... her shock? Whatever the weird feeling that had come over her was. 'Is this Wolfram?' She considered. 'The way he treats these guys would be reminiscent of a leader and underlings, if said leader and underlings were all dangerous, murderous criminals.'

Black eyes stared into her soul. "My villain name is Lex."

"Like... Lex Luthor?" The green-haired teen attempted to distract the man as she considered her options.

The guy rolled his eyes, and it was then that she noticed the sleep bags under them. "No. As in Lexicon. My Quirk is Alpha Beta, you see..."

"Neat name. What does it do?" Izumi pressed.

Lex stared at her like she was stupid. "Why in the ever-loving fuck would I tell you?"

The teen winced. "That usually works."

The villain sighed. He stopped and pinched the bridge of his pale nose, and stayed like that for a moment. "Somehow, I don't doubt it. Regardless, it is quite a neat Quirk, even if you don't know how it works. Much better than my original Quirk, y'know?"

"Your... original Quirk?" Green eyes stared in confusion.

"Oh, yes. The power to shoot and regrow my fingernails... Silly, and annoyingly weak. But someone had mercy on me. That man..." He grinned, and Izumi realized she didn't like seeing the crazed expression on the man's face, "... was your father." Lex stepped forward, raising an arm towards the teen. "And he says 'Hi'."

Chapter Text

Izumi braced herself for an attack, but nothing came. "I give you a choice," Lex spoke evenly, pointing at her. "You can fight me right now, along with these two." His eyes flicked towards Mike and Charlie, who still weren't interrupting the conversation. Charlie seemed dazed, but Mike seemed furious, still glowing red slightly. "Or, you can fight me later, potentially alone."

"This seems like a pretty obvious choice..." Izumi ground out. "What's the catch?"

Lex shrugged. "Oh, I don't know 'bout a catch... But, if you lose here and now, these two'll probably just take you to their boss. You lose later, and I'll bring the spoiled little runaway princess back to Daddy."

The green-eyed girl's glare got more intensive. "Fuck you." She crouched into a readied position, and then went off like a rocket. She immediately dashed towards Lex, but stopped at the last second, hopping to the side, pulling at Mike with Telekinesis, and then jumping forward and slamming her fists into the disoriented villain's head, knocking him out.

Charlie finally seemed to snap out of his shock, and yelled, "Hey!" His eyes flared up, and Izumi shut her own in order to not be blinded. She kicked blindly at the criminal from where she remembered him to be, but hit nothing but air. Hands grabbed around her leg and pulled, tossing her through the air, and she was too confused to slow her momentum, crashing into a desk.

Izumi opened her eyes, and her vision swam. "Oh... thas naw... good..." The lights were definitely blending in with one another, and her field of view was blurry. Most likely a concussion. Charlie's lantern eyes shined on her again, and she was too dazed to react properly. Instead, she simply felt around for a Quirk - any would do - and threw a punch.

The air shifted, and papers blew everywhere. Oh... That was another hole in the wall. And her fist was glowing. One... For All?

Izumi blinked, and suddenly reality shifted back closer to normal, her sight a bit sharper. She scanned the floor, seeing Charlie passed out on the ground, but not looking too hurt. Any further investigation was halted... by clapping.

"Bravo, bravo!" Each word was accompanied by a resounding smack of Lex's hands. "Now, there's some real destructive power. You see, your father figured you had One For All, but confirming it is no less valuable."

The green-haired teen blinked rapidly, absorbing the new information as best as she could. "He's- He's been watching me?" She rasped out, her throat feeling oddly dry.

The purple-haired villain leaned in. "Oh, you poor child... You really made quite a splash at the Yuuei Sports Festival. Combining that with the fact that All Might teaches at Yuuei, and the fact that he invited you to I-Island to be his Plus One, despite knowing that you would already be offered a position as the victor of the tournament, well..." He shrugged. "You guys didn't do a very good job of hiding it."

Izumi clenched her fist, but suddenly stumbled. "Fuck..." She groaned.

"That looked like a nasty hit there." Lex's voice dripped with sarcasm and pity. "Want a band-aid?"

"I'm going to..." The teen groaned, falling to a knee. "Kill you."

The villain rolled his purple eyes. "Yeah, sure, right after you get up in twenty minutes. Shall I wait?" He checked his watch. "I think I've wasted enough time at this point. It's a valuable thing, you know. Stop Breathing."

Green orbs blinked in confusion. "Why would I do that?" As if to spite him, she went to take a deep breath... and coughed. That's when panic began to set in. "Wh-what the fuck?" She tried her best to breathe, but nothing was happening. Pity was definitely shining through in his eyes as he looked at her, making no move to attack her.

The world shifted.

The world righted itself.

Izumi gasped, taking a deep breath as she felt her own will returning to her.

"That's... It shouldn't be possible," Lex noted, staring at the girl with wonder in his eyes. "To break out of Alpha Beta... You either must know its nature, or..." He squinted, and suddenly a laugh erupted from him. "No, I think I've figured it out." Izumi was still too busy regaining her breath to stop the man's laugh. "You... You're so fucked up in the head that you can't properly forfeit control." This sounded eerily similar to something that had happened before. The girl tried to think back to the last time this had happened, but the memory eluded her.

"Whatever," the man decided. "I'm still more than a match for you. Especially in this state," he waved an arm in her direction. "Honestly, just passing out that way was probably the better choice." He rushed towards her, insanely fast, much faster than Izumi expected. Or maybe her brain was just lagging behind. A knee struck Izumi's stomach, sending her flying backwards, and she struggled to right herself, managing to do just enough to brace herself against the wall, sliding down with less pain than the impact would've caused otherwise. "Kiddie gloves are off."

"I'm glad you're..." Izumi coughed. "... a dick. I was... gonna feel bad... about this." The air pressure shifted, and the room seemed to dim slightly, which had never happened before, but the green-haired girl elected to ignore it. Colors coalesced around her body as she let One For All spread throughout her, letting it hum just beneath her skin as 12% circulated throughout her veins. Instantly, the world got sharper, and Izumi dodged to the side instinctively as the villain brushed past her. She immediately flipped around and landed a roundhouse kick, sending the man flying into the same wall that he had just sent her into. She didn't let up, moving in for another hit before a single word was gasped out.

"Cease." Izumi's movement... was halted. Already, the world was shifting, but before anything like that could happen again, Lex landed a solid uppercut to her jaw, sending her flying back. She scrambled to her feet, her head raised up as she focused on the man, who approached her quickly. "Cease." He commanded again, and, against her will, her joints and muscles stopped obeying her. He finished jogging to her, and then landed another solid kick to her midsection, sending her flying back. He was physically much more athletic than he seemed, much like her Dad, but nowhere near the level of Stain. That didn't mean the kick didn't hurt, though, as did slamming into the wall afterward.

She pushed off the wall, giving the criminal as little time as possible to react, and flew at him like a missile. "Cease!" He shouted, a bit of panic evident on his face as he began to dodge, even as Izumi began to fall to the floor. She skidded on the ground, but her body still wouldn't obey her commands.

The world shifted.

The world righted itself.

With an agile spring, the green-haired teen rolled forward, and then pushed herself off of the ground with a single hand, flipping in the air as she did. She glared at Lex, who had halted in his approach towards her, and... did the smart thing, and ran away, deeper into the building. This wasn't a fight she felt that she could win at the moment... and her ribs hurt like a bitch. She exited into a large vegetated area... and began to climb.

The purple-eyed villain stared at the chromatic blur as she flew out of the room, waited a few moments, and then fell to the ground, exhaustion evident in his eyes as he let his face droop from its position of intense focus.

"She's strong," he said out loud, pausing afterwards to catch his breath. "Resilient."

The room was quiet for a few moments, the only noises being the sound of Mike and Charlie's shallow breaths, as well as Lex's heavy ones, but, after a few moments... a deep voice echoed out of a speaker.

"Good. I would be disappointed if she wasn't."

"What do you plan on doing with this information, Tomura Shigaraki?" A billowing purple mist that was vaguely in a humanoid shape wore a butler's outfit as he tended a bar table. There was only one person drinking, a blueish-grayish-haired young man.

He was staring at a piece of paper with gray, beady eyes, simply... absorbing the information. It took him a few moments before he responded, and when he did so, he did so with slow, collected words. Each seemed perfectly chosen, as if he wanted to make sure that there was absolutely no chance that his request would be misinterpreted. "I want to acquire a group of villains. Powerful ones. Ones with no morals, no hesitations, no... codes of honor," the words were all said with pauses in them except for the last three, which were instead spat out with vitriol. "Money... is no object." Shigaraki picked up the glass of whiskey in front of him, purposefully leaving his pinky raised as he drained the last of its contents, letting the burn simmer in his throat for just a few moments as he left his head tilted back, staring at the stoney ceiling as he slammed the glass back down on the table, the ice cubes inside clinking as they hit each other.

"Yes, sir." Giran nodded. "Do you want to add this on top of your previous request?"

"Combine them," came the curt reply. "I want at least a few people. Pay is doubled still." The broker nodded, jotting some stuff out on his paper. He rose as he finished, and made towards the door. "Oh, and Giran?" The villain called, not looking towards the man.

The scout paused, looking back at the bar patron. "Yes?"

"If you come back with no recruits, I'll kill you."

The old, gray-haired villain coughed as he processed the statement, but then nodded. "Noted... and understood." The door swung shut calmly as Giran left, whilst Kurogiri stared at the exit while he cleaned another glass.

"Must you threaten every associate we work with?" The mist-man questioned, although he wasn't really expecting an answer. He didn't get one, either, and the room was silent for a few minutes save for the sound of a cloth squeezing against clean glass. Then... it was suddenly broken.

"Izumi Midoriya..." Strands of blue covered his vision as Tomura gazed at the small cracks, the minuscule craters of imperfections in the stone. "I thought you were an NPC. Then, I thought you were an annoyance... and, then, a mini-boss." He raised a finger, pointing directly towards the picture of the green-haired student, a new one from a police report from a few days prior, which was embedded into the ceiling with a knife. "But... I've realized something." His ring, middle, and index finger began to dance on the glass, perhaps as a replacement for scratching at his neck, a habit he was trying to kick. "You might not even be an enemy."

Taps echoed as his fingers danced.

"Sensei doesn't want me to kill you. I want to find out why..." The villain slowly craned his head down from the ceiling, as he stared at the shopping list for the Yuuei Summer Training Camp, and Shigaraki's fingers stilled as he looked at the location up top. "I'm going to bring you back here. I will break you down, piece by piece, to figure out what makes you so important to Sensei... and then, once you have shattered, and you beg me to kill you?" His pinkie finger landed on the glass with a thud. "I won't."

A crazed laugh echoed throughout the bar, and Kurogiri sighed to himself... and got to cleaning up the dust.

Chapter Text

The green-eyed girl had intended to pause only long enough to catch her breath and recover as best as she could from the beatdown that had just occurred. Her phone was buzzing as she came to a stop, though, and it took the teen a moment to realize what the noise actually was. As soon as she did, though, Izumi reached slowly for her phone, picking it out of her pocket of the pants underneath her dress. The phone screen was cracked, she realized absentmindedly. Izumi stared at the phone screen for half a minute, only thinking about that fact and coming to no conclusions on it. The call dropped, and she was only broken out of her trance due to the buzzing beginning again.

Something was wrong. Her head felt... fuzzy. The world wasn't focusing in her view, and the shadows that had intensified when she had summoned One For All had not yet receded to normalcy. She could feel them nipping at her legs, gripping at her arms, swimming in her brain...

She massaged her suddenly-sore temples, a headache spontaneously rearing its ugly head. When had that happened?

Jade eyes peered at the cracked screen, finally taking in the name. 'Dad... Dad? How does he have my number?'

Warily, Izumi answered the phone. "... Hello?" She offered after a few moments.

A gasp of relief was heard on the other side. "Izumi!" Aizawa exclaimed. "Thank fuck. Zashi and I have been speed-dialing everyone on the island after the blackout occurred. What's going on?! Are you alright?!"

Izumi blinked a few times, digesting the appearance of the unexpected voice on the other end of the call. "Hi. Uh..." She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. "Hey, uh, dad. No, it's a... a mess over here. Villains took over the security tower, initiated the lockdown procedure. I was on my way to an event when it happened."

"Okay." An exhale was audible. "Yeah, she's alive, Zash." Came the muted sentence. It obviously wasn't being said to her, and she felt slightly indignant that her teachers constantly assumed that she was always getting into trouble... Even if it was true more often than not. "Are you doing alright, Problem Child?"

"Yep!" The green-haired teen answered quickly, her back-length locks swishing in the air as she shook her head far too forcefully despite the fact that Aizawa couldn't even see her at the moment.

"Are you sure?" Izumi could hear her adoptive father's concerned voice through the line, and couldn't discern why he was worried. She felt fine, after all. Just a bit dizzy.

"Yep," she replied again. She didn't know why she did it, but she continued, "It seems like my cell signal is cutting out. I'll call you again later, alright?"

She could sense her homeroom teacher's confusion over the call. "What?" He questioned. "No, Izumi, stay on the-"

Click.

The call ended. Izumi looked toward the staircase leading up higher into the building. The shadows there were lighter. Maybe that's where she was supposed to go?

As the door shut behind her and light abandoned the stairwell, she couldn't help but feel like Orpheus, beckoned to go forth only with the knowledge that she could not turn back. She could not turn back, for the shadows mingled behind her.

The stairs seemed to loom in front of her endlessly, a never-ending spiral of loneliness. In the back of her head, she seemed to be recalling a certain memory. Something about a... trigger? She couldn't bring it to the forefront of her mind, but she knew it was relevant, but she couldn't imagine why.

A trigger for what? Or, maybe, it was the drug, Trigger... but why would that be relevant? She dismissed the thought.

She burst into the center room of the tower, finding nothing but a dead body on the floor. 'Too slow...' The darkness whispered. 'You could've been faster. Stronger.'

Izumi agreed.

The thoughts about a trigger remained in her head, waging war as it began to take over her thoughts. Despite the turmoil, though, she still couldn't figure out where it originated.

She was forgetting it... what was she forgetting?

It was windy by the time Izumi made it to the top of the I-Island Security Tower. She supposed, naturally, it had something to do with the height. Air currents were stronger, the whole shebang... Honestly, she just wanted to go to sleep. Her eyelids were drooping every few minutes, and she had to slap herself in the face to keep the adrenaline going.

There was...

Something was wrong.

Izumi was forgetting something. Her arm ached dully, but she couldn't remember why. She couldn't remember why she was still forcing her way up on her own. Why wasn't she waiting for... for...

'There's nobody but you,' the shadows whispered. 'They all left you to do their dirty work on your own. That's why you're here. They don't think you can do it. They expect you to die.' They had no volume, no origin, the whispers... Despite this, Izumi heard them all the same. 'Prove them wrong. Make him proud.' Determination filled the green-eyed girl as the thoughts passed through her mind, and she pushed any pain or tiredness out of her mind as it did.

Ahead of her laid Wolfram and David Shield. Wolfram, who most definitely was not a paid actor, was wearing the Quirk-Enhancing Helmet like a crown, a forest of metals stretching around him as it boosted his power to unbelievable heights. And David Shield, who was unconscious, laying limply on the ground. Hatred coursed through the girl as she turned her gaze back on the villain, and, for a moment, she could swear he paled. She couldn't have cared less, though.

What was she forgetting?!

Izumi Midoriya's blood-red eyes shone like rubies in the dim night sky.

Izumi yawned as she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. The world outside was dark, and she blinked a few times as her eyes strained to find any source of light. Finally, her eyes focused slightly on pinpricks of light far above her. Stars...? Did that mean... she was laying on the ground?

She pushed herself up, and, slowly, her other senses returned to her. There was... fire, she noted. Lots of chunks of metal embedded in the ground. No, the surface beneath her was metallic, not dirt... a roof? The answer occurred to her a moment later: she was on top of a building. Memories slowly returned to her. She was... on top of the I-Island Security Tower, and...

Green eyes widened as the Hero Student scanned the roof, her eyes finally resting on the pale form of the American scientist, David Shield. Blood was coming from a wound in his forehead, and she scrambled over to him, wincing at a pain in her arm. Looking down, Izumi noted that the wound from the bullet from earlier was trickling blood and hurt dully, but not to a debilitating degree. She tried lifting it up to get a closer look, however, and writhed in pain at the action and let out a pained shout. "Not doing that..." The green-haired girl remarked through gritted teeth as she continued the trek to Mr. Shield.

She finally came to a stop and skidded on her ripped dress as she knelt down next to the scientist. She felt for a pulse, and there was one, albeit a weak one, but still steady. Making sure not to jostle her right arm, she lifted the man over her back easily, pouring a bit of One For All into it. With satisfaction, she noted that the shadows were mostly kept at bay this time, not darkening the area. She started moving to the stairwell access to the top of the building, surprised that she was still the only one on top of the building.

Wait.

Then where was-?

Screams echoed throughout the area, and it took Izumi a moment to realize that they were originating from her.

It would be unfair to blame her, though. Only a few meters away from the duo was Wolfram, the villain who had been tormenting them. The Quirk-Enhancing crown was tilted on his head slightly, and his eyes had a glazed-over, crazed look in them. And, also, his chest was missing a circle about 8 inches in diameter in the center. And... orange lines were glowing throughout the man's body, pulsating with energy.

