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Chapter Text

For millennia, mankind had dreamt of flying.

They saw birds soaring through the sky, and wished they could grow wings and take off into the sky, the heavens being the only limit in their flight to freedom. 

The more adventurous and courageous among mankind built gliders, paper and cotton wings that took them into the air for a while, but gravity would always bring them back down to the ground, sometimes in horrific and messy fashion. As technology progressed, however, the first plane was invented, and it seemed that the dream had been fulfilled. Mankind could now take to the skies, and no distance was impossible.

However, even with modern aircraft, there were still limitations. Fuel was the main factor that determined how long and far an aircraft could travel. And there were mechanical failures, human actions and other terrible occurrences that took aircraft out of the sky.

But then, quirks came into being.

Suddenly, the lucky few gained the ability to fly on their will, without assistance from machines or mankind. Levitation, wings, gravity-cancellation, the possibilities were endless for these lucky individuals. 

Some of them used their flight to achieve extraordinary feats of power, to perform great work in service of all that was good and innocent. With the advent of quirks, many horrible pieces of work used their power to cause harm and do evil, and it was up to these defenders of peace to ensure that justice reigns supreme.

Many aspire to become a defender of peace, a pro-hero as what everyone calls them. 

Midoriya Izuku was one of them.

Emphasis on was .

He knows reality better than anyone, in all frankness. He knows the one unspoken rule that determines who gets to become a pro-hero, and who does not.

You need to have a quirk.

The problem with Izuku is that…he doesn’t have one.

Or rather, he doesn’t have an active quirk factor.

Which is how it got Izuku to his current position, on the rooftop of an unremarkable office building in downtown Musutafu, staring blankly into the clear blue sky above.

His cheeks are stained with drying tears, his eyes puffy and red. He had been crying a few moments ago, but now, all he feels is an empty numbness.

The wind blows through, howling mournfully as it passes. It seems to recognise his pain, so great that his body and mind have shut down completely in order to keep it alive.

Izuku appreciates it. If anything, the wind empathises with him.

It would be the only one to do so.

“Rest assured, Midoriya-san, your son will manifest his quirk eventually. Just give it some time.”

If only that had been the case, maybe Izuku would not have to see his mother become duller and empty as each year passed and no sign of his quirk came about.

There was no sympathy elsewhere.

“How can someone as useless as you even dream of becoming a hero?”

“Hah?! You think you can be a hero without a quirk, Deku?!”

“As if he can! He’s just delusional!”

The harsh, mocking criticism and insults chipped away at his hope, day after day. Nobody believed him. Nobody thought he could soar and reach the skies without a quirk, despite the fact that he had a quirk factor, albeit an inactive one. 

The vicious cycle repeated itself year after year, progressively getting worse. It all came to a head on this very day.

I’m done. You’re too much of a burden.

The rent lasts for the rest of the month. You’re on your own.

- Inko

It was one bad thing after another.

“Midoriya also wants to go to U.A., right?”

“What? He thinks his creepy notes will get him there?’

“Is he delusional or something?”

“As if a quirkless Deku can become a hero!”

Then, something unforgivable.

“If you want to be a hero so badly, go fucking throw yourself off the God damn roof! Maybe you’ll get a quirk in your next fucking life!”

And things got worse from there.

“A medium-sized meat sack! You’ll do just fine!”

Nearly drowning in slime was one thing, but getting saved by his idol was another thing altogether.

“UNHAND HIM, VILLAIN! TEXAS SMAAAAAASSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Finally, it seemed that things would begin to look up.

“Can I become a hero even with an inactive quirk factor?”

Only for it all to come crashing down.

“No, you cannot.”

“It is too dangerous.”

“You will just be a liability to others.”

“You need to be realistic. You cannot live your life like a dream.”

On this day, Izuku’s dreams come to an end, and with it, his hope to live.

Nobody believes in him, not even All Might. 

Nobody wants him.

Nobody cares about him.

Nobody cares if he lived or died.

He closes his eyes.

One by one, his shoes come off. 

He climbs over the railing, and stands on the precipice between life and certain death.

Perhaps, before he goes, he will get to experience what it is like to fly.

Crouching down, he springs forward, letting go of the railing.

For the barest of milliseconds, he is airborne. He is flying .

And then, the descent.

The wind screams, as he tumbles down over thirty storeys towards the pavement below. Thankfully, there is no one walking along it. He would hate to accidentally kill someone.

The ground is approaching fast, so he closes his eyes in preparation.

Something brushes over his hair, but it is gone after a second.

He holds his breath - 

A deafening SLAM echoes across the street as his body hits the pavement with enough force to crack the concrete.

And just like that, Izuku’s life comes to a violent, gory end.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

No.

Oh god, no!

No! No! No! No! No! No!

He rushes to the kid, falling to his knees, not caring that he is getting his pants dirty from the blood pooling out from the body.

This can’t be happening.

He had seen the kid fall. He tried to save the kid with one of his feathers. It should have been routine. The kid should have been saved .

Instead, his feather brushed against the kid’s hair, missing him by the barest of seconds. 

He watched as the kid fell, and died on impact with the ground.

For the first time in his professional career, he, the number three hero Hawks, has failed to save a civilian from falling from a great height.

Even worse, it was clearly a suicide, and the victim is a mere child .

He is not supposed to break down. He is a professional hero, for heaven’s sake! He is supposed to keep it together - 

He collapses.

For the first time in many years, Takami Keigo cries .

Tears spill from his eyes, as anguished sobs tear his throat apart.

“Oh god, kid…why?! Why would you do this?! Why?!”

He will never get an answer.

Without thinking, Keigo lifts the kid’s body and cradles it close to his chest. Again, he doesn’t care that blood is spilling all over him. He sobs into the kid’s blood-stained hair, his body like jello in his arms. The fall from such a great height has literally pulverised the body. There is nothing solid left, just a gory mix of blood and liquefied organic matter. 

He knows he is breaking protocol by holding the kid’s body like this. He should not be even touching the body, leaving that job to the paramedics who are trained to handle a suicide by falling case. But this is a mere child , with his whole life ahead of him! He let a child die on his watch! 

All because he reacted too slow, a second too late. His tried-and-tested method of saving people who were falling from great heights had failed, because he failed in his job.

If anything, Keigo’s sobs grow even louder. How could he even call himself a hero for letting the kid die? While he has his fair share of misses where he was too late to save someone from jumping to their death, not once was the victim a child. 

He has failed the child.

He has failed as a hero .

How can he live with this failure? How can he live knowing that a young life has died before their time?

“I’m so sorry…” Keigo chokes out, cradling the body closer, if that is even possible, “I’m so, so sorry…”

His tears fall in droplets against the kid’s cheek, mixing with the blood and gore. Keigo squeezes his eyes shut, head spinning from hyperventilating. Everything is falling apart, there is nothing left, his life as a hero is over - 

“Yeowch!”

Suddenly, his downward spiral is interrupted by pain shooting up his hand.

Keigo’s eyes spring open, and dart down to his hand.

There is a hole in his glove, the edge smouldering.

…what?

Then, he sees what caused the jolt of pain.

A spark.

It jumps from the kid’s hand and disappears into the air.

Then, there is a second, followed by a third, and then a fourth, fifth - 

Keigo immediately lets go of the kid’s body and scrambles back, as the pavement begins to rumble, as if an earthquake is rolling through.

More sparks are flying from the kid’s hands, and the cracks branching from the impact spot widen and stretch even further.

“What the fuck…?”

Suddenly, all hell breaks loose.

Geysers of water explode from the cracks, and as if controlled by an unseen force, swirl around Keigo and the kid. 

“What the fuck?!”

And then, the kid rises .

Keigo watches in stunned stupor as the kid ascends a few metres into the air, hands outstretched. There is a loud whoosh , as flames burst from his hands and surge towards his chest. The kid jerks his head back, as a fiery light shines from his open eyes. The flames swirl around his body, as the kid spins slowly, as if dancing with the flames.

The kid then brings his hands to his chest, the flames coalescing into a sphere that rapidly grows in size. And then, he unleashes a roar so loud, it shakes the earth for several seconds. The kid thrusts his hands out, and the sphere of fire explodes, engulfing him entirely.

Keigo is about to swear again when the fire dissipates. The kid is unharmed, but what he has become leaves the winged hero speechless.

Fire surges out from the kid’s back, sprouting into a large pair of raptor wings with a span that rivals Keigo’s own wings. Except, unlike Keigo’s wings, they are blood-red in colour, and flames burn from the feathers. The kid’s hair appears to be on fire, although it takes a hot second for the hero to realise that the fire is actually the kid’s hair itself. The gakuran uniform that the kid was wearing is now ripped and torn all over, revealing toned muscles that were definitely not there earlier. And is it Keigo’s imagination, the kid appears to be taller now?

And then, just like that, it is all over.

The swirling water crashes back onto the ground, and the kid descends. He falls limply onto the cracked pavement, and with a burst of ash and feathers, his wings vanish and the fire on his head extinguishes.

Keigo blinks owlishly, before stumbling forward to get a closer look.

The kid once had forest-green hair that was messy and untameable. Now, his hair is fiery-red, with streaks and specks of orange and yellow mixed in, similar to wisps of fire. 

And perhaps, most importantly, the kid is breathing.

“What…the fuck…”

Keigo absently reaches for his phone, and dials in for a dispatch, “Send an ambulance to my current coordinates. Male, teenager, suicide victim but resurrected, status: alive.”

His hand falls limply to his side, as he stares at the kid with a dumbstruck expression.

It had been so close to the end of the day.

Tsukauchi Naomasa had been looking forward to going back home and crashing into his ratty bed, with the intent to hibernate for the next 48 hours. He had been working non-stop for the past three days, working to take down an illegal drug trafficking ring that had been operating in the city’s underbellies for the past month. 

His team had finally managed to apprehend the traffickers, and brought them into the holding cells for interrogation. For once, Naomasa had not been needed to conduct the interrogations, as the evidence spoke for themselves and the traffickers were clearly guilty.

He had been looking forward to a quiet weekend.

Until a hero’s dispatch came into his headquarters.

Normally, this sort of thing does not require Naomasa’s presence.

But then came the information of the dispatch.

Suicide victim but resurrected.

What.

The oxymoron in of itself is a cause for a pause, and this is the first time Naomasa has ever heard of such a dispatch. It is only expected that the detective be involved in this strange event to sort it out.

And so, with a heavy sigh and a quiet lament about losing precious hours of sleep, Naomasa jumps into a cruiser with several members of his team, and speeds off to the site of the hero’s coordinates.

They arrive some time later. One of his officers goes to cordon off the area, while Naomasa gets out and looks for the hero in question.

Spotting Hawks standing to one side, the detective beelines straight to him.

“Hawks-san, I am Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa from the Musutafu Police Headquarters,” he introduces himself, “What is this about a suicide victim being resurrected?”

The number three hero gestures towards an ambulance, where paramedics are wheeling an unconscious redheaded teen into the vehicle.

“You won’t believe me even if I told you, detective.”

“My quirk is Lie Detector. I can tell if you are telling the truth or not. Tell me everything that happened.”

“The kid tried to die by suicide, he threw himself off a tall building,” Hawks recounts distantly, “I saw him fall. I tried to save him, but I missed,” the hero turns to Naomasa, and the latter hides a flinch at how manic the hero’s eyes look, “I missed by the barest of millimetres. I failed. He died because of me.”

Truth.

“But…you said he was resurrected?”

“Yes, he came back to life. It was a flaming shit-show, literally. He combusted and boom! He is alive, and he has wings!”

Truth.

Naomasa nods, “It looks like we have a resurrection quirk at play here. It concerns me, though, that the victim thought his life was so bleak that he successfully ended it by falling to his death.”

“You think his home life is shit or something?”

“That’s what I intend to find out,” Naomasa replies firmly, “Which hospital is he headed off to?”

“I think it’s Musutafu General, detective.”

“Right, we better get going then. The faster we get our answers, the faster I can sleep.”

“Big mood, sir, big relatable mood.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

The first thing he hears is the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.

Followed closely by the strong, distinct smell of antiseptic.

His brain puts two and two together, and he inwardly groans.

‘Great fucking job, Izuku. You can’t even kill yourself properly.’

And, because his body is screaming at him to do so, he opens his eyes.

He sees the panelled ceiling above, before his awareness spreads to the rest of his body. 

How…odd.

He expected unbearable agony upon waking up, in the unlikely chance that he survived the thirty-storey fall. He thought he would not be able to move, his body broken beyond repair. He thought that he would become a living vegetable, even more useless than he already was.

Instead, he feels…fine.

Great, even.

He attempts to sit up, only to be stopped by a firm hand.

“Easy there, kiddo. Don’t wanna overwork yourself so fast.”

Wait a minute.

Wait a god-damn minute!

That voice…!

Izuku spins to his left side.

“H-Hawks?!”

The number three hero chuckles, “How are you feeling, kiddo?”

Izuku stares, dumbstruck, for a moment. He turns away from Hawks, and starts muttering, “I’m dreaming. This is some kind of fever dream. Hawks isn’t actually sitting next to me. I’m going to pinch myself, and he is going to disappear - ”

“Kiddo, I’m hurt,” Hawks places a hand on his heart, “You wound me. Am I nothing but a fever dream to you?”

Izuku turns to the winged hero again, “So…this isn’t a dream?”

Suddenly, Hawks’ expression turns playful, “Want me to tickle you instead? I can assure you then that I’m no dream - ”

“NO!” Izuku screeches, hands curling around himself in a frantic bid to protect his sides, “No tickling! I’m good! This is no dream!”

“Aww, you’re mean,” Hawks pouts, “You never let me have my fun.”

Izuku is nonplussed, causing silence to take over for a moment.

“Um…Hawks?”

“Call me Keigo, fletchling.”

Izuku blinks, he did not expect the offer to get personal. But with the insistent look from the winged hero, he gives in.

“Keigo-san…why am I here? How am I alive?”

The brightness in the hero’s disposition dims, “Fletchling, what I’m going to tell you is going to sound bonkers, and I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me. However, I’m going to bring in someone who will verify what I will say as the truth. Can you wait here for a moment?”

Izuku nods.

Keigo gets up and peeks his head out of the door. He speaks to someone outside, and steps back inside. A tall, plain-looking man dressed in a fedora and trench coat enters the ward, carrying a manila folder under his arm.

“Fletchling, this is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Midoriya-kun,” Tsukauchi bows, which Izuku returns with a nod, “I was called to the scene of your suicide after Hawks-san found you.”

Izuku fiddles with the blanket, “Keigo-san said that you will be able to verify whatever he says?”

“That’s right, my quirk is called ‘Lie Detector’. I am able to tell if you are speaking the truth or lying to me.”

Izuku accepts that with a nod.

“Alright, since he’s with us, let me dive straight into it,” Keigo says, “Fletchling, I saw you throw yourself off the roof of the building. I tried to save you with one of my feathers, but I missed, and you hit the pavement with enough force to crack the concrete. You died on impact.”

Izuku nods. He remembers that.

“How am I alive, then?”

“You were resurrected, kiddo,” Keigo replies, “Flames burst out of your hands and swirled around you. It then consumed you whole, and you were alive once more.”

Izuku’s eyes widened like dinner plates, “F-Flames?! Detective Tsukauchi, is this true?”

“Yes, Midoriya-kun, one-hundred percent true.”

Izuku promptly lost the ability to speak.

“Not only that, you also grew a massive pair of wings that were burning with flames,” Keigo continues, as reality cracked even more for Izuku, “They are quite like my own, except they are blood-red in colour, and the fact that they were burning, of course. Also, your hair is now the colour of fire, no longer green.”

Izuku wordlessly turns to Naomasa, “Truth, all of it.”

The tears promptly begin to fall.

Izuku hiccups and sniffles, “After all these years…I had to freaking die just to get a quirk?!”

Both Keigo and Tsukauchi turn to each other. Now is the time for difficult, uncomfortable conversations.

The winged hero goes to get a nearby box of tissues, while Tsukauchi sits down next to Izuku, “Midoriya-kun, I understand that you are quite emotional and overwhelmed right now, but as a detective, I need to know what caused your suicide earlier today. We can put this off until later if you want, but I would like to ask you several questions.”

Izuku accepts the offered tissues from Keigo. He wipes his eyes and clears out his nose, “N-No, we can talk now.”

Tsukauchi nods, taking out an audio recorder from the manila folder and turning it on, “Can you tell me your name and age?”

“Midoriya Izuku, 14 years old.”

Truth

“What school do you go to?”

“Aldera Middle School.”

Truth

“Why did you decide to end your life?”

Izuku fiddles his thumbs, “As you know, my quirk didn’t manifest until today,” Truth “Everyone thought I was quirkless, and therefore useless, a waste of air and space, sub-human.”

Truth

Both Keigo and Tsukauchi both turn grim.

“Today was the worst day of my life,” Izuku continues, voice becoming even more distant as he recalls the memories, “My mum…she left. I woke up to an empty apartment. All of her belongings were gone. She just left behind a note, saying that she was done with me and that I had to fend for myself now.”

Keigo curses under his breath. Tsukauchi leans forward slightly, “What is your mother’s name?”

“Inko. Midoriya Inko.”

The detective nods, “What happened next?”

“At school, my teacher outed my choice of high school to the entire class. I wanted to go to U.A., you know? I always wanted to be a pro-hero, it has been my life dream to become someone like All Might. But everyone just laughed and scorned me for even daring to dream of becoming a hero. I was a quirkless Deku, after all. I would never amount to anything. I was useless and a waste of resources.”

Truth

Tsukauchi presses, “What happened after that?”

“My childhood friend, Kacchan, confronted me after class. He ordered me to not attend U.A., because only he gets to become a hero and surpass All Might. He has a powerful explosion quirk, you see, which gives him a good advantage. He then exploded my notebook and tossed it out of the window, where it landed in a koi pond below. Then…he…”

Izuku flinches, and squeezes his eyes shut.

“What did this Kacchan do?” Keigo asks, a pit forming in his stomach.

“He…He told me to throw myself off the roof, so that I will get a quirk in my next life.”

Truth

…

…

“Detective.”

“Yes, Hawks-san?”

Keigo’s eyes are blazing , “I want you to find this Kacchan and have him arrested on charges of destruction of property and suicide-baiting. Plus, I want Aldera razed to the ground for letting such crap happen without anyone doing anything about it.”

Izuku’s eyes bug out of their sockets, “W-What?! No! You can’t!”

“And why the hell not, kid?”

“Kacchan is going to be a hero! He can’t become one if he has a criminal record!”

“Kid, fletchling, stop,” Keigo says firmly, causing Izuku to snap his mouth shut, “What this Kacchan did was wrong and criminal . From the sound of things, he is an explosive bully who thinks he can get away with anything because he has a powerful quirk. That is not the makings of a hero. Quite the contrary, he is more of a villain than anything else.”

Izuku wants to protest, but the intense, fierce look in Keigo’s eyes renders him silent.

“I will keep a note on this Kacchan person,” Tsukauchi says after a tense moment, “What is his full name?”

“...Bakugou Katsuki.”

The detective nods, “What happened after school ended?”

“I was walking home, and I took a short-cut through an underpass. I was attacked by a villain made of slime. It tried to kill me and use my body as a host. But then…I was saved by All Might.”

Truth

“And then?”

“I wanted to ask All Might something, but he was in a rush. So when he leapt up into the sky…I…Igrabbedhislegandwentupwithhim.”

“Could you repeat that, but slower?”

Izuku looks incredibly uncomfortable, “I…I grabbed All Might’s leg just as he was about to leap up into the sky, and I was carried up into the air with him.”

Truth

…

…

“Kid, you…”

Keigo rubs his face, feeling so god-damned done , “That is the most fucking reckless thing I have ever heard! You could have died if you lost your grip!”

Izuku wilts under the outraged look, “I know. But I was desperate. I had to know. I needed to ask All Might the question I have been clinging on to for the past ten years.”

Keigo visibly calms himself down. He can save the punishment for later.

“All Might landed on the roof of the building where I leapt from. He scolded me for being reckless, and before he left, I asked him if I could be a hero, even without an active quirk factor.”

Tsukauchi has a sinking feeling in the pit, “What did he say?”

“He said no,” Izuku leans back into the pillow, “He told me that I could not. It is too dangerous. He said that I will be a liability to others, and that I needed to be realistic. He then…left me on the rooftop. You know what happened next.”

Truth

…

…

“Kiddo….”

Keigo climbs into the bed, and in an unexpected move, he hugs Izuku tightly.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that you had to go through hell. None of that should have happened. I’m so, so sorry…”

Izuku is momentarily frozen. No one has hugged him since his mother, who stopped doing so many years ago. He doesn’t know what to do. Does he hug back? What is the right thing to do in this situation?!

To the side, Tsukauchi sits in grim silence. There is a lot running through his mind, all of which he knows that he will need to take action right away. The fact that he will be kissing his beloved weekend and sleep goodbye doesn’t even bother him. He had been witness to a heart-breaking story that should never have happened, as Keigo aptly said it. A child walked through hell and nearly paid the price for the sins of others, with only his quirk essentially turned him into a human phoenix stopping an innocent life from ending before its time. There has been a serious miscarriage of justice here, and as one of the best detectives in Japan, he will not rest until justice has been delivered.

Tsukauchi gets up first, “Midoriya-kun, thank you for being truthful throughout the interview. I will take my leave first, as there are many things that require my attention right now.”

He bows to the teen, and strides out of the ward. 

Izuku returns his attention to the fact that Keigo is still hugging him. He really does not know what to do in this situation.

“Keigo-san…”

“Yes, fletchling?”

“What will happen to me now? I have a quirk, but what will I do?”

Keigo pulls away and gives him a soft look, “Leave everything to me and Tsukauchi. We will help you through this.”

“R-Really?” Izuku looks down, “I don’t wish to be a bother…”

“You are not a bother. You are never a bother,” Keigo emphasises, taking one of Izuku’s hands and squeezing it tightly, “You deserve the entire world. You deserve to be taken care of. Protected and cherished. You deserve to be happy and loved. I know that so many adults have failed you before, fletchling, but all I ask is that you trust me and Tsukauchi. Please?”

Slowly, Izuku nods.

“Thank you, Izuku,” Keigo smiles brightly, “I promise to never betray your trust.”

“I…I will hold you to that promise, Keigo-san.”

Keigo nods, before his smile becomes mischievous, “And now, for your punishment.”

Izuku doesn’t get the chance to react, when he is suddenly pinned down to the bed, unable to move.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack when you told us about how you clung onto Ass Might’s leg as he hurtled through the air,”  Keigo grins cheekily, “For that, you have been sentenced to excruciating torture for as long as I deem so.”

Izuku begins to sweat bullets, “W-What torture?”

Keigo lifts up the teen’s shirt, and without any warning, his fingers dive into Izuku’s sides.

Izuku’s eyes bug out, and he quickly crumbles.

“No! Ahahaha! Stop! No - bwahahahaha - tickles! Stop! Please! Hahahahaha! Mercyyyyy!!!!”

“Afraid not, kiddo, you need to learn your lesson on not being reckless and putting your life in danger.”

Several feathers shoot off Keigo’s wings and begin brushing along the skin of Izuku’s neck and soles. The teen promptly loses the ability to speak, his laughter reaching unholy pitches that go beyond what most people are capable of. 

With all the ruckus going on inside, it is a wonder that none of the nurses or doctors come running in to see what the commotion is all about.

Which is bad news for Izuku, as he descends into an endless laughing torment as Keigo tickles the life out of him for God knows much longer.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

In the end, Keigo overdoes it.

He tickled Izuku so hard and for so long that the teen eventually passed out from oxygen deprivation and exhaustion from laughing so much.

Oh well, the kid needs his rest anyways.

Keigo makes sure that Izuku is sleeping well, before quietly leaving the ward and heading to a quiet corner where he won’t be disturbed by hospital staff. He whips out a burner phone, dials in a number, and starts a call.

“Hey, it’s me.”

…

“Yeah, I’m cashing in the favour now.”

…

“Why? Let me start from the beginning…”

…

…

“I know right? It’s crazy! Do you understand why I’m cashing in on that favour right now?”

…

“Yes, he needs protection. If word gets to the commission about his quirk…”

…

…

“No, thank you , Principal Nezu. You’re doing a huge favour for the kiddo. So when can we set up a meeting?”

…

“Tomorrow? Sounds good. I’ll send you the details once I hang up.”

…

“Alright, take care. See you tomorrow.”

He hangs up after that.

Keigo pockets the burner phone and slips back into the ward. Izuku is still sleeping, completely unaware of what is going to happen tomorrow. 

Just as well, Keigo thinks to himself, he wants his kiddo to have a nice surprise once he wakes up.

“I’m really sorry about calling you down so last minute, Eraser-san, but I have a troubling case which requires your expertise.”

The tired hobo sitting before Tsukauchi sighs tiredly. Even when polite and straightforward, the detective is not above using a hint of flattery to get what he wants. 

He knows that he could be at home now, playing with his cats and snuggling with his husband on the couch or in their bed. But the life of a hero, especially an underground one such as himself, is extremely unpredictable. He is on call all the time. He can never truly relax. He has to be on his toes at all times.

The only time he can truly relax is when he is retired, or buried six feet under the ground.

Briefly, he wonders if it's not too late to throw in the towel and become a crazy cat man. He curses his husband and Nemuri for convincing him to become a pro-hero. Maybe he should have become an accountant, just like his aunt had suggested all those years ago.

Too late for that, though.

Might as well get on with it.

“What’s troubling you?”

Tsukauchi gets right down to business, “At 15:42 hours, we received a dispatch call from Hawks about a teenager who was resurrected after dying by suicide from jumping off the roof a tall building. I interviewed the teenager while he was being warded at Musutafu General Hospital. He told me that prior to his suicide, his quirk factor was inactive.”

Shit.

“So he was effectively quirkless, how old is he?”

“Fourteen.”

Double shit.

“Was his home life bad?”

“His mother abandoned him this morning,” Tsukauchi reveals, “She just up and left with only a note to tell him that he has to fend for himself from now on. His school life is not any better. He was the victim of relentless bullying and ostracisation. One of his classmates even told him to kill himself if he so desperately wanted a quirk in his next life.”

Triple shit.

“Did none of the teachers do anything?”

“No one did,” Tsukauchi replies grimly, “I suspect that there is something going on in that school, since it is illegal for teachers to not intervene in cases of systemic bullying and discrimination. I want you to do some searching, some digging around, to see if we can build up a case against the school.”

Very well.

“What is the name of the school?”

“Aldera Middle School.”

Izuku wakes up to phantom aches all across his body.

Damn it, Keigo.

Why did you have to tickle so hard?

He opens his eyes, blinking from the brightness coming from the nearby window.

“Good morning, fledgling! Sleep well?”

Izuku turns to the side. Keigo is sitting by the bed, grinning brightly while resting his chin on a palm.

“Fuck you…”

“Oh ho? What’s this? Is my little kiddo a potty mouth? Does he need to be punished once more?”

Normally, the sight of Keigo wiggling his fingers should have terrified Izuku. After all, he went through a different hell yesterday thanks to those fingers and feathers. However, because he feels like death warmed over now, Izuku has lost his patience for his winged tormentor.

“Keigo-san…supposedly, I can produce flames, which were integral to my resurrection.”

The cheeky grin drops from the winged hero’s face.

“If I could, there stands a good chance that I can use these flames to burn away your wings entirely, leaving you completely quirkless and at the mercy of others,” Izuku says in a complete deadpan voice, “You may be the number three hero, but without your wings, it’s over.”

Silence follows.

“Damn, you are actually quite scary, do you know that, kiddo?”

“I analyse quirks for fun, Keigo-san,” Izuku replies, “I don’t mean to brag, but I am perhaps the one who knows the most about a person’s quirk, second to the person themselves. I analyse their strengths and weaknesses, breaking down how a person’s quirk can be improved, but also determining how that person can be defeated, by means of quirks or otherwise. So yes, Keigo-san, I now know that I can be scary, so you best be careful about your threats of tickles, hm?”

In truth, Keigo is a little intimidated. Sure, he may not have Tsukauchi’s ability to discern truths from lies, but the look in Izuku’s eyes is very indicative of a concrete truth. The fact that the kid immediately guessed one of his biggest weaknesses (which he always works to keep hidden from anyone) is a warning sign that he shouldn’t push things too far.

Plus, he really did overdo the tickling last evening.

“Alright, I’ll back off for now.”

Izuku relaxes, and he leans back into the pillow, “So what’s going to happen now?”

Keigo checks the time, “Well, you do have a visitor who wants to see you.”

“Who?”

“He should be coming right about - ”

Someone knocks at the door.

“ - now.”

The door slides open, and Izuku’s eyes almost pop out of his head.

“Hello! Am I a mouse, a dog or a bear? Who knows, but for one thing’s for sure, I am Principal Nezu!”

Aizawa locates the school easily enough.

There is truly nothing remarkable about Aldera Middle School. By all accounts, it looks like a very typical Japanese middle school. 

Plain, unassuming.

The perfect breeding ground for something darker.

Even Aizawa can feel the off-centre vibe from the building in front of him. There is something hidden, just under the surface, a dirty secret that those inside do whatever it takes to keep it from being discovered. 

In truth, the underground hero wonders how this reconnaissance mission will go. Will he find the answers that he is looking for? Obviously, something is going on to prompt a teenager to take his own life. But this begs the question, how much resistance will he face in his quest for information and answers? Will the administration of Aldera be smart enough to keep the truth hidden from him? Or are they arrogant and overconfident in themselves, to the point that they play right into his hands?

Either way, he is going to find out.

Aizawa strides through the front yards, entering the building without any fanfare. As he had arrived at around eleven in the morning, classes were still ongoing. No one is around to see him approach the main office where the principal worked. He approaches the secretary’s desk, noting the bored look on her face as she stares at…something.

On closer inspection, she is actually on her phone, scrolling through social media.

One point in Aldera’s disfavour.

“Excuse me.”

She didn’t even look up from her phone, “What is it?”

The disinterested, bland tone? A second point in Aldera’s disfavour.

“I’m here to meet Principal Kubatawa.”

“Do you have an appointment?” the secretary asks, again not looking up from her phone, and speaking as if she is merely reading off a script, “If not, you need to make an appointment to see him. You need to call 24 hours in advance -”

“Trust me, miss,” Aizawa whips out his hero licence and pushes it into the woman’s face, “This is no ordinary meeting.”

Suddenly, she is much more alive.

“O-Of course, sir! Just give me a moment!”

Throwing her phone to one side, the secretary rushes into the principal’s office. While she is gone, Aizawa peers around the desk to see if she has any actual work to be done. 

Nope, the screen is dark. She is truly slacking off.

Three points in Aldera’s disfavour.

Approaching footsteps prompt Aizawa to pull back.

“Hello! Hello! Good morning!” a morbidly obese man with a passing resemblance to a pig comes forward and bows haphazardly, “Would you like to talk in my office?”

“Yes, please.”

He is led into an extremely messy office that really feels more like a pigsty than anything else. Butawara shuffles to his desk, offering a seat to Aizawa. The hero makes sure that there is nothing suspicious on the chair, before sitting down.

“How may I help you today, good sir?”

Aizawa forces himself to not cringe at the sickly attempt at flattery, “I am a teacher at U.A.,” he notes that the principal perks up at the name, “We are about to commence with a pilot apprenticeship programme this year. As such, I will need the profiles of the best students from the graduating cohort.”

“Ah, yes, yes! I will get you the profiles right away! Please wait here while I go get them for you.”

The principal leaves the office. Once the door clicks shut, Aizawa jumps into action. He has no idea how long the man will be away for, so he has to move quickly.

Fishing a thumbdrive from his pocket, Aizawa plugs it into the principal’s computer. Created by the best of U.A.’s support students and commissioned by Nezu himself, this thumbdrive automatically bypasses all security and data protection firewalls in any computer and downloads all files stored within. The process is also incredibly fast, taking only seconds to download and store large amounts of data.

Once it is done, Aizawa unplugs the drive from the computer and looks around the office. His trained eyes scour the room for any signs of malignant clues that could indicate anything shady or secretive going on behind the walls of Aldera. 

It doesn’t take long for Aizawa to find one.

He is almost floored with how blatant this damning piece of evidence is left in display, clearly visible to anyone who merely looked in that direction.

Aizawa wonders whether Butawara is supremely arrogant…

…or supremely stupid.

It is a book, and on its own, nothing out of the ordinary.

But for someone who is well-versed in the underground and aware of what goes on in the worst of society?

This is all the evidence Aizawa needs.

The principal chooses at that moment to return with several folders. Aizawa pretends that he is not bubbling with incandescent rage, putting on a blank, indifferent gaze.

“Here are the profiles, sir,” Butawara hands the folders over, “I look forward to hearing about your selections!”

“Trust me, it won’t take long.”

Because he is not going to dawdle around.

With that, Aizawa bids the man farewell, and rushes out of the office with the folders in hand. Naturally, he won’t be going through them, but the papers inside will definitely be useful in lining his cats’ litter boxes.

He jumps into his car and speeds off. There is no time to waste.

For the second time in less than 48 hours, Izuku believes that he is dreaming.

How else could he explain that the principal of his dream school, one of Japan’s top heroes, and arguably the smartest being in the entire planet is waving jovially from the doorway and approaching his bed?

The mattress dips when the mammal (what exactly is he?) climbs onto the bed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya-kun!”

It takes a hot moment for Izuku to find his voice, “I’m dreaming. This has to be some kind of fever dream. Nezu is not really standing on my bed. He is not actually here -”

Keigo jabs his side, making Izuku yelp and leap a foot off the mattress.

“Still think you’re dreaming, kiddo?”

Izuku glares at the winged hero.

Nezu, for his part, chuckles like it is some funny joke, “Fret not, Midoriya-kun! Your reaction is pretty common with others in your position.”

Izuku turns to the mammal, “What are you doing here?”

“I was called here, by Hawks no less!” Nezu chirps. Izuku swings to the winged hero, who simply shrugs in acknowledgement, “I was told about the circumstances that led to your quirk activating and your subsequent resurrection. I am truly sorry that you had to go through such terrible experiences, and you felt that the only way left was to end your life. I can expect, though, that you had no idea that death was only just the beginning, hm?”

Izuku simply nods.

“Just as I suspected. But I digress! There are many important things we need to talk about today, Midoriya-kun.”

“Such as?”

“Your new living arrangements, first and foremost.”

Izuku blinks.

“I was informed about what your mother did yesterday. Absolutely atrocious. Believe me when I say that we are doing everything in our power to locate her and bring her to face justice,” says Nezu, “On the same token, it is important that you have a place to stay and that you are well taken care of until you reach adulthood and are able to make your own decisions.”

“Okay…”

“Excellent! Now, I also understand that you aspire to become a pro-hero, and that U.A. has been your dream school since childhood. As such, I am inviting you to come live with me on the school grounds as a ward of the school. You will be given the means to live comfortably, while also receiving the training you need to become a hero!”

Izuku’s mind grinds to a screeching halt.

Live in U.A.? Receive training to become a hero?

…

This has to be a dream.

Keigo then proceeds to jab Izuku’s side once more, making the teen yelp a second time.

“Not a dream, fledgling. Not a dream.”

With wide eyes, Izuku turns to Nezu, “Is this…for real?”

“One-hundred percent real, Midoriya-kun. Scout’s honour, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die real,” the mammal nods, “I see great potential in you. Your quirk, based on what Hawks-san has told me, carries tremendous power and versatility. It would be a crime to not invite you to train at U.A. in order to become the best hero you can be!”

Normally, this should have led to an overload of jubilation and celebration. However, Izuku picked up on something that the mammal said, and perhaps, he is still a little…salty from being targeted by Keigo’s fingers.

“So it boils down to my quirk, then? Would you have said the same if I remained effectively quirkless?”

Nezu’s beady eyes glimmer, “I will admit, you would be at a disadvantage if your quirk factor remained dormant. However, I never once said that the quirkless can’t become heroes themselves. They will need to work harder than others, for sure, but it is not impossible. Plus, there are means for quirkless individuals to equalise the playing field, so the possibility is always there. Smart of you, though, for questioning my words. It is a good trait to think critically and not just accept things at face value.”

Izuku subconsciously relaxes.

“That being said, there is a more…pressing reason why I am inviting you to live on campus as a ward of U.A.,” Nezu continues, all joviality disappearing, “It is for your wellbeing and protection.”

“Protection from what?”

“From the HPSC, or more commonly known as the hero commission.”

Izuku nods, having heard of the organisation before. However, he is still confused.

Nezu continues, “Contrary to what most people believe of them, the HPSC does not have the interests of heroes or the public at heart. In fact, I find the name one of the most ironic jokes I have ever heard. The entire organisation is corrupt and rotten to the core. They are more interested in exploiting the name of heroism than maintaining the safety and wellbeing of the public. They are also constantly on the look-out for individuals with promising quirks to “train” them into future pro-heroes.”

“Why do I hear air quotes when you say train?”

“Training is merely a cover word to avoid suspicion,” Nezu explains, “In most cases, the poor victim is put through relentless torture and subjugation in order to mould them into heroes. Ripped away from family and friends, the victim is “trained” day and night, with no respite or care about their wellbeing. Injuries are healed quickly on-site, and nothing short of death will make the torture stop. If they acted out or protested against the regiment, they will be punished severely, often through brutal physical torture that violates every known convention or agreement signed by the world’s governments.”

Izuku pales, “H-How do you know all this? Is this all true?”

“I had a reliable source of information and testimony,” Nezu replies, glancing at a certain winged hero.

Izuku whips towards Keigo, “You…all this happened to you?”

Keigo sighs, eyes downcast and distant, “I was trained since the age of six. What I went through will cause you nightmares for a long time, kiddo. I wouldn’t wish what I endured on my worst enemy. The hero commission gets away with a lot of things, this is one of them.”

Izuku is left speechless.

“And had it not been for Hawks-san contacting me, you would have been targeted, Midoriya-kun.”

Izuku feels his palms become sweaty, gripping the blanket tightly.

“By becoming a ward of U.A., the commission will have no legal basis to touch you. The education system is kept separated away from the commission’s purview, preventing any interference that would otherwise jeopardise the standards of education here in this country. Not only will we be able to guarantee your safety, but you will also be able to train in a more conducive, humane environment that does not resort to barbaric torture just to mould the image of a perfect hero.”

Izuku considers his options.

“A-Are you sure? I don’t wish to be a burden…”

“You are far from a burden, Midoriya-kun,” Nezu pats the teen’s hand, “You have a promising future ahead. You should be free to make your own choices, and not be shackled by a group of heartless, corrupt monsters who taint the good name of heroism. I only wish the best for you, and I am sure Hawks-san wants the same too.”

“I certainly do, chickadee,” Keigo nods, “If I can save one person from experiencing what I went through, I can die a happy bird.”

Faced with these prospects, there is really only one viable option that Izuku can choose.

“Please take care of me, Principal Nezu.”

The mammal beams, “You have my sincerest promise, Midoriya-kun.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Tsukauchi sighs, leaning back into his ratty desk chair as he mentally runs through everything that has happened thus far.

They had managed to intercept Midoriya Inko at the airport, just as she was about to board a one-way flight to Beijing. Apparently, she caused quite a scene as immigration personnel stopped her from boarding and handed her over to the police. She has been brought back to Musutafu, where she is now being held in remand until Tsukauchi himself could interrogate her.

The detective, for his part, is not looking forward to interrogating her. Parents who abandon their children, especially over quirk matters, are a sore spot for Tsukauchi. For sure, he is going to give her hell for causing Izuku so much distress. But for now, he quietly revels in knowing that the first step towards justice has been made.

Now, all he needs to do is wait for Aizawa to return with any intel from Aldera Middle School.

His door slams open.

Speak of the (hobo) devil, and he will appear.

“Eraser, what did you manage to find - ?”

Aizawa slams his hands down on the desk, “Code Meta.”

A beat of silence.

“What?”

“We need to burn that school to the ground. I have a strong suspicion that Aldera is an indoctrination facility run by the Meta Liberation Army. The principal has a copy of the Meta Liberation War proudly displayed in his bookshelf.”

There goes his weekend.

“Right,” Tsukauchi gets up from his desk, pushing down his lament for the loss of precious sleep. He activates his transceiver, “Engaging Code Meta protocol. Meeting in fifteen.” He then turns to Aizawa, “Get as many heroes as you can. I believe that Aldera may not be the only facility operating under our noses.”

“Got it.”

Izuku is discharged the next morning.

Given a clean bill of health, both Keigo and Nezu accompany him out of the hospital and into a waiting limousine. They plan to stop by Izuku’s old apartment and collect all of his belongings, before moving them to his new home on the campus of U.A.. 

For the teen, it all still feels like a dream.

Even when he signed the documents that legally made him a ward of the school, it was a surreal experience. Just a few days ago, the world was bleak and hopeless. He had nothing left to live for, and it seemed that he was better off dead. Now, as he sits in the limousine next to Keigo, chatting animatedly about anything he or the winged hero had in mind, the future is suddenly brighter. The sun is shining through the clouds, and all is well in the world once more.

He is going to become a hero. A dream once scorned by others as impossible and delusional is now very real, and he is on his way towards achieving it.

“How are you feeling, chickadee?”

“Like I’m flying,” Izuku replies earnestly, “I feel like I can achieve anything now.”

Keigo chuckles, “Wait until you actually get the chance to fly. I think you’re up for a terrific experience.”

“Will you teach me?”

“Of course I will! I’m the best flyer in all of Japan!”

Izuku purses his lips in thought, “Well, I will say that such a claim is debatable. You may be the fastest flyer in Japan, but you do have your fair share of accidents. Like that one time that you got distracted and flew head-first into a billboard last year. I still remember the dubstep remix of you hitting the billboard in time with a pre-quirk song that I can’t quite remember the name of. Oh, and the one time that you got side-tracked by chicken nuggets and caused a ten-vehicle pile-up because you lost altitude and nearly flew right into oncoming traffic. And there was the time that - ”

“Okayyyy!!!!” Keigo slaps a hand over the teen’s mouth, “That is enough out of you!”

Nezu peers back from the front seat, “Midoriya-kun, I would love for you to share that dubstep remix video with me when you can.”

Izuku pries the hand off his mouth, “Will do, Principal Nezu.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Keigo tackles Izuku down onto the seat, proceeding to tickle the life out of the teen. As Izuku devolves into uncontrollable laughter and pleas for mercy, Nezu simply instructs the chauffeur to roll the separating window in between the front and back seats up. 

It’s nice to see Izuku with a smile on his face, even if he is being tormented by the merciless assault of tickling fingers and feathers.

There is no space for smiles or laughs in a conference room inside the Musutafu Police Headquarters.

In total, seventy police officers and twenty pro-heroes have been gathered for this top-secret briefing. When they received notification of Code Meta, they knew they were being called up for something extremely serious, possibly earth-shattering.

Very rarely has Code Meta been activated, and the gravity of the situation is known by everyone gathered inside.

At exactly 9pm in the evening, Detective Tsukauchi and Aizawa enter the conference room. Tsukauchi checks the microphone attached at the podium, and begins the briefing, “Good evening everyone, I thank you for coming in at this very late hour. I know many of you were looking forward to the weekend, but this situation is one of grave importance. Rest assured that you will be compensated properly for your participation. I will now pass the briefing on to Eraserhead, who will go into the details of this mission.”

The erasure hero takes to the podium, “In case there are any of you who don’t know what Code Meta entails, we are about to go up against the quirk-supremacy and terrorist organisation, the Meta Liberation Army, or MLA.”

Hushed whispers spread among the gathered police officers, while the heroes’ expressions darken significantly.

“While the MLA have not engaged in any high profile acts of terrorism or villainy in recent years, we have strong evidence that they have secretly infiltrated schools in Japan and turned them into indoctrination facilities to spread their hate ideologies and brainwash impressionable youth to join their cause. Here in Musutafu, we have confirmed that one school is a MLA-affiliated facility, and by association, two other schools that are suspected facilities. These are,” Aizawa turns on a projector, “Aldera Middle, Aldera Elementary, and Aldera High Schools.”

“Due to an incident that we will not further get into due to the sensitivity of the issue and to protect the identity of the victim, who is still a minor in the eyes of the law, Eraserhead went to Aldera Middle School on the pretext of commencing an apprenticeship programme in U.A. to conduct an investigation,” Tsukauchi continues, “While meeting the principal of Aldera Middle, Butawara Miyaji, Eraserhead discovered a copy of the Meta Liberation War clearly displayed in the principal’s bookshelf. For those who don’t know what is the significance of the book, it is the MLA’s manifesto that calls for the extermination of all quirkless individuals and the supreme might of quirks. Originally published by the founder of the MLA, Destro, it has been adapted and rewritten by the MLA’s current leader, Re-Destro, and is a required book to possess by all members of the MLA.”

“The government has banned the Meta Liberation War on the grounds of extremism and inciting genocide,” Aizawa adds on, “Mere possession of the book warrants a twenty-year prison sentence. This is already grounds for an arrest, but due to disturbing details about the goings-on in Aldera Middle School, it is imperative that we conduct a raid on all three Aldera schools and shut down these indoctrination facilities before they cause any more harm to the current generation of youth.”

“The raid itself will commence at 0900 hours on Monday,” Tsukauchi briefs, “You will be split up in teams of three. Team Alpha will raid Aldera Elementary, team Beta will tackle Aldera Middle, and team Gamma will raid Aldera High. Eraserhead and myself will join team Beta because we know for sure that Aldera Middle is an indoctrination facility. Does anyone have any questions?”

The detective pauses for several moments. When no one raised their hands or spoke up, he nods, “Good, you will be informed on which team you will be a part of later tonight. I want to stress that whatever we just went through in this conference room will remain top secret. We cannot risk anyone, especially the MLA, finding out that we are going to raid the schools. This is a matter of national security, and loose lips will destroy lives. Are we all clear?”

There is a chorus of assent.

“Good, you’re dismissed. See you all on Monday.”

The police officers and heroes get up and file out of the room. Tsukauchi sighs, turning to Aizawa, “How could something like this happen, right under our noses?”

“The fault of society, really,” the hobo replies simply, “Everyone let quirks get to their heads. And the powers above simply let things turn rotten.”

“Do you think the commission is complicit in letting the MLA run amok like this?”

“I’m not surprised, detective. I’m really not surprised if they are.”

Tsukauchi sighs, “At least we manage to catch them. Who knows how many lives they have destroyed by now?”

“Far too many. Even one life is one too many.”

It doesn’t take long for Izuku, Keigo and Nezu to pack up the apartment.

All of Izuku’s belongings are concentrated in his room, and even so, he doesn’t pack away everything. Anything that is All Might-related, he leaves it where they are. With the recent loss of respect for the number one hero, Izuku sees his previous obsession with All Might as something to move on from. The remaining items all fit into two boxes, which the chauffeur brings down to the limousine first.

“I have to say, kiddo, this is still quite a lot of stuff,” Keigo remarks.

“I honestly don’t know what to do with them,” Izuku admits, “Though, it feels like a waste to just throw everything away.”

“Why not sell them, Midoriya-kun?” Nezu proposes, “With all of this merchandise, and I spotted some limited edition and rare items among them, you could fetch a hefty sum if you sell them online.”

“It will take a long time, though…” Izuku mutters.

“Not to worry!” the mammal reassures, “I will have everything sorted out over the weekend. In the meantime, let’s head back to the limousine. You must be excited to see your new home, hm?”

That brings a smile to Izuku’s face, “Yes, let’s go.”

Sunday should have been Tsukauchi’s rest day.

Instead, he is running on unhealthy amounts of cheap coffee and caffeine pills to get through the all-nighters that he and his team are pulling to prepare for the raid.

There is a hell of a load of logistics and planning going on just to make sure that all gaps are covered and nothing is left to chance. Everything has to be perfect, they cannot afford for anything to go wrong. 

On top of that, Tsukauchi has a certain someone to deal with.

Adding an entire bottle of cheap vodka to his already mind-boggling caffeine intake, the detective drives like a madman to an upscale condominium complex in downtown Musutafu, nearly breaking every single road safety law in the books to get there in record time.

Jumping out of his car, Tsukauchi storms into the ground floor lobby, terrifying the crap out of everyone that he passes. The poor concierge nearly suffers a cardiac arrest when Tsukauchi demands in a growling voice to be let up to the unit of one Toshinori Yagi, flashing his police badge for emphasis. The elevator ride takes far too long for the detective’s liking, making him even angrier and his bloodlust to worsen.

When the doors finally open, Tsukauchi storms to the front door and bashes the doorbell in.

As footsteps approach and the door opens, his vision turns red.

“Naomasa? What are you - ?”

With a feral roar, Tsukauchi rears his foot back and drives it straight into Toshinori’s crotch. There is a sickening crack, and the skeletal man’s eyes bug out of their sockets. When Toshinori bends down to cover his ruined groyne, Tsukauchi pulls a fist back and delivers a blow to the man’s cheek, hard enough to knock him to the ground.

Toshinori has no idea what is happening, “Naomasa! What is up with you?!”

Tsukauchi roars again, leaping onto the skeletal man and chokes him, “Shut your mouth, you piece of dog shite. You are the absolute worst .”

“N-Naomasa!” Toshinori gasps for breath, “You’re strangling me!”

“I should kill you,” the detective growls, “Because of you, I haven’t had any sleep for the past 48 hours. All because you are a quirkist, heartless monster who brings shame on the name of heroism!”

“What are you saying?!”

“Don’t play naïve with me, Toshinori Yagi,” Tsukauchi’s eyes flash with murderous rage, “You know exactly what you did. However, since it is clear that your non-existent brain hasn’t been working lately, I will kindly remind you of your crimes. You left a seemingly quirkless teen on the rooftop of an office building in downtown Musutafu, right after you told him, to his face, that he can’t be a hero without a quirk!”

A look of realisation flashes across Toshinori’s sunken eyes, “I was being realistic! He would not have stood a chance against villains! I wanted him to see the truth - !”

“Go on, dig yourself even deeper,” Tsukauchi threatens as he tightens his grip around the skeleton’s neck, “You just proved to yourself how much of a quirkist bastard you really are. On top of that, you are a fucking hypocrite, you motherfucking son of a whore! Have you forgotten that you were quirkless once upon a time?! If it weren’t for your master’s quirk, you would be nothing but a fucking nobody who is a waste of space and resources!”

“How dare you - ?!”

“Oh, I dare everything, asshole,” Tsukauchi presses hard into his victim’s throat, making the skeleton gag, “And do you know why? Because of your hypocrisy and quirkism, the teen you left on that rooftop decided that there is no hope left for him, and promptly fell to his death on the pavement below!”

Toshinori’s face pales, and not because of the lack of blood and oxygen to his head.

“He died a horrible, gory death. And what is worse? Hawks was in the area and tried to save the teen. His feather missed the teen by the barest of millimetres, and he watched as the teen died in front of his eyes . The number three hero was traumatised by the death of a child, all because of your callous and thoughtless words!”

Toshinori is struck dumb, losing the ability to speak or defend himself. Tsukauchi releases his death grip on the skeleton’s throat, eyes smouldering with cold hatred, “I’m done with you. I want nothing to do with you until you get your shit together and actually become a decent person with a fucking heart. Don’t bother trying to talk or see me. I refuse to be friends with a quirkist monster who is complicit in the death of a child!”

Leaving Toshinori frozen on the floor, Tsukauchi gets to his feet and storms out through the front door. He enters the elevator, and sighs loudly. 

It is cathartic to give his former friend a piece of his sleep-deprived, caffeine-overloaded mind. But there is no rest for the wicked. He needs to get back to headquarters to continue planning for the raid.