Izumi all but sprinted to the stairwell, not caring about Shield-san's head bouncing against her back or worrying about being gentler. She punched through the door, slamming it off of its hinges, before jumping into the stairwell. Behind her, an explosion echoed, heat and light emanating from the roof. After a few moments, it died down, and a piece of metal came whistling through the open doorway, smoke curling off of it like gray tendrils, the semi-circle of metal bouncing down the stairs, step... by step... by step... before coming to a stop at Izumi's feet.

It was a ruined piece of the Quirk-Enhancing device. A piece... stained with blood.

The teenager screamed again, and that's how All Might found her and David Shield, and that's the same position she was in when EMTs appeared four minutes later, still screaming.

Chapter Text

There was no way for any authorities to know that Wolfram had been dead before he had been blown to bits by the explosion. That was for the best, of course, logically; Izumi really didn't need that strike against her, especially with her existing record. She still didn't even know who she was supposed to be interviewed and 'rehabilitated' by for the vigilante program. However...

Izumi knew, even if she didn't remember it, that she had been the one to put that gaping hole in the villain's chest. She didn't know why he had blown up, and she didn't care (beyond the fact that it had been horrific to witness, and the thankfulness that she didn't see it firsthand was massively overshadowed by the disgust that it had happened in the first place). It wasn't her first kill, but it felt like, for the first time, the kill had been her decision.

The I-Island Expo had been canceled following the attack, and people were shuttled off of the island in an efficient fashion. Izumi was no stranger to this treatment, and she had been off in one of the earliest flights back to Japan. She had all but collapsed into Aizawa's arms when she had gotten off the plane, and they had just stayed like that for a little bit. Just a father hugging his daughter, and a daughter hugging her father. Izumi knew he probably didn't see her as a daughter. She was just a rescued child, after all. He got her off the streets just like he would any other street rat he found.

The ride home was quiet. It wasn't comfortable for Izumi, but that was due to her inner turmoil rather than anything else. The proximity to her dad was calming her violent, rapturous thoughts, which had tormented her the night before and on the plane ride home. Izumi laid her head on his shoulder, and Aizawa tucked his arm around her, pulling her close. He had only been given the basic rundown of what had happened, but still worried about her nonetheless. Izumi couldn't help but think that if he knew what she had done, he wouldn't want to touch her, never mind be in such a proximity to such a horrid piece of human garbage like her.

The fare was paid, and they were inside the house. The movements were a blur to Izumi, who only realized that she still existed when she questioned why she was staring at a warm-gray-colored wall. A pleasant aroma filled her nose, and she turned to see her black-haired guardian carrying a steaming cup of tea from the kitchen for her. She felt horrid for forcing him to take care of her.

"Thank you," she murmured as she accepted it. She blew on the surface, the air causing her greenish-whitish strands of her bangs to fly away from her face.

Shouta's reply came swiftly. "Of course." It was such a simple statement, but it came close to making her want to cry again. The sincerity and the ease with which the Pro Hero said the words made her feel- She bit her lip, as if that could cut off the thought. She was glad that he seemed to care for her. She wondered how she had managed to deceive him into liking her.

"How are you feeling?" Eraserhead asked softly, squatting down and looking up at his adopted daughter.

Izumi looked away as she answered. "I'm... fine. I'm not hurt."

"Pain isn't only physical, Kiddo," the man replied to her non-answer. It sounded like he was speaking from experience. Izumi took a sip to avoid answering, giving her an extra few moments to think as she savored the taste of the tea on her tongue. He has his own issues to deal with, Izumi knew. She was doing him a disservice by being so weak.

"I don't..." Her voice got choked up in the middle of the lie. Tears leapt, unbidden, into her eyes, and she was suddenly having a full breakdown as she started sobbing. Her dad quickly pulled her into a hug as he whispered to her softly, doing his best to keep her grounded while her mind tried its best to dissociate, like two sides fighting a war. Izumi didn't know when, but the cuppa had been placed on the table sometime during the hug, probably so it wouldn't get spilled.

The flow of tears quickly began to slow down. "I'm so tired of having to be strong all the time," the green-eyed girl finally gasped out, once she had calmed down. She didn't know where the words were coming from, but they were honest, she was pretty sure. "I get that- that I have all this responsibility, all this power, I just- I don't know!" She exclaimed finally.

Aizawa looked at his daughter for a few moments. "Yes, you have 'all this power'," he agreed, "but that doesn't change who you are, Izumi. You're still a teenager, and sometimes, people will just treat you like you're a full-blown adult, and then others will treat you like you're a child whose opinions don't matter. The world isn't perfect, and people aren't perfect. But... You put it pretty well, a while ago. You didn't apply to go to Yuuei because you were already a perfect hero, it's because you wanted to be better and move towards that goal. You don't have to be perfect every single moment of every single day. You deserve to have a life, too. Your wellbeing is not worth less than any other person's wellbeing. Do you understand that?" His words were demanding, but his voice was soft, understanding.

Izumi hugged the man. "Thank you," she whispered, before grabbing the cup of tea and retreating to her room, inching the door shut softly and calmly. The vulnerability she had showed him shocked Aizawa, and he smiled softly at the door to the room of the girl he viewed as his daughter. He wasn't perfect, but he vowed to be there for her whenever he could.

The distraction kept him from noticing that she had never confirmed the statement.

Green eyes peered around the room. Izumi noted the bare walls, vaguely remembering that she had torn down her hero posters. She walked to the corner of her room, nudging some things out of the way with her foot. Indeed, there it was, a ball of crumpled up hero posters...

Izumi sighed, but made no effort to put them back up. Instead, she walked to her bed and sat down slowly, simply... thinking. She had been avoiding it, but she knew her thoughts would come to it eventually.

'Da-... All-For-One knows enough about me to discern where I am,'  was the obvious conclusion. The presence of Lex at the I-Island Expo with Wolfram all but confirmed it. He hadn't seemed surprised to see her there in the slightest, quite literally the opposite, actually. Apparently, there had been orders regarding her that the duo of villains before him had ignored.

Her feelings on this were mixed, and she hated it. She was horrified that he was able to find her and predict her moves, glad that he had left her alone so far, but also angry at the same. Even her own father didn't want her.

The thoughts kept plummeting in, until, suddenly, she had an epiphany. 'What would I do if he sought me out?' She questioned herself. The most horrifying part of the question was the fact that she didn't know the answer.

Izumi knew the day wasn't going to be a good one the instant she woke up in a comfortable bed rather than the floor. She had been cleaned up, most likely through the use of a Quirk, and ridded of the blood, dirt, and various other types of grime that usually constantly coated her body.

She was quickly proven right when the demon came to her room himself rather than sending an underling to do it. "Hello, Izu-chan," All For One grinned, and then picked her up by the arm like she weighed nothing. She wanted to puke when she felt her body freeze up as a Quirk was forced into it, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

"Take it back!" She screamed, flinging her hands all over the place in an attempt to land a hand on her father's body. "I don't want it!"

All For One scoffed. "You know, many people would be overjoyed at having the ability to turn their nails into pointed metal, Izu-chan. You're very spoiled, you know..." Izumi broke down into full-on sobs at the comment, her father still carrying her around like a dead weight.

Finally, they made it to a room, one which Izumi hated. It was metallic, and the door hissed open like a snake. Inside of the room... was a man. He was tied to a chair, unconscious, and... wearing a hero costume. Izumi didn't recognize him, but she wouldn't put it past the demon to find a random hero just to cause her more distress. She was thrown inside the room, and the door closed in her face as she scrambled towards it.

"Kill him," came the voice of her father. "I don't care how you do it, but I won't let you out until you do."

Izumi resisted at first. She waited past the point where she started getting hungry, where she had to go to the bathroom. She slept in there. At some point, the hero woke up, and his pleading filled her ears constantly as the man wailed and begged for his life. He was an American Hero, she found out. She didn't know how he had gotten there, but knew at the same time that the answer didn't matter.

It was only when they got to the third day that her father made it very clear that he would let her starve, and the man finally gave up on his pleading. He had managed to scoot his chair around such that he was facing Izumi, and he looked into her eyes. "Do it," he whispered to her. "They won't let me out of here anyways. Even if you don't kill me, I'll starve to death or he'll kill me himself. Just..." The man held back a choked sob. "End it fast, please."

It was Izumi's seventh birthday when she first killed someone.

Izumi had a simple coping mechanism for when she felt terrible: pretend that nothing was wrong. She shoved down her feelings, everything that told her that something was wrong, or that she was in pain. She tuned out all of the voices that sounded suspiciously like her self-consciousness perfectly fine, and she smiled more. She took the fake-it-til-you-make-it approach, and began acting how she knew she usually acted. She remembered that smiling was supposed to send endorphins or something to her body, so she made sure that whenever the situation was even close to appropriate, she smiled, she giggled, she laughed.

After all, she didn't want other people to worry about her. Aizawa seemed glad that she was doing better, and so did Hizashi. She felt bad for worrying them, but she took that guilt and shoved it down with everything else. She had made it all the way to the night before the summer training trip, and it seemed like nobody was worrying about her anymore. She was happy about that. They didn't need to worry about her, because she was, of course, perfectly fine!

She was a wonderful liar.

Chapter Text

The bus ride to the Summer Training Camp is lighthearted and joyful for many of the students on the trip. All of them bar one, actually. Izumi doesn't understand how the others, especially those who had been on I-Island with her, didn't seem to be worried about a thing or have anything wrong with them. Not that she had anything wrong with her, of course.

Her dad hasn't been talking to her at all, and she can't help but feel slightly scorned. Aizawa seems to be focused on something else, and is constantly looking at his phone and conversing with a group, most likely the other teachers on the trip. Izumi tries to look over at the phone screen once, and the black-haired man simply affixes her with a dry, unamused look. She's being a nuisance, so she stops bothering him.

The green-and-white-haired teen bites the bottom of her lip, thinking about whether or not she should try and say something, but decides against it instead.

It is when the bus stops and the group gets out that she first feels like something is wrong. The Wild, Wild Pussycats show up, and the first thing Izumi thinks of is all of their Quirks. Telepathy, Search, Pliabody, and Earth Flow. They are a rescue-oriented team, and their Quirks synchronized very well together, no doubt one of the things that led to their massive success in the world of heroism. The second thing she thinks is that it's suspicious that all of them decided to meet with the classes at their stop on the mountain, despite the fact that it was supposedly a 'rest stop', which would make it illogical for them to just have... been there just for a momentary interaction.

Conclusion? This was a trap.

Izumi subconsciously activates Float when she notices Pixie-Bob stick her hands into the ground, and quickly sees that she was right to do so as the cliffside begins to fall away and the 39 other members of Classes 1-A and 1-B are sent to the forest floor. Izumi sits in the air, suspended for a few moments, while the five gathered Pro Heroes look at her. Her dad, in particular, seemingly looks exhausted, and Izumi tries to fight off the reactionary thought that she was burdening him just by existing, having mixed amounts of success. That's a lie. She fails entirely.

"Can I-"

"I don't-"

Izumi and Pixie Bob started talking at the same time, and they both flushed as they stopped themselves. Pixie Bob nods her head, signaling Izumi to talk first, and the teen gratefully takes the opportunity. "Can I come back over there? I don't really... erm..." She trails off, not sure how to say she feels like she's beaten whatever task had just been given without seeming presumptuous.

"Problem Child..." Aizawa sighs, and, for some reason, the green-eyed girl feels a painful twinge in her heart when she hears the nickname rather than the warmth that had come from it before. "No." His eyes flash red, and Izumi feels the strain on her energy intensify as Float becomes much more difficult to maintain before it finally fails altogether, and she drops to the cliffside, which has thankfully been smoothed out by Pixie Bob so as to not cause injuries, and tumbles down to the forest floor with the rest of her classmates.

She can't help the betrayal she feels when she meets her adoptive father's Quirk-enhanced stare as she falls, only to find him staring back with nothing more than tiredness.

Izumi dusted herself off, then took a moment to breathe deeply and compose herself. Alright, maybe more than a moment, but at the end of the two-minute break she had given herself, she had her breathing under control and was staying calm, unlike most of the other students. Then, she noticed a group of students that were fighting against a mud monster and dashed over instinctively, pinkish-red energy following her leg as she crashed into the monstrosity, shattering it into pieces with a single hit.

"So cool..." Kaminari whispered as he saw the victor of the Sports Festival destroy the monster that he, Kirishima, and Ashido had been having trouble with, and voiced his thoughts to Izumi. "That was so cool, Midoriya! My lightning was doing nothing to it, and you destroyed it like it was nothing!"

"That's because it was made out of the earth," the green-haired girl replied. "It's, quite literally, grounded, so any electricity you put into it will be pretty much instantly negated." Midoriya seemed confident, as per usual, but something was... off about her. Kaminari didn't have a chance to think about it, though, as Eijiro grabbed his arm and pulled him towards another mud monster, and the electric teen got back into the fight quickly, picking up a groove as he fought against the never-ending horde of beasts.

Izumi watched this with an impassive eye, looking around the clearing and seeing replicas of the situation occurring in a lot of other places. She thought about it for a moment... 'Where are these monsters coming from? They seem to be never-ending, but they're obviously not actually living. They're entirely made of dirt... Oh.' Her hair swung around like a curtain as she called out to the others, and she had to brush away the strands as the white tips tried to make their ways into her mouth. "These monsters are made from Pixie Bob's Quirk! There's no point in fighting them!"

"Easy for you to say," one of the 1-B students snarked. "Not everyone has a flashy Quirk like yours that's suited to taking them out. We may not have to attack them, but we sure as hell have to defend ourselves!"

Zero-Zero didn't bother to respond to the statement, instead beginning to dart around the clearing and help where she could. It was obvious that the monsters were meant as distractions rather than threats, the main issue came from the fact that the other students were refusing to do anything other than use their Quirk, which made the girl grumble in annoyance. 'Take away their Quirk, and they're pretty much helpless,' she thought with minor amounts of distress. As she looked around, she saw that Bakugo, Todoroki, and Ojiro were having the best results besides her, having already cleared out their monsters and beginning their trek through the forest, with various members grouping up alongside them. More irritation filled her, and she tried to push down the massive influx of negative emotions. 'Why are they splitting up? Hell, some, no, all of them are heading in the wrong direction to get to the base of the mountain, what are they doing?!'

The ex-vigilante considered going after the groups, but a sudden amount of anger rose within her as she remembered how she had been the only person in the class to fail the exam, and she punched a tree in anger, cracking it in half and sending it toppling down. A few meters away, Ochaco, who had been considering asking the green-haired girl to team up with her, backed away slowly as she witnessed the act of violence.

Light shone through the clearing as Izumi burst away in a light red explosion of energy, the green-eyed teen beginning to make her way to the base camp far faster than any student or mud monster could ever hope to contend with.

"Shinsou? From the Sports Festival?" Green eyes peered curiously at an odd duo, a tall man with black hair and a shorter one with purple hair. "Dad knew he was going to be here, and didn't tell me..." Izumi murmured. She broke out of the treeline, and the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A's head shot towards her, and he seemed to merely sigh at the sight of the girl.

"Hey," Izumi gave the two a three-finger salute. Shouta nodded, but Shinsou simply looked at her unflinchingly. "What's up?"

Her adoptive father looked down at a stopwatch. "Well done, Problem Child. Under twenty minutes. We just got out of the car a minute or two ago." Izumi frowned at the response. Was it just her, or was he acting weird? Like... he was following a script rather than actually existing fully. It was odd, to say the least. Discomforting, really. "Lunch is in the tent over there," he pointed to a large tent behind him, "and the rooms are in the house. You get first pick since you got here first."

The green-and-white-haired teen bit her cheek, but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead, she just brushed past the man towards the tent, and said, "Thank you." As she made it to the building, she risked a look behind her. For some reason, her dad and Shinsou were still standing still, unmoving, staring at the tree line. Resentment bubbled up within Izumi, she bit her tongue and pushed the flaps aside and walked into the tent. 'Maybe I'm just hangry...? I might be overthinking things.' She tried to convince herself. Yet, as she piled food onto her plate and began to eat alone, the bitterness only grew.

On a nearby hill, overlooking, sat a young man. He was sitting on a small wooden chair, holding a paintbrush that shimmered in the setting light. Looking back at the canvas to his side, he slashed another blood-red stroke into it, smiling as he felt the heat emanate from the painting. The fire burned with a vengeance, consuming the trees in the painting with a hunger so heavy that the artist had to paint a few more for it to consume. After a few strokes, he felt satisfied with his work and released his hold on the paintbrush, the tool fading away like dust in the summer breeze.

Tinted sunglasses looked out over the landscape, and the artist sighed in contentment, going back to observing the training grounds of the Wild, Wild Pussycats. The more details he noticed, after all, the better the painting would be. He snuck a glance at the canvas, though he knew that knowing too much of what could happen could be dangerous, but delighted in the view of the forest, and the clearing within it, with four people standing within it. On one side, a lone green-haired figure. On the other, a man with white hair, another with purple, and one with blond. The young painter laughed again as he saw the reality of the situation he was painting.

The world would never stand a chance.

Chapter Text

Something was definitely wrong. Izumi could absolutely tell now, but she just couldn't understand what. People were acting strange, and it always seemed like there was an odd shimmer in the corner of her vision perpetually, but when she investigated further, there was never anything there.