Might as well that he has another bottle of cheap vodka stashed in his drawer. He will definitely need it after this.

The limousine arrives at U.A., and our trio and the chauffeur get out and head into the campus.

With the chauffeur using his telekinesis quirk to levitate the two boxes of Izuku’s belongings behind him, Nezu guides the teen and Keigo through the main buildings and out into an open space that is filled with trees and plants. A neatly paved path of cobbled stone cuts through the greenery, leading the group deeper into the trees. With the thick foliage above, the air is much cooler.

“How much further is it, Principal Nezu?”

“Not much further, Midoriya-kun! Just a short walk ahead.”

The path takes a few turns, before the trees seem to open up ahead. Izuku gasps, “Wow.”

A large, single-storey house stands in a clearing. It is built in the style of traditional Japanese architecture, with a wooden body and a heavy tiled roof.

Izuku sees a problem right away.

“Um…”

“Don’t let the appearance fool you, Midoriya-kun,” Nezu cuts in, “It may look like wood, but it's actually concrete with a wood paint job. I know what you are worried about, and you don’t need to fret about accidentally setting anything on fire.”

Izuku relaxes after that.

Nezu leads the three up the steps and slides the doors open. The interior is, like the exterior, quintessentially traditional Japanese. The floor is lined with tatami mats, and the walls appear to be made of paper and wood. Although, given what Nezu said about the “wooden” structure, Izuku suspects that the walls are made of some other material that is more fireproof than paper and wood. 

The living room looks traditional, but there are details that make it modern. There are electrical outlets, and there is a flat-screen television standing on a wooden console. Still, there are more traditional furniture, such as the kotatsu table, the floor chairs, and the drawers and cupboards that don’t look out of place in a traditional house.

“Sheesh, Nezu, you have quite the crib here,” Keigo remarks.

“It’s home sweet home,” the mammal replies, “Come, let me show you Midoriya-kun’s room!”

Nezu brings them to a short hallway that has two doors, one on either side. He slides the door open on the right, revealing the room behind it. It is about two-thirds the size of the living room, also with tatami floors and faux paper and wood walls. A couple of power outlets line the walls, and what appears to be a wardrobe takes up one of the walls. A rolled-up futon is tucked away in one corner, and a low writing desk takes up space on the other end, with an accompanying floor chair and a brand new laptop on the desk.

“Wow, is this for me?” Izuku asks, a little breathlessly.

“All for you!” Nezu chirps, “And there’s more!”

The mammal goes across the room, and opens the sliding doors at the other end. Izuku gasps again.

“A hot spring?!”

“I have one myself,” Nezu says, “It’s only fair that you get one too.”

Izuku is speechless, “T-This…this…this is too much!”

“Oh, nonsense!” Nezu waves a paw, “You deserve to have good things as well. After everything that you have gone through, this will be the first of many good things to follow.”

Izuku can’t help it. He wipes away the tears that threaten to spill over, “T-Thank you…”

Keigo coos and hugs his kid from behind, “You’re good, chickadee. You’re good.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

The soft sunlight of the morning shines through the paper shoji doors, falling gently upon his sleeping face.

His eyelids flicker open, and his consciousness gradually returns.

Izuku slowly sits up, and yawns loudly.

Smacking his slightly cracked lips, he looks around, still half-asleep.

The room…looks different.

This is not his bedroom.

It takes a moment for it to all come back to him.

Ah, right, this is his new bedroom. Nezu gave him this room to stay in. He is on the U.A. campus, he is going to train to become a hero.

Izuku falls face-first into his pillow and screams to high heaven. 

He still can’t believe it. It still feels like a dream that he will wake up from and realise that he is still stuck in his hell. But this is real. This is very, very real . 

Izuku jumps up, feeling much more invigorated and ready to start the day. He glances at a nearby clock, it is just after seven in the morning. He isn’t sure if Nezu is up yet.

“Hm…maybe a soak in the hot springs?” he mutters to himself.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to pass some time.

At 0855 hours, everyone is ready.

The ninety personnel, a combination of pro-heroes and police officers, have gathered into a holding area in the Musutafu Police Headquarters, awaiting final instructions before the three raids commence.

Detective Tsukauchi and Aizawa enter the holding area, and all ninety individuals stand at attention, ready for their orders.

“Good morning everyone,” Tsukauchi begins, “Thank you for being prompt and ready. In a few minutes, we will be heading out to our respective locations. Again, I will run through the allocations. Team Alpha will head to Aldera Elementary, Team Beta will head to Aldera Middle, and Team Gamma will head to Aldera High School. Eraserhead and I will be joining Team Beta in tackling Aldera Middle School.”

Aizawa adds, “So far, our intelligence indicates that no one from all three schools are aware that the raids are about to take place. This is crucial, as the raids depend on the element of surprise to catch the staff and students off-guard, mitigating any chances of escape.”

Tsukauchi nods, “With that said, any further questions?”

He waits a few moments, and when no one speaks up, he nods again, “Alright everyone, let’s move out!”

“Yes!”

“Ah! Good morning, Midoriya-kun! Did you sleep well?” Nezu chirps from the kotatsu table, a cup of green tea steaming away.

“Very well, Principal Nezu,” Izuku nods, “I had a soak in the hot spring, I wasn’t sure if you were awake yet.”

“I always wake up at 6am in the morning, no questions asked,” the mammal replies, “It’s always good to start the day early.”

Izuku takes it for what it is, “So what is the plan for today?”

“We’re going for breakfast at the school cafeteria!” Nezu says, “Have you heard about the pro-hero Lunch Rush?”

Izuku, in fact, does know, “You mean the pro-hero who whipped up a six-course French feast for ten thousand typhoon victims six years ago?”

“The one and the same!” Nezu chirps, “His food is unparalleled, and I’m sure you will be back for more!”

“You got that right.”

What should have been an ordinary start to the new school day quickly turns upside down with the blaring of sirens.

In Aldera Middle School, homeroom is suddenly disrupted when half a dozen police cruisers and an armoured transport van speed through the front gates. Fifteen police officers and seven pro-heroes jump out and rush towards the front doors. 

Having heard the sirens, students rush towards the windows to see what is happening. Suddenly, their classroom doors are flung open, and police officers storm in. Teachers are immediately handcuffed, and taken away, much to the confusion and fear of the watching students.

Meanwhile, Tsukauchi and Aizawa march up to the main office, with six officers at the ready. Kicking the door in, they swarm inside, catching the secretary and Principal Butawara off guard.

“W-What is the meaning of this?!”

Tsukauchi reads the charges, “Butawara Miyaji, you are under arrest for child endangerment, quirkist behaviour, being a member of an extremist organisation, and involvement in quirk supremacy indoctrination and brainwashing. Men, get him and his secretary out of here.”

Ignoring Butawara’s spluttering and enraged claims of innocence, he and his secretary are handcuffed and marched out of the office. Tsukauchi turns to Aizawa and his deputy, Tamakawa Sansa, “Let’s go, we have one more target to take in.”

The trio leave the office and head up to the third floor, where the third-year classrooms are located. They hone in on classroom 3-A, and kick down the door. 

The students inside jump in fright, they had already witnessed the terrifying sight of their homeroom teacher being escorted out in handcuffs. The sight of five police personnel and a pro-hero entering the classroom renews their fears.

They have one target in their sights.

“Bakugou Katsuki?”

The blonde sneers, “Hah?”

Tsukauchi, for the second time, reads the charges, “You are under arrest for illegal quirk usage, quirkist behaviour, willful destruction of personal property, and the abetment in the suicide of another person. Officer Sansa, handcuff him.”

The blonde doesn’t get a chance to act. The three officers yank Katsuki out from his seat and slam him against his desk, inciting screams from the blonde’s classmates. Officer Sansa, a man with the head of a cat, produces a set of quirk-nullifying handcuffs and slaps them on Katsuki’s wrists. The blonde screams and swears bloody murder, but he is powerless against the force of four trained police officers. He is frog-marched out of the classroom, with Tsukauchi and Aizawa following close behind.

Katsuki is the last of the detainees to be shoved inside the armoured transport van, where the entire teaching staff of Aldera and several students have already been tossed into. The doors are clamped shut behind the blonde. The police officers and pro-heroes jump back into their cruisers, and speed off back to headquarters with the van following behind the entourage.

Inside the cruiser being driven by Sansa, Tsukauchi’s transceiver crackles to life.

“Status report, Team Alpha.”

“Go ahead,” Tsukauchi replies.

“Raid successful. All teaching staff and the principal have been detained. There is a copy of the Meta Liberation War in her office too.”

“Roger that, head back to headquarters for processing and debrief.”

A few seconds later, the transceiver activates again.

“Status report, Team Gamma.”

“Go ahead.”

“Raid successful. All teaching staff and principal have been detained. We also brought in several students who attempted to run away or assault us. The principal has a copy of the Meta Liberation War in his office.”

“Roger that, any injuries?”

“Just a few scratches. Nothing serious.”

“Roger that, head back to headquarters for processing and debrief.”

His transceiver crackles out, and Tsukauchi leans back with a sigh.

At least the raids are successful, now comes the painstaking task of preparing for countless interrogations.

God, he could really do with a shit-load of caffeine and cheap alcohol right now.

Words cannot even begin to describe how delicious Izuku’s breakfast is.

He had ordered an omurice set, which is unusual for breakfast but Lunch Rush was more than happy to whip one up for him. He had always wanted to try it, but his deadbeat fuck-up of a mother never cooked it for him.

In simple words, as soon as he took his first bite, Izuku was already crying.

The soft-cooked omelette melts over the fried rice, a tantalising mixture of rice, mixed vegetables and tiny cubes of pork. A drizzle of ketchup adds a tangy lift to the taste, culminating in an experience that leaves emotions overflowing and a desire for more.

“You do know that you can always ask for a second helping, right?” Nezu says with a grin, “Lunch Rush would be more than willing to make you a second breakfast.”

Izuku moves faster than Ingenium at that moment.

Another serving of omurice later, the teen is satisfactorily full. Nezu finishes up his own breakfast, a simple set of rice, steamed vegetables and fish, and gets up from the table, “Come along Midoriya-kun, we have a lot to discuss today!”

Izuku follows the mammal out of the cafeteria and towards one of the elevators. A quick ride up, and followed by a journey through a few corridors, Izuku and Nezu arrive at a wooden door with a metal plate reading “Principal’s Office”. Nezu opens the door and ushers Izuku in.

The office is tastefully decorated, with a carpeted floor and walls that have various paintings on them. There are windows that give a panoramic view of Musutafu and the wider campus, and the furniture is homely and ordinary. Nezu guides Izuku to a sofa, “I’ll get the tea brewing. Do you have any preference?”

“Um…maybe normal black tea?”

“Coming right up!”

A few minutes later, a teapot of black tea is brewed and brought over to the table in front of Izuku. Nezu pours out two teacups, and gives one to Izuku.

“Thank you.”

He takes a sip, it tastes similar to the tea he used to drink at home, only…there is a higher quality to this tea, the aroma is stronger and the taste is more fragrant. 

“Do you like it?” Nezu asks.

Izuku asks, “Is it…expensive?”

Nezu chuckles as he sips his own tea, “Well, I am partial towards more…higher grade teas, especially imported teas from India or Sri Lanka.”

Ah, okay.

“Anyways,” Izuku sets his teacup down, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Straight to business, I like that,” Nezu nods, “As we discussed in the hospital, you are now a ward of U.A. and will embark on training to become a pro-hero. I have taken the liberty of organising a schedule for you to follow for the next ten months until the entrance exam. It is split into two parts, your mornings will be spent with me, having private lessons and tutoring so as to keep you on par in terms of academics, and your afternoons will be devoted to strength and quirk training. You will have two mentors who will be in charge of your physical and quirk training, namely Hawks-san and Aizawa-san.”

“Who is Aizawa?”

“He is one of the teachers who works here in U.A.,” Nezu explains, “He is a pro-hero himself, although not a limelight one. How well do you know your underground heroes, Midoriya-kun?”

It takes a few seconds for Izuku to put the pieces together. His eyes widen, “No way. You’re kidding!”

Right on cue, the door to the office opens, and a bedraggled man with long, shaggy dark hair, a prominent stubble and unhealthy-looking eyebags saunters in.

“Aizawa-kun! You made it! How did the raid go?”

The man himself shuffles over to the sofa, and drops down with a heavy weariness. Because there is no coffee available, he pours himself a cup of tea and downs it at one go. It is not ideal, but it will have to suffice until he can return to the staff office and get his coffee fix there.

“It went well, Principal Nezu, we detained all the suspects.”

“Excellent, excellent!” Nezu claps his paws, “Now, I believe you have yet to meet the one who started the chain of events that will undoubtedly lead to the biggest education scandal in the country. Aizawa-kun, meet Midoriya Izuku. Midoriya-kun, this is Aizawa Shouta, also known as -”

“Eraserhead.”

Suddenly, the hobo is slightly more awake, despite the negligible caffeine intake thus far, “How do you know that?”

“I have been a huge fan for many years!” Izuku gushes, going into full fanboy mode, “You are the pinnacle of underground heroism. Your capture rates are unmatched, and you blend in so well in the darkness that nobody has ever managed to capture a good photo or video of you while in action! And your capture scarf, how does it work? Does it work in line with your erasure quirk? Or is it a latent, secondary telekinesis quirk that you use alongside your primary quirk? Or - mmph!”

Suddenly, Izuku finds himself ensnared by said capture weapon.

Aizawa is glaring at him, hair levitating upwards and eyes glowing red from his quirk activating.

The hobo turns to Nezu, “Who is this demonic gremlin?”

The mammal simply chuckles, “Pardon his fanboying, Aizawa-kun, Midoriya-kun just gets excited when meeting his favourite heroes. He means no harm.”

Aizawa glances at Izuku warily for a moment, before deactivating his quirk and pulling back his capture weapon.

“So what am I supposed to do with the gremlin?”

“Why, you will be training him, of course!” Nezu chirps, “Midoriya-kun recently manifested his quirk, and will require training in order to get him up to shape for the demands of the heroics course. Since you are the best teacher in U.A. in terms of quirkless strength and combat capabilities, you are the obvious choice on the matter!”

Aizawa glances at Izuku again, “And what will I get out of this?”

“You get to train a future hero, of course!” Nezu replies, as if it is the most obvious thing in the entire world, “Additionally, you are the most free teacher at the moment, since you expelled the entirety of your class this year. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to make use of the time you currently have on your hands!”

Aizawa sighs, as if he just lost a decade of his life in that one second. Izuku, however, is startled, “Wait, you expelled your entire class?!”

“They either had no potential as future heroes, or they were goofing off and not taking things seriously,” Aizawa drawls, “Heroism is a dangerous occupation. It is not a game nor is it a job where you can goof around. Your actions could determine if someone lives or dies.”

“Granted, he did re-enrol some of his former students into the general education programme after they showed remorse and a promise to do better,” Nezu adds, “But so far, none have shown the capabilities to return back to the heroics programme. Which is why Aizawa-kun has all the time in the world to oversee your physical training over the next ten months.”

“If we are going to go about this arrangement, I expect nothing but the best from you,” Aizawa gives Izuku a pointed, stern look, “I will not tolerate any slacking or goofing off. If I see that you have no potential, I will drop you like a hot potato, and you can forget about ever joining the heroics programme here in U.A..”

Izuku is, understandably, nervous. However, he pulls up his determination, and nods resolutely, “I understand. I won’t let you down, Aizawa-sensei!”

Nezu beams, while the hobo sighs, “Right, come along.”

“Wait, where are we going?”

Aizawa gets up, “We’re going to the training fields. I’m going to put you through a series of tests.”

Izuku glances at Nezu, who gestures for him to get going. He quickly jumps up and follows the hobo out of the office, the door swinging shut behind them.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Tsukauchi downs his fifth mug of shitty police headquarters coffee with a few caffeine pills melted in to give the boost that the otherwise weak beverage would not have.

The raids have been successful, and the holding cells inside the headquarters have never been this full. Over fifty people, students and staff alike, are crammed into ten cells, waiting to be interrogated and then subsequently sent to the courts for a trial. 

Tsukauchi has little sympathy for them. Quirk supremacy extremists have no place in this society, and Tsukauchi will see to it that they are all thrown behind bars for the rest of their useful lives. 

But first, there is one detainee that he needs to interrogate, one who would have been dealt with earlier, had Aizawa not raised the alarm on Code Meta. She has been sitting in a holding cell, now with six others, for the past few days. It is time for her to face the music, and Tsukauchi is going to orchestrate her fall into hell.

The interrogation room is set up, and Tsukauchi sends a call for the detainee to be brought over.

A few minutes pass, and there is a knock on the door, “Detective, we’re here.”

“Bring her in.”

The door opens, and Officer Sansa escorts a short, plump woman with forest-green hair into the room. Her eyes are dull and downcast, her lips drawn into a thin line. She is sat down across from Tsukauchi, and handcuffed to the bench, preventing any means of escape.

Officer Sansa leaves the room, and the interrogation begins.

“My name is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, and my quirk can tell if you’re speaking the truth or lying. I hope you will cooperate, Midoriya Inko.”

He gets silence from the woman.

Things proceed anyway.

“Why did you abandon your son?”

It takes a long moment for the woman to speak, “Because I was tired.”

Truth

“Tired of him?”

“Yes.”

Truth

“Elaborate further.”

It is the kick that gets the ball rolling, and it tumbles down the hill, gathering speed increasingly fast, “I was tired of him. Do you know how much his condition has ruined my life? My husband left me, nobody wants to be friends with the mother of a quirkless child, I was constantly overlooked for promotion, everything that could go wrong happened, because that boy is defective.”

Truth

Tsukauchi’s lips tighten the slightest bit, “So you decided that abandoning your son is the way? A child that depends on you for support and love in a harsh, unforgiving society?”

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” the woman retorts, “He refuses to accept reality, always going on about how he will somehow beat the odds and become a pro-hero, and don’t get me started on those creepy notebooks that he carries around. He is delusional, and who could love someone like that?”

The detective’s eyes harden.

“I couldn’t deal with it anymore. That boy has given me nothing but pain and suffering for ten years. It will do everyone a whole lot of good if he just disappeared and ceased to exist.”

Tsukauchi’s temper goes beyond the event horizon.

“He already did.”

The woman raises an eyebrow.

“You abandoning him was just one of many events that eventually made your son take his own life,” Tsukauchi says dangerously, “He fell over thirty floors to his death. And that is when his quirk manifested.”

“W-What are you talking about?” the woman stammers, “That boy is quirkless! How could he have - ?”

“He was never officially quirkless. His quirk factor required a special cause of activation before it could manifest. In his case, it required him to die before his quirk manifested. From what I have been told, his quirk resurrected him, and gave him wings that burn with fire. I do not know the full extent of his quirk, but I am not surprised if he can control and produce fire too.”

Tsukauchi takes silent vindication in seeing the wind stolen from the woman’s sails. 

“Of course, you won’t have any further involvement in his life or development,” he continues venomously, “You lost all legal rights over your son when you abandoned him. He is now a ward of U.A., and under the school’s protection. He will get to train and learn under the brightest and strongest, and I will say with full confidence that he will achieve his dream and become a pro-hero. You, on the other hand, are destined for a long-term stay behind the bars, at least twenty years if you are lucky. You dug your grave, Midoriya Inko. Now it is time for you to be thrown in.”

Tsukauchi activates his transceiver, “Officer Sansa, take the detainee back to the cell.”

The cat-headed officer returns and escorts the dumbstruck woman out of the room. When the door closes behind them, Tsukauchi leans back and sighs. The first step towards justice from Izuku has been taken, but there are many more steps to go.

Time to get down to business. There are a lot of damned souls to burn.

Aizawa brings a newly-changed Izuku to an open-air training ground some distance away from the main buildings. They stop in what appears to be a softball pitch.

“What sort of tests are we doing today, Aizawa-sensei?”

“I’m gauging your overall fitness,” the hobo replies, “I need to know where you currently stand in order to plan your physical training regimen for the next ten months.”

Aizawa gives Izuku’s body an appraising look, “You have some meat on your bones, but my hunch is that you will need to put in your all if you want to be ready for the entrance exam. So let’s get started, what was your softball throw record in middle school?”

“Um…seven metres?”

Aizawa tosses him a softball, “Do it again, without using your quirk.”

Izuku eyes the ball in his palm, and goes to the pitching spot. He squares his feet and shoulders, takes a steadying breath, and rears his hand back. Summoning all the strength he has, Izuku launches the ball into the air with a loud roar. The ball surges through the air, but it doesn’t really go that far. It lands on the other side of the field with an almost inaudible thud. 

Aizawa looks at the tracking device he had produced from somewhere, “Fifty metres. Almost ten times in improvement.”

For some reason, Izuku wants to dance a little jig, similar to the dog from a pre-quirk era comic.

“Moving on.”

And it goes from there. Aizawa puts Izuku through seven more tests, all of which are done quirkless.

In the hobo’s personal opinion, Izuku has potential. The kid’s stamina is commendable, clocking in good times for both the 50-metre dash and the long-distance run. His new muscles aid him in the other tests, such as grip strength, and he does have some flexibility in his joints.

It provides a baseline for Aizawa to work with, so he concludes that the morning is productive.

“Alright, hellspawn, time for lunch. I’m to bring you to the cafeteria and then to the satanic rat’s office.”

“How did I do, Aizawa-sensei?”

“You have potential, which is a lot more than most of the students I expelled,” the hobo replies honestly. This makes the kid’s face light up with joy, forcing Aizawa to glance away so as to not go blind, “This is no grounds for slacking off, though. Once I craft a training regimen for you, I expect you to go Plus Ultra, understood?”

“Yes, sensei!”

It is the end of the day, and Tsukauchi is running on fumes by this point.

Even after demolishing countless pots of shitty coffee and at least ten bottles of caffeine pills, he feels the exhaustion creeping up on him. Any moment, his body and mind will shut down, and he will be out of the world for God knows how long.

He has the over fifty interrogations to thank for his rapidly deteriorating state.

It was a marathon, back-to-back. Tsukauchi played the bad cop with these extremist terrorists, tearing them apart and scaring the living daylights out of them. While many, especially Principal Butawara, initially tried to defend or worm their way out of their guilt, a combination of Tsukauchi’s quirk and unrelenting ferality meant that every single detainee quickly crumbled and confessed to every single one of their crimes. 

Which…unearthed multiple caskets of skeletons that he had no idea would come to the surface.

Principal Butawara did not just turn his school into a quirk supremacy indoctrination facility for the MLA, he was also involved in extensive money laundering and tax evasion schemes that go back at least a decade. Several staff have been complicit in bullying cases where students gang up and torment those with weaker or “inferior” quirks. And from Aldera Elementary School, the gym coach confessed to possessing an abhorrent stash of DVDs involving young children being brainwashed or forced into performing obscene acts with each other or adults. Tsukauchi had to leave the room temporarily to vomit up his coffee and caffeine pills from the sheer disgust  into the toilet bowl.

Overall, it was an unpleasant day in the headquarters.

Thankfully, there is only one more detainee that needs to be interrogated. After this, Tsukauchi is free to go home and crash for God knows how long his body needs to detox itself from the caffeine overdose.

Knocking comes at the door.

“Bring them in.”

Officer Sansa strides in, manhandling Bakugou Katsuki to the bench across from Tsukauchi. The blonde is snarling, growling and snapping, but because the quirk-nullifying cuffs are still on, he is powerless. Sansa cuffs him to the bench, and quickly leaves the room.

Might as well get things moving, his shitty bed is beckoning him from afar.

“I don’t suppose you know why you are here, Bakugou Katsuki?”

“Let me fucking go, plain face!” the blonde snarls, spittle flying everywhere.

To be fair, Tsukauchi has been described as extremely plain, completely unremarkable, but that is neither here nor there.

“In case your brain is as secure as a sieve, you are here because you are the primary abuser of your former classmate, Midoriya Izuku.”

“What the fuck?!” Katsuki shouts, ‘“I am not some fucking abuser!”

“I beg to differ,” Tsukauchi counters, “You not only physically abused him with illegal quirk usage and physical assault, you put him through mental and emotional torment by verbally insulting him, destroying his personal property, and telling him to kill himself.”

“So what if I did?!” Katsuki scoffs, “That useless Deku deserves it! He is a waste of space and a fucking creep!”

Tsukauchi sighs, it is evident that Aldera’s indoctrination has corrupted the blonde beyond redemption. 

“You did all that, because he was quirkless, right?”

“Of fucking course! He will never amount to anything! Deku is fucking delusional for thinking he can be a fucking hero with his creepy notebooks and shit!”

Tsukauchi leans forward, “You are dead wrong, Bakugou Katsuki. Midoriya Izuku is never quirkless, he has a quirk, one that requires him to die before it can activate. Because of your friendly advice, Midoriya threw himself off a skyscraper and died on impact with the pavement below. His quirk activated, and he was resurrected and grew a pair of wings that burn with flames.”

Katsuki turns purple with rage, “Bullshit! You’re just fucking with me! Deku is quirkless! He always is!”

Tsukauchi shrugs, “You can choose what you want to believe, but what is undeniable is that you played a major part in Midoriya’s suicide. I presume that you want to be a hero, right? Well, after this, you can kiss that dream goodbye, because no heroics school will accept someone with a criminal record or has a track record of violence and aggressive behaviour.”

For several seconds, Katsuki is as pale as a sheet, mouth hanging open. Then, he explodes , “You can’t fucking do this! I am destined to be the number one hero! The one who will surpass All Might! Who the fuck do you think you are to believe some quirkless nobody?! I will fucking kill you!!!”

Tsukauchi activates his transceiver, “Bring in the sedative.”

A team of medical technicians burst into the interrogation room. Two of the burlier technicians restrain Katsuki, while two others prepare the sedative in an injection syringe. With Katsuki still screaming bloody murder, the technician jabs the needle into an area of exposed skin, and injects the fluid in. The fight drains out of Katsuki within seconds, and the blonde slumps forward.

“Get him out of here, we’re done,” Tsukauchi orders.

The technicians unclasp the unconscious teen from the bench and carry him out of the room. Tsukauchi sighs tiredly, getting up from his chair and gathering his things. He is done, done with everything. Screw the paperwork, he is going home now.

He’ll call in leave for the next couple of days - no, the next two weeks.

He really needs his sleep.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Izuku’s schedule quickly falls into a routine.

His mornings and early afternoons are spent with Aizawa in physical and combat training. Using his results from the tests as a baseline, Aizawa recommends that Izuku start building up his strength needed for gruelling physical exertion. This involves a workout plan that spans from muscle building, flexibility enhancing, and reflex honing. The latter two are done through spars and combat lessons that Aizawa drills Izuku through whenever he is not pumping iron.

To put it simply, Izuku is out of his element.

He can argue that he has already come to know what synthetic, dyed leather tastes like from constantly having his ass handed to him by Aizawa. He has lost count of the number of times he is thrown onto his back, bum or face while on the sparring mat.

Aizawa is not the top underground hero for nothing. With a non-combative quirk such as Erasure, he has to rely on his physicality and wits to win a match against a stronger opponent.

For Izuku, though, it is no contest.

“Someday, kid, you’ll get a hit on me.”

“Maybe if I die and come back as a ghost, I’ll give you more than a hit,” Izuku muffles while face-planted on the mat, too much in aching pain to get up.

Aizawa is about to chide Izuku for sassing him, when he stops. He turns to the kid, who is still face-planted on the mat, with a thoughtful look.

“Midoriya.”

“Mmph?”

“Since you were essentially resurrected like a phoenix, are you actually one?”

At this, Izuku peels his face off the mat, “What are you going on about, Aizawa-sensei?”

“I am no mythology expert, but I do know that phoenixes are always reborn after they die. Essentially, they are immortal. Since you were resurrected after your suicide, does that mean you are a phoenix-like human, and you will never truly die because you will just be resurrected after death?”

Izuku opens his mouth to respond…and finds himself silent.

He…doesn’t know, actually.

Is he actually a phoenix but in human form? If he is, does that mean he won’t die?

This…is concerning.

“I wholeheartedly understand your concern, Midoriya-kun,” Nezu nods, looking thoughtful and slightly grave himself, “Unfortunately, there are no clear answers, and no easy ways to get them.”

Izuku sags into the sofa, “Maybe we can do a blood test? My quirk factor should be in my DNA. Maybe we can compare my DNA signature with others who have immortality quirks and see if there are any similarities?”

Nezu has to admit, he is proud of Izuku for thinking logically even in the face of great uncertainty. He hates to be the damper, though, “While it is possible in theory, it is not so straightforward or feasible. While I don’t deny that immortality quirks are possible given the boundless nature of quirks, it is difficult, almost impossible to locate someone with an immortality quirk. From what I have read on the subject matter, individuals with immortality quirks choose to have their quirk removed through artificial means - which has very little information on the matter, due to the controversy and even legality of the means, or they assume different identities every time their family passes on without them. And besides, quirk science is still in its young stages, no thanks in part due to the chaos of the quirk wars that ravaged the world in the past few centuries. I believe that it will be insanely difficult and costly to conduct studies that focus on the very signature that makes up a quirk, especially with one as rare as immortality.”

Izuku frowns, “So what should I do, then?”

Nezu pats his hand, “Midoriya-kun, this is a lesson in life that everyone should know. So long as we live on this Earth, our lives are one long path of uncertainty. While it is human nature to crave and seek for certainty, we don’t know what the future brings, unless you have a quirk that allows you to see the future - ”

“Like Sir Nighteye, All Might’s former sidekick.”

“Precisely! But not everyone is blessed, or cursed in some circumstances, to have a quirk that reveals the future. For the rest of us, we can only speculate and imagine what will happen. This is why so many of us have plans, or back-up plans, or back-up plans for those back-up plans, for possible events that may or may not happen. But in your case, what you should do right now is to focus on the present. Don’t lose sight of your current goals, Midoriya-kun, and don’t let the uncertainty of the future distract you from your dreams. As the old saying goes, we will cross that bridge when we get to it!”

Hopefully, Izuku thinks, he will be able to.

Thursday comes with a break in Izuku’s routine.

Keigo is finally able to clear his schedule and fly over to U.A. to oversee his fledgling’s quirk training. As a pro-hero, Keigo has a quirk counselling licence, which gives him the expertise and legal right to oversee any quirk training Izuku is involved in.

Izuku and Nezu meet Keigo at the front gates. The winged hero happily glomps the teen, squeezing him in a tight hug.

“It has been too long, fledgling! I missed you!”

“Oh my god, Keigo-san, get off!” Izuku grunts, “You’re heavy!”

Keigo gasps, stumbling back, “How dare you?! Did you just call me fat?!”

Izuku makes a show of giving the hero a look-over, “Eh, I think you’ll be enough for a family of four at Thanksgiving.”

Keigo grins menacingly, “That’s it, chickadee. You asked for it!”

The winged hero pounces on Izuku, knocking the teen to the ground. His fingers dive into Izuku’s sides, and the poor victim explodes into uncontrollable laughter.

“You - ahahahaha - fucker! Get - bwahahahahaha - off of - hehehehehehehe - me!!!”

“Just for that, you have been sentenced to tickles for ten minutes!” Keigo declares, as his wings attack Izuku’s armpits.

Nezu simply stands to the side, checking his watch as minutes roll by in agonising torture. Keigo alternates between fingers, feathers, and raspberries to the stomach. Poor Izuku completely loses the ability to speak, as his hysterical laughter reaches fever pitch. He is unable to escape, Keigo is deceptively strong, and with so many sensitive spots being tickled all at once, he is truly condemned to the ticklish hell for ten long, torturous minutes.

Finally, after an eternity of hellish stimulation, Nezu calls, “Times up!”

Keigo releases Izuku from his torture, but the tormented teen is still too stimulated to get up. His body twitches involuntarily, and he is still giggling, even after the fingers, feathers and raspberries have stopped. 

“Aww, is my little fledgling exhausted?” the hero coos, “Maybe this will teach you to not sass someone or to be cheeky.”

Despite his lips still stretched in a smile, Izuku’s eyes are burning, “Fuck - heeheeheehee - you…”

Keigo simply grins, before diving in quickly to give a small raspberry to the stomach. Izuku cries out a sound that is part yell, part laugh. Thankfully, Keigo is merciful, and simply picks the teen up and carries him bridal-style. 

“Shall we go?”

“I believe we should,” Nezu chirps, “Aizawa-kun is waiting for us.”

The mammal guides them both to Gym Gamma, a large indoor space that, for all the world, looks like an empty warehouse. Aizawa is already inside, looking all the worse for wear, even with a gallon-sized thermos of coffee in his hand.

“What took you so long? And why is the gremlin so tuckered out?”

“We got a little side-tracked. Rough night, Aizawa-kun?” Nezu asks.

“I’m running on two hours of sleep,” the hobo grumbles, taking a big swig from his thermos, “Let’s get this started.”

“Alright then!” Nezu claps his paws, “So what shall we begin with?”

“Chickadee here needs to manifest his wings first,” Keigo says, fluffing his own wings for emphasis as he sets Izuku to his feet, “That is the baseline for his quirk, as far as I can tell. Have you managed to make your wings appear before today, kiddo?”

Izuku shakes his head, “I didn’t want to try anything without supervision, Keigo-san. I might accidentally burn or destroy something if I wasn’t careful.”

“Fair enough,” the winged hero shrugs, “Well, no time like the present. Let’s see what you can do, fledgling.”

This…is going to be tricky.

Izuku has no idea how to manifest the wings that he supposedly has. He has been worked to the bone over the past few days, so much so that he didn’t have the time or energy to research on flame or wing quirks that would otherwise guide him in the right direction. It doesn’t help that he has three pairs of eyes watching him, waiting for something to happen. Oh god, what if he is unable to manifest his wings? What if he makes a fool of himself? What if - ?

Something tickles his nose.

Izuku sneezes violently…

,,,and unleashes a burst of fire.

Keigo flinches, while Nezu watches intently. Aizawa is on high alert, suddenly more awake than before.

The flames do not dissipate right away. Instead, they begin to swirl and dance around a startled Izuku. There is a loud whooshing noise, as the flames converge on the teen’s chest. With a loud gasp, Izuku arches backwards , as a pair of blood-red raptor wings burst from his back in great plumes of fire. His hair also appears to ignite, becoming a head of fire that burns freely.

Izuku recovers from the shock, and comes back to conscious control.

“Kid, you okay?” Keigo calls out.

Izuku stares at his new wings, the blood-red feathers burning with fire.

“Wow…”

Nezu grins, “I think Midoriya-kun is perfectly fine! Shall we start with the basics, Hawks-san?”

“Right-o!” Keigo flashes a thumbs-up, “Now, fledgling, the basics of flying involves knowing how to move your wings in order to create the momentum and lift to get your feet off the ground. Try to copy the way I move my wings.”

The hero flaps his wings in slow, exaggerated movements. Izuku takes a moment to watch and tries to copy him. The flaps of the teen’s wings cause fire to be blown out at regular intervals. Nezu and Aizawa wisely take a step back.

“Good, good, you’re getting the hang of it,” Keigo nods, “Now, try to increase the speed so that you can create enough lift to get your feet off the ground. Don’t worry if you mess up, I’m right here in case anything happens.”

Izuku speeds up the flapping of his wings. Sure enough, his feet lift off from the ground, and he slowly rises up into the air. 

“Excellent work, chickadee!” Keigo praises, “Try to maintain the altitude as best as you can.”

That was the plan, at least.

No one expected Izuku to suddenly sneeze violently again. A burst of fire is released, and the momentum propels the teen straight up towards the ceiling. Keigo is already moving, catching Izuku just as gravity begins to take hold.

“Gotcha, fledgling. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

It takes a moment for Izuku to come around from the sudden propulsion. Keigo descends down to the floor, and sets Izuku to his feet.

“Everything okay?” Nezu asks.

“I…I think so,” Izuku replies quietly.

“Take a short break,” Aizawa cuts in, “There is no point in continuing while he is in shock.”

Things quieten down after that. Izuku’s wings disappear with a puff of ashes and feathers. Keigo pulls the teen close and sits down on the floor, gently rocking him and ruffling his fiery locks. Nezu and Aizawa quietly talk at one side, occasionally glancing towards Izuku to make sure that he is alright.

Once Izuku appears to have recovered from the shock, the training continues.

“Can you manifest your wings again, kiddo?” asks Keigo.

This time, when Izuku tries, there is a difference.

He senses a warm spot right in the middle of his chest, growing hotter the longer he pays attention to it. He tries to draw it out, and the heat spreads out to his hands. His palms ignite into balls of fire, and the flames leap up and surge towards his chest. The force makes Izuku arch backwards, as the wings reappear in a burst of smoke and flames. 

Aizawa mutters something about a “shounen anime protagonist”.

“Like before, let’s try to rise up and maintain a low altitude. Remember how to move your wings?”

Izuku nods, and flaps his wings. He rises up about half a metre, and Keigo joins him. It takes a bit of concentration, but Izuku is able to maintain his position without falling or rising any higher. It also helps that Keigo is holding Izuku’s hands, making sure that he is anchored to something.

“Good job, fledgling. Shall we go higher? I’ll continue holding on to you until you’re ready.”

Izuku nods, and flaps his wings harder. Together, the pair rise steadily. With each encouragement and praise from Keigo, Izuku keeps flapping until his head touches the metal girders at the ceiling. He refuses to look down, knowing that seeing the ground so far away will just cause him to panic and lose concentration. The ceiling itself is enough to tell him that he is quite high up.

“You’re doing an amazing job, kiddo,” Keigo beams, “Shall we begin practising on moving forwards?”

Izuku nods firmly, “I can do this.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Now, as you keep flapping your wings, I want you to streamline your body until you are parallel to the floor below. Don’t worry, I’ll be here in case anything goes wrong, alright?”

Izuku takes a moment to gather his nerves. Splitting his attention between flapping his wings and changing his position, he lets go from Keigo’s hands, and shifts his body until he is horizontal. He maintains eye contact with Keigo, again not looking down.

“Very good, kiddo. Now, aim a little lower towards the ground, and propel yourself forward with your wings. Move your wings to push against the air, and you’ll move. I’m still here, so don’t worry.”

This time, there is no avoiding it. By aiming down a little, Izuku sees how far away the ground is from his current position near the ceiling. The spike in anxiety and fear threatens to break his concentration, but seeing Aizawa and Nezu down below helps immensely. Even if he falls, Aizawa will catch him with his capture scarf. Plus, he hears Keigo’s wings flapping near him. His fellow avian will keep him safe.

“Push off, fledgling.”

Izuku takes a shuddering breath, and mentally counts to three. He takes control of his wings, and flaps them in a motion like he is kicking off from a wall.

The world speeds up.

Izuku squawks in undignified terror, as he hurtles towards one of the gym’s walls. Acting entirely on instinct, he flaps his wings down, and he is propelled up towards the ceiling. The animalistic (avian?) part of his brain goes into overdrive, and his wing flaps change his direction away from the ceiling and towards the centre of the gym. 

He doesn’t register anything while he is flying haphazardly. Izuku sinks into autopilot, losing all cognitive ability, other than the instinctive need to stay flying, and to not look down.

As such, he fails to see Aizawa’s capture scarf whip up to him, ensnaring him and preventing him from moving forward.

For a brief second, Izuku panics. He is unable to move, unable to keep flying. He is going to plummet, he’s going to fall, he’s - 

- still suspended in the air?

Only when he is being slowly pulled down to the ground, does the cognitive part of his brain begin to reboot.

He registers the fabric wound tightly around his body and wings, the flames somehow not burning through the material despite being in constant contact. He hears voices, growing louder and clearer with each second. He then registers his feet touching the floor again, and the fabric unravelling itself from his body.

He is then hugged, by something warm and feathery.

“I’m here, Izuku. Don’t worry, I’m here. You’re safe. You are perfectly safe.”

It takes a second for Izuku to shakily return the hug.

“That…was so scary, Keigo-san,” he murmurs, “I…I just…”

“Shh,” Keigo soothes, “It’s okay. Don’t talk about it. You’re safe, and that’s all that matters.”

Izuku simply lets himself be hugged. 

Nezu makes a humming noise, “I believe it is best if we call it a day. Midoriya-kun, how does soaking in your hot spring sound to you?”

Izuku turns to the mammal, “Can Keigo-san accompany me?”

“Are you willing, Hawks-san?”

“My chickadee needs me, of course I will,” the winged hero replies.

And that’s that.

They put off quirk training for the time being.

It is unanimously decided that training for the foreseeable future will be entirely physical and combat-oriented. Quirk training will resume later in increments, small baby steps until Izuku is more comfortable with flying.

The initial plan on Friday was for Aizawa to continue gruelling Izuku through his workout and training regimen.

Emphasis on “initial”.

As Izuku and Nezu are having breakfast in the cafeteria, the mammal gets a phone call.

Izuku pauses in his eating, noticing that Nezu is glancing at him as he speaks to the person on the line.

The call ends, and he swallows, “Principal Nezu, who was that?”

“It was the public prosecutor’s office,” Nezu replies, eyes flinty with seriousness, “They are requesting your attendance at a court trial this afternoon as the primary witness.”

“Who’s trial?”

Nezu’s mouth dips down, “Bakugou Katsuki.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Suddenly, everything screeches to a halt.

Bakugou…is on trial? Like, on trial for crimes?

Izuku’s chopsticks slip from his hand and clatter onto the table. Against his will, memories of past years begin flooding back into his mind. All of the screaming, the demeaning insults, the “pop, pop, pop” and “ BOOM ” of explosions, the pain of such explosions detonating on his skin, the taunts of “useless Deku” and “go fucking throw yourself off the God damn roof!” ringing his eardrums.

It all becomes too much.

Everything is spinning, shifting in and out of focus. He can’t see anything, he can’t breathe!

“ - doriya-kun! Midoriya-kun!”

And just like that, everything snaps back into reality. He sees everything once more, and he can breathe again.

Nezu is standing on the table, pressing his paws against Izuku’s cheeks. His eyes are burning with worry.

“Midoriya-kun, can you hear me?”

Slowly, Izuku nods, “Nezu-san…what happened?”

“You were having a panic attack,” the rodent explains, appearing slightly more relaxed now that he managed to drag Izuku back into the present, “I was hesitant to mention Bakugou’s name in the event that it triggers bad memories, but now I see that the issue runs far deeper than what I had anticipated.”

“W-What…do you mean?”

Nezu sits down on the table’s edge, expression serious, “Midoriya-kun, have you heard of post-traumatic stress disorder?”

Izuku shakes his head. He can’t say that he has.

“I am no psychiatrist, but I suspect that after ten years of abuse, torment and neglect, you might have developed post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, as it is often called,” Nezu continues, “Panic attacks are one of the symptoms, and knowing that Bakugou was the main instigator of the abuse and torment, I am highly inclined to have you properly assessed. Unfortunately, any psychiatric assessment will have to wait until after the trial. You cannot refuse a court order from the public prosecutor’s office unless it is for medical or legal reasons. And while I could claim that you cannot be present today due to a psychiatric assessment, it is too short of a notice to get you assessed today. It is not an ideal situation, but I hope you will be able to press through it.”

Izuku is silent for a long moment. His former childhood is on trial, which means that he has been arrested and charged with crimes. Detective Tsukauchi had Kacchan arrested. It is just…impossible. Kacchan was supposed to become a great hero! How could he have been arrested and charged?

Nezu stays in the catatonic teen’s presence. It is understandable that Izuku is caught in this limbo of disbelief and uncertainty. His entire reality has turned upside down, the inconceivable has happened, and the teen has no idea how to go about processing the entire situation.

They sit in silence for a long while. Then, Izuku mutters, “When is the trial?”

“2pm this afternoon, Midoriya-kun.”

Slowly, Izuku nods, “I’ll go.”

For the nth time since this whole mess, she wonders, where did everything go wrong?

How did she and Masaru go so wrong with their only son? Sure, Katsuki has always been abrasive, no doubt inheriting her fiery temper, but to hear that Katsuki has been arrested, and charged with heinous crimes such as illegal quirk usage with the intent to cause bodily harm, destruction of property and suicide-baiting ?

Even worse, her Katsuki did all of that to Izuku, the boy whom she saw as her second son in all but blood.

The day the police officer showed up at the door to tell everything has got to be the worst day of her life. Never has Mitsuki broken down as badly as she did. Masaru was not any better. The night after the officer came by was the only time where Mitsuki witnessed her husband drown his sorrow in copious amounts of alcohol. The only good thing that came from that was the knowledge that Masaru was not an angry drunk. He simply passed out on the sofa with bottles littered around him. If the roles had been reversed, well, there wouldn’t be a house standing once the rage had dissipated.

Once the disbelief and grief had been processed, Mitsuki stormed to Musutafu Police Headquarters with Masaru in tow. She demanded to be allowed to see her son, but was unexpectedly declined. Because of the nature of Katsuki’s crimes, he was being denied visitors and being kept under tight security until his trial. She was allowed, though, to arrange a defence counsel for Katsuki, but she was not allowed any direct or indirect contact with her son due to safety concerns. 

It was another night of breakdowns and drowning by alcohol for Mitsuki and Masaru. Their grief and confusion howled like a blizzard, questions that would never be answered, leaving them lost and spiralling further into the darkness. 

The notification of the trial date provided no further answers or reassurance. There is nothing they could do, except watch their only son face justice for his crimes, a result of their inexcusable failures as his parents.

It is the date that Mitsuki and Masaru will never forget, where Katsuki’s dreams of becoming a hero were well and truly dashed.

That afternoon, after a quick lunch, Izuku and Nezu board a limousine driven by the same chauffeur that helped to bring Izuku’s belongings to his new home, and leave campus for the city courts. The ride is silent and sombre. Izuku stares out of the window, watching as everyday life passes by. 

He sees people going about their businesses. Happy families and couples. Groups of teenagers and children, laughing and chatting with one another. 

It feels…unreal.

How can life continue on as per normal, when the life of someone he knew since he was in diapers is on the verge of being destroyed?

Even before the trial has a chance to begin, Izuku already knows the outcome. Unless a miracle occurs or an act of divine intervention prevents it, Kacchan has already lost his chance of ever becoming a pro-hero. No heroics school in the country will accept someone with a criminal record. Even a spell in juvenile detention, which does not carry the same level of stigma as an actual prison sentence, is grounds for increased scrutiny by school administration. And given the crimes that Kacchan has been charged with, anything less than a sentence to juvenile detention is a fool’s dream.

For Izuku, however, this does feel like a dream.

One that is, unfortunately, very real and something he cannot wake up from.

They arrive at the city courts with about twenty minutes to spare. At the entrance, Izuku sees a crowd of reporters and television news crews standing by the gates, eager to report on the last of a marathon week of trials surrounding the infamous Aldera cases. Thankfully, Izuku will not have to go through the racket. The limousine is guided to an underground carpark, where two men in dark suits await them. Izuku and Nezu alight, and after exchanging greetings, the two men bring them up to the main lobby, where they are registered as primary witness and public spectator respectively. From there, one of the men brings Izuku to a separate room, while the other brings Nezu to the public gallery.

The room is a holding room connected to the courtroom where the trial will take place. There are already two people inside, an old man and a middle-aged woman. Izuku recognises them as one of the custodians and cafeteria vendors respectively. He notices when both of their eyes glimmer with recognition, although there is a layer of confusion, possibly due to the change in his hair colour.

Still, Izuku does not exchange any words with them, and goes to sit down on one of the chairs. Through a closed-circuit television screen, he watches the moment when the judges arrive, and everyone, from the public gallery, to the public prosecutor and defence counsels, rise up in respect. Once everyone has sat back down, a voice calls out, “The trial of Bakugou Katsuki is now in session. Bring in the defendant”.

Izuku’s mouth falls open.

Kacchan is brought into the courtroom like a restrained wild animal. He is gagged by a heavy-duty muzzle, his hands are bound in a metal vice with quirk-suppressing cuffs around his wrists, and his ankles are chained just enough for him to be walked into the room. Manhandled by two police officers, Kacchan is made to sit down behind the defence counsel, with both officers flanking his sides. 

A court scribe reads out the charges - illegal quirk usage with the intent to cause bodily harm, quirkist behaviour, willful destruction of property, and the abetment in the suicide of another person. One of the judges asks, “How does the defendant plead to these charges?”

One of the defence counsel stands up, “Your honour, my client pleads not guilty to the charges.”

From there, the two sides go at each other.

The prosecution makes an impassioned speech about how Kacchan is a menace to society, a future villain in the making, and that he should be locked away with the rest of Aldera’s teaching staff  before he causes any more lasting damage to innocent civilians. The defence counsel, on the other hand, begs for leniency and rehabilitation, claiming that Kacchan is a victim in his own right, a product of a toxic home and school environment, and that he was never guided on how to be an upstanding member of society. 

Once both sides have concluded their arguments, the court brings in the witnesses.

The former custodian and cafeteria vendor go first. The old man recounts seeing Kacchan and fellow students bullying and tormenting victims in the past, but when he tried to raise the matter to school administration, he was either ignored or threatened with employment termination if he dared press the matter. The vendor corroborated the story, bearing witness to several acts of malicious violence by Kacchan and his peers herself. 

As the vendor wraps up, a police officer enters the holding room.

“Midoriya Izuku, they are ready for your testimony.”

Izuku stands up, and follows the officer down the short corridor towards the door leading to the courtroom. A minute later, the door opens.

“The primary witness, Midoriya Izuku, is called to the stand.”

Izuku takes a steadying breath, and strides into the courtroom with the police officer. 

He feels all eyes on him, and he also hears some whispers from the public gallery. He spares Kacchan a glance. The blonde is staring at him as if he had grown a second head, trembling violently within his restraints. Izuku is guided to the witness’ stand. In accordance with court proceedings, he swears that he will speak the truth, and only the truth, before sitting down.

The prosecution begins, “Midoriya-kun, you were a classmate of the defendant right up until your suicide. Can you explain your relationship with him?”

“I have known Katsuki since we were in diapers,” Izuku replies, “Our mothers were close friends, and we grew up together like brothers. However, things changed when he got his quirk, and I did not. You see, my quirk factor was dormant, requiring a specific trigger to activate. For fourteen years, I was effectively quirkless. Katsuki did not like that I was quirkless and supposedly looking down at him or aiming to become a hero.”

Then comes the next question, “For the sake of clarity, Midoriya-kun, can you describe what the defendant did to you?”

“I was treated like absolute crap, pardon my language. I was bullied, physically, verbally and emotionally. I was regularly beaten up by Katsuki and his peers, verbally insulted and harassed, had my personal belongings stolen or destroyed, and on more than one occasion, the victim of terrible pranks. Katsuki also used me as his personal quirk punching bag, subjecting me to explosions that caused significant physical injury.”

Murmurs begin to spread among the public gallery.

“Midoriya-kun,” the prosecution continues, “the defence counsel claims that the defendant’s behaviour is also a result of a toxic home and school environment. Can you attest to that?”

“To some extent,” Izuku nods, “I will agree that our schools did nothing to reign in Katsuki’s behaviour. Everyone praised him for having a powerful quirk, touting him as the next big hero and the next All Might. Katsuki himself claimed from a young age that he would overtake All Might and become the number one hero. I believe that since our elementary and middle schools were actually brainwashing and indoctrination facilities run by the Meta Liberation Army, they encouraged such beliefs to fester and warp his mind, to the point that my mere existence as a functionally quirkless individual became a personal insult to him. That being said, Katsuki bears some personal responsibility himself. I recount an incident when we were five. Katsuki had fallen from a bridge into a stream, and I had gone down to help him out of the water. Somehow, he saw me, as a quirkless Deku, helping him as looking down at him. I believe that is when our relationship began to deteriorate. Everything at Aldera only made things worse. However, I disagree that Katsuki was brought up in a toxic home environment. I know his parents extremely well, and there is no way that Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru would have ignored Katsuki’s behaviour if they were made aware of it. Auntie Mitsuki adores me like a son in all but blood, and she is more likely to raise hell if she found out that her son actually caused physical and mental torment to me.”