"Problem Child," Ah, there was Dad. He still hadn't called her Izumi or anything like that while they had been at camp, even in private, and he showed no inclination towards wanting to talk to her or anything of the like. "Since you failed your midterm, you'll be doing extra lessons while you're here. Meet me out at the training area in ten minutes." And... he was gone.

Izumi tried to shake herself out of her funk, her green and white hair flying everywhere as the strands were tossed about. It was just past five-thirty in the morning, and the sun was only barely beginning to peek through the trees of the forest. As good a time as any to start training, the green-eyed teen supposed, and made her way to the training area.

It was a rather basic clearing, all things considered. There were some holes, some trees, a decently-sized stream running through the middle with rocks propped up throughout it, and some training dummies. Her Homeroom teacher stood there, tapping his foot impatiently. Izumi raised an eyebrow at the sight - usually, her dad was composed enough that he was able to keep a still figure in all situations. Regardless, he affixed her with an empty stare as she entered the area, and waited until she got closer to start speaking.

"Alright. Why did you fail your midterm?"

"Eh?" Izumi stared at the man. "What do you mean?"

The Pro Hero sighed and rubbed at his eyes, and, for a moment, it felt like her Dad was back to normal again, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "I see we may have trouble keeping pace today. You failed your midterm because your gut instinct is to sacrifice yourself whenever a challenge presents itself. You need to work on overcoming obstacles through different means."

"I... okay?" The word was meant to be a response, but came out as a question instead. Izumi stared at Aizawa, and he stared back at her. For a second, his expression turned confused, but then his eyes seemed to flash golden in the morning light and the confusion erased itself so quickly it was like it was never there.

"Come at me. Try to land a hit on me without using your Quirk."

Izumi frowned. "Y-yes, sensei." She slunk towards the man, the two of them rotating in a circle and inching closer and closer. Seeing a tree approaching on her opponent's left, Izumi dashed to her own left. The Pro Hero... hardly reacted, and when Izumi jumped off of a tree trunk to climb on a branch and use the momentum to shoot herself towards her foe, she... hit him.

Eraserhead shrugged the hit off like it was no big deal, but he remained sluggish. His movements were... wrong. The teen didn't know how to describe it any better than that; she had trained with her adoptive dad enough to understand how he fought, and this... wasn't it. Despite that, however, he was still a trained Pro Hero, and they spent the rest of the early morning trading blows. Izumi tried to utilize the trees more and more as she realized that, for some reason, the Hero wasn't using his Capture Scarf, allowing her to keep an advantage in mobility and range.

It was nearly nine by the time they stopped, and both were sweating heavily. Finally, again, a glimmer of Aizawa seemed to poke through. "Nice job, kiddo," he smiled tiredly. The bags under his eyes were even more pronounced than usual, interestingly enough, but he quickly turned away and walked towards the main housing quarters, and the girl was left alone. Curling a tendril of hair around her finger, Izumi considered the circumstances. Finally, she came to the conclusion that she didn't know exactly what was going on, and that the best idea was to just keep an eye out for anything unusual.

Easier said than done, though. It truly seemed like the world was turning itself upside down, and she had no clue why.

"That's a pretty painting, Apelles," a deep voice rumbled. "I don't know why you don't just paint us grabbing the child and killing everyone else."

"Magne," the painter greeted. "I don't think you need my help to do that. Besides, that's not what I'm supposed to paint."

The woman scoffed. "Yes. You paint 'the future', or so you say. Pretty sure the big guy is the only one who knows what you actually do."

A paintbrush twirled in the air. "Well, that's just not true, good lady." An eyebrow raised. "I paint a future. Whether or not it bears fruit is all up to fate."

At least one thing remained constant: Bakugo. The blond, for better or for worse, acted no differently than he had before. Perhaps since they were allowed to let loose while they were training together, he let his anger out a bit more than usual, but overall, he was still his normal... cheery self.

"Die, you fucking extra!" An explosion resounded just to the left of Izumi's head as she ducked, dodging to the right. She went low, placing her right hand on the ground to stabilize herself as she extended her front leg into a kick, trying to swipe the boy's legs from underneath him. In response, the hero student had a crackle of heat emanate from his left hand, propelling him upwards and sending a wave of heat into the girl's shoulder, who winced at the sudden influx of pain.

Bakugo spun in the air due to only making an explosion in one palm, but waited until he was in the perfect orientation before firing explosions from both palms, angling them upward to send himself flying down at Izumi, both feet forward. The girl huffed and rolled backwards, wincing at the pain in her shoulder as she did so. Still in the rolling position, she planted both hands palm-down in the dirt before launching herself with Repulsion at her opponent, who had bent his knees in order to lessen the impact of landing on the ground, pushing him back as she landed a clean kick to his chest.

The blond coughed as he recovered, a slight wheeze in his voice as he snarled, "Deku! Useless piece of shit!"

"It's not nice to call people names," Izumi growled. "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words'll only make me want to beat your ass even more."

If the red-eyed hero student thought the sentence was unusual, he didn't show it. Instead, he just launched himself at the girl, pushing out more and more explosions as he saw her lift her arms to stop him. Repulsion fought against him for a second, but it could only do so much against his momentum. After a tense few moments, he broke through, slamming Izumi in the stomach with his head before following up with a speed-boosted uppercut, which sent the girl flying. "That's what you get for trying to block me, you shitty villain." The exercise's theme was heroes versus villains, but it was difficult to tell if Bakugo was taking the bit seriously or if that was just his normal speech.

Regardless of either, the words still made Izumi freeze up. I never thought I could be a hero. She hit the ground without tensing, taking the full brunt of the second impact. Bakugo was in her face a second later, and the pink-and-red tendrils of electricity signifying One For All sprang into existence as the girl flung herself out of the way. She sprang to her feet, and-

A whistle blew. "Zero-Zero-" No not her that wasn't her she wasn't  "-is out of bounds! Katsuki Bakugo, hero name pending," Tiger read off of the sheet, "wins!" Zero-Zero she was Izumi she was 

"-useless," Katsuki scoffed. "Give me an actual fight next time." Izumi shakily stood up, her mind racing, her heart pumping.

Yes, that was right. She was useless.

Words flashed to the forefront of Izumi's memory, a conversation from what felt like a lifetime ago. Back when she was just an orphan on the streets, just a vigilante doing her best to change her fate.

"I've been telling myself all my life that all I'm destined to do is be evil or die," She had told Aizawa. An image appeared in her mind as she walked on autopilot out of the ring, one of a wounded, bleeding man with golden hair, discarded and laying on the ground like a broken toy.

The green-haired teen raised her head, and the girl didn't know if she was even awake any more. She saw what always appeared in her nightmares, after all:

Red eyes, and a menacing grin.

Chapter Text

"No, no, work on your control!" Tiger growled at Izumi. "Tree limbs will only bend so far! If you're not trying to hit something, do not hit it."

Izumi grit her teeth. "How the hell am I supposed to bounce off of it without hitting it?"

The Wild, Wild Pussycats member massaged his forehead. "Do you stomp on the ground every time you walk?"

"No, but I'm not jumping for every step." The green-haired teen felt her snark that usually only came out around Aizawa bubbling to the surface. They had been working on this for over an hour now, and still weren't making any progress.

"But if the ground is soft, you must adjust to that. You probably do it unconsciously, and you must learn to apply the same thing here. You are not trying to bounce into the branch, you're trying to just bounce to it."

Hot-pink energy swirled around the girl as she let One For All flow through her body, then pounced towards a tree seemingly at random. She landed on it feet-first, but the limb was torn away from the trunk, the hero student flying with it, only the bruises from the past attempts teaching her how to maneuver to stay standing. "Those are the same thing. I need to make it to the branch, I can't just... fall short."

A sigh echoed throughout the clearing. "All Might is a teacher at Yuuei, right? Your Quirks are similar," Izumi held her breath instinctively, "so it might be worth taking inspiration from him. Certainly you've seen how sometimes he moves slower when moving in certain places, yes?" Izumi, ever the hero fan-girl her posters were still in a ball nodded. "He might have to adjust based on the setting he's in. It might mean jumping with less force, or it might be choosing to jump on something a bit more out of the way that's sturdier."

The girl considered this. "So... I should try jumping off of the trunks instead?"

Tiger brightened, the expression a bit odd on the serious man's face. "Yes! That's one option. Another is simply slowing down your movement to a reasonable speed that still gets you to where you want to go in a good time, which is also good for conserving energy in fights. The way you fight your classmates is good for quick encounters, but if you were fighting multiple villains, or, more likely, working for a full shift, you wouldn't be able to keep that up the entire time. If you want to minimize collateral damage, moderation is key. Or else Rescue Heroes will have to be called in..." The man's face drooped again, giving Izumi the impression that he had been called in to clean up after a lot of heroes. "Now, go on, try it!"

Twin exclamations of anger echoed throughout the forest as a tree fell down, its trunk fractured in two.

Izumi stumbled out of the clearing, making her way over to the dining tent where a small amount of pasta remained. Someone had obviously cooked for the group, but the rest had already eaten by now. 'And none of them gave a second thought about me, I suppose...'  The green-and-white-haired teen thought to herself. They would be doing some sort of 'scare event' tonight, and Izumi needed to conserve what little energy she had left for that, so she went back to her room to lay down. The room she had chosen, since she had first pick, had a nice view of the surrounding forest.

The sun streamed in through the window, giving the girl a clear view of her classmates practicing, so the hero student closed the blinds, leaving the room dark.

It felt like the instant she collapsed on her bed that she was waking up in a different place. Her dreamscape. She recognized it by the inky blackness, but it felt... different. Something was wrong. She didn't know how correct she was until she instinctively dodged out of the way of a blow, only to have her legs swept out from under her from a different direction. She landed on nothingness with her back, feeling the impact like a punch, and had the breath knocked out of her. She rolled to her feet...

Just in time to avoid a knife thudding right where her hand had been. Izumi shot backwards in surprise, trying and failing to call up One For All. She wasn't in reality here, of course she didn't have her Quirks! The lapse in activity almost got her skewered, allowing Izumi to see what was attacking her.

It was Stain, but not quite. His eyes were just milky white, no irises or pupils to speak of. Bright red veins pulsated throughout his body, an unnatural color. It was much brighter than crimson, and was giving off light, and Izumi was uncomfortable looking at it. Beyond that, the villain's katana... was dripping with blood, making Izumi's heart jump into her throat.

Despite this, the ninja-like ex-vigilante gave her no room to process anything, leading with another slash that cut open her arm and barely missing a stab aimed at her midsection. Izumi hated to admit it, but, without Quirks, without a weapon, she stood no chance. So, she started running. Her feet thudded against the non-existent ground, and as she made distance, Izumi realized something: the world around her wasn't all blackness. Red streaks, like the ones she had seen on Stain's body, were appearing like cracks in the sky. It was difficult to tell, given how her head was bobbing as she sprinted, but it almost seemed like the jagged cuts were pulsating, as if they were... alive. 

In what was becoming what felt like a common occurrence, as soon as she came to this realization, the teen was refused the option to deal with it, instead tripping over nothing as if it was a classic horror movie.

But, no. She hadn't tripped over nothing. Green eyes glanced behind her, and she stifled a scream as she gazed upon the dead body of Daigoro, his outstretched legs being what she had tripped on. Her breathing sped up faster. 'Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit-' She looked around farther, and this time, she truly did scream. The other six's bodies were scattered around the area, all in various states of injuries. The First seemed to have suffered the least before dying, only taking a single stab, while the Second and Third seemed to have fought hard.

A sudden movement caught Izumi's attention, and she twitched over in order to defend against it. Contrary to her expectations, however, it was not Stain who she saw, but the still-living body of Nana Shimura.

"Nana!" Izumi gasped, running over and kneeling next to the woman. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! What happened?"

The ex-hero's eyes sought out Izumi's, pain flaring through them with painful obviousness. "I-... Invasion..." The woman finally gasped. "The red... Strengthened..." She coughed, blood flying out of her mouth. "Defend... yourself. Stain is..." Her breaths started to become gasps. "... Not the... true... danger... you-" The sentence was cut off with a gasp as a katana pierced through Nana's chest as Stain finally caught up to the duo.

Why he hadn't gone for her first, Izumi didn't know. How he had caught up so fast, she also didn't know. But, it didn't matter anymore. A scream of anger rather than pain echoed through the air, and her hand shot out, grasping the villain's spirit by the neck. Immediately, his movement stilled, and adrenaline-fueled strength allowed Izumi to push the man to his knees. As if sentient, the lines of red rushed into Izumi's hand, flowing into her body like an old friend. They made her feel good. No...

They made her feel strong.

As the lines left Stain's body, he started to lose his color, quite literally. It started with his shoes, which turned to gray, and then his legs followed, his hands starting the transformation too. The grayscale continued up the body, where the two sources then met and began creeping up the neck, the face beginning to lose its shading as well. In an odd twist of fate, Stain's eyes chose this moment to reappear, the red irises shaking as they did. Izumi stared into them curiously, red meeting red as she realized that the emotion present in them was something unexpected: fear.

Her resolve didn't waver, though. The color sapping continued, and then it finished. The instant it did, the last modicum of tints and hues leaving the man's body, he simply... disappeared. He had been there one moment, and was gone the next. The sky did not change its tortured appearance, however. If anything, the red lines were only building up faster. Izumi knew without a doubt she had just destroyed Stain's influence on her mind, and didn't want to think about what that meant for her. Struck by a sudden thought, she turned back to Nana to check on her, and-

Izumi shot awake to the sound of an alarm.

"Fuck!" She swore. She hadn't gotten to check on Nana. 'What do I have an alarm for- Oh, fuck, the Test of Courage!' 

It wasn't dark outside despite the time, and Izumi immediately realized that something was wrong.

Sure, she was running on five hours of sleep, a granola bar, a pitiful amount of pasta, six water bottles, and metaphysical adrenaline, but she could definitely see that the forest was on fire, red flames licking up trees and releasing smoke as the carbon burned. Izumi did her best to put aside her inner turmoil and focus on the present.

It didn't matter what she had done, or who she was. She wanted to help people, and somewhere in front of her were people that needed saving.

And that was all she needed to know.

Chapter Text

Katsuki Bakugo… was not stupid. He knew that he sometimes seemed like a brute to some of the fucking extras, but that was just 'cause they weren't worth spending his energy on. He could beat them with a hand tied behind his back and one of his eyes closed. Fuck that, no, he could beat them with both eyes closed.

But, regardless, he observed things quickly, and so he noticed when the fucking Freckle Whore was hardly around anyone else in camp. He put together the dots; for some reason, while he had passed the exam, she had failed. Even though they had worked together, even though she had done her part, the harder part, perfectly, and all he did was run towards the exit like a coward...

Even though she was stronger, she failed, and he passed. Because of his plan.

It was difficult to explain why it made him so angry. It made him feel like a failure, sure, but that wasn't an alien feeling to him. No, he also felt anger, that was for certain, but... he wasn't sure why he was so angry. He needed to let it out, somehow, though, so the spars with his classmates sufficed for that.

'Deku' slipped out of his mouth naturally when he looked at the green hair, and he could never tell how she felt when he said it. He knew, logically, no one would be fine with being called useless, especially not someone as strong as Iz-Deku. The insults, the anger... they flowed, because he knew she could take his power. He remembered how weak he had felt during their spars before the Sports Festival, when he had felt like he couldn't even use his Quirk, when she had all but played with him during the final round. And then... she got even stronger afterward and he still stood by the fact that the 'mutation' story was absolute bullshit, but he didn't know what else could've possibly happened, and he just felt like the gap between them was just growing larger and larger.

Maybe that was why he belittled her so much when he beat her in their spar, even though he knew she was tired and hardly using her Quirk. That didn't matter, though. He was going to be the Number One Hero, goddamnit, and that meant that all of the competition needed to just go and die!

Tiny explosions sparked in his hand, his Quirk responding to his emotions, bringing him back to reality. A familiar scent flooded his nose, but this time, it wasn't his own doing: smoke. He looked up, seeing nothing, but he began sprinting forward towards an unknown destination. After only a few moments, his intuition was proven correct as the telltale warm light of fire began to rear its head as he progressed farther into the forest, and he could tell instantly that it wasn't natural. For one, there was nothing to cause it out here. Secondly, perhaps slightly more important, was the presence of a masked man standing in the epicenter of the fire, his palms alight with flames as he spun around with red, flaming whips, spreading the damage to the foliage.

This wasn't just an accident, not just a random citizen letting loose in a secluded area. No... this was a villain.

Bakugo grinned as his palms sparked. "Die!"

Shouto Todoroki... was not stupid. He had been trained in combat scenarios since he was four years old, and he pursued excellence in his studies he wanted to be first, not had to at Yuuei, and academics came naturally to him. So, when the world around him was acting abnormally, he resolved to keep an eye on things. Eraserhead had been distant while they had been at the training camp, and he didn't bother pretending he didn't notice Midoriya's more difficult schedule.

He woke up at the crack of dawn daily, an acquired trait, and she had been up already training both days at camp. He resolved to make sure that she was alright as best as he could; he filled a container with pasta at lunch before their other classmates could eat up all of the food, and kept it warm with his right side, resolving to give it to her when he saw her next. But... she never appeared, and then the world caught on fire.

Despite this failure, however, he still worried about her. And, this meant that when, while running around and looking for classmates and villains in the forest, he discovered a painting that included her on an isolated hill that painted the forest as it began to blaze, he was understandably concerned.

He investigated more closely; he took a glance at the forest behind him, then a much more urgent glance at the painting. The tree types lined up, and so did the fire. So... Who were the four people? One was certainly Midoriya; it looked like she had had the most effort put into her, the most detail... But, the others-

"A masterpiece, isn't it?" A voice drawled from behind Shouto. His hair whipped around in the air as he quickly turned to face the origin of a voice. A young man wearing a loose suit stood, holding a translucent paintbrush in his hand as he stood, his shoulder against a tree. The paintbrush seemed to be made out of golden light, and he could see the man's hand through it.

"You painted this." It was a statement, not a question. The man's smirk was undeniable as Todoroki spoke, further cementing the sentence as the truth.

A subtle nod as the smile grew was affirmative enough. "It's quite marvelous, don't you think? The amount of time working on the minute details, just to have them all appear before my eyes..." The man crooned. "Simply breathtaking."

The red-and-white-haired boy simply got into a fighting stance. "Sure," he replied.

The artist's face fell, turning from gleeful to disappointed. "Oh, you're one of those people, one who doesn't truly understand art..." He sighed, pushing himself off the tree by shrugging his shoulder as he stood up, his eyes closed as he pressed his rose-gold tinted glasses closer to his face. "That's fine." He twirled his paintbrush within his fingers, the tip tracing a golden line that drew itself in the air as the paintbrush moved, then slowly faded. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open as he grabbed the handle solidly and pointed the tip directly at Todoroki. "Become fuel for my art."

Izumi Midoriya... was maybe a little bit stupid. She had just run into the forest, and she had only taken a few dozen steps before Danger Sense poked through the haze of her mind to alert her of danger to her left. She instinctively dodged, but nothing came her way, and that was when she realized just how distant the Quirk felt. A danger was present, but... perhaps not to her.

One For All burst into existence, but almost immediately dimmed in intensity, and Izumi suddenly felt even more tired than she had before she had summoned it. The electricity that surrounded her body was red and... black? She did her best to ignore it, trying to push through the feeling of dread that was seeping into her alongside One For All. Someone was in danger, and she would do her best to help them. Winds picked up as she pushed herself, pulling at tree limbs with Attraction to force herself even faster, moving like a slingshot. She came to a break in the tree line, as well as a small mountain. She knew where this was, vaguely, since she could see it from her room.

As she got to the last tree, she flung herself upwards by using Repulsion on the ground, sending her flying into the air. As she made her way up, Danger Sense got stronger until she finally came face-to-face with the thing activating it: a large, muscular man. As she laid eyes on him, the Quirk seemed to sputter, her senses flitting unnaturally as it turned off and on rapidly, before finally fading. Her heart ached at the thought of losing it, but she was determined to push through the turmoil. With the forest on fire to her back, and a villain to her front... she had a job to do.

The teen tried to activate Float, but nothing sprung to the surface as she did, and she quickly began falling. She took a deep breath, then bent her knees and rolled on the ground, springing off the ground and pushing into a solid kick that landed on the villain's neck, sending him stumbling two steps.

"Oh, a newcomer?" The man groaned, rolling his neck, a snap echoing as he rolled his tendons. "That's good. Crushing that kid was going to be too easy on his own." Izumi looked to her right to see the kid that the Wild, Wild Pussycats were taking care of. She didn't know his name, but she did know that he looked scared and had been crying, even though he was putting on a brave face.

A punch came out of nowhere, sending her flying across the mountaintop. One For All had protected her from the worst of the damage, but the lightning sputtered as the Quirk struggled to sustain the energy it needed. A small tear slipped down Izumi's eye at the thought of losing the Quirk, the memory of the seven dead previous users laying on the ground pounding her heart into mush. Slowly, the girl got to her feet to see the villain smirking.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off of the battle, girlie," he warned her. "I wouldn't want you to make this too easy."

Izumi cracked her knuckles as her eyes began to swirl with both emotions and colors. "Oh, fuck off."

Chapter Text

Katsuki gasped as he barely managed to dodge out of the way of another flaming attack. "Still fighting, hero? Surprised you haven't gone and run yet, lil' kiddie..." 

"Shut the fuck up!" The teen growled. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you!"

The villain clicked his tongue. "Now, that's not a very heroic thing to say, is it? Besides, you can't even touch me," the villain taunted. "Not unless you want to blow up, I guess." Flames were omnipresent around the man, wreathing his hands like gloves. "Read about you, I did. Somethin' funky 'bout your sweat, or somethin' like that. Could say it's... explosive."

"Die!" Bakugo screamed as he sent another explosion towards the man. As with the last few, the criminal simply pointed a hand at the droplets of sweat and flames spewed forth, detonating the nitroglycerin far away from where it could do any damage to him. The blond didn't stop there, though, bursting forward with explosions from his feet before forcing himself downwards with more explosions, landing a solid kick to the villain's collarbone, sending him crumpling to a knee, and the hero student proceeded to kick off the man to jump backwards.

The man didn't move for a few moments, and for a fraction of a second, Katsuki allowed himself to believe that he had knocked the man out. Then, the laughter started. It wasn't mirthful, though. Rage, pure, undiluted hatred flowed through it as the red-haired villain raised his head, his eyes gleaming gold in anger. "You piece'a shit..." The man grumbled. "No more play time."

With a speed previously unshown, the man dashed forward. Katsuki leapt up and exploded to gain height, but the villain jumped and caught up with him quickly. The flames around his right hand separated like a gaping maw, allowing the man to grip Bakugo's neck without immediately roasting him to death. The teen struggled, but the heat intensified, and any sweat he sent out immediately exploded, hurting him.

The hand, which he realized now was gloved, covered his mouth so he couldn't scream or breathe, and his attempts at struggling were ultimately futile. His vision began to fade, and, as it did, he saw his attacker pick up something from his waist and hold it to his mouth. "Bait secured," he muttered into it.

The world went dark.

The artist nimbly dodged out of the way of another one of Shouto's attacks. "You're so exposed..." The man sighed. "I suppose this is what happens when you live such a dull life. You fail to see the things that are so obvious to one such as me."

The red-and-white-haired boy's only response was to shoot a stream of ice at the artist. Faster than expected, however, the villain curved around it and made his way over to the son of Endeavor. The hero student attempted to jump back, but the uneven ground made it difficult to get any meaningful distance. Then, all of the sudden, his world exploded in pain.

"Oh, that look..." The villain murmured. "So... despairing... Show me more." The pain increased as the golden paintbrush was dug deeper into Todoroki's bicep. As he struggled to get free, he noticed the paintbrush slowly changing from translucent to opaque, a red substance welling up inside of it. 'Is... that my blood?' He questioned, then realized there would be a better time to figure that out. He twisted his other palm outwards, and a burst of fire was expounded from it, forcing his foe to retreat slightly, the pain disappearing as the paintbrush left his body.

The hero-in-training raised a hand to cauterize the wound, but a brief glance down confirmed that no such wound existed. "What the hell...?" He wasn't expecting a response, but he got one anyway.

"My Quirk is called Lifescape, you see," the villain was kind enough to explain. "It's an extremely powerful Quirk, but also a pitifully weak one. I can influence fate, to a degree. Make an outcome more likely. But, to do that, I need some amount of life force... Life force, in the form of blood. I learned early on that I couldn't use my own blood; if I drained myself, I was usually too weak to paint for a while afterward. So, naturally, I sought out... alternate sources."

"You mean you killed people," Todoroki beat through the bullshit.

The artist merely shrugged. "I suppose I did, yes. But, their lives... they were so meaningless, you see. They were sacrifices, sacrifices to a better society. A society I plan on building. I joined the League because I yearn for the power to make the fantasies I create become reality."

"And setting a forest on fire helps you make a better world?"

"Oh, poor, blind fool..." The man muttered. "You can not even begin to comprehend what goes on around you. The burning of the forest is relatively unimportant, you see. No, what's important is..." The villain trailed off, shaking his head and pushing his glasses back up his nose. "No, I'm getting too far ahead of myself. Now, prepare for-"

Shouto socked the man in the face, forgoing his Quirks entirely. "You talk too much," the boy remarked, his sentence short as usual.

The artist growled as he regained his bearings. "I'm not a violent man, but I'm going to enjoy tearing you to shreds."

Izumi socked the villain in the jaw again, relying once again on Telekinesis to propel her around the area. But, she knew she couldn't do this forever. "Kid, run!" She yelled behind her. Without hesitation, she heard the scuffling of feet behind her, and she hoping to any deity that was real that the child had run away. If she got beat... She wanted to at least buy him time.

"How selfless," the muscular man mocked. "Giving your life so he can run away, just like his parents did. How funny. They took my eye, you know? I think I'll crush both of his before I send him to them."

Izumi didn't know the backstory, so she tried her best not to react to the statement. A plan hatching in her mind, she took note of the mechanical eye. Slowly, confidently, she pointed towards the swaying man. "I'll beat you," she proposed.

The villain, who had previously been bouncing on his heels as he prepared to pounce, froze in place to stare at the girl. "How funny. What are you going to do, kiss-AGH!" He yelled out in pain as his mechanical eye was torn out of his head by Telekinesis, flying into Izumi's outstretched hand, where she caught the flying object. "You bitch!" He howled. "I'm going to beat you into the fucking dirt," he swore.

"Stop showboating and live up to your damn words," the green-and-white-haired teen responded, lacking the energy to put up with the man's bullshit. The one-eyed criminal roared in anger as he pounced towards Izumi, who crouched down, shifting her mass as the behemoth of a man got closer... before using Repulsion on the ground to send her flying up, at which point she stabbed the stiff metal on the back of the artificial eye into the criminal's shoulder blade as he passed underneath her, pulling the faux organ out, blood dripping off of it as she did.

The hero-in-training landed on the villain's back, using him like a springboard as she kicked off of him, sending the unstable hulking mass into the ground. A shout of rage was let out. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" He exclaimed. "I'll tear your fucking fingers out, and I'll rip your fucking arms off-" He shuddered for a second, and then froze, his eye shaking in anger, confusion, and... fear as he looked at Izumi.

"No... No, you won't," the girl murmured softly as she removed the blood-stained wires from her mouth, Bloodcurdle activating as she consumed the blood. "I would say that it was a good try, but... quite frankly, you can go fuck yourself." She walked over to the man, whose eye was vibrating with intense emotions as she stared into it calmly. "Begone." With practiced, calm precision, she placed on hand on the man's forehand, and, with the other, she stabbed the artificial eye into the real one, pushing it through until she knew it reached his brain, killing him quickly. A far better fate than he deserved. His breathing disappeared, and his heartbeat faded, and his corpse fell to the ground, limp.

A gasp echoed, and Izumi whirled around, horrified as she stared into the shocked eyes of the kid. "You... you killed him..." He whispered. Izumi opened her mouth to speak, to defend herself, but before she could, the boy's facial expression shifted into a determined one. "Good." He said. "Good."

Before she could say anything in response to this apparent approval, the kid ran off towards the campsite like he should've done before, which would've saved her from that interaction. Immediately after, a voice popped up from the radio that was attached to the corpse's waist. "Yep. His Explosion Quirk was shit against mine, just like ya said. Bringing him back to you now. Gonna send up the signal?"

"Fine." A different voice came from the radio, one that Izumi recognized, and it made her blood run cold. 'Tomura Shigaraki... That means that this is the League of Villains' doing, then. Maybe... my dad's? That's not good.' The sky brightened up for a moment, a beam of purple opening up into the sky for a second. The green-eyed teen memorized its location.

"Signal received," came the first voice again. "I'll be there soon."

'And so will I,' the hero student thought to herself. 'I'll save you, Bakugo. I promise.'

Shouto dodged out of the way of a palm strike, and sent a barrage of ice into the artist's chest. A radio sparked to life, infiltrating the confrontation. "Bait secured," a man spoke. "This should be good enough to draw in the girl, right? That Explosive kid?"

A new voice responded. "Yep. She should come running after him. Was the capture swift? It's imperative you're not followed."

"Yep. His Explosion Quirk was shit against mine, just like ya said. Bringing him back to you now. Gonna send up the signal?"

"Fine." A beam of purple shot into the sky, and the artist's head craned to view it, and he hummed.

"Signal received. I'll be there soon."

"Guess that means I have to finish this up soon, hrm?" The man considered. "It's a shame. I was enjoying playing with you, a little bit. However, my revelation proceeds to fruition, and I want to be there to witness it. "

Ice began to pool in Todoroki's hand. "I was about to say the same thing."

Izumi raced through the forest, but her exhaustion was starting to reach its peak. She was tired, and she knew it. If she had One For All still, this wouldn't be a problem, but-

No. She couldn't afford to get caught up on it. She had to keep pushing forward, for Katsuki.

She broke into the clearing, skidding as her feet slid on the grass. There was a cleared ring of trees and grass, which meant that this area was safe from the fire being spread, and it was very easy to see that it was intentional. In the center of the circle was a small basecamp with multiple people in it. She recognized some of them. First was Tomura Shigaraki, as well as the purple man who had accompanied him to the USJ. A large person joined them, holding a large object covered with a sheet. Then, there was a man dressed like a magician. Next to them was a red-haired middle-aged man with an unbuttoned shirt, as well as fire surrounding both of his hands.

And, on the ground next to them, lying unconscious... was Katsuki Bakugo.

Izumi growled instinctively at the sight of her injured classmate.

"Ah, there she is, the lady of the hour!" The magician practically sang. "Izumi Midoriya, we've been waiting on you."

The hero student bared her teeth. "Did All For One put you up to this?"

Tomura pushed himself off of the rock he was leaning on and began to walk towards Izumi. "No, no he didn't. In fact, he doesn't even know we're here. But, you see, I'm interested in you, Izumi Midoriya."

"Joy," the girl muttered dryly.

Interestingly enough, however... The villain turned his back to her. A dangerous tactic, but almost certainly a trap, so the green-and-white-haired hero-in-training waited and observed more before he acted. Then... he began to lift his shirt. "Zero... One." Shigaraki announced, reading off the imprint on his lower back, the branding practically a mirror of Izumi's own. "I am... the best. It is my right to become the next god of the Underworld, and I have decided that I want you to be on my side when I do it. All For One stands no chance against the both of us," he turned back around to face Izumi, "and I've come to realize that you pose-" The blue-haired man's words cut off as the breath was stolen out of him... quite literally.

A hand protruded from the villain's chest, and purple goop began to appear behind the young man, slowly forming into the shape of two men. "Oh, Tomura..." A pitying voice spoke deeply. "You're so... childish, sometimes. Did you truly believe that I wouldn't know about your little... forays regarding my daughter?" All For One chastised, retracting his hand, letting Shigaraki stumble forward. "I believe I told you that if you tried to kill my daughter, I would kill you. I take my promises..." A twisted smile graced the Leader of the Underworld's face, his white hair waving gently in the wind. "Very seriously."

"S... Sensei..." Tomura gasped out, blood dribbling out of his mouth as he spoke, mirroring the crimson spouting from the cavity in his chest. He turned to his adoptive father, the one who had taken him in after he destroyed his own family, who had offered him a home, had offered him power, had offered him the world... "Why?"

"You're no longer necessary," the man replied simply, emotionlessly. To him, it was simply a fact. There was nothing tied to it other than the truth. And, with that response, Tomura's shaking, red eyes began to glaze over as his knees began to shudder before buckling, sending the villain slumping to the ground, looking up at his surrogate father. "Goodbye, Tenko." The blue-haired criminal slumped to the side, his eyes unseeing, his heart unbeating, the villain... dead.

Hisashi Midoriya cleared his throat as he looked impassively at the body of the underling that he had groomed for nearly a decade to succeed his empire. "Well, now that that's done..." He looked forward. "Izu-chan, my daughter, it's nice to finally see you again."

"You're more resilient than I expected," the artist replied, panting with exertion.

Shouto pulled a line out of his father's book. "And you're exactly as disappointing as I presumed."

The villain rolled his eyes. "And yet, you've failed to take me out yet. In a battle of endurance, I'll last longer - you've been throwing ice around everywhere, after all."

A rare smile graced Todoroki's face. "For someone who claims to see 'the bigger picture', you're quite short-sighted."

"Eh?" The black-haired criminal's nose flared as his head darted around. "Wait, the ice-"

"Succumb," the peppermint-haired hero student commanded, placing his hand onto the ground. There was nowhere for his foe to run; ice blocked him in on all sides. A crystalline lattice sprung from the ground, encasing the villain in a freezing prison of spikes before a solid block began to form around him, keeping him stuck in place for Shouto to walk up to. "I don't like those glasses." He didn't know where the sentence came from, but it made him smile as he punched the villain right in the face, cracking his rose-tinted glasses and knocking the man out, sending him flying out of his ice prison to land on the ground.

The hero student waited for a few moments... but nothing felt different. 'Shouldn't his Quirk have worn off now that he's unconscious?' He questioned to himself. He investigated the man closer, only to see that the golden paintbrush was still in existence. Heterochromatic eyes widened as his head shot around at the painting still standing, untouched, on the other side of mountaintop. "Shit," he swore, and began sprinting over.