The prosecution concludes their questioning. Now it is the defence counsel’s turn.

“Midoriya-kun, are you letting your bias influence your reasoning? As you mentioned, the school environment played a major part in influencing his behaviour and actions.”

“Sir, when I meant that he should face justice to the fullest extent, I mean justice that actually rehabilitates and changes Katsuki for the better. Yes, he tormented me, physically and mentally, for many years. He is one of the main reasons why I chose to die by suicide. However, I will also agree with the defence that Katsuki is a victim in his own right. If he had grown and developed in a different school environment that is not corrupted by a quirk-supremacy terrorist organisation, I firmly believe that Katsuki would have been a completely different person. Yes, he may still be abrasive and brash, since he got that from Auntie Mitsuki, but he would not have developed quirkist beliefs or a violent, malicious intent to cause harm to those he deemed as beneath him. Also, if Auntie Mitsuki had been informed of his bad behaviour, I am sure she would have set him straight right from the beginning. There is no doubt in my mind that she and Uncle Masaru are good parents with good hearts. They would have never wanted their son to become a violent criminal. That is something I firmly believe until the day I die.”

The defence counsel concludes their questioning.

“The court thanks the primary witness. The trial will now be adjourned for deliberations.”

The judges take their leave, while Izuku is escorted by the same police officer to a gallery where the other two witnesses are sitting. Again, he doesn’t exchange words with either of them. Twenty minutes later, the judges return, and sentencing commences.

“The court finds the defendant guilty of all charges. Normally, the extent of the crimes warrant a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison with no chance of parole, given the violent nature of the defendant. However, with considerations taken on the defendant’s age and the circumstances surrounding the case, the court instead sentences the defendant to seven years of rehabilitative detention.”

Izuku knows what rehabilitative detention entails. Unlike a regular prison sentence, those sentenced to rehabilitative detention are sent to a facility where they receive rehabilitation, therapeutic work and counselling, in a bid to turn them into more upstanding members of society. Also, unlike a regular prison sentence, once a person finishes their time in rehabilitative detention, their records are wiped clean, giving them the chance to start anew in a truly clean slate. 

Hopefully, Kacchan will actually become a better person after the six years.

“The trial has been concluded.”

Although, given the rabid, muffled screams and violent thrashing as he is being escorted out of the courtroom, Kacchan finds rehabilitative detention just as bad as a prison sentence, and it's easy to see why. Kacchan will be 21 years old when he is released, and far beyond the age of acceptance of all heroic schools. So unless an established hero offers him an apprenticeship, which is extremely rare as very few heroes even offer such a position, Kacchan’s dreams of ever becoming a pro-hero are still well and truly over.

Izuku would have felt sorry for him, but he has used up all of his empathy for his former friend in his testimony. He just wants to go back home and have a good soak in his hot spring.

With the trial over, Izuku heads to the public gallery, where Nezu waves him over. 

“You spoke incredibly well, Midoriya-kun! How do you feel now?”

“I feel relieved that it’s finally over, I just want to go home now.”

“I don’t blame you,” Nezu nods understandingly, “You must be exhausted.”

They are about to leave when someone calls out, “Izuku?”

The teen turns around, “Auntie Mitsuki?”

Katsuki’s parents approach them with emotional trepidation.

“Izuku, I can’t thank you enough for speaking up for my brat of a son,” Mitsuki wipes her eyes, “Even after everything Katsuki did to you, you still have it in your heart to show him mercy.”

“We are forever in your debt, and we are so sorry for not stepping in sooner,” Masaru bows deeply, his wife following suit.

Izuku gives them both a meaningful look, “Please, don’t bow to me. I meant what I said, you are good parents who were unfortunately kept ignorant of what Kacchan did to me. I know you would have stepped in if you had known earlier.”

Unable to stop the tears from leaking out, Mitsuki hugs Izuku tightly, which he returns immediately. Masaru joins the embrace, and weeps quietly as Izuku wraps an arm around him too. Nezu watches from the background, letting them have this moment.

“You are too good for this world, Izuku,” Mitsuki says, “My brat doesn’t deserve you.”

“He will have to learn from his mistakes. I just hope he becomes a better person after this,” Izuku replies.

They pull away.

“I need to go now, Auntie Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru. Please take care of yourselves.”

“We will, and take care too, Izuku,” Mitsuki nods tearfully, “You know we have your backs, right?”

Izuku gives them a smile, “And I am forever grateful for that.”

Bowing to the couple, Izuku and Nezu take their leave.

“I’m proud of you, Midoriya-kun. You handled that extremely well.”

“They don’t deserve my anger,” Izuku replies, “They really did try their best. They are just as much of victims as me and Kacchan.”

Nezu nods, “That’s enough for today, though. Let’s try to put this all behind us.”

“Mm.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

The first thing Nezu does come the next day is bring Izuku to the psychiatric wing of Musutafu General Hospital.

Being the principal of the most prestigious heroics school in the country works in their favour. Nezu is able to book a same-day appointment with one of the best psychiatrists in the hospital for them to assess Izuku properly.

They did not have to wait long either.

Barely ten minutes after registration, Izuku’s queue number is called, and he is directed to the psychiatrist’s office.

“Ah, good morning, you must be Midoriya Izuku?” a man in his forties with gravity-defying hair and somewhat prominent eyebags says as Izuku and Nezu enter.

“Yes, that’s me,” Izuku nods.

“Wonderful, my name is Dr. Shinsou Hirota,” the psychiatrist introduces himself, “And a pleasure to meet you as well, Principal Nezu.”

“Likewise, Shinsou-sensei!” Nezu chirps, “I have heard many good things about your quirk.”

Seeing Izuku perk up in curiosity, Dr. Shinsou chuckles, “Well, being able to diagnose mental conditions more accurately than most psychiatrists does have its perks, if I dare say so myself.”

“Quite so!” Nezu chirps, “Shall we get started?”

“We shall,” Dr. Shinsou nods, before turning to Izuku, “Now, Midoriya-kun, I want you to face me and don’t move for about thirty seconds. You will feel a slight brushing feeling inside your head. You don’t need to be afraid, it is just how my quirk works, and you won’t be in any pain whatsoever, okay?”

Izuku nods.

The psychiatrist gently holds Izuku’s head in place, and gazes intently at his forehead. True enough, Izuku feels a slight brushing feeling inside his head, almost as if a feather is being gently run through his mind. The sensation does jolt him a little, but Izuku tries to focus on Dr. Shinsou’s hands cradling his head.

A short while later, the brushing sensation lifts away.

“Excellent, you did a good job Midoriya-kun,” Dr. Shinsou smiles, “Most of my patients tend to freak out when I use my quirk on them.”

“It was…unusual, I will admit,” Izuku remarks.

“Not surprising, it is not everyday that we feel as if a feather is brushing inside our head,” Dr. Shinsou chuckles, “Now, I have all the information I need to make a formal diagnosis. I just need to get everything down on record and paper, as well as the prescribed medication that I will include in the diagnosis. I will call you back once I am done.”

“Splendid!” Nezu claps his paws, “We will see you shortly then!”

The mammal guides Izuku back out into the waiting room, leaving the psychiatrist to do his job. They sit down on a row of seats, and silence follows for a moment.

“Dr. Shinsou seems…nice,” Izuku remarks after a moment.

“He’s not one of the top psychiatrists in Japan for nothing, Midoriya-kun. It takes more than a quirk to become someone respected and admired.”

“I know,” Izuku nods, “It’s just that…medical professionals have not always been kind to me, you know?”

“I can understand,” Nezu pats his hand, “If I could track down every single doctor or nurse who did not give you the fair treatment you deserve, I would and I will have them all buried alive in the end. However, that is neither here nor there. Justice has already been served, and we should focus on how to make the present and future better for you.”

Izuku nods, just as his number is once again called to Dr. Shinsou’s office. 

They return, and the psychiatrist greets them once more, “Thank you for waiting, I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

“Oh, no trouble at all, Shinsou-sensei,” Nezu chirps, “So what is the diagnosis?”

The psychiatrist goes through the document, “My scan concludes that Midoriya-kun suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. There is also a secondary diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Based on Midoriya-kun’s past records, I can see where these have come from. Years of systemic abuse and neglect at the hands of his peers and mother respectively.”

Izuku simply lets the information sink in. It feels…far less damning than when the quirk specialist had that meeting with him and his mother. The question he has though…

“What can we do about it?” he asks quietly.

“For post-traumatic stress disorder, I will recommend you receive psychological support and treatment in the form of therapy. Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is one such effective treatment for PTSD in adolescents.”

“And we have just the individual who can help!” Nezu perks up, before turning to Izuku, “U.A. has a guidance counsellor who is also a licensed psychologist and therapist. Have you heard of Hound Dog?”

“Um…I think so? He’s the pro-hero who looks like a dog, right?”

“Precisely!” Nezu beams, “He will be able to take you under his paw and provide you the therapy as prescribed by Shinsou-sensei. Which, for that matter,” he turns back to the psychiatrist, “what else do you have in your diagnosis?”

“Right, for the generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, I will be prescribing one type of medication to Midoriya-kun,” Dr. Shinsou continues, “Venlafaxine belongs to a class of medications known as Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors, or SNRIs. In layman terms, it is an antidepressant used to treat the symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is usually taken in the morning, after food, and the dosage is supposed to last throughout the daylight hours until one goes to bed. As this will be the first time Midoriya-kun will be taking this kind of medication, I will be prescribing him a low dosage for the first two weeks in order for him to become accustomed to the venlafaxine. If there are no serious side effects, he can increase the dosage incrementally over the next few months. For an adolescent his age, the starting dosage will be 75 mg for the first two weeks. The medication comes in tablets that are a 150mg dosage per tablet. Simply cut each tablet in half and consume them orally after food in the morning. Once the two weeks are up and there are no side effects, Midoriya-kun can consume one whole 150mg tablet after food in the morning.”

Izuku nods, “What are the potential side effects?”

“Since this is your first time taking such medication, there is a small, but noticeable chance that you may experience nausea, constipation, difficulty sleeping, dizziness or headaches,” Dr. Shinsou explains, “If you do experience such side effects over a prolonged period of time, I want you to come back to see me and we can discuss changing medications to something your body is more willing to accept.”

Nezu nods, “And if all goes well with no issues?”

“Then we can schedule a follow-up about three to four months from now,” Dr. Shinsou replies, “I will separate the doses into two packages, one for the first two weeks, and the second until our follow-up. A nurse will call you to pass you the medication before you leave.”

“Wonderful!” Nezu claps his paws, “I believe we are all set then! Do you have anything else to share, Shinsou-sensei?”

“Nope, that is pretty much the gist of it,” the psychiatrist replies, “Thank you for coming down today. I wish you, and especially you, Midoriya-kun, all the best. I presume you are training to become a hero, kid?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

Dr. Shinsou nods, “And aiming for U.A. High as well?”

“That’s correct.”

“A small world, I will say. My son is also aiming for the heroics programme at U.A.,” Dr. Shinsou reveals, “Perhaps you two will cross paths in the near future.”

Izuku automatically wonders what kind of quirk Dr. Shinsou’s son has. Given the mental aspect to the psychiatrist’s quirk, Izuku deduces that the most likely answer is that the son’s quirk has also to do with the brain. Enhanced intelligence, maybe? Or perhaps an ability to read minds? Oh, or maybe even the ability to use telepathy? Or maybe - 

“Midoriya-kun, you’re muttering,” Nezu cuts in gently.

Izuku snaps out of it instantly. Immediately, he becomes a strawberry and his hands flail wildly, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to mutter! I just love analysing quirks, and - oh god, you must see me as some kind of creep - !”

Dr. Shinsou merely chuckles, “You have quite the analytical brain, don’t you, kiddo? I can see why Principal Nezu has taken you under his paw.”

“He has the makings of a great hero!” Nezu chirps, “And I don’t say such praise without good reason.”

“I can tell, principal,” Dr. Shinsou nods, “Well, if there is nothing else, thank you for coming today. Take care on your way back, alright?”

“We most certainly will!” Nezu bows as Izuku gets up, “Thank you Shinsou-sensei, we’ll be off now!”

“Thank you, Shinsou-sensei.”

The psychiatrist waves them off. The pair leave the clinic and go sit down near the pharmacy with a new queue number. 

“Principal Nezu?”

“Hm?”

“Does this change things, now that I have an official diagnosis and medication?” Izuku asks quietly.

“Not at all, Midoriya-kun,” Nezu replies gently, “It is perfectly normal to be diagnosed with mental conditions and to be on medication. A lot of pro-heroes are in the same boat as you. Why, without going too much into detail, Aizawa-kun goes to see a therapist twice a month and has his own medications, which he consumes daily.”

Izuku’s shoulders lighten a bit. It feels reassuring that even one of his mentors takes medication too.

“And speaking of therapists, I will have a word with Hound Dog on when it will be best for you to start regular therapy sessions with him. The sooner the better, of course.”

“Will Hound Dog be able to help me?”

“You can bet my fur that Hound Dog will help you right up to the very end,” Nezu promises.

“Hm, okay.”

Izuku’s queue number is called.

The nurse on duty hands him the medication and reiterates the dosage as prescribed by Dr. Shinsou. Payment is made by Nezu, and with a plastic bag of tablets in hand, they leave the hospital and call the chauffeur to pick them up.

From there, it is a quiet, peaceful ride back to U.A..

And the day comes to an end, with plans in place for the rest to come.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Life carries on.

The routine continues, but now with the addition of morning medication intake and weekly therapy sessions with Hound Dog on Fridays in place of his afternoon lessons with Nezu.

Thankfully, Izuku did not experience any negative side-effects from consuming his medication. The only change he noticed on the first few days was that it was a bit more difficult to conduct his big business in the toilet, but other than that, he was completely fine. 

By the second week, he has upped the dosage to a full tablet, and Izuku goes through the daylight hours with lighter shoulders and a more focused mind, which helps tremendously when he goes about his daily routine.

Therapy with Hound Dog is quite the experience, but in a good way. When he first met the man, Izuku was surprised to see how intimidating Hound Dog appeared physically. The man has the head of a dog, and is quite tall and muscular. The muzzle that he wore certainly adds to the intimidating factor. But despite the rather scary appearance, Hound Dog is surprisingly gentle and soft-spoken. His deep voice has an unexpected soothing effect on Izuku’s mind, and it allowed the teen to open up extremely quickly to the guidance counsellor.

The first few sessions are devoted to getting to know each other and unpacking everything that Izuku has gone through, right up to his suicide. Once everything has been laid out in the open, Hound Dog works on helping Izuku to make sense of everything that he went through in a safe, controlled environment. Hound Dog discovered very early on that shouting or loud noises, such as explosions, cause Izuku to have momentary flashbacks. One of the first things the counsellor does to help Izuku is to guide the teen in identifying unhealthy patterns in his thinking, and reframing them into more positive thought patterns. For example, negative associations with loud noises such as explosions or shouting is redirected towards more positive manifestations, such as crowds cheering in a sports event, and fireworks displays in festivals and major celebrations. This form of healthy, controlled exposure is done through collaborative choice between Hound Dog and Izuku, ensuring that boundaries are respected and adhered to. The path to healing has to be done through mutual respect and communication. Any conflict will hinder progress and could even cause Izuku to regress or develop new trauma, which is the last thing Hound Dog wants to do as a guidance counsellor.

Progress, of course, is not always smooth-sailing. Izuku has nightmares a couple of times and wakes up in cold sweat. There are moments in his sessions with Hound Dog where he becomes a little too lost in past memories, requiring some form of physical intervention to bring him back to the present. Izuku even works himself, on occasion, into several panic attacks that are thankfully soothed down with calming words and gentle, yet firm touches.

Hound Dog reassures Izuku that he is doing well, and that progress consists of ups and downs. He has worked with many students before Izuku who have similar experiences and also underwent the same downs as Izuku had gone through. It helps to take the uncertainty and fear off of Izuku’s shoulders, and his confidence in himself gradually strengthens.

This has a welcome effect on his private lessons with Nezu and his training with his mentors.

Izuku is, by all accounts, a smart student. Unfortunately, years of exposure to teachers who revelled in humiliating him in front of his classmates have literally destroyed Izuku’s self-worth. His therapy sessions with Hound Dog allow his confidence to blossom once more, which makes him more proactive in his tutoring under Nezu. The mammal is beyond happy when Izuku starts to confidently show his intellectual prowess, even in situations where the teen is placed in a spot under considerable pressure. 

Nezu likes this. And he makes sure to give Hound Dog a pay raise for his efforts.

On the front of training, Izuku's renewed confidence allows him to make substantial progress. 

Between weight and endurance workouts, Izuku and Aizawa continue their quirkless spars that, in the past, would have always ended in Izuku face-planting on the synthetic leather mat and tasting what faux cowhide is actually like.

However, after weeks of continued defeats and increased confidence from Hound Dog’s therapy sessions, Izuku is able to pick out several consistent patterns and tics about his sparring opponent. Tiny things such as a millisecond delay when his right knee clicks from an old healed injury, always propelling himself forward using his left foot, and favouring his right fist when going in for a punch. Izuku’s analytical mind put all these little details together to create a take-down plan that required just the right timing and distractions to throw his mentor off.

The countdown begins when, as expected, Aizawa propels off his left foot towards Izuku, using his right fist with the intention to deliver a blow. Izuku leaps out of the way, sending his first distraction - a feinted punch - straight towards his opponent. Aizawa dodges (good), but because of his slightly weaker right knee (Izuku hears the click), there is the millisecond delay that allows Izuku’s improved reflexes to swing his foot at Aizawa that forces the older man into an awkward, unstable position. Izuku dives in for the kill, sweeping Aizawa’s legs out from him and pouncing onto the man just as he hits the mat. 

“Do you yield?” Izuku asks while pinning Aizawa down.

Having the literal wind knocked out of him, it takes a moment for the hobo to respond, “Y-Yield.”

Izuku leaps back from Aizawa, in case he decides to make any surprise movements. Aizawa gets to his feet, and grins wolfishly, “Congrats kid, you just got your first win.”

“How does it feel to taste leather?” Izuku asks, a little cheekily.

“It has been a long while, I’ll admit,” Aizawa replies, “Alright, let’s recap. How was this spar different from all of our other matches?”

“I started observing the tiny tics that you display when fighting,” Izuku explains, “While it took me multiple spars to fully understand each tic, I was able to put together an impromptu plan based on how you act with those tics and then subsequently take you down.”

Aizawa nods, crossing his arms, “While that is certainly useful when you have been sparring with the same person for an extended period of time, bear in mind that when engaging opponents out in the field, you will not have the opportunity to fight with them repeatedly to learn their individual tics. More often than not, you will have to rely on your instincts and intuition when engaging an opponent in combat.”

Izuku understands that wholeheartedly.

“Still, good job on getting a win out of me,” Aizawa adds, “Take five, and then we’ll continue.”

“Yes, sensei!”

Aside from physical and strength conditioning, Izuku resumes his quirk training with Keigo when the winged hero is able to come to U.A. on the days where he is less busy. 

Admittedly, Keigo had been unsure about whether it was a good idea to have Izuku practise flying again after that harrowing first attempt. However, Izuku had reassured the hero that his therapy sessions with Hound Dog had covered his terrifying first time with flying, and the consistent therapy has given him the confidence to try again.

Plus, Izuku sweetened the deal by declaring his trust in Keigo to keep him safe from harm while he is in the air. That was enough to convince the winged hero, and soon enough, Izuku has his wings out, and both ascend to the ceiling of Gym Gamma, with Aizawa at the ready as a second layer of safety.

“Remember what I told you about pushing off, chickadee?” Keigo asks, to which Izuku nods, “I want you to try that again.”

“Got it!”

Izuku adjusts down to a horizontal position, making sure to look straight ahead. With a release of breath, his wings flap down, and he pushes off.

He shoots towards the wall, but this time, Izuku is in full control of his cognitive thinking. He does not let his emotions or fears get in the way, using logic and quick thinking to time himself. As he fast approaches the wall, Izuku flaps down his wings again, positioning his body upwards in order to propel himself towards the ceiling. He repeats the process again when he is about to hit the ceiling beams, aiming downwards as there is more air and space for manoeuvring. He swoops down like a raptor honing in on its prey, but swooping up again before he could hit the ground or smash into Aizawa. He repeats the process again, and again, until he gets the hang of it.

And when he does…

Izuku laughs .

He cheers and screams in joy, as he effortlessly flies in all directions around the available air of Gym Gamma. Keigo is literally beaming with light, hollering as his fledgling takes his first successful flight all by himself. Down on the ground, Aizawa allows the barest of grins, satisfied that he won’t have to intervene.

The euphoria comes to an end when Izuku dives straight into Keigo’s open arms, and the pair gently descend down with Keigo taking control.

“I’m so proud of you, kiddo! You flew like a pro!”

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah! You didn’t hit anything or crash into the ground at all! Even I totally fucked up my first attempt at flying! You are a wonder, Izuku!”

Izuku completely loses the ability to speak, courtesy of the sudden appearance of bawling tears. He simply hugs Keigo tighter, which the winged hero immediately reciprocates with equal fervour.

Aizawa’s grin becomes slightly wider. The gremlin deserves all the nice things, especially what he had gone through for the past ten years. 

So long as Izuku continues to progress and increase his potential, Aizawa will remain as the gremlin’s biggest supporters.

Not that he will tell anyone that. He has a reputation to uphold.

With flying more or less settled, the next part of Izuku’s quirk training quickly becomes a priority.

It is clear to everyone that fire is an inalienable aspect of the teen’s quirk. Fire was what resurrected Izuku from the dead, and fire played a crucial role in helping the teen to manifest his wings for the first time. The last thing anyone wants is for a major quirk accident involving deadly fire to occur, all because Izuku has no control over the flames that he could apparently produce.

A week after Izuku’s first successful flight, the teen returns to Gym Gamma with both Aizawa and Nezu. Keigo is, unfortunately, unable to make it since he is currently swamped in hero commission work, although he did receive a promise from Nezu that an update from today’s session will be sent to him as soon as possible.

Everyone present knows what the agenda for today is.

“To begin,” Nezu starts, “I instructed Cementoss to bring in samples of various materials that are typically known to be extremely resistant to heat or fire. Today’s test is to estimate the highest temperature that Midoriya-kun’s flames are able to reach without any external influence.”

“Cool!” Izuku cheers, “When will Cementoss-san arrive?”

“He should be coming right about…”

A door opens, and a humanoid man who appears to be made entirely of concrete enters the gym, wheeling in a large trolley that is stacked with several wooden crates.

“Good morning, Principal, I have brought the samples you have requested.”

“Excellent work, Ishiyama-kun! If you can help us to unload and take out all of the samples, it would be most appreciated.”

The concrete hero nods, and unloads all the boxes from the trolley. From the crates, Cementoss takes out sizable samples of various metals, concrete, and other durable materials that Izuku believes should be able to withstand the high temperature of fire.

There are twelve samples in total, all lined up in a single file with considerable space between each sample.

“That will be all, Ishiyama-kun! Thank you for your hard work.”

The concrete hero bows, and upon seeing Izuku, gives the teen a friendly wave. Or, what could be inferred as friendly, since the man’s expression doesn’t change at all. Cementoss then makes his excuses, and leaves the gym.

“Alright!” Nezu claps his paws, “Shall we get started?”

The first sample, according to a list provided by the rodent, is a steel beam. Additional information includes the melting point of steel, which is between 1,205 - 1,370 degrees Celsius (2,200 - 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit). If Izuku’s flames are able to melt the steel, it means that his flames are capable of reaching that particular range of temperature, if not higher. Which is why they have samples of materials that have higher melting points. The experiment stops when Izuku is unable to melt the sample with his flames.

It goes unsaid, but safety is a major sticking point of this experiment. On its own, fire can cause untold damage and harm to property and people, if the collateral damage reports from Endeavour’s rampages are any indication. Nezu has previously confided with Aizawa that he suspects that Izuku’s flames could easily rival, or even surpass Endeavour’s hellflame quirk, which has gone on record to produce flames that easily reach 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 degrees Fahrenheit) at their strongest, becoming hot enough to turn white in colour. If the rodent’s hypothesis proves to be correct, Izuku stands a good chance of rivalling the number two hero in terms of raw fire power.

And short of letting an untrained, inexperienced teenager walk around with the ability to cremate anyone with his flames, it is important they assess how powerful Izuku’s flames are, in order to implement further safety measures that can protect Izuku and other innocent people from unintentional harm.

Nezu claps his paws again, “Alright, Midoriya-kun, if you can blast that steel beam with all you got, it will be most appreciated!”

Izuku gazes down at his palm, flexes his hand a bit, and aims it at the beam, positioned a metre or so away for safety reasons.

The teen feels the heat within him rapidly increase, and he gasps slightly as his wings burst into existence and his hair ignites. Sparks and embers begin to appear on his palm, and his hand also ignites. Izuku nearly panics when he sees his hand engulfed in flames, but calms down when he does not feel the tell-tale sensations of skin and flesh being burned. With the fire condensed around his hand, Izuku then tries to blast it at the steel beam. 

And, as if responding to his mental request, the fireball blasts forwards in a surge of flames, hitting the beam point-blank. Izuku concentrates on sustaining the fire, blocking out everything except for the desire to keep the flames going. 

About ten seconds later, a sharp tingling sensation crackles across his hand. Izuku gasps, and the flames dissipate immediately.

“Midoriya-kun, are you alright?” Nezu asks.

“I…I think so,” Izuku glances down at his hand, thinking that he must have burned himself or something. His hand is completely fine, with no burns or injuries anywhere.

So…what was that tingling sensation?

Izuku looks up towards the steel beam.

He expects a blackened beam, or perhaps a puddle of melted, molten steel.

Instead, there are…chunks left behind?

Izuku goes over to get a closer look, with Nezu following behind. He kneels down to inspect the chunks, noticing that they are a silver-grey colour, and mixed in with the chunks are smaller pieces that are a shiny black in colour. Izuku picks up one of the black pieces, which immediately crumbles at the slightest pressure, leaving his fingers stained black and with a light coating of powder.

“Principal Nezu, do you know what these are?”

The rodent closely inspects the chunks and pieces. 

“If I am not mistaken, I believe that these are chunks of iron ore, and the black pieces are actually coal.”

Aizawa, who has come over to see what is going on, blinks, “What the hell?”

Izuku looks up to his mentor, “Aizawa-sensei?”

The hobo sighs loudly, and stalks off to one side, muttering something about a “fucking fantasy shounen anime protagonist”.

Izuku turns his confusion to Nezu, “What is going on?”

Nezu beams at the teen, although his eyes have taken on a slightly manic edge, “Midoriya-kun, I believe we have learnt something new about your quirk today!”

“And that is?”

“Your flames are no ordinary flames. Your flames are somehow able to revert materials into what they were originally made up of! In this case, you turned a steel beam back into the raw materials required to manufacture steel!”

…

…

What.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

His flames do not burn things.

Instead, they revert materials back into their raw, starting forms.

This defies all sense of logical physics. Flames are supposed to burn things, carbonise them and turn them into charcoal or ashes. Flames are not supposed to turn materials into something else, all without a trace of being combusted or burned.

This doesn’t make any sense!

Ever since Izuku returned to his room, he has been pacing around in deep thought. His brain refuses to settle down after a hectic day, tossing around questions and theories in a bid to explain how he could have turned steel back into iron ore and charcoal. 

Growing sick of his own brain drawing blank after blank, Izuku sits down in front of his laptop, boots it up, and opens Google and begins typing.

He starts with the question of whether it is possible to turn steel back into its raw ingredients. Virtually every source of information either states the process of how steel is made on an industrial level, or are completely irrelevant to what Izuku is searching for.

One would think that even after surviving the quirk wars and the scientific leaps forward thanks to quirks, Google would have improved their search engine to actually be more user-friendly and accurate.

Anyways.

Izuku continues into the bowels of the search engine, combing through dozens of sources and even tweaking the word choices in his original search query in a bid to dig up fresh information. For about thirty minutes, Izuku grows increasingly frustrated as nothing comes to fruition from his in-depth search.

Until, near the very end of the search option list, he discovers something…interesting.

An article about the symbolism of a phoenix in the pre-quirk, ancient natural philosophy of alchemy.

At first glance, it does not appear to have any connection to what Izuku is researching. But at this point, with his mind clutching at straws, Izuku says ‘fuck it’ and opens the article.

Alchemists strived to purify, mature and perfect certain metals, with one of the most well-known attempts being ‘chrysopoeia’, where base metals such as lead are transmuted into ‘noble’ metals such as gold. Other goals by alchemists included creating the elixir of life that guarantees immortality, and the creation of a panaceas, which can cure any disease in the world.

…

…

According to ancient legend, there is only one single phoenix in the entire world. Every 500 years, the phoenix builds itself a funeral pyre and burns itself to ashes. From there, a new phoenix will emerge. This continuing cycle of death and resurrection resulted in the phoenix being adopted by Christians as a metaphor for Jesus Christ’s resurrection after being crucified on the cross.

For alchemists, the phoenix is symbolic in a different way.

The Philosopher’s Stone, one of the ultimate goals of alchemy, which can turn base metals into gold, has been described as a phoenix due to its deep red colour and that it undergoes a transmutation by fire, similar to how a phoenix burns itself with fire until ashes remain, before coming back to life.

Izuku sits back, processing what he has just read.

It is an interesting read, make no mistake about it. And while it did not directly explain what happened earlier in the day with the steel beam, Izuku is slowly able to put the pieces together.

Alchemists attempted to create the Philosopher’s Stone to ‘purify’ and ‘perfect’ non-valuable metals such as lead into expensive metals such as gold. Izuku remembers Nezu declaring that he somehow turned a steel beam back into chunks of iron ore and charcoal, which are the base materials that are used in steelmaking. Somehow, his flames “purified” steel by returning it into its raw components. 

Is this what his flames are? Some kind of alchemical construct that takes the symbolism of a phoenix’s endless cycle of rebirth as a form of purification? Is he able to purify any kind of material? Does this mean that he is the living embodiment of a Philosopher’s Stone?

He has so many questions, and so many research possibilities!

Izuku opens Microsoft Word and writes down several important questions that he hopes can be answered through a series of experiments.

Hopefully, Nezu is open to playing with fire.

The next morning, Izuku brings his proposal to Nezu.

After explaining the purported symbolism of his flames, Izuku knows that he has piqued the rodent’s curiosity. Nezu, as it turns out, is a huge history nerd, who spent many an hour reading through ancient texts and books to better understand what humans and the world was like before the advent of quirks. 

Alchemy is, apparently, an area of study that Nezu used to dabble with in his younger years. Even as principal of U.A., Nezu delved into subjects such as alchemy to keep his super-enhanced brain occupied and engaged outside of the monotony of running a heroics school. 

Izuku thinks he heard Aizawa mutter something about world domination, but that is neither here nor there.

In short, Nezu greenlights the research plan, and approves of the experiments to be conducted over the next few weeks. 

Come the next day, the first experiment commences.

It is simple in theory, to turn a bar of lead into a gold bar with his supposed alchemical flames.

Principal Nezu has several of such bars, about the size of an adult human hand, procured and brought to his office. Izuku takes the first bar, and under the careful supervision of both Aizawa and Nezu, he manifests his flames, and begins burning the lead bar.

At first, all anyone sees is the orb of fire burning away in Izuku's hands. The faint outline of the bar can be seen amidst the flames, but it does not appear to change in any way.

But then, comes the sharp tingling sensation that Izuku experienced when he was burning the steel bar. His flames cut out, and the bar comes into view once more.

The result makes Nezu cackle, and Aizawa groans loudly about needing a stiff drink in addition to his coffee.

The bar of lead, once dull and grey, now shines as pure, solid gold.

Izuku is too busy muttering about this amazing discovery to hear Aizawa’s own grumblings about him being an “overpowered god who can easily destroy the global economy by making gold worthless”.

It does not help that Izuku transmutates the other lead bars into gold, and gives each one to every single staff member under U.A.'s employment as a gift of appreciation. Aizawa simply gives Izuku a deadpan look when the teen offers him a gold bar, and retreats to his sleeping bag in hopes of getting away from this lucid fever dream.

On a completely unrelated note, all of the windows in the staff offices are blown out by a certain voice hero’s emotional breakdown at being offered a gold bar that can easily cover a year’s salary from teaching.

The experiments continue with Izuku testing the limits of his alchemical flames.

Just like with the steel bar, more samples are brought in to be tested on. Ranging from inexpensive materials such as paper and plastics to invaluable assets such as diamond and rare earth, Izuku subjects each sample to prolonged exposure to his flames to see if he can “purify” them back into their raw components.

Each test has different results.

Easily combustible materials such as paper take less time to purify than sturdier samples such as diamond. The paper samples take about five seconds to turn back into cellulose fibre and evaporated water, while the sample of diamond takes about ten minutes of continued burning to crumble back into carbon particles. 

Prolonged use of his flames, understandably, tires Izuku out. If he uses his flames for longer than ten minutes, the exhaustion is so great that he can barely move, let alone continue.

He could easily keep training to increase his window of quirk usage, but Nezu highlights an extremely important point.

“What reason do you have to use your flames for a long time? Transmuting materials back into their original raw components is not exactly the most practical choice of action even in the field of heroics. You certainly don’t want to transmute a human now, would you?”

Izuku can’t begin to imagine what will happen if he engulfs a human with his alchemical flames. Human transmutation? That sounds ethically, legally and morally wrong by whatever standard or context known to mankind.

Still, he would like to use his flames in combat, especially if they give him an edge over his opponents.

Izuku wonders if there is a way to remove the alchemical ability of his flames and merely use them for what they actually are - a construct of extreme heat that can provide warmth and light at best, and to harm and kill at the worst.

After some discussion with Nezu, they come up with an experimental plan.

Quirk-suppressing cuffs.

Typically used in law enforcement to prevent criminals or villains from using their quirk to escape or cause even more harm, quirk-suppressing cuffs were brought up here since Izuku deduced that his flames comprise of two layers - the base layer which is the fire itself, and the second being the alchemical properties that allow his flames to transmute lead into gold and revert materials back into their raw components. Take away the top layer, and what is left is regular flames similar to ones used by Endeavour and other fire-oriented heroes.

Again, it is purely experimental, since there is no guarantee that Izuku’s hypothesis is actually correct. But as Nezu chirps, “There is no harm in trying!”

Aizawa, though, seems to mutter about how statements such as that result in all kinds of illogical, unnecessary problems.

Regardless, a standard issue pair of quirk-suppressing cuffs is ordered in from the Musutafu Police Headquarters. Officer Sansa is the one to bring it to U.A., apparently Tsukauchi has not yet risen from his hibernation, as Sansa describes it. And while it usually requires either the chief of police in Musutafu or a high-ranking detective such as Tsukauchi to authorise the loaning out of quirk-suppressing cuffs to anyone outside of law enforcement, before his hibernation, Tsukauchi instructed headquarters to follow any and all requests from U.A. if it pertains to one Midoriya Izuku.

And since the loaning of a pair of cuffs is for the benefit of Izuku, the request is immediately authorised and Sansa, being the closest to Tsukauchi, is the one who brings the cuffs to U.A..

Again, Aizawa mutters something about Izuku being an “shounen anime protagonist who gets all kinds of leeway due to plot devices”, but no one pays much attention to that.

The experiment takes place in Gym Gamma once more. Sansa puts the cuffs on Izuku’s wrists, and stands back, having been briefed about the teen’s quirk from Aizawa and Nezu. Cementoss has graciously provided another steel beam for the experiment, with the exact proportions and composition to ensure as much accuracy as possible.

When he is ready, Izuku activates his quirk. His wings blossom out, and his hair ignites.

“Huh, you would think that the kid is unable to do that with the cuffs on,” Sansa remarks.

“Well, there is a hypothesis that Midoriya-kun wants to test out,” Nezu informs him, before turning to Izuku, “Are you ready?”

“I am!”

That is the only warning they get when Izuku unleashes a firestorm at the steel beam. It is all on him now, only Izuku will be able to tell if there are any changes brought upon by the cuffs. 

After about five minutes, nothing seems to happen, so Izuku forces more energy into the fire. The three spectating adults watch as the flames turn from orange to white, becoming increasingly brighter. Then, at the spot where the beam is placed, liquid begins to pool out and spread across the floor.

“Midoriya-kun! Stop!”

Izuku cancels the fire, sweat trickling down his face. 

All eyes turn to where the beam once stood. There is nothing but a puddle of liquid, grey in colour, and bubbling slightly.

“It seems that your hypothesis is right, Midoriya-kun!” Nezu chirps, “When the cuffs are on, your fire loses its alchemical properties and becomes regular fire instead.”

“Alchemical?” Sansa asks.

Aizawa sighs, “Without the cuffs, the gremlin’s flames have the ability to turn lead into gold.”

“Proof or you’re lying.”

Aizawa digs into his pocket and pulls out the gold bar that Izuku offered to him the other day, “I ain’t lying.”

Sansa stares at the bar for a long, rather awkward moment.

“Do you think I can steal the kid for a while, nya?”

“Over my dead body.”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

Sansa may not have been able to steal Izuku away as requested, but the teen is more than happy to transmute lead bars into gold for the entire division at the headquarters, Sansa and Tsukauchi included.

It is subsequently reported that every morning, without fail, the entirety of Tsukauchi’s division gathers in an unused interrogation room to give thanks to Izuku for his generous offerings. With Sansa leading the congregation, they burn candles, incense and other typical ritual offerings before a picture of the teen, chanting mantras of gratitude to the great, all-loving god that is Midoriya Izuku.

Last someone heard, there is even talk about procuring a solid gold statue of Izuku for the division to give thanks to in their daily rituals, because nothing short of magnificent is enough to match the power and brilliance of the god that has made their boring, drudging lives so much happier.

As for Tsukauchi, who remains in hibernation throughout this madness, all he does is open an eye when Sansa delivers the gold bar to him and says that it is a gift from Izuku, and promptly goes back to sleep.

The fact that the detective never leaves his bed for another three weeks, except to eat and use the bathroom, goes unsaid by anyone.

In the meantime, Izuku continues his training.

As he gets stronger, physically from workouts and spars, and mentally from continued therapy sessions with Hound Dog, Izuku also feels his quirk growing stronger in tandem. The warmth in his chest burns brighter and hotter with each passing day, roaring at him to unleash it out into the open.

Under the controlled supervision of Aizawa, sometimes Keigo, and Nezu, Izuku listens to the roar and unleashes his flames at targets daily. 

The aim is for Izuku to become acclimated to using his flames on a regular basis. Without the alchemical properties, which are nullified by the cuffs, the flames that burst from his hands do not go without drawbacks. 

The first time someone noticed was when after melting another steel beam to a puddle, Aizawa realised that Izuku’s hands were burnt raw. Not to the level of a sunburn, but nearing that threshold. 

After cooling down his hands, Izuku’s training becomes more stringent and controlled to prevent any heat or fire-related injuries. Izuku is not allowed to use his fire for more than five minutes at any one time, which beyond that will begin to irritate his skin. 

Additionally, prolonged use of his flames raises Izuku’s body temperature higher than normal. This became apparent after one training session ended in Izuku collapsing with a fever. 

After scaring the daylights out of Aizawa and Keigo, another rule is implemented - immediate cessation of fire as soon as Izuku feels like he is beginning to burn up. 

This leaves Izuku with quite a few constraints on his quirk, something which he understood is for his own safety and wellbeing, but still frustrated him. 

He wants to become stronger, dammit! His flames carry so much potential, but he can’t progress with all of these constraints of the usage of his quirk. 

Whining and grumbling doesn’t help. Nezu simply smiles at him over a cup of tea. Aizawa glares daggers at him whenever he does so. And Keigo subjects him to merciless tickling for ten minutes straight each time he catches Izuku whining about how he is “stagnating” and not “progressing fast enough”.

One would think that Izuku has learnt his lesson from being tickled no less than five times in a span of a week. But actually…he loves being tickled by the man who he is increasingly seeing as an inalienable member of his eclectic family. 

Plus, despite the torturous agony that Keigo subjects him to, it is the physical closeness that the two share that makes Izuku feel all warm inside, not referring to his quirk. He hasn’t felt this close and loved by anyone since his own mother, before she went cold in recent years. 

Keigo, for his part, is both moved and heartbroken. He promises Izuku to give him all the cuddles and physical affection that he needs and wants, plus the occasional tickle session if required. The winged hero had brightened considerably when Izuku told him that he has come to enjoy being tickled by someone he trusts with his life. Laughing his head off gives the teen something to smile about, despite the torturous agony.

Well, people always say that laughter is the best medicine in the world.

Anyways.

Progress moves slowly because of the constraints. Izuku slowly becomes accustomed to the slow pace, but improvements do begin to show after some time. His five-minute exposure to his flames eventually stops leaving his skin red and raw. And he doesn’t collapse with a fever again after that terrifying experience (to Aizawa and Keigo, at least).

From there, the slow progression begins upwards.

Izuku’s exposure to his flames are incrementally increased. From five minutes, an additional thirty seconds are added. When it shows that his skin is not left raw, another thirty seconds are added. So far, Izuku is able to use his flames for a total of seven minutes.

However, what irritates Izuku immensely is not being able to raise the temperature of his flames beyond the typical 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 degrees Fahrenheit) of orange flames. Trying to push his flames to turn white leaves his skin raw and irritated, and raising his body temperature close to fever territory. He knows it is for his own safety, but god-dammit, how is he supposed to progress if he can’t use his flames at their strongest?!

On a different note, Keigo seems to have developed a telepathic instinct that informs him of when Izuku is frustrated with the slow progress. His solution is simple.

Tickles, lots and lots of tickles.

And lots of cuddling afterwards, because he loves his little gremlin fledgling.

Of course, despite his mentors’ attempts at ensuring his safety, something happens that sends things careening off the rails.

It takes place in Ground Beta, the fake cityscape used for practical training as well as the testing grounds for the U.A. entrance examinations.

Here, Izuku is put through the task of using his flames to remove pieces of rubble from a collapsed building to rescue (fake) civilians that are trapped inside.

It is not a straightforward task. As always, the constraints remain firm. Izuku is not allowed to use his flames beyond the time limit (8 minutes at this point), not allowed to turn his fire white, and if he accidentally burns the civilians (dummies, for the simulation) or causes a further collapse, the exercise will be deemed a failure.

For the first ten minutes, everything goes relatively smoothly. Through his own physical strength, Izuku is able to extricate three dummies from the rubble, without using his fire. As he goes deeper, however, he encounters a dummy that is crushed between a tangle of broken concrete and twisted steel reinforcement bars. His quick thinking tells him to melt the steel bars to remove the concrete more efficiently. 

That is the plan, at least.

No one could have factored in a bit of dust tickling Izuku’s nostrils as he is using his flames to melt the steel. 

He sneezes.

And Izuku ignites .

Aizawa and Keigo barely have time to react when Izuku is suddenly engulfed in an epic fireball. 

“Shit! Kid!”

“Midoriya!”

Aizawa tries to cancel Izuku’s quirk, but for some reason, the fireball does not dissipate. It burns out of control, setting the rubble and nearby dummy on fire. 

“IZUKU!!!” Keigo screams helplessly.

Suddenly, the air shakes with an almighty roar, one that the winged hero recognises as that of a raptor. The fireball explodes, leaving behind a crouching figure that is literally burning with glowing white fire. It stands up, and twin flames burst from its back like a pair of wings. It then turns towards Aizawa and Keigo, giving the men their first look at what the figure looks like.

It has a humanoid body, with arms, hands and legs. It has feet that are raptor-like with sharp talons. And its head…is shaped like an eagle, with a plumage that is literal fire burning magnificently. There are no discernible features except for the shape of a beak, and glowing eyes that burn a bloody ruby.

“I-Izuku?”

“Keigo-san? Aizawa-sensei?”

The voice is deep, earthy and blazing. It does not sound anything like Izuku’s normal voice.

“What happened?”

Aizawa needs to know, “Are you the gremlin child?”

“What? Of course I am! I’m Izuku!”

“Kid…what the fuck?” Keigo splutters, “You’re a literal birb!”

“A what?”

“A birb!”

“What?”

Aizawa sighs, far too tired to deal with this protagonist bullshit, “Gremlin child, you are now a humanoid bird. Or rather, a humanoid phoenix.”

“Really?”

Izuku looks down at his hands and body.

“Huh, this is new.”

“Are you okay, Midoriya-kun?” Nezu asks.

“Fine, actually. Great, even,” Izuku replies truthfully.

Silence follows, except for the roar of Izuku’s flaming body.

“So…um…what now?”

“Do you know how to turn back into a human, Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku looks down at his hands, and clench them into fists. He thinks of his human appearance, firmly and resolutely.

There is a loud whoosh , and the white flames disappear. Izuku returns to his normal human appearance.

Both Aizawa and Keigo release the breaths they had been unconsciously holding in.

“My word, what a sudden development!” Nezu remarks, extremely obviously.

“Kiddo, next time, don’t give us heart attacks, alright?” Keigo pleads, beyond relieved that his fledgling is unharmed, “We’re too young to die of cardiac arrest.”

“To be fair, I didn’t expect that to happen,” Izuku retorts.

“None of us did,” Aizawa agrees, “My point stands, you are an overpowered anime protagonist who is halfway to becoming a god.”

Izuku blinks owlishly at the hobo.

“That may be so, Aizawa-kun, but I believe we have more pressing matters at hand,” Nezu says.

“What is it?” the hobo asks.

“Getting Midoriya-kun a fresh pair of clothes, for starters.”

Only then does everyone, Izuku included, realise that Izuku is stark naked.

The flames had incinerated his clothing away, leaving the teen in his birthday suit.

Turning into a jalapeño pepper, Izuku immediately hides his member with his hands, “A-A little help?”

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

In the end, Aizawa’s capture scarf was used to provide Izuku some dignity until he returned to the house. 

The hobo is visibly put out by the arrangement.

Once Izuku is no longer in danger of accidentally flashing anyone, Nezu has his measurements recorded down and sent off to the Support department to have fire-proof clothing made. Enhanced fabrics and materials that can withstand temperatures that would turn fire blue are used to create an entire wardrobe for Izuku, based on current trends and fashion styles.

Izuku, honestly, thought it was excessive, but Nezu simply brushed off his concern and reminded the teen that he too deserves good things in his life.

Keigo and Aizawa (although the latter will deny it to his grave) are inclined to agree.

When they are not training with Izuku, both men shower Izuku with plenty of leisure activities to give the teen as many chances as possible to enjoy his off time. Aizawa, in particular, loves to bring Izuku to cat cafés where drinks are savoured and hordes of cats climb over them like human trees.

The cats, though, seem to have a particular interest in Izuku.

Despite not producing any flames, many of the cats gravitate towards Izuku, rubbing, draping and cuddling themselves all over his body. At first, it was just a few. But on one particular visit, when Aizawa got up to use the bathroom, he returned to find Izuku on the floor, completely buried in cats. The only evidence that showed Izuku was underneath the pile of feline fur is the tuft of flame-coloured hair that stuck out from where his head is supposed to be. 

Understandably, Aizawa is both impressed and jealous beyond belief.

He wants to be smothered by cats too, dammit!

Although, what was not as hilarious was that it took Aizawa and the café staff almost thirty minutes to excavate Izuku out of the pile of uncooperative cats, who yowled and dug their claws into the teen’s clothes. Moreso, on that day, Izuku had a therapy session with Hound Dog right after, leaving the guidance counsellor with the instinctive urge to chase Izuku around campus. The session had to be cut short because Hound Dog came within inches of pouncing on Izuku and couldn’t properly sit down with the teen for the whole hour.

From then on, any visits to cat cafés are held on days when Izuku did not have sessions with Hound Dog. Additionally, Aizawa refuses to use the bathroom during such visits, just so that Izuku did not hoard all of the cats to himself.

Cats and caffeine-addicted hobo aside, Keigo’s time with Izuku are more active and adrenaline pumping.

As expected of the winged hero, leisure activities centred on flying.

Joy flights became a staple of their shared time together. Keigo and Izuku would spend hours flying all over Musutafu, experiencing the city from a bird’s eye view and zipping through buildings as if they were on an obstacle course.

Of course, joy-flying with the number three hero means plenty of interruptions from excited fans.

It is not often that a top-ranking hero is spotted in Musutafu, save for All Might. Especially since Keigo is typically stationed in Fukuoka, seeing the trademark pair of red wings is always a cause for great excitement. It is not unusual for Izuku to be on the sidelines of at least three impromptu meet-and-greet sessions between Keigo and his excited fans.

At first, Izuku was more than content for the attention to be purely centred on his winged mentor. However, some sharp-eyed fans begin to notice his repeated presence, and begin to ask Keigo some… personal questions.

Some of which are quite hilarious, in hindsight.

“Hawks-san! Is that your brother?”

“Is he your son?”

“Did you and Endeavour have a love child?!”

Crazy, really.

Keigo, in all of his laidback demeanour, simply laughs off the questions and introduces Izuku as his partner-in-flight. The fact that he does not address the questions about the familial relations, legitimate or not, does not go unnoticed by Izuku.

When questioned later, Keigo simply shrugs with a lazy grin, “Sometimes, you just want to stir up some crazy shit to keep things interesting. Life is too short to be boring, y’know?”

Again, crazy really.

That being said, these joy flights unintentionally provide Izuku a chance to perfect his quirk.

It was completely accidental.

Izuku had requested Keigo to have a flight around the coastline.

The winged hero had agreed. Sometimes, moving away from the hustle of city life and breathing in the fresh, salty air of the coast is a nice change.

What Izuku got, instead, is a throat-gagging slap to the face.

The closest coastline to U.A. is an area called Dagobah. Supposedly, there is a beach that acts as a natural park.

Supposedly.

Izuku already suspected that something is wrong when instead of a salty sea breeze, he smells rot, decay and decomposition.

Simply put, Dagobah Beach is not a beach, but an illegal dumping ground.

The entire length of the coastline is piled high up to the sky with years of refuse, discarded rubbish and decomposing organic matter. The water itself is a sickly green and brown, created by runoffs from the nearby garbage piles. 

The smell is so bad that it made Keigo vomit the first time he and Izuku came to Dagobah.

It is a crime against nature, plain and simple.

And for Izuku, as a soon-to-be hero-in-training, when there is a crime, it is his duty to see justice upheld.

Of course, short of tracking down everyone who dumped their garbage into the beach and threatening them with cremation, the way forward is to do some desperately-needed community service.

So, Izuku proposes an idea to Nezu and Aizawa. 

“You want to clear an illegal dumping ground…with your flames?”

“Yes, Principal Nezu.”

“Why?” the rodent asks, not dismissively, merely out of curiosity.

“Primary reason? Illegal. Dumping. Ground.,” Izuku replies, “Also primary reason? So that I can test the new boundaries of my flames when I am in my phoenix form.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, gremlin child?” Aizawa asks, “Your flames are white hot as a phoenix. Plus, I have seen Dagobah beach. The piles of garbage are the height of houses. You could easily get hurt or killed if you’re not careful.”

“That’s why I want you and Keigo-san to accompany me,” Izuku replies easily, “Your erasure quirk, theoretically, can prevent my flames from causing bodily harm to myself or others. Also, if I wanted to be reckless and endanger myself, I would have gone to Dagobah and started cremating everything immediately. Having competent adults will surely be sufficient of a safety consideration, right?”