A purple-haired man that Izumi also recognized, Lex, stood to her father's side, his face impassive.

"Being a hero was never cut out for you, daughter," All For One stated with a sigh. "I think it's time for you to quit this foolishness."

Izumi grit her teeth. "I am going to be a hero," she declared. "I want to help people."

Her father chuckled softly. "Help people... Hah." He took a deep breath. "Tell me, Izu-chan... did you help your mother when you killed her?" The world froze around her. "Did you try and lie to yourself and say it was my choice, my decision, my fault?" Red eyes peered into uncertain green eyes. "No... Izumi, you are my blood. You share my genes. You can see it even in your hair." Izumi glanced down at her hair, taking note of something she had been seeing but passing over for days now - white streaks, slowly climbing up into her green hair. White streaks, just like her father's. "You can not deny it, Izumi. Evil is in your DNA. Destruction lives in your blood." The world seemed to blur until the only thing Izumi could see were her father's crimson eyes. "The only thing you were ever going to be, Izu-chan... was a villain."

Todoroki made it to the painting, tearing it off the easel and onto the ground. He took a deep breath, and pointed his hand at it. He still didn't understand what the painting was showing, but all he knew is that the villains wanted it to happen, and so he was determined ot stop it. Flames began to spew forward, pushing into the painting. A golden light surrounded it, repelling the flames. In response, Todoroki poured more power into it, tapping into the well that was his source of fire, and pushed out even more flames, the flames beginning to shift in color. They started at red, then moved towards orange, then towards yellow, and got paler, and paler... eventually turning white.

The strain on his Quirk was evident, but Todoroki fought through the pain that was resulting. His classmates- No, his friends needed him to succeed. So, he put more power into his Quirk, and waited.

"Come with me, Zero-Zero," All For One held his hand out, smiling at her. "If you just come with me, your friend will get to go home safe. That's the only way he'll get out of this situation safe. I don't know if I can stop all of them, after all." The white-haired villain waved his other hand at the assorted other villains in the area.

"... You promise?" Izumi asked. Teeth flashed as the Leader of the Criminal Underworld grinned.

"I promise."

The green-eyed girl took a tentative step forward. "And... you won't torture me or anything?"

"Of course not, Izu-chan," Hisashi replied with a smile. "After all... You're incredibly valuable to me."

The youngest child of the Number Two Hero in Japan grit his teeth as his hands started to burn due to their proximity to the heat he was pouring out. But, still, he couldn't stop. He refused. The golden barrier shrank, shrank... shrank...

Shattered.

The flames rushed forward, consuming the painting with a vengeance, eating it up within moments. And, around him...

A crack seemed to echo across the sky, and a golden light that had become so normal that Izumi had become so adjusted to it that she didn't notice it existed shimmered out of existence.

Despite this, neither father nor daughter paid this any mind. With all of the things that had been set in motion, after all, the destruction of the painting only meant so much.

Zero-Zero took All For One's outstretched hand, and, with a shallow breath, whispered only one word.

"Deal."

Chapter Text

It was silent for a moment.

"Well, what are we going to do?" A deep voice spoke up, aggressively filling the gap in conversation.

All at once, the room burst into a cacophony of shouts and loud opinions before a new voice made itself known above all others. "That's enough!" All Might boomed, taking all the wind out of the sails of the others in the room. Even amongst the many of the Top 100 Heroes who were present, nearly all of them were young enough that they had lived almost their entire lives under the wing of All Might's overwhelming heroic presence, and were more than willing to listen to Japan's Symbol of Peace. "Ahem," he cleared his throat, "thank you. To reiterate, action is necessary. A young girl, a student, has been kidnapped, and there is a villainous force powerful enough to overwhelm the combined might of many of Yuuei's heroes and with the intelligence-gathering capability to discover a supposedly-hidden retreat."

"You want us to save a murderer," Grudge, a Pro Hero ranked somewhere in the sixties, replied. "You saw what she did to that huge brute of a criminal, did you not? She ripped out his eye and then shoved it into his brain." Multiple people in the room shuddered as that fact was repeated. "Never mind her behavior during your illustrious Sports Festival. Stepping on kids like they're stones in her path, never mind her vigilantism charge. That girl was a villain right from the start. More likely than her being kidnapped, maybe she's the one who helped orchestrate it and then escaped with her villain friends. You're trying to figure out how this villain group found your little summer camp? There's your answer right there."

Yagi looked furious, opening his mouth, but was beaten to the punch. "How dare you? Based on the witness testimony of not one, but two other students, two of my students," Shouta Aizawa emphasized, "the raid was done with the specific intent to get her into the League of Villain's hands. One was used as bait, and the other one tricked one of the villains into explaining the plan to him, and held evidence of a Quirk-based method into encouraging the interaction to occur."

"Which ever so curiously no longer exists," Grudge replied icily. "Maybe they're in on it, too. It really does seem like you guys have a security problem, Yuuei teacher."

Thankfully, preventing further conflict, a member of the police force spoke up. "A Lie Detecting Quirk was used; the children were telling the truth, and neither of them had advanced knowledge of the attack. Additionally, the villain's Quirk was cross-referenced, and he quickly confessed to his role in the plot with great pride. It seems like there is a greater villainous force at work than the ones present at the USJ."

Grudge looked like he had something else to say, but instead crossed his arms to scoff. His hesitance had already done its job, though, and other heroes were expressing their own doubt. "Right... That 'Tomura Shigaraki'... he was found dead at the scene, too, wasn't he? Which implies that there's someone even stronger than him. He was an A-Ranked villain, and the way it looks, he was killed without being able to fight back. How strong would someone have to be in order to do something like that to a villain that's that strong?"

"Stronger than me," All Might muttered.

The room stilled.

"Repeat that, please?" Ryukyu asked softly, tilting her head as if she couldn't possibly believe what she had just heard.

"That villain... would be stronger than me. Is stronger than me." All Might began to shuffle, standing up to his impossibly tall form. He rolled up his shirt to show the light scarring that still remained from his fight against All For One. "I got this scar more than half a decade ago, in a massive showdown against a villain. That villain is the same one responsible for this, if I had to guess."

One of the lower-ranked heroes frowned. "Wait, but if you beat them, how are they out and about still? Did they get broken out in a prison break?"

"... he didn't beat them," Edgeshot muttered softly. "That's what you were implying, no, All Might-san? That's how you know the villain is stronger than you, and that's why you've organized this whole group. You can not defeat this villain on your own, or at least, you don't believe that you can, and you believe in this student's innocence, and also don't want her to suffer under the thumb of this villain for any longer than necessary. Am I correct?"

All Might nodded seriously. "Yes. That girl... She is, in my honest belief, the future of this country. She will be the hero of the next generation, and, beyond that... I failed her once before. She... I will not allow her to suffer under that villain's thumb. Beyond just the necessity to see her safe, if her heroic spirit were broken... the effect it would have on this country, perhaps even the world, would be disastrous."

"How do we know that the villain won't just kill her if we get close?" Rock Lock raised an eyebrow. Multiple other of the heroes cringed back in distaste. "What? It's a valid question."

All Might grunted, but nodded, acknowledging the point. He locked eyes with Eraserhead across the room, and quickly averted them. Aizawa hummed internally. So, it wasn't going to be the full truth. "Well... Miss Midoriya is... she has been taken under my wing as my protégé. I have no doubt that this villain is aware of that, and due to his hatred of me, it would no doubt be much more likely for the villain to want to convert her against me in order to cause me more emotional pain. The direct murder route is very unlikely, we think."

"And, do you think that there's any potential for that conversion to occur?" Edgeshot questioned seriously.

"No," the large blond replied immediately. "It is far more likely that she will experience deep emotional trauma before that happens. More likely, she will retreat mentally into herself, but that will also entail long-term damage. It is instrumental that we start the search immediately, and get rid of this threat as soon as possible."

The Rabbit Hero spoke up. "I also think we should be going as fast as possible. Izumi is a very strong hero student, but she's also super empathetic. If others were threatened, she'd probably put herself in the way of danger in their stead, and if this villain is anywhere near as horrifyingly alarming as Mr. Symbol of Peace up here is making him out to be, I definitely think that she could turn out to be an extremely dangerous asset if she were being forced to fight against us, and I genuinely dunno what she'd do if the options were fighting us or letting civilians get hurt."

"She's just a hero student," Kamui Woods protested. "How dangerous could she possibly be?"

"She was able to kill an A-Rank Villain in self-defense, and was still capable and willing to try and rescue her classmate afterward," Best Jeanist noted, finally speaking up, thinking about Bakugo deeply. "It can safely be assumed that, not only is she strong, she is also creative, and extremely willing to go to great lengths to protect others. Not only that, but while we would be trying to neutralize, she'd be trying to do anything possible to ensure the safety of the civilians. It seems to me like that 'hero student' could be a very dangerous foe if in any way coerced into fighting against us."

All Might nodded seriously. "So, again, we need to get going... Now. This villain is extremely adept at keeping to the shadows, has a large information network, and is quite strong, so we're going to need to be as cautious and thorough as we possibly can. Any questions?"

Slowly, the assembled mass of heroes nodded, some faster than others. A few took a few moments to make a decision, and seemed hesitant when doing so.

Yagi smiled grimly. "Well, then, let's find All For One."

Elsewhere, in a dimly lit laboratory, a suspended tank full of shimmering green liquid stood alone. Many analytical devices surrounded it, and slowly, they began to beep.

Inside of the tank was a young girl with long green hair, wearing a ventilation mask, who looked as though she was asleep. As the beeping got more intense, though, her eyes slowly opened behind the goggles that were strapped around them, letting her see the outer world, although she seemed very disoriented and dazed, and she hadn't moved, even after her eyelids had fully opened.

Dr. Kyudai Garaki smiled deeply as he observed the subject, looking up into her eyes; one was emerald green, and the other was blood red. She was truly ready to become one of his greatest creations, one of his most perfect Nomus... He pressed a button on one of the machines, and anesthesia was introduced to her system and she was quickly sent back to sleep, none the wiser that she had ever woken up. It would take multiple months of repeated exposure to the solution before she would be ready for her ultimate task...

But a few months were nothing to Garaki, for he finally had the original back in his possession. And, with Zero-Zero under his thumb...

The possibilities were endless.

Chapter Text

Bounce.

Bounce.

Bounce.

Bounce, bounce, bounce bounce bounce bouncebouncebouncebounce.

"What do you want?" Bakugo turned his head towards the door, glaring half-heartedly at the red-and-white-haired boy standing in it, who was staring back.

"I want to talk."

This response elicited a drawn-out sigh from the blond. "What's there to talk about? Gonna yell at me to get the fuck out of my room, too?"

"Was going to ask if I could come in."

The tennis ball that Katsuki had been bouncing dropped to the floor as the boy failed to catch it, freezing up in response to his classmate's reply. A moment longer than he usually would've taken and with half the bite, he responded, "Well, you're already halfway fucking in, you dumbass, so you might as well just make it all the way." The blond scoffed as he stood up, stretching slightly. "And close the door behind you," he added as an afterthought, closing his eyes and looking up at the ceiling.

Instead of a verbal response, he heard rather than saw the door close. "Okay. Now, just... spit it out," the teen huffed.

"Are you okay?"

Todoroki's question sent Bakugo for a loop, and he was lucky he wasn't moving or else he might've stumbled. As it was, his fists simply clenched harder until they were white. "'Course I am, you shitty extra." He scoffed again at the question. "Did one of those other losers put you up to this?"

"No." The peppermint-haired boy's response was simple, as were most of his responses... except for when he was talking to Izumi. 'Yet another thing I fucked up,' Bakugo growled in his own mind. "-ing it right now."

Red eyes opened and blinked, and Katsuki turned to face his fellow Hero Student. "What was that?"

"You're getting wrapped up in your head. I said, 'you're doing it right now'. That's why you didn't hear me."

The Explosion Quirk-user bared his teeth and sat down on the edge of his bed. Todoroki didn't seem intimidated. "So fucking what? I'm thinking. I could do some more of that."

"Not this type of thinking." Todoroki crouched down without the slightest effort. "Come with me." He held out his hand.

"To where?" Bakugo asked, before realizing that it lacked his usual bite. "That's usually what you lead with when you ask people to go places with you, dumbass."

For some reason, the owner of Half-Hot-Half-Cold didn't seem perturbed by this response. Instead, he gave a small smile. "To see Inui-sensei. Today is our third meeting."

"So, what? You want someone to walk you there so you don't feel scared?"

Todoroki shook his head slowly. "No. I would like you to join the session." He cleared his throat, shuffling around into his back pocket to pull out a... napkin? "I told Uraraka-san I was coming over here, and she gave me this to give to you." The boy held it out awkwardly, seeming unsure of himself for the first time in the conversation.

Feeling like he was doing the same thing over and over again, Katsuki forced another scoff and grabbed for the napkin. On it was a hastily scribbled note. "Katsuki, it's been two weeks and none of us have seen you. Come out of your room. Shouto didn't say what his plans were, but if he's suggesting it, it's probably a good idea. Unless he suggests getting spicy hot chocolate. Don't do that one. Apparently he can hardly feel temperatures! Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked. Get out of your house. I'm  We're worried for you."

Bakugo scoffed, and his hand started to light up before he winced and the explosions snuffed themselves out, the teen instead choosing to crumple up the note into a ball and toss it into the trash can across the room. It hit the wall a bit forcefully, but bounced in the bin nonetheless. He pushed himself up from his bed and grabbed his phone from where it was charging, and his Yuuei ID. When he looked back at his classmate, the boy seemed to have been watching him patiently.

"Fuck you want, Half n' Half?" Somehow, the nickname lacked its usual venom, but, this time, Bakugo couldn't bring himself to care.

Todoroki simply shrugged. "Nothing. The driver is waiting for us outside, if you're ready."

"Driver?" Bakugo questioned, then rolled his eyes. "Posh-ass..." And yet, he followed the other boy outside anyway, barely sparing a moment to yell back into his house, "I'm heading out, Mom!" He closed the door before he could hear a response.

"We're getting nowhere with this, All Might. Hasn't the Mighty Agency been looking into him for years? It's practically impossible that we'd find anything within a few weeks," a man reasoned, idly twisting some of his hair into various shapes.

All Might sighed. "Yes, but... After the splintering of what is now the Nighteye Agency, the Mighty Agency is lacking in a lot of long-term investigation resources. Most of our capability revolves around location-monitoring and crime-monitoring, and that's what our satellite is being used for, too. So, our investigation only progressed when I wasn't working..."

"Which was hardly ever, considering you work yourself half to death," Sir Nighteye stated, walking in with a full pad of files. "Despite this, Mr. Brave, the entire reason this operation was extended to most of the hero agencies was so that there would be a great deal more people working on it than ever before. All For One is a great threat to society as a whole; I don't know how much research you've done on the early Quirk Riots and World War III, but... I'd prefer not to plunge the world back into an age like that, thank you very much."

The Number 68 Hero, properly mollified, kept his mouth shut. Another hero spoke up, though, "I don't think Mr. Brave was trying to be pessimistic, Sir Nighteye," Ryukyu spoke up. "I think he was more trying to point out that it would be unreasonable to focus all of our resources on this, especially with these new 'Meta-attackers' that are terrorizing multiple prefectures at this point. People have become emboldened after this new attack on Yuuei, and with Shigaraki, who was known to be the head of the League of Villains, dead, a supposed power vacuum has opened up in the Underworld."

Nighteye nodded, dropping the pad on the table and letting some folders spill out, and then answered Ryukyu. "Yes, we're aware. The national crime rate is up 5%, nearly matching what the Symbol of Peace did to bring it down over multiple decades, and it has steadily risen over these past two weeks. It's uncertain if it will stop, and if it will, then... when? The Nighteye Agency has also done research on the 'Meta-attackers', and have found no evidence leading them back to the Meta Liberation Army. That being said, Destro's Meta Liberation War has been seeing an uptick in sales over the past few years, and it's obvious these groups are connected... it's just difficult to understand how. We're up to 4 attacks in the past two weeks, as well, two in Kanagawa, one in Gifu, and one in Mie, and all of them have claimed to be part of the 'Meta-attackers', and, yet, every single one that's been captured has refused to say anything relevant. In fact, most of them have been babbling nonsense. One of them even suffered from a stroke two days ago, and is currently being treated in the Kantō Regional Hospital."

"What are we thinking? Poison? Drug withdrawal?" Gunhead questioned seriously.

"Uncertain as of yet. Toxicology screening was ordered this morning, once the villain stabilized, but hasn't come back yet." Sir Nighteye shook his head. "Not to get off-topic, however. My recommendation is that a smaller team of information-analysis experts is assembled, and most Spotlight Heroes go back to work." He turned to All Might. "Especially you. It's expected that a large portion of the public will be reassured by your reappearance, as multiple news companies have given out wild speculation as to your status, and it's theorized that that's what some of the uptick in crime is caused by."

All Might, who had previously been quiet, was startled. "I must keep looking." He clenched his fist, looking down at the arm where he knew only the embers of One For All resided. "That man has no regard for morality, and no respect for humanity. Each and every minute that she spends in there is another minute that I have failed her..." His voice cracked. "Again."