Aizawa turns his gaze to Nezu, deferring to the rodent.

“I think it is a great idea! Think of it as quirk training but in an uncontrolled environment.”

“Precisely,” Izuku nods, “Plus, I don’t want to go into the heroics course not knowing what my boundaries are. By testing the power of my flames on inanimate objects, it will be a safer means to gauge where I currently stand with my power and strength levels.”

Aizawa sighs, “You make a logical argument. While I still hesitate to let you unleash your full powers, the earlier you get the hang of it, the less the chance of accidents. So, when do we start?”

They start the next day.

Keigo is called from Fukuoka, and armed with gas masks with attached air purifiers, the two heroes accompany Izuku to Dagobah beach.

The smell reaches them before they even arrive.

“Are you sure you wanna really do this, fledgling?” Keigo asks behind his mask, “This is a whole new level of rank and disgusting.”

“I’m sure, Keigo-san,” Izuku nods, “Let’s dispose of this garbage.”

They start at the edge.

“Remember, gremlin child,” Aizawa drawls, “At the first sign of trouble, I’m cancelling your quirk and getting you out of here.”

Izuku nods an affirmative, and summons his flames.

Both Keigo and Aizawa have to stop themselves from flinching and reaching for the teen, as flames completely engulf him. The fireball dissipates after a moment, revealing a glowing white humanoid phoenix with flames for wings.

“All good, kiddo?”

Izuku nods, “All good.”

Aizawa glances at his body, “At least the clothes are holding up fine.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to imagine walking back to U.A. wrapped up in your capture scarf.”

The hobo grunts.

Izuku faces the closest pile of garbage, “Alright, let’s get to this!”

He summons his flames, which are, naturally, white in colour. Izuku pools them into a large orb, and with a loud roar, he unleashes the flames as a blast straight towards the pile. The force of impact rattles the pile, and the fire quickly spreads. 

The smell of smoke quickly fills the air, as the most combustible rubbish burns first. Then, the stronger materials such as metals and discarded electronics begin to melt and break down. The smell quickly shifts from rotting decay to a metallic odour that would have burned the nostrils of those nearby. Aizawa and Keigo remain vigilant, ready to extract Izuku at the slightest indication of danger.

After about twenty of minutes of continuous burning, they watch as the pile shrinks and crumbles into itself. With a bright flash, Izuku stops the flames. What was previously a pile of rotting, rusting garbage that towered over them all has now been reduced to a small mound of smouldering carbonised ashes. 

“Well, that went well,” Izuku remarks, turning back to his mentors, “Shall we continue?”

“No, you will not,” Aizawa cuts in, “You used your quirk for twenty minutes straight without a break. You will give your body time to recover, or so help me, I will bind you up like a turkey for Thanksgiving.”

Izuku looks like he wants to protest, but Keigo also speaks up, “I agree with the hobo. This is the longest and most intense I have seen you use your quirk without a break. If you’re not careful, you could collapse from quirk exhaustion, or God forbid, slip up and cause a garbage pile to collapse onto you.”

The phoenix still looks a bit put out, so Keigo settles for a compromise, “C’mon, why not take a short break, and then we can continue a bit more? How does that sound to you?”

“...fine.”

They barely scratch the surface on the first day, which is disappointing in Izuku’s eyes. 

Still, he gets Aizawa to accompany him again on numerous occasions throughout the week, which is a plus.

Over the course of the next months, the clearing of Dagobah beach is added to Izuku’s training regimen. The teen grows stronger with each passing day, and his control over his quirk improves steadily. Izuku is able to hold his flames at white-hot level longer with consistent practice, courtesy of cremating the garbage at Dagobah.

Slowly, the garbage is cleared, and more of the beach comes into view.

It is painstaking work, and there are plenty of near-misses that give Keigo and Aizawa heart attacks, such as that one incident where a pile started to collapse as soon as Izuku started to cremate it. Keigo swooped in to yank Izuku away from the collapsing deluge of metal and rubbish, and work on cremation is, understandably, cut short that day. 

Still, with every near-miss, there is progress. With the new year, Dagobah beach begins to show signs of rejuvenation, and by the end of January, the historic moment arrives.

There is one last pile of garbage left, sticking out amidst a beach that has been restored to its former, pristine glory. Aizawa, Nezu and Keigo gather to watch Izuku finish his months-long community service. 

Being a small pile, it takes Izuku only minutes to reduce it to ashes, which are spread away by the incoming ebb of waves. As the sun rises over Dagobah, the sand sparkles with the morning light, and the calls of seagulls echo overhead. The waves wash in and out without disturbance, and all is what it is supposed to be.

Izuku returns to his human form, and Keigo pulls him into a hug from behind.

“You did great, kiddo. I’m so proud of you.”

“We all are,” Nezu affirms, “You have come a long way, Midoriya-kun. If there is anyone who is ready to shine and become the best hero that ever was, it is you.”

“Thank you Keigo-san, Principal Nezu,” Izuku smiles, “This means a lot to me.”

Aizawa huffs, hiding his own grin behind his capture scarf. He then puts on his default bored expression, “You have potential, gremlin child. Make sure you prove that to everyone when you take the entrance exam.”

That’s right, the exam is next month.

“I promise to go Plus Ultra, Aizawa-sensei.”

“I know you will.”

But for now, everyone enjoys the clean, calming sight of coastal nature at its finest. The time for adrenaline and power will come when it is due.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

“Are you ready, Midoriya-kun?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, Principal Nezu.”

The rodent smiles, “All the best. I have the greatest confidence that you will prevail.”

Izuku huffs, “We’ll find out if that confidence holds strong.”

Nezu says nothing else, and waves him off at his designated classroom.

The U.A. entrance exam is split into two components - written and practical. The written component is held in the morning, and those who are applying for the heroics programme will take the practical portion in the afternoon after lunch.

Izuku had been relentless in his study preparations for this very day. Nezu was no better, putting him through the mental wringer on a daily basis. Still, there is a small part of Izuku that is still nervous about the exam, which he supposes is completely natural, given how much is at stake here.

Ten months of gruelling physical and mental training, and whether the fruits of his labour will be harvested depends on his overall performance. And even though he received glowing words of encouragement from Nezu and Keigo (and a more muted version from Aizawa), there is the underlying anxiety of letting everyone down, after everything they have done for him as mentors and pseudo-family members.

The last thing he wants is to drive the three people who have supported him from his resurrection away.

Izuku takes a deep breath, and enters the classroom. He goes to his assigned desk, and sits down. 

There are only three other candidates in the room thus far, which is expected since he is rather early and the written exam is not due to start for another half hour. There are a total of twenty desks in the room. Gradually, more candidates file into the room and take their places.

At exactly 10am in the morning, the invigilator arrives.

Oh god, Izuku internally fanboys, it’s the pro-hero Snipe!

It takes all of his physical efforts to not spring out of his seat and ask the masked gunslinger for an autograph. The urge to go on tangents about Snipe’s quirk is almost unbearable.

Focus, Izuku! Focus!

“Alright, young sprouts,” Snipe’s distinctive Texan accent channels across the room, “I’m about to distribute your packets. Make sure to not open them until I say so.”

Five minutes is what it takes for every candidate to receive their packets, each holding a question booklet and five sheets of writing paper.”

“If you need more paper, raise your hand and I will come to you. Otherwise, you have two hours. Your time starts now .”

Izuku opens his booklet.

The questions are…laughably easy.

Not joking.

Izuku finished the entire paper in 45 minutes, which gave him plenty of time to check his answers not once, but five times. He would have checked again, but after he starts to feel the first vestiges of insanity after his fifth check, Izuku decides that it is good enough for submission.

Candidates are allowed to submit their packet and leave the room if they finish early. So, Izuku tries to stand up as quietly as possible to not attract attention from the other candidates and head over to Snipe to submit his packet.

His chair squeaks the tiniest bit.

And twenty pairs of eyes turn to him.

Shit.

Well, there goes being discreet.

Izuku quickly strides over to Snipe, and hands him his packet.

“All done, sprout?”

Izuku nods.

Snipe takes his packet without a further word. Izuku quickly leaves the room, still feeling the stare of nineteen pairs of eyes until he closes the door behind him.

Out in the empty hallway, Izuku kneels down, and internally screams, because he is considerate and he doesn’t want to disturb the other candidates. 

After he has used up all of his internal mortification, Izuku hops back up and makes his way down to the cafeteria for an early lunch. 

Naturally, the cafeteria is empty when Izuku arrives. He chooses his lunch and goes to the counter to collect it. Lunch Rush appears after a moment with his food.

“Midoriya-kun! I didn’t expect to see you so early!”

“I finished early,” Izuku chuckles, rubbing the back of his head, “The written exam was…surprisingly easy.”

“Really? But then again, it should be easy for you, especially since you have been tutored by Principal Nezu for the past ten months,” Lunch Rush remarks.

“Yeah, but it feels… too easy, you know? What if I jinxed myself?”

“Hey, if you say that you jinxed yourself, then I could say the same for myself each time I cook,” Lunch Rush gives Izuku his equivalent of a pointed look, “Even among experts of one’s quirk, there is always that question if today is the day that you will royally screw up. You know my quirk is chemical manipulation. What if I was not paying attention one day and accidentally poisoned all of U.A.’s food supply?”

Highly unlikely, Izuku thinks.

“My point is, Midoriya-kun, don’t let the nerves weigh you down. Plus, you’re applying for the heroics programme, right?” Izuku nods, “There will be greater emphasis on the practical component, I believe. And from what little I know about your abilities, you already have it in the bag. So enjoy your lunch, okay?”

The steaming hot bowl of katsudon beckons him.

“Alright.”

Thanking Lunch Rush for the food, Izuku goes to a random table and sits down. He is about to start eating when someone slams their tray down across from him.

“Good morning! May I sit with you?!”

Admittedly, Izuku does jump into the air. But what can he expect to do when someone literally slammed their tray down across from him and spoke with such a booming, loud voice?

Once the shock has worn off, Izuku looks up at the culprit.

…

God, he is huge !

He is easily 190 centimetres in height, perhaps a bit more, and built like a fortified tank. He has a buzz cut, and a bright, passionate smile that radiates joy and pulsating energy. 

Good heavens, what has his parents been feeding him?

But perhaps, more importantly…

“Um…there are plenty of other tables available?”

It is true, there is literally no one else in the cafeteria except for Izuku and this towering hunk.

“I know!” the teen booms again, “But I never liked to eat alone! I always eat with other people! It is more fun that way! It does not feel lonely when I eat with others!”

He could have done without the booming voice, quite inappropriate for an indoor setting. But Izuku picks up on something crucial.

‘He doesn’t want to be alone.’

Izuku thinks back to the times he had eaten alone because he has no friends due to his dormant quirk factor (and Bakugou spearheading the campaign of abuse and torment). He remembered the loneliness of being the sole outcast amidst a sea of friends laughing and chatting with one another, because nobody wanted to be friends with the quirkless Deku. 

He sees the potential to cast the shadow of loneliness upon an innocent soul who has done nothing wrong against him, like so many others have already done to him.

Izuku knows what he has to do.

“Sure!”

The teen literally beams , and Izuku has to turn away slightly from the light radiating from the joyful smile.

“Thank you very much!”

The teen takes the seat across from him.

“My name is Yoarashi Inasa! What is yours?!”

“Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you, Yoarashi-kun.”

“Likewise!” Inasa booms, “I can tell we’re going to be the best of friends!”

Wow, forward much?

Not to mention, they have only known each for less than ten seconds, and Inasa is already declaring him as his best friend?

…

Not that Izuku is against the idea.

“I mean, if you want to be friends?”

“Of course!” Inasa booms, “Friends are the best thing ever! Can I have your phone number?”

Numbers are exchanged. Just like that, Izuku has made his first friend.

And he hasn’t even been accepted into U.A. yet!

“You’re here for the heroics entrance exam, right?” Izuku asks.

“That’s right!” Inasa declares. Somebody needs to tell him about lowering his volume down to an indoor setting, “Being a hero has always been my dream!”

Common ground, it seems.

“How did you find the written exam?”

“Very easy!” Inasa booms, “I ripped through that paper like it was nothing! It must have been the same for you, though! You’re the only one here!”

Huh, the common ground has expanded a little.

“I mean, I checked though five times to make sure there were no careless mistakes and such, but I can’t help but wonder if I botched it, somehow?” Izuku scratches his cheek.

“Nonsense!” Inasa exclaims, “If you got here before me, that means you are hella smart! The U.A. entrance examination is nothing to sniff at, you know?! I am confident that you will ace it with no problem!”

Ah.

Inasa, unknowingly, has become the second person today to express confidence in Izuku’s intelligence. Even though they have only just met, Inasa is already giving him his word of validation.

God, he must be either incredibly optimistic, or stupendously naïve.

“What about yourself?” Izuku asks.

“For sure! I studied like nobody’s business for months! Pulled all-nighters and drank my special concoction to keep me going throughout the hours!”

“And what is that concoction?”

“Oh, nothing much! Just ten shots of espresso mixed with five Red Bulls and a small bottle of caffeine pills!”

Izuku gapes at Inasa.

“How are you still alive?”

“I don’t know!” Inasa shrugs, “Maybe it is my boundless energy!”

Well, at least he is self-aware.

Then, Inasa changes the subject so quickly that Izuku almost had a whiplash, “Anyways! Midoriya-kun, I think we should work together during the practical! Since you are very smart to finish the written examination first, you must have some strategies or tactics that will help you plough through the practical, am I right?!”

Suddenly put in the spot, Izuku stammers, “U-Um, I don’t really know what the practical exam will entail? B-But I would love to work together with you!”

“Great!” Inasa booms, “With the two of us working together, we will be unstoppable! What is your quirk?”

“It’s…quite complicated?” Izuku replies, “Why don’t you tell me what is yours first?”

“I would be honoured!” Inasa shouts, “My quirk is Whirlwind! I can control wind currents and use them for all manner of long ranged attacks and propulsion!”

“That’s so cool!” Izuku gushes, which makes Inasa burst with pride, “As for my quirk, it’s called Phoenix.”

“Phoenix?”

“When I first got my quirk, I could manifest wings on my back, similar to Kei - I mean, the number three hero, Hawks. When I manifest my wings, my hair turns into fire as a side effect. Later on, I unlocked the ability of pyrokinesis, and at my greatest strength, I can transform into a humanoid phoenix.”

Inasa stares dumbly at Izuku for a long, awkward moment.

“That…is…”

Suddenly, Izuku finds his hands being grabbed.

“...SO COOL!!!!”

Quite frankly, Izuku is amazed that he hasn’t gone deaf by now.

“You are so amazing!” Inasa gushes, “Your quirk is versatile as hell! Oh god, I can see you doing so well during the practical exam! I’m so glad that I will be working with you!”

“Hey, don’t cut yourself short. Whirlwind sounds really powerful too! Can you create tornadoes or gales with your quirk?”

Inasa lights up, and goes on a rambling speech about his exploits with his quirk since childhood. This prompts Izuku to go into detail about the quirk training he had over the past ten months. 

Both get completely lost in their conversation, as the cafeteria fills up with more candidates.

“By the way, Midoriya-kun, I want to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you want to become a hero?”

Izuku takes a moment to think, “I just want a better society. Heroes are supposed to be upholders of justice and peace. They protect the innocent and stop evil from destroying society. I want to be a hero so that I can help others and make society a better place to live in.”

Inasa is once again rendered silent. 

Izuku is beginning to wonder if he said something wrong when tears begin to trickle down Inasa’s cheeks, “Y-Yoarashi-kun?!”

“Y-You…are…s-so…HOT-BLOODED!!!”

Eh?

First the unexpected tears, and then this…?

“What do you mean by that?”

Inasa furiously wipes the tears from his eyes, even as people stare at him for being so loud, “Every hero should be passionate about what they do! They need to be warm, sociable and kind-hearted to the people they serve! Heroes like All Might are my inspiration!” Inasa does not notice Izuku’s smile become a little fixed at the mention of the Symbol of Peace, “They embody what true heroism is supposed to be!”

“Ah, I see.”

Inasa gives Izuku a determined look, “Midoriya-kun! Let’s do our very best! Let’s become the most hot-blooded heroes ever!”

This gives him a good reason to smile genuinely, “Mm, let’s do it.”

“Hey Hey HEYYYYYY!!!!!!!” Present Mic slides onto the stage with as much subtlety as a screaming cockatiel, “Welcome to the briefing for the U.A. practical exam! Can I get a loud ‘YEAH’?!”

“YEAH!” Inasa screams.

He is the only one.

Izuku glances around. Nobody else answers the voice hero’s call.

He rolls his eyes, disappointed in his fellow candidates.

Izuku stands up and shouts, “Whoo!”

“Tough crowd, aren’t you all?” Present Mic chuckles, “But to candidates 157 and 345, thank you both! You two are great cookies, and I appreciate your enthusiasm!”

Izuku sits back down, ignoring the looks he is getting from the rest of the hall. Inasa beams at him and flashes a thumbs-up.

“Let’s get this show rolling!” Present Mic continues, as a screen descends behind him, “All of you are potential heroes in the making, and what do heroes do?” He produces a clicker, and the screen turns on, “Heroes take down villains, of course! And in this practical assessment, you will be facing off against four types of villains, specifically robots!”

The silhouettes of the four robots appear on the screen.

“Each robot carries a different number of points, from 1 to 3,” Present Mic explains, “You are to take out as many robots as possible within a time frame, and the higher your points, the greater the chance of you being accepted into U.A.! Of course, I won’t disclose how much time you have. It certainly raises the stakes, no?”

Izuku mumbles under his breath, trying to estimate how many points he and Inasa need to be accepted.

“EXCUSE ME!”

Izuku is jolted out of his mumbling by a loud voice that is, actually, not from Inasa.

Several rows behind, a bespectacled candidate stands up.

“You did not divulge the number of points for the fourth robot! How is this supposed to represent the top standard of deliverance U.A. is known for? And you, the one with the red hair!” the candidate chops a hand at Izuku, “I can hear your muttering from here! You are being a disruption to those who are trying to pay attention! If you are being a nuisance, you don’t belong here!”

Izuku feels the fire rise in him. How dare this rich, pretentious snob?!

Before he can give this bastard a violent roasting, though, Inasa jumps to his feet.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” his booming voice explodes across the hall, “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL OUT MY FRIEND IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE HALL! AND YOU JUST INTERRUPTED PRESENT MIC DURING HIS SPEECH! IF ANYTHING, YOU ARE THE DISRUPTIVE NUISANCE WHO DOES NOT BELONG HERE!”

The bespectacled candidate splutters, not expecting someone to shout back at him.

“Now, now, no need to shout, listeners!” Present Mic intervenes, “We are not here to tear at each other’s throats. Candidate 157, please sit down. And to candidate 298, I was indeed about to get into the fourth robot, so please sit down too.”

Properly chastised and mortified, the bespectacled snob bows deeply and sits down. Inasa does the same too, his expression fierce with simmering rage. Izuku pats his hand as a gesture of thanks.

“The fourth robot is what we call the zero-pointer,” Present Mic continues, and the image comes into view on the screen, “Basically, there is no reason for you to take on this robot! If you do see one heading your way, that is your cue to run for the hills! Does anyone have any questions?”

The voice hero lets the silence stretch for a bit, before clapping his hands together, “If there are no questions, we have come to the end of the briefing! Please head to your respective changing rooms and be at the bus bays by 3pm! Good luck out there, and break a leg!”

“I can’t believe that guy!” Inasa huffs on the bus ride to the assessment grounds, “You weren’t even being that loud to begin with! He was much louder, and not to mention rude!”

“Yoarashi-kun,” Izuku replies, “Don’t worry, you completely out-volumed him.”

“I just hope that we are not in the same grounds as he is,” Inasa growls.

“If we are, can you promise me to not do anything to him?”

“...fine. But if he dares come after you again, I will blast him off with a hurricane!”

The bus comes to a halt. The candidates alight, and gather before a towering set of gates.

“Hey, Yoarashi-kun, you said that you use wind currents to propel yourself around, right?”

“That’s right! You have a plan?”

“I intend to fly around and scope out the robots,” Izuku replies, “I just wanted to check if you are able to keep up.”

“Most certainly!” Inasa flashes a thumbs-up, “My wind currents are strong enough to easily pick me up and send me flying too!”

“That’s great,” Izuku nods, “Although, a word of caution. When I use my flames, I need you to not get too close. High temperatures are known to push air currents away. I don’t want to accidentally cause you to lose control of your quirk, especially in mid-air.”

“You got it, Midoriya-kun! I will be careful!”

Izuku nods. At that moment, the gates rumble, and begin to open, revealing a massive fake city within.

“START!”

Izuku unfurls his wings, and Inasa draws wind currents towards him. Together, they take flight and propel into the city, leaving the other candidates standing around like fools.

“WHAT ARE YOU LOT DOING?! THERE IS NO COUNTDOWN IN REAL LIFE! GO AFTER THE FLAMING CHICKEN AND HURRICANE MASTER BEFORE THEY STEAL ALL THE POINTS!”

Already claiming a massive lead over their competitors, Izuku and Inasa very quickly encounter their first robots. A swarm of one-pointers shoot out from in between two skyscrapers and hone in towards them.

“Ready, Yoarashi-kun?!”

“Let’s do this!”

Together, they unleash a barrage of fire and wind at the robots. The intense heat incinerates the robots’ circuitry, and the gale-force winds blow the rest away into buildings and down into the street below.

In one fell swoop, they decimate ten of these robots without breaking a sweat.

“Nice one, Midoriya-kun!”

“Not bad yourself!”

They share a fist-bump.

“C’mon! Let’s keep looking!” Izuku calls over the wind.

Right on cue, an army of three-point robots, lined up in four lines, rumble down the street.

“You take half?” Inasa nods.

“Sure!”

They come to a land before the robots. Inasa unleashes a hurricane against the two right-side lines of robots, while Izuku lets loose a surge of fire towards the left-side lines. The superhuman force of wind and fire blast through the robots, incinerating them into charcoal and blowing the rest away into the distance.

“Boo yeah!” Inasa pumps a fist into the air, “Now we’re talking!”

“How many points was that?” Izuku asks.

“I do not know, and I do not care!” Inasa laughs, “Let’s just have fun!”

And that they do.

“Quite a diverse bunch of candidates this year!” Nezu remarks, “This should be interesting!”

Up in a watchtower, the entire staff of U.A. (sans Present Mic, who is perched on the top of the tower) sit in a room with dozens of screens recording the happenings in all of the testing grounds.

This is completely routine for the gathered staff. They would watch all of the candidates going all out to gather as many points as possible for themselves, while noting any unique or remarkable outliers who garner special attention with their skills or prowess.

As it is, while the rest of the staff watch the screens, Aizawa and Nezu are focused on one particular testing ground.

“It seems that Midoriya-kun is teaming up with someone! Do you know who it is, Aizawa-kun?”

“Yoarashi Inasa, quirk: Whirlwind. Apparently caused a scene during the briefing earlier with another candidate.”

“Oh?”

“From what ‘Zashi told me, someone called the gremlin child out for muttering too loudly. Yoarashi took offence to that and smacked them down verbally.”

“Interesting! So Midoriya-kun has his first ally,” Nezu rubs his paws, “I can’t wait to see how they will tackle the exam together!”

Aizawa turns to the screen, just as Izuku and Inasa decimate a bunch of two-pointers. He sighs, reaching down for a hidden vodka bottle.

Of course, this is the U.A. entrance exam, and something is bound to happen that throws things off the rails.

Izuku has just kicked away a one-pointer when he spots someone below. 

They have gravity-defying purple hair, and eyebags so severe that they are certainly not healthy. Armed with what appears to be a stop sign, the candidate is unaware that a three-pointer is sneaking up on them.

Izuku immediately swoops down, “Watch out!”

The candidate spins around at the sound of his voice. The robot turns towards Izuku, and the winged teen is the last thing it ever registers. A blast of fire renders it useless.

Izuku touches down and rushes to the candidate, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Staring back with wide, yet tired eyes, the candidate shakes their head, “I-I’m fine.”

“You need to be careful, it would be dreadful if you got hurt,” Izuku tells them.

He is about to take off again when the candidate grabs his arm, “Wait! Can…can you help me?”

“Huh?”

“Your quirk…is very powerful. Can you help me get some points?”

“What’s wrong?” Izuku asks, “Is your quirk not effective against robots?”

The candidate shakes his head.

“I see,” Izuku nods, “Sure, I’m more than happy to help.”

A look of relief flashes across their face, “Thank you.”

“You’re most welcome -”

Suddenly, everything goes grey and hazy. Izuku loses control of his body, as if he has dissociated on the spot.

“ Help me get some points ,” the candidate orders.

Izuku robotically grabs them and takes off into the sky once more.

“Oh ho? What’s this?” Nezu’s curiosity is piqued, “It seems that Midoriya-kun is under the effect of a quirk!”

Aizawa zooms in on the screen, “Shinsou Hitoshi, quirk: brainwashing. Honestly, he has a good strategy. His quirk is useless against robots. As such, he needs someone else to help him gain points.” He turns to Nezu, “This is why we need to overhaul the practical component. Quirks like these fall through the cracks because they are not combat oriented.”

Nezu sighs, “I fully hear you, Aizawa-kun. Unfortunately, the school board and the commission keep blocking my attempts to have the practical exam changed. A failure of this society and its obsession with flashy quirks.”

Aizawa is very much inclined to agree, but moving on, “What is Yoarashi doing?”

Nezu turns back to the screen, “Interesting…”

“Shit, where did he go?” Inasa wonders, as he punches through a one-pointer.

He had turned away for one second, and Izuku was suddenly gone.

Inasa has no idea how they got separated, but as much as he wants to look for his teammate, he has an exam to pass. 

He just hopes that Izuku continues to gain enough points to pass too.