"And what if you do find her? Do you go in, guns blazing, by yourself, exhausted after searching without rest? Did you forget what happened last time? That girl in there is the one who saved you after your foolish decisions." A quiet gasp echoed from the collected heroes. That information hadn't been known previously.

"I think... If we are to continue to go after this girl, we need to know more about her. So far, we have only gotten some basic info. That info is what led Grudge, as well as many others, to not come back for this meeting." Fourth Kind reasoned, two of his arms pointing at the empty chairs around him while his other two remained crossed. "Who is she? I know that my office, at the very least, tried to look into her. There was a record for birth up until elementary school, but after that it almost disappeared until about a year ago, when emergency guardianship was filed, and about a month later, adoption papers. Then, there's Yuuei's documents."

Several other heroes nodded.

Nedzu, the principal of Yuuei, felt like it was relevant for him to speak up. "Of course, of course!" The rat-bear squeaked. "So, the first thing there, about the adoption, is..."

"Shouta, what are you doing?" Hizashi questioned as he poked his head into the room. He had just gotten home, only to see the hallway semi-illuminated, and Izumi's door open. Upon poking his head in, he saw his husband sitting on Izumi's bed, looking at the bare walls. Posters had been separated and uncrumpled, and flattened on the floor as best the Erasure Hero could manage, and all of the fallen hero figurines had been placed on the girl's desk. The treadmill sat in the corner, unplugged and unused, and the beanbag that Izumi had absolutely loved on one of the few shopping trips that she and Aizawa had gone on had been stuffed into the closet before the girl had gone missing.

"Thinking," the man muttered. He was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed. It had been seventeen days since his daughter had gone missing, and they were still hardly any closer to finding her than before. And the more he learned about All For One, Izumi's birth father and current captor, the more miserable he felt. Who knew what was happening to her? Mental, physical torture?

The blond hero slid next to his husband, knocking shoulders with him gently. "About what?"

"Izumi." He looked around the room slowly. "How didn't I notice what was happening to her? She was... she was miserable, ever since we got back from I-Island. Something happened there, I don't know what. Something big... and she was bottling it all up. And I took her at face value that she was fine, even when everything else screamed the opposite." He let his head fall onto Hizashi's shoulder. "I failed her."

The man was silent for a moment. "... We all did, honestly. I should've tried to get closer to her. I... I don't know. I never felt that same connection with her that you did, in my head, she was always 'your daughter' before 'our daughter', and she shouldn't've been. We're going to find her, though, Sho."

"How?" The other man questioned. "We haven't even found a trace of anything in the past two weeks. And then there's a villain who can steal Quirks and has some amount of control over her, and a history of putting her into terrible situations!" He choked back a sob. "It feels... hopeless. And that's even before asking the question if she even wants to be near me anymore."

Hizashi frowned. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't she want to be around you?"

Black eyes closed as Eraserhead recalled the Summer Training Camp. "I treated her so poorly before she left. I allowed myself to be... influenced by that villain's Quirk. And, for some reason, she was so willing to give herself up in exchange for Bakugo. She's..." A sigh escaped his lips. "I knew she was too self-sacrificing. And I kept putting off properly addressing it, trying to give her the space she needed instead of forcing her into therapy, and, yet...!"

Present Mic was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, his words were uncharacteristically quiet. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty, babe. Yeah, maybe you should've. Hell, maybe I should've. But we can't change the past. All we need to focus on now is getting her back, and, once she's back, then we can start working on undoing our mistakes. As a family."

The room was quiet for a few moments save for their beating hearts, until finally Aizawa responded slowly, "As a family."

Chapter Text

"Kyoryoku Hageshi," a deep voice greeted. "I hope you have some good news to tell me."

The scientist cleared his throat, and pushed his glasses up assuredly. "The body was recovered with various wounds, and was deceased approximately twenty-eight minutes after arrival at the target site. Advanced decomposition was noted, however, there was a notable lack of postmortem stages having been followed, and natural recycling organisms were only found in small amounts within the body."

A new voice, this one much more feminine, was the next to reply. "So, you're telling us that something about the mixture was causing advanced decomposition within the body? Has anything been done to rectify this?"

Hageshi chuckled. "Actually, there has been a breakthrough, although that was achieved completely by accident. The mechanical Arae have been wonderful tools, and between those and Mekomi-"

"Who?" A new voice interjected, and Kyoryoku grit his teeth at the interruption.

"Subject One, I meant, we have received a great deal of blood samples from which synthesis could be at least partially derived. We received one from the villain known as Spinner, one from the villain known as Dabi, one from the villain known as Stain, and one from the villain known as Toga, although this one did not include enough data for proper synthesis. Despite this, the group seemed to notice very early on that Me-Subject One's goal revolved around Izumi Midoriya, and no blood samples were able to be gathered from her. Despite this, DNA samples were still found on a blade near Subject One's corpse."

A scoff game from one of the people. "And we're expected to believe that some DNA would survive the trek back to the lab, and some tests? Dr. Hageshi, isn't that the entire reason you said blood sources were the most effective?"

"See, that's the thing," the scientist shook his head, then pushed his glasses up again. "It did survive. And, by all means, it shouldn't have. But it also survived our tests, too, for a certain amount of time. For some reason, whenever Izumi Midoriya's cells are damaged, they seem to consume any possible resources in order to repair themselves. Beyond that, there were additional vacuoles of resources located within the cells. Additionally, it seemed like these additional vacuoles were constantly being drawn upon, and, under strong microscopes, microtears were found in the membranes of the cells that were then patched up the cells."

"Okay, and what of her S-Pow scores? Have you found anything in regards to those? They were the main goal of the experiment, after all."

"Yes, in fact! As I'm sure we all know, around his peak, All Might was thought to be approaching 15,000 S-Pow levels, approximately twice the measured S-Pow levels of Endeavor, the Number Two Hero. However, based on the incomplete measurements we gathered from the cells, Izumi Midoriya is at the very least approaching a five-figure cell count. This type of S-Pow capability in a hero so young is quite literally unheard of, and it was thought to be impossible. While she does not seem to be at the level of All Might yet, she is a much more attainable source than the Number One Hero, and her cells have been proven to have regenerative capabilities. She is the logical target for our research."

The Board of Directors murmured amongst themselves for a few minutes, eventually slowing down to a few whispers until finally, silence was reached. Finally, an older voice spoke up. "Funding granted. We expect results, however, Dr. Hageshi."

Kyoryoku smiled widely, and bowed. "I won't let you down, Madam President."

Hound Dog frowned softly, looking at the additional boy in his session. "And, how are you feeling about that? Being targeted for your strength, especially by a Class A villain-"

Bakugo cut the man off, crossing his arms. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Inui pursed his lips, looking down at the almost-entirely bare notes in front of him, and nodded. "That's quite alright, Bakugo. What we want here is for you to be comfortable and talk to me about whatever you feel comfortable and willing to talk about. I won't force you to talk about anything that makes you uncomfortable. What would you like to talk about?"

The blond grunted. "Don't look at me. This is Peppermint's session, ain't it?"

"Not exactly," said Todoroki as he shifted uncomfortably. 

Red eyes shifted towards heterochromatic ones. "The fuck d'ya mean?"

Shouto grimaced. "It was a... logical ruse?" He tried. "The class has been worried about you." He slunk down slightly. "They chose me to ask you because they believed you wouldn't believe me to be involved in some sort of deception," he said morosely, seemingly upset about this conclusion.

Bakugo's eyes twitched. "I don't need those shitty extras' concern!" The teen shouted aggressively before slinking back down into his seat. Inui discretely scratched down some notes into his notepad at the interaction, and then looked back at the red-eyed student.

"Why do you call them extras? It implies you don't remember their names, which I don't think is correct. You are a very bright student, Bakugo, and to remember nineteen names doesn't seem to be beyond your capabilities. In fact, on multiple assignments, you have referred to classmates by name; their given names, rather than the nicknames that you've developed for them," Hound Dog questioned.

"'Cause they're extras," the boy said with a scoff. "I'm gonna be the Number One Hero, which means that anyone else is just a distraction."

Inui hummed. "Well, do you think that you can take care of every single crime by yourself? And do you think that, for example, All Might functions without assistance? Behind the scenes, there are several Support Heroes behind every Spotlight Hero."

Bakugo blinked, then grunted. He didn't reply, though. The therapist nodded slowly and scratched down another note, but this prompted a response from the boy. "Can you stop doing that? It makes me feel like I'm being fucking studied; I hate that shit. It's the same shit as-" His jaw clacked shut as his face burned red.

"The same shit as...?" Inui prompted, putting the pad and pencil down on his desk, very intently not looking at them..

"... It's what Freckle Bitch did when we were kids," 

"'Freckle Bitch'? That's your name for Midoriya, yes? I wasn't aware you two knew each other when you were young." Hound Dog forced himself to not react visibly, but there was a great amount of activity in his mind. Being part of the Yuuei staff, he was at least vaguely aware of the efforts going on surrounding Izumi and All For One. While they were aware of the family name, there were thousands of Midoriyas in Japan, and they couldn't even be sure that that was the name that her father had.

The boy scoffed. "Yeah. We grew up together, 'n she always followed me around 'n shit. She always talked about Quirks, and she loved studying mine, for some reason. I always thought it was 'cause she was Quirkless, but obviously she ain't Quirkless, so I don't know."

'Oh,' Inui thought. 'Oh. This is... big.' "Do you happen to remember why that stopped?" 

"Yeah." Katsuki crossed his arms. "She developed her Quirk when she was five, it was telekinesis, like her mom's. Then her dad pulled her out of school a couple months later, and then I never saw her again until she got into 1-A."

Hound Dog forced himself to remember that his focus was not on gathering information. "And... And, how does that make you feel, now? Someone who was once previously what you would've considered an 'extra' becoming strong and on equal footing with you?"

The room was quiet for a few moments, and Todoroki, who had been silent, looked like he was on the verge of speaking, but Bakugo beat him to it.

"Weak."

Rumi Usagiyama was on patrol when the next 'Meta-attack' happened, and it was just pure luck that it happened close to her. She had taken a rather different route than she usually had, through a chain of villains that had taken her on chases. One of them even had a tank, for fuck's sake, and it ended up with her being about half an hour away from where her usual route took her. She was just taking care of the final villain, delivering him to the police department, along with the jewelry that he had stolen, when the call came in.

"Meta-attackers, junction between 19th and Fugashiwa! Calling all heroes!" The Rabbit Hero checked her phone for the map, and noticed that the location would only be eight minutes away for her.

"Mirko, checking in. ETA: 8 minutes."

General chatter came through her transmitter as she put her arm back by her side and tensed up before springing into the air. She didn't waste any time; ever since the Hero Student she had taken in for an internship after the Yuuei Hero Festival had been abducted, she had been on edge. Much of it was that she wanted the girl to be found and rescued, but another part of it was paranoia.

She had asked the question to herself multiple times before any official Hero Meeting had been called: 'How did they find the Yuuei Summer Camp, and how did someone manage to get one of the strongest Hero Students, or, perhaps, one of the strongest people I've ever seen to give up and capture her?'

And then she found out about All For One, and only one question remained in her mind. 'Why hasn't Hero Society fallen yet?' If the strongest person in Japan was evil... why wasn't he doing anything bigger? Was he worried about international combat? It just didn't make sense. Not unless... Not unless All For One had a different goal. But, then, what did he want with Izumi? There were so many questions.

Rushing herself, she was slightly out of breath when she made it to the attack site in just under seven minutes, and it was already shaping up to be a disaster. Smoke was rising up from two different buildings, and there were multiple screams ringing out. Both buildings were four stories tall, which meant that there could easily be thirty to forty civilians in danger just from the structural damage, never mind the villains. Mirko rushed into action quickly, prioritizing the wrecks. As she crashed through the brick and mortar of the top floor of one, she was immediately met with sobbing. The heads of four women snapped to her as she made her entrance, and one immediately cried out in relief. "The heroes are here!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here, I'm here," the Rabbit Hero immediately soothed. "You guys are gonna be alright, I'll get'cha out of here, ya dig? Can you guys tell me anything about what happened?"

The women looked at each other, and one quickly spoke up. "Well, we- we were working, and then, we heard some chants outside. People shouting about-- about meta-humans. And we'd all seen the stuff on the news, about those attacks, but there was some... some thing, it looked like a robot, and then all of the sudden it slammed the side of the building and everything began to tilt. Mari hit her shoulder when it happened," she said, pointing to the woman who was sobbing, "and some of the machines got ripped out and started fires. The door was blockaded, and we- we weren't sure if we'd be able to get out of here..."

Rumi nodded, having sprung into motion before the worker was finished talking. She cleared out a larger section of the wall, and then bounded back over the injured girl, Mari, and picked her up gently. "I'll take her down to the street first, and then I'll be back up for you guys. It'll only be a few seconds," she assured, and then proceeded to pick the woman up and hop down to the street, making sure to jostle the hurt civilian as little as possible. Mirko bounded over to the police line and handed her off to an officer that had been quick to react and made sure to take a quick note of his face, and then jumped back up to the hole she had made in the wall.

The women all sighed in relief, but then the one who had been talking gasped, pointing behind Rumi. "Mirko-sama, watch out!"

An impact rang out throughout the area, and dust and tiny bits of debris exploded into the air. The Rabbit Hero grit her teeth as she blocked the incoming punch with both of her fists, struggling as the immense power behind the blow threatened to regain its momentum and crash into her chest. She looked at the figure, which was a humanoid whose exterior was entirely metallic, complete with a helmet that obscured any features. "Who the fuck are you?"

Chapter Text

The robot gave no response. Instead, it just withdrew its fist and, with lightning-fast speed, threw another blow at her. The Rabbit Hero dodged out of the way and grit her teeth in frustration; this fight would be so much easier if the civilians weren't present. It didn't look like she'd be able to get the other three out without taking some hits, so she opted for the more feasible option: moving the battlefield. She let loose a roundhouse kick directly into the plates of armor surrounding the midsection, and hissed in pain at the shockwave that spread through her feet. She heard a satisfying crunch, though, and as she hopped away, noted that the metal had crumpled under her blow.

The figure, however, either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared, as it immediately came after her again. They seemed to be either stupid or a poor fighter, because their movements were quite obvious, and their fighting style was incredibly straightforward. No, their real danger laid not in their technique, but in their raw strength.

"What, you don't make any noise? You the strong, silent type?" Mirko taunted, still to no avail. The figure merely stepped forward and punched again, to which the Pro Hero dodged, but felt her back against a pillar. Her sensitive ears picked up the mutterings of the women who were trapped in the room with her, and reminded herself again of her objective. "Okay, Rumi..." She tried to assure herself, "here goes nothing." She hopped off of the ground and then pushed herself off of the pillar, jumping forward as it cracked under the force of her leg muscles.

The woman flew forward and angled her body so that her feet were facing forward, and then rammed into her opponent. It staggered back a few feet, and then Mirko used it like a springboard, bouncing backwards off of it, this additional force while it was already unsteady sending it flying out of the building and into the opposing one facing them. Rumi grinned as she went into a headstand and then sprung back to her feet. "Picked that up from a student of mine."

Her brain pinged that she had something that she was supposed to do, but right now, the adrenaline was pumping, and she wanted to fight. She bounced over to the other building with a fist full of kinetic energy, and slammed into the mech suit at full speed. It blew backwards and slammed into the wall again, and Mirko descended on it again. This time, she went for the mask. A brutal punch knocked into it, then again, and again, and again. The metal warped under her hands, and somewhere, her brain was screaming at her that she was hitting them too hard and she ignored it in favor of another punch.

This time, the front part of the helmet flew off entirely, revealing an entirely normal man under it. His face was uncannily blank, although the look was marred by the streams of blood flowing down it. "Who are you?" The Rabbit Hero demanded, pulling on the suit to bring the man up close to her face. He still didn't react. "Say something, damn it!" She stared into his eyes, which were... blank. They were empty, black pits, and Rumi couldn't tell if the irises were dark or if the pupils were entirely dilated. She wasn't sure which option she would have preferred. Some rubble clattered behind her, and then-

"Cease."

"Get moving!" Aizawa shouted at his students. He sent a glance at Shinsou, too, nodding his head. "You, too. If you're going to end up joining this class, you're gonna start by exercising with them."

The boy frowned. "My Quirk doesn't depend on me being physically fit."

"But what if your opponents don't respond to you, or they have some way of countering it?" 1-A's homeroom teacher shot back. "Bakugo is a great example of that; being more physically fit might not have won you the fight, but it definitely wouldn't have hurt you." It was a cheap blow, and by the look on the purple-haired teen's face, he knew it, too. Instead of pointing it out though, he just grumbled and joined the exercise line. The students had been split up into two groups of ten, with Shinsou replacing Izumi to keep their numbers even. He had performed well at the Training Camp, despite the whole mess with... everything, really, and it would've been illogical to deny him what he deserved based off of events that he had had no hand in, Aizawa reasoned.

The boy had seemed oddly... morose, really, about the whole ordeal, especially given how much effort he had put into it over the past few weeks. From what Shouta could glean, for some reason, the boy felt like he didn't deserve it, which was just plain lunacy, in his opinion. He had worked hard for the past few weeks, done well in the Sports Festival, and then proved his prowess at the Summer Training Camp, even using his Quirk for undeniably positive use, getting some of his peers to safety.

Sprints were being done down the long, straight portions of the track, and the black-haired teacher frowned at something in particular. Quirk use was permitted, encouraged, even, and yet a certain child was not using theirs. It was a very wide-utility Quirk, and they had never seen a reason to not flaunt it as long as the Underground Hero had known them.

It seemed like he was missing something very obvious, Shouta felt, as he asked himself a potentially stupid question: 'Why is Katsuki Bakugo keeping himself from using Explosion?'

The world was blurry.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

The world was still blurry. And green. Everything was green. Was the world normally green? Conclusion: Unknown. Reasoning: Lack of data.

Pressure on lower half of face. Eyes drifted down. There was a mask. Why was there a mask? Conclusion: Unknown. Reasoning: Lack of data.

In the blurriness of the world, there was movement. A large blob of darkness making its way next to a small blob of white. Vibrations echoed throughout the world. Nothing was comprehended. What did the vibrations mean? Conclusion: Unknown. Reasoning: Lack of data.

Peaceful. Serene. Quiet. Tired.

Feelings.

Eyelids began to close. The world was no longer blurry. The world was now dark.

The world faded.

Rumi woke up without even realizing she had been asleep. She was still standing up, and fires were still raging around her, but the man she was beating up had disappeared. All of her aggression from earlier had disappeared, and she started breathing quickly. What had happened? Where had-

"The civilians," she gasped to herself. That was what she had forgotten earlier. Her questions could be answered later. Right now, she needed to make sure the women were okay. Below her, the protesters were beginning to be gathered by the police and some heroes, and the violent ones were being arrested. She couldn't have been out for long, she tried to reassure herself. She looked at the building across from her and jumped over, making it across the gap in a single leap. The Pro Hero sighed in relief at the sight of all three women still being alive and well. Or, at least, as well as one could be after being in danger from a domestic terrorist attack, Rumi supposed.

"Mirko-sama, you're okay!" One of the women cheered. "Did you defeat the robot?"

The Rabbit Hero didn't know what to say: 'I don't know' didn't seem like it would be the best response for keeping them calm, so instead she went with what she knew to be true: "It's gone for now," Rumi said, hoping that she came off as assuring. The workers sighed in relief, so she took that to mean that her words had done their job. Before they could think too much about them, Mirko started another line of thought. "Would it be alright if I got you guys down from here, now?"

"Please."

In under two minutes, she had evacuated all three of the remaining workers safely from the building, and the fires were quickly being put out. She had just cleaned off her gloves of dust and dirt and was about to call it as a finished job when a dark car with tinted windows came rolling up. Her attention was on it immediately, and the Rabbit Hero tensed up, prepared for another fight if necessary.

A non-descript man stepped out of the car, his gaze snapping to her immediately. "Mirko," he started, reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out a badge. "We're with the Hero Public Safety Commission, and we'd very much like it if you would come with us, please."

The Number Seven Hero grimaced. When it came to the HPSC, their 'requests' were a lot more like 'orders', and she really didn't have a choice. Not unless she wanted the full force of the organization pinned on her. It was better to just see what they wanted, and if worse came to worst, she'd kick her way out if she needed to. She forced herself to untense, and, a lot more uncaring than she truly felt, replied, "Lead the way."

Chapter Text

Katsuki laid on his bed, staring at his ceiling. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. He couldn't sleep, but staying awake was miserable.

He had told Hound Dog that he felt weak, and that was more true than he had let on. The summer weather was also torturous, because he kept feeling like he was overheating for every single second.

The human body has a very interesting method of countering overheating, one that had let it dominate through endurance in the early stages of civilization: sweating. Human sweat is secreted onto the skin by eccrine and apocrine glands, at which point the heat causes it to evaporate. Since evaporation, which breaks the bonds holding molecules together in liquid form, takes energy and is therefore endothermic, the surrounding area is left cooler.

Katsuki's Quirk relies on his sweat, which explodes when he applies heat to it. But other things can apply heat to his sweat, too. Other things like fire.

His sweat glands (of which his body has many) were all witness to many micro-explosions thanks to their proximity to that villain's fire back at the Summer Camp. And, since then, he had hardly been able to use his Quirk, and every time he did, he caused himself intense pain because most of his sweat was still stuck in his damaged sweat glands, and all he was doing was damaging them even more. Originally, he had wanted to go to Recovery Girl, but the way her Quirk worked, it was possible that it could worsen the problem by just creating more skin cells and he might be stuck without the ability to sweat permanently, and even if it didn't, it would take too much energy - the human body has millions of sweat glands, after all. He would probably pass out on the spot and not even heal a tenth of the way that he needed to.

So, no. The answer was time. So, instead of doing anything, he waited. He thought about his classmates. Ochaco was delighted about the change from having to live in an apartment to getting to live on the UA campus. Half 'n Half was quiet, as per usual, but ever since their 'joint therapy session', had taken to texting Katsuki at least once a day. The blond hated it and hardly ever responded, but Peppermint Bastard insisted on continuing to do it anyway. Glasses was probably terrified about not getting to spend all of his time with his bougie hero family.

Bakugo stilled.

His bougie hero family... One of whom had just had a major medical recovery just weeks prior. And... Bakugo shifted to his side, staring at his wall, before getting up and shoving one of the large boards, which contained various algebraic equations and chemical formulas, across its rollers to reveal the vastly different space behind it.

Red eyes tracked across the board to the top right, where Tensei Iida's miraculous recovery was captured in a series of photos. Ingenium's injury was well known, and then, all of the sudden, the man had not only healed from his wounds overnight, he had regained the ability to walk. And where had this recovery occurred?

Hosu City.

And who else had been in Hosu City at the time, with a Quirk that Bakugo all-but-knew now wasn't just telekinesis, when they otherwise shouldn't have been there? Who knew about Ingenium's injury, and would've been willing and wanting to fix it?

His focused back on the center of the board, where the many lines he had made intersected, resulting in a large box around a picture in the center.

Somehow, someway... everything always came back to Izumi Midoriya.

Blue lights pulsed throughout the large room as electricity was fed through tubes in spurts. "How is she doing?"

"Her body has reacted far more positively to both Stage One and Stage Two than we could've ever hoped to expect. Stage Two finished early this morning, around four-fifteen. Semi-frequent Quirk Activation is showing increased rates of power, and an exponential potential growth curve, as expected. At this rate, Stage Three should be finished in just under two days," Doctor Garaki informed his associate. "By my estimates, there is a sub-1% of any level of rejection. Additionally..." He turned towards a small capsule on the wall. "The cloning process has been completed. It took longer than all of the other Quirks, but I presume that's due to the level of entanglement with other DNA and difficulties separating the source."

All For One looked on impassively. "But you're certain it worked? We only get one shot at this, doctor. If this fails, it will mean decades of setbacks."

The short, elderly man scoffed. "Of course it worked. I oversaw it myself, and I don't make mistakes. Not with the science. I have been working on this for longer than you have, All For One, don't forget that."

The supervillain considered this, then nodded. "Two days, you said?" At Garaki's nod, Hisashi continued, "That's going to be cutting it close. I'm told that we have two expected issues inbound; one from the HPSC and one from my precious little Quirk Thief's pathetic little attempt at team-building. He is strong on his own, though. It will make it more satisfying to use his own allies' abilities against him. Hopefully he shall provide more of a fight this time," the villain mused, ignoring (or perhaps not even noticing) the irony of calling another person a Quirk Thief.

Before the conversation could continue, a door opened into the laboratory, and both of the villains turned to look at the new entrants. "Ah, Lex, you've returned. And you've brought the subject. How did he perform?"

"Admirably," Lex tiredly murmured with a nod. "It seems that your experiments have been a perfect success." He drummed his finger on his leg. "Sir, if I may-"

Hisashi Shigaraki shook his head as he held his hand up, stopping the sentence. "Not at the moment, Lex. Also, what happened with the hero who showed up on the scene before you retrieved the subject? How maimed was their body? A large shock is exactly what the public needs to have their faith shaken in their 'flawless' heroes in preparation for my plan."

Not 'our' plan, always 'Hisashi's plan'. They were all along for the ride, right? Lex bit his tongue for a moment until he could taste blood, then unclenched his jaw. "Unfortunately, a stronger hero than expected was dispatched to the scene, and the subject was unable to defeat them fully. However, it performed very well against a hero in the Top Ten."

All For One hummed considerately. "I see, I see. And you were unable to finish off this hero as well?"

Purple hair fluttered slightly as a pulse of electricity made its way through the room. Lex took a moment to respond. "No. Unfortunately, they seemed to be resistant to the Quirk you implanted. My focus was gathered on retrieving the subject in one piece. As it is, it'll still have to be fixed soon."

A displeased growl echoed in the white-haired villain's throat. "That's quite unfortunate to hear... Nothing to be done about it, though, at this moment. We will simply make additional improvements within this next round of testing. Doctor, are you capable of overseeing this?"

Doctor Garaki nodded, and both of the men launched into a rapid conversation filled with lots of terminology unfamiliar to Lex, effectively cutting him out of the conversation. His eye twitched, but he made sure to school his features and flatten his suit before bowing and making his leave from the two men, neither of whom seemed to notice that he was gone.

Miruko stomped into the room aggressively, annoyed. "You guys told me to come here, and then made me wait for hours. What the hell, dude?"

"Our apologies, Ms. Usagiyama," a cool, even voice replied. "We were gathering multiple other heroes, but we apologize again for the wait. Please, take a seat."

The Rabbit Hero raised an eyebrow, and then looked towards the table. There sat multiple heroes, including Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Crust, and Gang Orca. Narrowing her eyes, she reluctantly sat down. "So, what is this?"

"This is an... operation of sorts. You all will be paid handsomely for your contribution, of course."

"And what if we don't want to participate?" Best Jeanist asked. "You haven't even told us what we're here for, yet."

"Of course, of course. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I am Dr. Hageshi, and we are planning a raid on a Supervillain's headquarters. And, considering that this raid is essential for securing the future of Heroic Society, participation is mandatory."

"A 'Supervillain's' headquarters?" Endeavor scoffed. "There is no such thing as a 'Supervillain'. This is a meaningless waste of time."

Their host gave a forced half-smile. "Mr. Todoroki, I'm afraid that 'meaningless' is as far as possible from what we consider this raid. And, beyond that, I have actually been informed that some of you are already aware of the purpose behind this raid through... alternative sources."

Rumi's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean-?"

"Yes, we will be rescuing Izumi Midoriya so she can be properly treated and monitored by the Hero Public Safety Commission, and will be raiding and defeating the supervillain known as All For One." The man leaned forward, the half-smile turning into a genuine grin. "Now, let's talk timeline. The raid will be happening in two days."

The white-haired man looked away from the green tube surrounding his daughter for a moment, a glint having caught his eye out of the corner of his vision. "Oh, well, well, well... What do we have here?" He asked aloud, meandering his way across the lab. He passed several rows of smaller tubes, each having their own subject within them, to come to a stop at a seemingly-random spot along the wall.

"Now, isn't this interesting...?" He pondered. "Well, I guess I know what this means. I look forward to the challenge, you false heroes." A deranged smile took over All For One's face as he brought his hand closer to the spy camera that had been installed and s̴̩̦̾q̶̰̟́ǘ̵͚ḙ̶̉e̶̙̟͂̾ż̵̛̯ê̴͇̚d̷̳̑-

ETA: 48 HOURS.

Chapter Text

"Hey, do you know what the craziest thing about birds is?"

A guard in a black helmet looked over. "The fuck are you on about now?"

"Birds. You know, those cute little flying things? Like Hawks."

"I know what birds are, dipshit. I was wondering if you've spent too much time getting whacked into walls by the big man's thugs and lost your precious few remaining brain cells."

The other guard grinned under their mask, although it couldn't be seen, letting their sharp teeth peek out. "A bird can fly, but flies can't bird."

The room was silent for a moment, and then the second guard let out a long sigh, looking towards the ceiling. "Why do I always-" A muffled gunshot rang out, and metal passed through the guard's head as his gray matter splattered all over the inside of his helmet.

"Why do you always what?" The first guard asked with faux curiosity, taking off their mask as they did. As soon as the armor piece was removed, their body started to morph, becoming smaller and more lithe. "Should've laughed, meanie," Himiko Toga commented with a pout. "It was a funny joke."

Hitoshi ducked under a punch, but found another fist digging into his gut as he did, sending him flying out of the ring. "And that means Kirishima wins this spar!" The purple-haired teen groaned in annoyance, then sat up. His red-haired sparring partner rushed over and offered the brainwasher his hand, but Shinsou slapped it away and pushed himself to his feet.

"Get off me," the boy muttered, while Kirishima just laughed, seemingly not offended at all.

"Getting up on your own? You're so manly, dude!"

The insomniac shook his head and stalked towards the locker room, where the showers and his change of clothes were. He showered quickly, making it out before any of his new classmates had even made it to the changing stalls. He would much prefer them to not see his scars, after all; the Shizuoka foster care system had already given him enough to deal with, thank you very much. Slipping on his fresh shirt, Hitoshi spared a glance at his phone, surprised to see a text from a number that he didn't recognize. 'What the fuck?' He questioned, unlocking the screen to take a look at the message. All that was inside was an address, and a time. 'A day and four hours from now... What the fuck is this about?'

He typed a response quickly. "I think you've got the wrong number."

The stranger sent back a response immediately. "I don't think I do. Hello, Hitoshi. It's been a while. Are koalas still your favorite animal?"

"Shit." His eyes blew wide at the response, and the dots immediately connected. "What the fuck? Eight years and you ask me about my favorite animal?"

"Yep. Koalas?"

"No, cats. You still know roughly the same about me as you did before you ran off, dad, so don't bother pretending like you remember anything or care. What the fuck is that address?"

"Don't be late."

"No, that's not a fucking answer. What is that address, and what happens in thirty hours?" There was no response to the message, and Hitoshi grit his teeth.

"Hello?" He tried, thirty seconds later. He still received no response.

"Fuck," the purple-eyed hero student groaned, sliding down onto a bench. "He wouldn't reach out if it wasn't important. Right?"

The door to the locker room opened quietly, but Hitoshi still startled and jumped.

"You okay?" Todoroki asked quietly, walking into the locker room. Unlike Hitoshi, the goddamn nepo-baby didn't seem at all bothered by the physical sparring. He had probably been trained in hand-to-hand fresh out the womb.

The mindwasher opened his mouth to tell the peppermint-haired boy to fuck off, thank you very much, but he paused. 'Some backup firepower wouldn't be amiss, would it? He seems like enough of a goody-two-shoes that if someone was in trouble, he'd try to help. Probably. I don't know. Either he says yes or I can ask some of the others. Or maybe I'll ask them anyway.' He spared a glance down at his phone screen, then looked back up at the son of Endeavor. "... Actually, not really. I could use some help. Is there... Is there anyone who you trust to keep a secret?"

The heterochromatic teen paused for a moment, then seemingly came to a conclusion. "Ochaco is good with secrets, and likes helping her friends out. Why?"

Shinsou breathed in for a moment. 'So, we're really doing this, huh?' He asked himself. "It would be easier to explain this once, I think. Think we can go grab Ochaco?"

Todoroki nodded slowly, and they both set out back into the main gym, only to find that Ochaco wasn't alone. Instead, she was talking animatedly with two other people: Iida and Bakugo. He turned to Todoroki and shrugged, and the boy seemed to war with himself for a moment before stepping into the conversation.

And in a blink of an eye, the purple-haired insomniac suddenly had four people who were willing to help him.

All Might breathed in deeply. "So, is this all we have, then?" He asked. Around the table, there were a few assorted heroes. Less than a dozen. Him, Eraserhead, Sir Nighteye, Snipe, Gran Torino, Midnight, Fat Gum, Mr. Brave, and Ms. Joke. If he counted Lemillion, a third-year hero student who was working under Sir Nighteye, they had ten people in total. On the table in front of them, spread out, was the research that had been done through the breakthrough gained from Katsuki Bakugo inadvertently giving them All For One's name: Hisashi Midoriya.

Businesses, bank account transactions, references and sources... All of it had culminated in one of the most rapid-fire investigations in the history of the Nighteye Agency, resulting in a single address. A warehouse less than two hours away from Musutafu, which Sir Nighteye was convinced was the base of operations for All For One.

"It'll have to be enough," Fat Gum said, unusually serious. "A girl's life is on the line."

Sir Nighteye shook his head. "Far more than that. I do not think it's an understatement to say that the future of Japan, and potentially even the world, is on the line, and it's up to us to stop history's greatest Supervillain."

"Supervillain? You really think that this All For One fella deserves that title?" Snipe questioned from under his mask.

The room was silent for a few moments before All Might spoke quietly. "I think that that man is far beyond any other villain we have ever seen before, and he has far more potential for growth than any other in his position. If there was ever to be a villain who was classified as a Supervillain... it would be All For One."

Mr. Brave leaned back, saying the words they were all thinking. "Well, shit. What's the plan, then?"

Nighteye took over again. "It revolves around Eraserhead. We need to get him to a spot where he can cancel All For One's Quirks, and then we need to take him out before he blinks. What's the longest you can hold your eyesight for, Aizawa?"

Shouta frowned. "Just under two minutes, if I'm using my Quirk. It causes intense strain on my eyes, and that gets worse the more people whose Quirks I'm cancelling. If I hold it past a minute and a half, I'm almost certainly going to be out for the rest of the fight no matter what."

"Then we'll have to hit him quick and hit him hard," Gran Torino concluded. "He won't be ready for it. It's likely that he knows about your existence, but not your Quirk's specifics. And, one thing that I've figured out, the flashier the Quirk, the more the user relies on it and neglects their body."

"And if that doesn't work?" Nemuri Kayama, the hero known as Midnight, challenged. "If we can't take him out, or he uses a mutation Quirk that Shouta can't cancel? What then?"

"Then we fight," All Might replied grimly, crossing his arms. "We can only ever do our best, Nemuri. Plans do not survive contact with the enemy, but that does not mean we shouldn't make them. I will be the mainline fighter; he can't steal my Quirk, but he can steal all of yours. We can't possibly predict what he'll do; he doesn't like experience-oriented Quirks, instead preferring raw power. This means, at the very least, that we won't have to worry about traps."

"Great, we just have to worry about not getting our bodies blasted into pieces by a collection of some of the strongest Quirks in history," Snipe grunted. "Ain't that a helluva hook."

A mug slammed on the table. "It doesn't matter," Shouta proclaimed softly. "That bastard took my daughter. Either I'm getting her back, or I'm dying trying." He stared up at the others. "And you're either with me, or you're dead weight."

Silence reigned, before Ms. Joke finally shook her head and laughed. "I know you had the 'motivational speaker' gene in ya, Shouta. It just took a little bit of poking." The man just scowled, but the tension in the room seemed to have eased up. "Fuck it, I'm in. I'm good fighting with or without my Quirk, so it's probably a good idea to have me there."

"I'm in, too," Fat Gum nodded. "Even if he steals my Quirk, he won't be able to use it immediately, since it relies on energy stores."

Snipe was the next one. "I'm an expert shot, with or without my Quirk, and I can fight from a range. I'm no Nagant, but I can hit my targets."

One by one, the rest of the heroes nodded, and they all finally looked up at the only person who hadn't affirmed yet, who was standing with a small grin of pride on his face. "Well, then, let's get a move on," All Might said. "We'll be raiding in-"

ETA: 24 HOURS.

Chapter Text

The fraying ends of a scarf fluttered silently in the night as a shadowed figure paced quietly along the edge of a building, creeping back and forth slowly, his eyes fixated on a warehouse that was located exactly a block away from his current position. A few feet back, closer to the center of the roof, was a sleeping bag, untouched, and four disposable coffee cups, three of which were empty and had only probably been warm at some point.

After another round of pacing, Shouta Aizawa sighed and dropped into a crouch where he stood, the tips of his toes and five of his fingertips touching the ground. He was anxious, to say the least. A light tapping behind him had Shouta shifting his head, however, as he took in the form of a small cat that had crept up to the rooftop, perhaps curious about what had been making the sounds the tiny feline's ears had been picking up.

Dull black eyes stared at the small creature, who stared back, forest-green eyes shimmering, reflecting the light pollution from the surrounding city. After a moment, realizing the creature wasn't going to back down, Eraserhead sighed and relaxed his body, placing his weight on the ground and wiggled his fingers gently at the kitten, summoning it over with his will alone. To his benefit, the creature hardly hesitated before stalking its way over and rubbing its head against the Pro Hero's waiting hand, using the calloused pads to scratch any itches that it might've had.

"You know," Aizawa started, "this reminds me of another night." He allowed the cat to continue rubbing itself along his hand, not particularly worried about it listening to him talk, more so saying the words just to acknowledge them out loud. "It was... May, I think. Last year. I was out on patrol, and..." He stopped, his throat closing up a little bit, and the air fell silent. The kitten nudged at his hand with its nose, and he absentmindedly began to pet it gently, paying extra attention to its ears and chin.

It was about a minute before the black-haired man spoke again. "I used to think I understood kids. They like winning and playing video games, they like skipping school and using their Quirks. They don't understand the real world, and aren't prepared for what's going to face them once they're not surrounded by people who are paid to tolerate them with a rigid schedule and forced close proximity to others." He clicked his tongue and the cat peered up at him, then climbed onto his lap. Shouta looked down at the ball of fluff, and then sighed once more. "And, yet, I seem to forget that I was once a kid, too. And I didn't think like that. And, honestly, this year, these kids..." He stopped once again, then leaned back slowly until his back was against the top of the roof. "I think these kids are the farthest away from that that they've ever been."

He stared at the few stars he could see through the pollution, his eyes tracing constellations, his eyes catching on a set of sixteen stars, and his brain repeated them over and over in his mind until he finally remembered their name: Andromeda. It felt significant, for a reason that he couldn't quite comprehend, and, for a second, he was back in high school, staving off sleep to spend time with Oboro and look at the sky, asking the other boy about the meanings just as an excuse to talk to him. "One of these kids, in particular. She's been through... more than I could ever imagine, and I've seen a lot." His voice caught, an emotional lilt seeping in that he couldn't quite stop. "A lot. And now she's going through something that's bound to be worse, and I'm not there for her when she needs it."

Aizawa closed his eyes, breathing in the petrichor that the night's condensation brought in. "For all I talk about trying to ensure that the next generation knows the risks of being a hero, I sure seem to have failed in preventing a lot of things from happening to them. Some teacher I am," he muttered with a scoff.

"I don't think you're that bad of a teacher," a light voice interjected, and the cat, who had been previously resting on Aizawa's lap and stomach, startled and pushed off, skittering down the fire escape it had come up, leaving the man to sputter and try and regain the air inside his lungs.

"Ms. Joke..." Shouta greeted warily once he had gathered his breath, staring at the new individual. She was wearing civilian clothes, a stark contrast to his own stealth uniform.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Really? We've known each other for over a decade, senpai," she clicked her tongue in faux-disappointment. "Call me Emi. Or, at the very least, Fukukado-kun," she offered.

"I will when you stop insisting on calling me 'senpai'. We haven't been in school together since we were seventeen, give it a break already."

Fukukado merely stuck her tongue out in response before plopping down carelessly beside Shouta. "No. Anyway, like I said, you have to give up your stupid little self-derogatory spiral, senpai. The battle we're about to fight might be the biggest one of our lives, and nobody is meant to fight it alone, which means that you also couldn't have prevented it alone. Ya' dig?"

Eraserhead rolled his eyes, but grunted an affirmative, if only to get the woman to get to her point faster.

"Good. 'Cause, from what I hear, you've got a kid inside that building who's probably getting tortured or something-" Aizawa's fists clenched hard enough that he could feel his nails digging into his palms. "-and we're going to need you to be on your 'A-Game' today. If you fuck up, you die, or someone else dies. And that would be a case of someone who isn't ready to go out in the field going out and getting people killed, and, from what I hear, that's something you argue pretty vehemently against. So," Emi pushed herself up by her hands and landed solidly on her feet before offering an arm to the man beside her, "if you really want to make sure those students of yours properly get your message, it's time to practice what you preach. Are you ready, Shouta?"

Black eyes stared into dark green ones before the man slowly took the offered arm and let the woman pull him up before moving to fix his scarf's placement around his neck. "I think I am... Fukukado-san."

Ms. Joke groaned and dropped her face into her hands. "Duuude... We were about to have a good moment. Why'd you go and ruin it?"

Without changing his expression, Aizawa responded, "You pushed over my last cup of coffee when you got up."

Emi pinched the bridge of her nose. "... Of course I did." She sighed. "Fine. It's barely 4 AM, either I'll walk you back to the base of operations and you sleep to prepare for tonight, or we'll walk around Shizuoka and have breakfast together at whichever place we find that's open already."

The other Pro Hero nodded. "Okay. But you're paying for my first cup of coffee."

The laboratory was almost entirely dark, safe for the few lights that radiated out of various machines. Kurogiri, alone, stood passively in front of the largest receptacle of the room, which, naturally, housed the most important Project: Izumi Midoriya. Kurogiri didn't sleep; he didn't eat, either, for that matter. When he thought about it, it bothered him, but then his collar felt warm and his head felt a little bit hazy and he stopped caring about it. (Sometimes, he thought about it on purpose just to cause the latter reaction.)

Speaking of which, his collar was heating up pleasantly currently... but his thoughts weren't changing. His physical form, the one that existed, albeit barely, under the vapors and gases that made up most of his body, contorted in a slight grimace, as the collar around his neck started to get uncomfortably warm, perhaps detecting that his traitorous thoughts were not changing yet. He willed them to do so, but his mind, his traitorous mind, refused to listen, and the metal heated up more. His hand pulled up to the collar, yanking at it slightly to try and relieve the pain, and, although he could feel the heat against his fingers, he could not feel pain from them, so he kept pulling.

Just when the metal started to give way, the heat became all-encompassing... and then stopped, and the haze set in.

Kurogiri stood, staring at the tank containing Izumi Midoriya, his fingers slowly slipping out from the inside of his collar to rest on the two numbers engraved on the outside. 'Zero two... What does it mean, again?' The Nomu designed to care for Tomura Shigaraki All For One absentmindedly scratched at the two numbers softly for a few more moments before his fingers limply fell to his side, and he resumed his position as sentry inside the laboratory to make sure no pitiful heroes tried to sneak in alone and cause havoc, or, worse, disconnect the Project from her apparatus before the transfer was complete.

Kurogiri lived to serve. What occurred before... it no longer mattered now. 'Zero One... Tomura...?'

The collar heated, and then cooled.

Chapter Text

She came to slowly, her lids heavy and unable to be opened immediately.

The first thing she noticed was that she was weightless, or close to it, and then she realized that her skin felt slightly cold. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but enough to be noticed without having to think about it. She struggled to pull her eyelids apart, the muscles resistant because... because. She wasn't sure why.

The world was bathed in green, and she realized after a few moments that she was submerged in some unidentified liquid, and she felt her own heart rate spike momentarily as her lungs flared, trying to get oxygen. Her muscles strained, trying to pull from their positions, but it became obvious immediately that they were not prepared to move, and neither was her neck. And then, she realized that she was having no trouble breathing, despite her panic, and her eyes, the only parts of her body that could move, drifted downwards to take in the oxygen mask she was wearing.

Perhaps the idea of being masked should've made her worried, but, instead, the sight of the apparatus brought her an overwhelming feeling of relaxation.

The next thing she experienced was something that she retroactively realized she had felt building over the past few moments that she had been awake, a sort of tingling over her skin that couldn't be rationally explained in a simple manner. And then, without her will, the fingers of her right hand twitched, clenching as if trying to hold something, something small and flat, something like a small rectangle. And, as it happened, she watched the world tint red slightly, the cause of which she couldn't discern. Perhaps some new liquid in the solution she was currently suspended in? Some sort of light in the exterior of wherever she was?

... Where was she?

Her eyes drifted around, and if she shifted her eyes all the way to the side, she could see nothing except green with faint hints of gray that seemed to be extending towards her outstretched arms. Looking downwards granted her nothing but the sight of her cheeks and nose, so she instead extended her search outwards. Most of the world was closed off on her sides, but in front of her, she seemed to be able to see freely. It was only because of the instinctive knowledge of the substance she was suspended in that she realized that it was a glass panel to whatever space she was enclosed in.

The thought of being enclosed brought her a brief moment of panic, but that immediately fluttered to the wayside as the tingling returned, her fingers clenched, and the world flashed red again. Her hand was definitely attempting to hold something, but she simply wasn't certain as to what. This time, without the overwhelming feeling of focusing on the buzzing sensation under her skin, she was able to feel the fleeting rush of euphoria that followed behind it, washing over her and making her shiver slightly, the first movement most of her body had been able to make, and, much like with her hand twitching, an unconscious response.

She wished she could move on her own, but she supposed it wasn't a huge issue. The euphoria washing over her skin created a mixture of contentment and bliss that had her relaxing, and the lids of her eyes closing, and she barely fought off the unconsciousness that rushed in to greet her for a few more moments, her eyes flicking open once again to observe her surroundings. The room outside wasn't one she recognized, but at the same time it brought her some sense of familiarity and satisfaction that she didn't quite understand.

Her eyes continued drifting around, and eventually they settled on the one thing she could see moving, some sort of proof beyond the bubbles that occasionally rose through the liquid in front of her that time was not frozen, that things were moving and alive. It was some sort of wispy figure, clad in the uniform of a high-end waiter, or a butler, perhaps. It strode around the room, occasionally bringing its hand up to scratch at its neck before continuing its rounds. It didn't seem to notice her eyes having opened, much more preoccupied on whatever was outside of the room than in it.

A faint wave of panic and fear rose up in her as she continued staring at it, small but noticeable, but she couldn't place a finger on why she was feeling it for the life of her. She didn't recognize the figure.

The vibrations passed through her again, and her eyes closed, satisfied, in response, the most brief tinges of red clouding her vision as her lids slid shut. No, she wasn't afraid of him. He was a good servant; he would keep her safe.

She was safe.

Subject Zero-Zero was asleep in her chamber before she could feel the first rumbles travel down from far above her.

All For One was irritated as soon as the battle started, if only for the fact that the specific method wasn't one that he had predicted. It wasn't truly any large issue, though, but the fact that someone on the inside had brought the gate outside the warehouse down irked him. It meant there were more forces at play than the two that he had accounted for, but he was certain that those two were, by far, the two strongest ones for him to worry about. Additionally, the interior of the facility was a maze that only those who had been guided through were adept at navigating, and it was more than well defended. And that supposed that anyone would be able to sneak past him, which wasn't particularly likely.

From his vantage point, the office above the entrance to the building, he viewed the lithe figure twisting through the shadows away from the now-fallen gate, and his nose twisted in distaste. He was too far away to get a full glimpse at who it was, but all that he was aware of was that if they stayed around, they would get their comeuppance very, very soon.

The gate falling, however, had the intended effect. His guards streamed out from their posts, a private militia of his own organizing, each member of it uniquely competent and also loyal to him in one way or another. Some of them had been bought with Quirks, others with money, but ultimately it didn't matter.  They all rushed to the front all the same, and within moments flashes and transformations filled the battlefield. Hisashi observed apathetically, taking note of the heroes who had been gathered: much of the top ten could be seen, Endeavor blazing his way through the crowd with ferocious intent, Hawks soaring through the sky and providing support, taking out his men who remained in the guard towers surrounding the facility, Best Jeanist's threads whipping around him at a terrifying rate...

Yes, they truly were some of the top heroes of Japan, completely out of the reach of many of his grunts. And he looked forward to crushing each and every one of them. Their Quirks weren't important, not with his plans, but it would be useful to take them if only because it would be beneficial to disable them if he could. He would let them tire themselves out on the thousands of soldiers in his employ, and he would sweep down after and let the world watch as their beloved heroes fell like beetles under his boot. Red eyes shifted towards a camera in the corner of the room, smirking at the blinking red light atop it, indicating that it was recording, with another attached green light indicating that the broadcast had started.

The world's first Supervillain shifted his eyes back towards the battlefield, once again noting the figures on it. With a twinge of satisfaction, he realized that eight of the Top Ten Japanese Heroes were on the field in front of him, the only two absent being All Might and Miruko, and the dots connected. The Rabbit Hero must've been the hero that had encountered his High-End Nomu, no doubt hospitalized and unable to participate in the raid. That was good; very good, in fact. He held no interest in the bunny girl's Quirk, and, as such, she held no value to him. Her presence would only be a nuisance.

He remained content to watch, waiting for a few moments. The first 'interesting' part of the battle, although it was an event that he had already predicted, came when the Laundry Hero: Wash fell. It made sense; the hero was generally a long range hero, and had gotten overwhelmed by his bulky nature and horridly ostentatious costume. All For One hadn't seen how it had happened, but his eyes caught on the moment that the hero had stumbled to the ground and was immediately piled upon by soldiers. Hawks rushed over immediately, his feathers taking care of many of the minions, hurling them upwards and leaving gravity to do the rest. More of the crimson plumage pushed against Wash's body, sliding him out to the edge of the gate, where HPSC vans and soldiers laid in wait, dragging the hero back and towards an ambulance.

The Number Eight Pro Hero might've been alive, he might've been dead. It truly wasn't important to All For One, just that he was out of the fight. The machine box around his body rendered the hero immune to his Quirk unless it was removed, and All For One had no desire in putting in effort towards-

The white-haired man's senses screamed, and he jerked his head to the side and brought his hand up, reacting instinctively as the window in front of him shattered inwards. The shards bounced off of his skin harmlessly, and the villain grit his teeth and grunted as he registered the slightly burning feel in his hand, which had clenched the instant it had felt an impact, and he stared impassively at it as his fingers uncurled, revealing the crumpled metal of a high-caliber bullet that had been shot at him, indicating a sniper somewhere beyond his field of view. One of his eyes twitched, and then a toothy snarl emerged as a cold aura began to emit from his body.

Dropping the bullet, both of his hands moved outwards, and the wall in front of All For One exploded. Much of the battlefield paused, taking note of the action, and many of the people witnessing it shivered at the presence that the man exuded, his aura even more intimidating as he utilized Air Walk to descend to the battlefield, looking more like a descended deity come to punish the wicked. However, those who knew what they were looking at knew far better.

They weren't looking at an angel, nor a god.

They were looking at the devil himself.

ETA: 0 Hours. Operation start.