A two-pointer comes towards him, so he blasts it away with his wind currents. It smashes into a building, causing it to partially collapse. 

As the rubble falls, Inasa baulks. There is a person, unaware that the rubble is falling towards them!

“Shit! Watch out!”

He sends a wind current to pick the candidate up and pull them towards him. Barely a second later, the rubble crashes onto the spot where they had just been standing.

“Are you alright?!” Inasa frets.

Caught off-guard by the sudden events, the candidate in question, who has short blond hair and periwinkle blue eyes, stares back at him, stupefied from being yanked away from certain injury.

“I. am. so. sorry!” Inasa sets them down and bows deeply, almost hitting his head on the tarmac, “I did not mean to startle you!”

The candidate finds his voice after a moment, “T-Thank you.”

Inasa straightens up, “Is there anything I can do to earn your forgiveness?!”

The blonde blinks, before growing thoughtful for a moment, “What is your quirk?”

“I can manipulate wind currents!”

They think for a moment, before nodding, “Let me copy your quirk.”

“Oh no, there’s two of them now.”

“Hm? What is it, Aizawa-kun?”

“Monoma Neito, quirk: copy, it basically allows him to copy any quirk in existence, so long as he touches them and for a time limit of five minutes,” Aizawa explains.

“Interesting!” Nezu exclaims, “Is Monoma-kun’s quirk able to copy the full power of other quirks?”

“According to his records, he is able to copy quirks at the base level, at the very least. It is unknown if he can copy quirks to their fullest power.”

“Good to know!” Nezu nods, “So the original pair has split up, and teamed up with two underdogs! Oh how things have shifted!”

Aizawa simply takes another swig of his vodka bottle.

This is the longest Hitoshi has ever put someone under his brainwashing. 

Which is an easy statement to make, since this is the first time someone has willingly gone under the control of his quirk since his parents back when he was four years old. Every time he uses his quirk on someone, his victims always go under unwillingly, but it is better than to be beaten into a pulp for simply existing with a so-called “villainous” quirk.

He dreads to think of how this winged redhead will react once he is released, but that is for future Hitoshi to worry about. Right now, he focuses on getting as many points as possible.

Hitoshi counts the point(s) of every robot he has the redhead destroy. By the time he feels the strain on his brain reach an intolerable level, he has amassed 57 points, which should be enough for the heroics course.

“ Land now ,” he orders.

They reach the ground, and Hitoshi releases his quirk from the redhead. He gasps, and Hitoshi slides from his grasp.

Now, the backlash.

“That is so cool!”

What.

Hitoshi blinks owlishly as the redhead grasps his hands, emerald eyes sparkling with awe, “Your quirk has so much potential! You will be so valuable in stealth or espionage missions! Oh! Maybe even in underground heroics, slinking through the shadows and ensnaring targets to get information out of them! God, this opens so many possibilities!”

Hitoshi is left speechless. This is the first time he has encountered such a reaction. What in the world is he supposed to do in this scenario?!

“Ah! There you are!”

In Inasa’s point of view, working alongside Neito to gather points is quite a different experience than with Izuku.

Neito is loud, for one, a different form of energy than with the calmer Izuku. There is a feeling of showmanship that the blonde has honed over the years and clearly excels at. But he is just as hot-blooded as Izuku, wanting to be a hero so that those with weaker or more reliant quirks can have someone to look up to. 

If Neito also makes it into the heroics programme, Inasa thinks the blonde will get along quite well with him and Izuku.

And speaking of Izuku…

During his time with Neito, Inasa had divided his attention between destroying robots and looking for his missing winged friend. Occasionally, his search for Izuku is interrupted when he uses his wind currents to whisk other candidates away from danger, but Inasa always jumps back into looking for a familiar pair of flaming wings and a head of fire.

Finally, he spots Izuku, down on the street with a teen with purple hair.

“Ah! There you are!”

Izuku and the purple-haired teen turn around as Inasa and Neito land before them.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Inasa cries, “Where did you go?”

“Sorry, Yoarashi-kun, he needed help,” Izuku gestures to the other teen. He then notices Neito, “Who is this?”

“Someone who I saved from falling debris!” Inasa booms, “I helped him too by letting him copy my quirk!”

“A copy quirk?” Izuku grows excited, “Oh my god, that is so cool!” He is suddenly in Neito’s face, “How does it work? Are you able to copy any quirk in existence? How long are you able to keep each copy of the quirk? What are the - ?”

Inasa laughs, and drags Izuku away from the startled blonde, “Come now, don’t scare him, Midoriya-kun! Also, you need to tell me where you were all this while!”

Meanwhile, Neito is approached by the purple-haired teen.

“He got you too, huh?”

Neito blinks, “Who are you?”

“Shinsou Hitoshi. Do you like cats?”

Neito blinks again, “What - ?”

“YOUR FINAL MINUTE, LISTENERS!”

Suddenly, the entire city rumbles, as if an earthquake is rolling through.

And the screams promptly begin.

“This is excessive.”

“But incredibly necessary, Aizawa-kun!”

“Yes, because unleashing the largest robot ever made in human history on a bunch of candidates is completely necessary.”

“Keep working on your sarcasm, Aizawa-kun. You will get there eventually!”

A sigh, before another swig of the vodka bottle.

It takes a moment for Izuku to realise why everyone is screaming.

A zero-point robot, towering over the buildings and as wide as the street itself, is rumbling straight towards them. It knocks into buildings, sending cascades of rubble onto the street, and crushes anything that got in its way.

Izuku feels someone grab his arm.

“Midoriya-kun! We need to go!” Inasa yells.

He turns to Hitoshi and the blonde, “Let’s get out of here!”

All four turn to run in the opposite direction, when an unfamiliar voice calls out amidst the din.

“Help! Someone, help!”

Izuku looks back.

There is a girl, with brown hair cut into a short bob. She is lying prone on the street, her foot trapped underneath several pieces of broken concrete. 

And just metres behind her, the zero-point robot rumbles forward, heading straight towards her.

Shit!

Izuku tears his hand out of Inasa’s grasp, and runs towards the girl.

“Help!”

“Don’t worry! I’m here!” Izuku calls to her.

He immediately tries to haul the concrete off her foot, but the pieces are too heavy.

“Yoarashi-kun! I need your help! Now!”

Inasa heeds his call, and runs towards him. Hitoshi and the blonde glance at one another, and quickly follow suit.

“Yoarashi-kun, help me get the concrete off!”

“Right!”

Together, they lift and haul the rubble away, until they are able to free the girl’s foot. 

“Can you stand up?” Izuku asks.

The girl tries, but she suddenly cries in pain, “My ankle, I think it’s sprained!”

Izuku turns to the blonde, “What’s your name?”

“Monoma!”

“Monoma-kun, I need you and Shinsou-kun to get her out of here!” Izuku orders, “Quick, help her up!”

Neito and Hitoshi quickly help the girl to her feet, supporting one arm on each of their shoulders. They immediately flee in the opposite direction. Izuku and Inasa follow suit, but the rumbling of the advancing zero-point robot stops them in their tracks.

The robot shows no sign of stopping, continuing its menacing advance towards the fleeing candidates.

“We’ve got to stop this thing!” Izuku yells over the din, “If not, it will crush us all!”

“How?!” Inasa yells back, “I don’t think my hurricane is able to stop it!”

“We have to try!” Izuku says, “Yoarashi-kun, summon your strongest wind currents!”

“What are you going to do?!”

Izuku responds by taking off his quirk suppressors, and letting his fire consume him whole. Inasa screams, but quickly stops when the flames dissipate, revealing Izuku in his phoenix form.

“Yoarashi-kun, your hurricane!”

Inasa nods, and the wind above him coalesces into a vicious hurricane. Izuku raises his hand, and unleashes white-hot flames that are immediately whipped up by the wind, turning the vortex into a flaming tornado. The roar of the wind and fire stops the fleeing candidates, including Hitoshi and Neito, in their tracks. All eyes turn to the massive spinning vortex of fire that scorches the air above Izuku and Inasa.

The zero-point robot rumbles closer, and Izuku mentally counts down.

“NOW!”

Together, they unleash the flaming vortex at the robot, and it hits dead-on. The hellish temperature and velocity of the spinning air stops the robot in its tracks, instantly incinerating the circuitry and causing the internal systems to overload with explosive results. 

The entire city lurches from a massive explosion of terrifying magnitude. Metal is blown apart and sent flying in all directions as shrapnel. The shockwave races through the city, tearing through buildings and causing untold destruction as entire city blocks are levelled. Izuku and Inasa make a run for it, as the shockwave throws them forward and knocks those standing around to the ground. Hitoshi and Neito shield the girl from the worst of the shockwave, as dust and smoke are kicked up and blanket the immediate vicinity.

It takes a long while for everything to go silent. The dust and smoke settle down, and people start to pick themselves up.

Izuku finds himself being shielded by Inasa’s larger body. His flames have disappeared, and he is back in his human form. 

Inasa coughs, “Are you alright?”

Izuku is surprised that Inasa is capable of a normal volume, but he nods, “I’m fine.”

“AND TIME’S UP! THAT IS ALL, LISTENERS!”

Up in the watchtower, the entire staff stares at the screen that is focused on the testing grounds Izuku is in with stupefied awe.

All is silent, save for the sound of a second vodka bottle being opened and chugged down by an exasperated hobo who is completely done with the overpowered anime protagonist that is the gremlin child.

Finally, Snipe breaks the silence, “What in the ever-fuckin’ tarnation?!”

Nezu snorts, then giggles, before breaking out into maniacal laughter.

Everyone else is still too struck dumb to cower from how deranged the rodent has become.

Back on the ground, Inasa lets go of Izuku.

He turns back to where the zero-point robot once stood, and all he sees is a blackened crater with collapsed ruins surrounding it.

“Holy shit…”

Izuku sees the destruction for himself, before turning to Inasa. The taller teen returns the gaze, and all is silent for a hot moment.

“YEEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Those nearby jump from the unexpected hollers. Izuku and Inasa chest-bump each other, before the latter grabs the smaller teen and spins him around.

“That is motherfucking awesome !!!” Inasa booms, “I can’t believe we just did that!”

“That was insane!” Izuku shouts, “I knew my flames are powerful, but holy fuck, with your wind, they are so fucking OP!”

“We are unstoppable!” Inasa laughs, “We are the ultimate duo!”

Izuku laughs too, but quickly cuts off when blood begins streaming down Inasa’s face.

“Shit! Yoarashi-kun, you’re bleeding!”

“Eh?” the wind master reaches to his head, and his fingers come away bloody, “Oh! Don’t worry about it, Midoriya-kun! Tis’ nothing but a scratch!”

“It is most definitely not a scratch!” Izuku retorts back, his voice suddenly cracking, “You’re hurt! I - !”

Then, out of nowhere, tears begin spilling from his eyes, and Inasa, understandably, panics.

“Wait! Don’t cry, Midoriya-kun! I’m not hurt that much! Seriously, don’t cry!”

Izuku tries to respond that he is not upset, that he has no idea why he is crying. Then, some of his tears drip onto the cut where the blood is spilling from. To his amazement, the cut shrinks and seals itself completely.

“H-Holy shit…”

“Midoriya-kun, what is it?!”

Izuku tries to speak over the lump in his throat, “M-My tears…t-they can heal injuries! I just healed y-your cut!”

Inasa gapes at him, his hand reaching up to feel where the cut previously was. Instead, he feels smooth skin and the stubble of his buzz cut. 

“HOLY FUCK!” Inasa booms, “You really are a phoenix!” He spins Izuku around again, “You are so OP! Pyrokinesis, flight, transformation and now healing powers ?! Dude, what else can you do?!”

Izuku is too busy being overwhelmed by this new development. As those watching stare in disbelief, a certain elderly heroine makes her appearance.

“Well done everyone, you all did well.”

Shūzenji Chiyo, better known as Recovery Girl, blinks in surprise at the celebrating Inasa and blue-screening Izuku. Her curiosity piqued, she heads over to the wind master and taps his leg.

“Excuse me, is something the matter?”

Inasa looks down, and beams, “Recovery Girl! Oh thank goodness you are here! You need to hear this!”

“What is it, sonny?”

“My friend has healing powers!” Inasa shouts, “His tears can heal injuries! He just healed the cut on my forehead!”

Now she is interested.

“Really, can you show me?”

Inasa puts Izuku down, and someone immediately volunteers themselves.

“Monsieur, can you help with my stomach? My quirk causes me to suffer stomach cramps if I overuse it.”

Recovery Girl replies, “Lie down, sonny, and lift up your shirt.”

The blonde candidate does just that. Izuku sees how red the area over his abdomen is, and immediately the waterworks resume. Izuku sniffles and hiccups, as tears spill from his eyes and splash onto the inflamed stomach. The redness begins to fade, and the blonde sighs in relief.

“Mon dieu, c'est incroyable! It doesn’t hurt anymore!”

This triggers a chain reaction where more candidates rush up to Izuku, requesting to have their injuries treated. Almost immediately, arguments break out with candidates demanding that they should be treated first because their injuries are more serious. 

Definitely not because Izuku still has his wings out and he looks like an angel tending to the wounds of the innocent.

Seeing as she is no longer needed, Recovery Girl huffs and heads back to the gates.

Perhaps she should send a request to Nezu to let her take the boy under her wing.

The world could do with another healer, after all.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

[U.A. Entrance Exam Survivors]

Flaming Angel: checking in. how is everyone today?

Wind Maestro: PRETTY COOL, MIDORIYA-KUN!

sleepy cat: ur caps r on

Copycat™: I think that is deliberate

Wind Maestro: IT IS NOT! MY PHONE IS ACTING BUGGY! I CAN’T TURN IT OFF!

Defying Gravity ~: get a new one?

Wind Maestro: WHY? OTHER THAN THAT, MY PHONE WORKS FINE!

Flaming Angel: eh, I think it’s okay

Wind Maestro: SEE?! MIDORIYA-KUN SAYS IT’S OKAY!

sleepy cat: ok bottom

Wind Maestro: *GASP* DID YOU JUST ASSUME I AM A BOTTOM?!

Copycat™: I’m surprised you know what a bottom is

Wind Maestro: I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM VERY GAY AND A TOP!!!

Wind Maestro: I WANT SOMEONE TO BE MY LITTLE SPOON!

Flaming Angel: this conversation went off the rails extremely quickly

Defying Gravity ~: nah, this is fun

Izuku has to agree with Ochako, this is fun.

Copycat™: In other news, it has been two weeks

Copycat™: When will we know our results?

sleepy cat: hell if i know man

Defying Gravity: i’m really nervous! what if I failed?!

Wind Maestro: URARAKA-CHAN! YOU WILL DEFINITELY NOT FAIL! 

Defying Gravity: how do you know?!

Flaming Angel: considering that your quirk is incredibly powerful and strong, the chance of you failing, Uraraka-san, is extremely minimal

Flaming Angel (replying to Copycat™): and for the record, the results will reach your homes in 1 hour and 16 minutes

sleepy cat: that is hella specific

Copycat™: How do you know that???

Flaming Angel: i have my sources

Defying Gravity ~: there you go being all ominous again

sleepy cat: angel does not accurately describe you anymore

Copycat™ changed Flaming Angel’s name to Flaming Demon

Flaming Demon: …

Flaming Demon: i just showed this to my guardian

Flaming Demon: and I kid you not, he is cackling so hard that he is spilling his tea everywhere

Copycat™: Who is your guardian?

Defying Gravity ~: you don’t live with your parents?

Flaming Demon: my egg and sperm donors failed their fundamental responsibilities

Flaming Demon: egg is in the slammer, and sperm is somewhere, out there

Defying Gravity ~: damn, I’m sorry I asked

Flaming Demon: no worries, i don’t care about them anymore

Copycat™: You still did not answer my question

Flaming Demon: do you really want to know?

Flaming Demon: if you do, you will have to swear an oath to not tell anyone outside of this chat

sleepy cat: damn, u really r a demon

Wind Maestro: OUT OF CURIOSITY, WHAT HAPPENS IF WE BREAK THE OATH?

Flaming Demon: i will cremate you to ashes

Copycat™: …

sleepy cat: …

Defying Gravity ~: …

Wind Maestro: …

Flaming Demon: i’m just joking

Flaming Demon: or am I?

Copycat™: …I will swear it

sleepy cat: damn bro, ur just going to sign ur soul away like that?

Copycat™: Curiosity already killed me

Wind Maestro: BUT SATISFACTION WILL BRING YOU BACK!

Copycat™: Thank you, Yoarashi

Flaming Demon: my guardian is Principal Nezu

Copycat™: …

sleepy cat: …

Defying Gravity ~: …

Wind Maestro: …

<Several people are typing….>

Now it is Izuku’s turn to cackle.

“What has gotten you so maniacal?” Nezu asks as he cleans up the spilled tea.

“I just told my friends that you are my guardian,” Izuku replies.

Nezu chuckles, “I see, and noticing that your phone is break-dancing across the table, I take it that your friends are freaking out?”

“Clearly so,” Izuku grins, as he stops his phone from jumping off the table.

sleepy cat: MIDORIYA IZUKU, YOU LITTLE SHIT! ANSWER US, GOD DAMNIT!

Copycat™: STOP BLUE-TICKING US! WE KNOW YOU ARE STILL HERE!

Defying Gravity ~: You don’t get to drop this fucking bombshell on us and fucking disappear!

Wind Maestro: SPILL THE TEA, BRO! SPILL. IT. NOW!

Flaming Demon: alright, alright, calm yo badonkers

Flaming Demon: do you guys want the summarised version, or the whole story?

Defying Gravity ~: whole!

sleepy cat: whole!

Wind Maestro: WHOLE!

Copycat™: Spare us no detail!

Flaming Demon: gather around children, and buckle your seatbelts

Flaming Demon: this is about to get wild

Izuku goes into great detail about how he came to live with Nezu in the U.A. campus. He tries to not mention about his suicide, but after his friends request for the details, despite his warning, Izuku relents and explains that after All Might destroyed his dreams and left him on that rooftop, he decided to take his life. 

The chat promptly blows up with infernal screaming, curses at All Might and dragging the Symbol of Peace through the metaphorical mud. It takes a while for Izuku to get everyone to calm down so that he can proceed with the story. He talks about how Keigo tried to save him but ultimately failed, his sudden resurrection, and waking up in the hospital. The chat freaks out about his relationship with the number three hero, even more so when Izuku accidentally slips up and addresses Hawks as “Keigo” in a message. The barrage of messages leaves him unable to respond, so he waits until his friends calm down enough for him to actually reply.

Yes, he knows the number three hero on a first name basis. Yes, he shares a close relationship with Keigo. And no, he is not Keigo’s brother, nor is he the love child between Keigo and Endeavour. The last one is directed at Hitoshi, who simply replies with one message:

sleepy cat: sure jan

To which, Izuku replies:

Flaming Demon: if I was ever the love child of a flaming garbage bin that has been steeped in rotting sewage and fermented dog shit, I will disown myself faster than how long it takes for Keigo to get from Fukuoka to Musutafu

The chat proceeds to go apeshit.

sleepy cat: Damn

Defying Gravity ~: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Copycat™: Asklhasjfaidasanajds

Copycat™: What in the world did the number two hero do to you?!

Izuku goes off tangent on every single failing that Endeavour has done throughout his years as a pro-hero. All the while remaining completely unaware that in Yamanashi prefecture, Inasa is having a mental breakdown. 

His mood had soured a little bit when Hitoshi brought up Endeavour, but things quickly skyrocketed to the heavens when Izuku went on his rant about everything that the number poo “hero” did wrong in his career. The Yoarashi household is rocked by a deafening scream that may or may not have originated from Inasa, and his room being battered by wind currents as he rolls back and forth on the floor, face flushed red and heart thundering wildly.

Flaming Demon: Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

sleepy cat: damn, go off u flaming chicken

Copycat™: I had no idea that this was the case…

Defying Gravity ~: damn you, Midori, you made me laugh so hard that I rolled off my bed!

Copycat™: Speaking of rolled off

Copycat™: What happened to Yoarashi?

Defying Gravity ~: oh yeah, u right

Defying Gravity ~: he’s gone completely silent

sleepy cat: u don’t suppose…endeavour is his favourite hero?

Flaming Demon: I mean, he told me that he looks up to heroes like All Might…

Wind Maestro: DON’T WORRY, MIDORIYA-KUN! IT’S FINE! I DON’T LIKE ENDEAVOUR ANYWAY!

Wind Maestro: IN FACT, I COMPLETELY HATE ENDEAVOUR!

sleepy cat: damn

Copycat™: What in the world did the number two hero do to you?

Wind Maestro: HE IS SO COLD-BLOODED! WHEN I WAS 5 YEARS OLD, I MET HIM AND ASKED FOR AN AUTOGRAPH. HE JUST GROWLED AT ME AND TOLD ME TO SHOVE OFF!

Flaming Demon: yep, typical Endeavour

Defying Gravity ~: how is he the number two hero again?

sleepy cat: because this society is fucked up and extremely biassed towards flashy quirks?

Flaming Demon: and because there is too much emphasis on the number of villains and criminals caught

Defying Gravity ~: I don’t like this

Defying Gravity ~: shall we start a revolution?

Copycat™: how?

Flaming Demon: overthrow the hero commission and the government?

“Midoriya-kun, are you plotting to overthrow the government?”

Izuku turns to Nezu, “How did you know?”

Nezu simply grins, “I hacked and masked myself into your group chat. Your friends are quite funny!”

“Are you going to reveal yourself?” Izuku asks.

“I just might!”

Flaming Demon: guys, heads-up

Wind Maestro: ?

Unknown user has entered the chat!

Unknown user named themselves as Chaos Rodent

Chaos Rodent: Hello children!

Copycat™: Wait, is that - ?

Chaos Rodent: Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? 

Chaos Rodent: Whatever I am, I am Principal Nezu!

sleepy cat: AKSFLDNFSDFASNSJNFIS

Defying Gravity ~: How?!

Wind Maestro: PRINCIPAL NEZU, SIR! IT IS AN HONOUR TO MEET YOU THROUGH TEXT!

Chaos Rodent: You all did extremely well during the entrance exam!

Chaos Rodent: I was watching your performances with the rest of the staff, and I have to say, you all gave us an excellent show!

sleepy cat: Principal Nezu! Please tell us, did we pass?!

Copycat™: I would also like to know!

Chaos Rodent: Now now children

Chaos Rodent: It would be too convenient on my part to tell you your results through text

Chaos Rodent: As it is, your results should be arriving at about…

Chaos Rodent: now

sleepy cat: shit! my doorbell just rang!

Defying Gravity ~: mine too!

Wind Maestro: WILL BE RIGHT BACK!

The chat goes silent after that. Nezu puts his phone down and produces an envelope from somewhere. He slides it to Izuku.

“Your results.”

Izuku quickly tears the envelope open, and a round disk slips out and clatters on the table. It suddenly activates, and a hologram appears.

“Hello Midoriya-kun! This is merely a formality, since you really went Plus Ultra during the exam. I will get straight to the point, you passed with flying colours! You scored an unbelievable 98% on the written portion, and take a look at your practical score!”

The holographic image of Nezu disappears, and is replaced with a leaderboard.

Izuku’s eyes nearly bug out of his head.

1. Midoriya Izuku - 88 villain points, 22 rescue points, Total: 110 points
2. Yoarashi Inasa - 83 villain points, 25 rescue points, Total: 108 points
3. Uraraka Ochako - …

“Congratulations, Midoriya-kun! You are this year’s top scorer, even surpassing the record set by All Might when he was a student! Your score is more than enough to qualify you for the heroics programme! And so, I warmly welcome you to U.A.. This is your hero academia!”

The hologram closes after that. Izuku sits frozen in place, staring blankly at the disk.

Nezu simply takes a sip of his refilled tea.

Izuku’s phone starts break-dancing again, snapping him out of his stupor.

He picks it up. The chat is blowing up once more.

sleepy cat: HOLY FUCK! I PASSED! I’M IN THE HEROICS PROGRAMME!

Defying Gravity ~: Me too! Can’t believe I’m number three!

Copycat™: Congratulations, Midoriya!

Wind Maestro: DAMMIT @ Flaming Demon WE ARE SO CLOSE! I WAS HOPING THAT WE WILL TIE FOR TOP PLACE!!!!

sleepy cat: this is fucking insane! I’m going to be a hero!

Defying Gravity ~: We all are!

Wind Maestro: QUICK! CHECK WHAT CLASS YOU ARE IN!

Izuku turns to Nezu.

“Since you are the top candidate, you are automatically in Class 1-A.”

Izuku dives back into the chat.

Flaming Demon: I’m in 1-A

Defying Gravity ~: Hey me too!

Wind Maestro: SAME!

Copycat™: It appears that we are going to be classmates.

sleepy cat: Ah damn

sleepy cat: i’m in 1-B

Defying Gravity ~: Oh no!

Wind Maestro: DON’T WORRY! WE MAY BE IN DIFFERENT CLASSES, BUT WE ARE STILL FRIENDS!

Copycat™: There is no distinction between 1-A and B

Copycat™: We are all training to be heroes

Copycat™: That is what matters most

Chaos Rodent: You are quite right, Monoma-kun!

Chaos Rodent: Also, fret not @ sleepy cat there will be many chances for you to be with your friends!

Chaos Rodent: I will organise the curriculum so that classes 1-A and B will have some lessons together!

Wind Maestro: SWEET!

Defying Gravity ~: this is gonna be fun!

sleepy cat: catch me here crying my eyes out

sleepy cat: i feel like anything is possible now!

Copycat™: including you getting a full 8 hours of sleep a night?

sleepy cat: almost anything is possible now!

Flaming Demon: haha

Defying Gravity ~: LOL

Wind Maestro: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

Chaos Rodent: I look forward to seeing you all soon!

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

They arrange to meet one another at the front gates.

Izuku is the first one there, naturally. The time it takes from the house to the gates is not that long, meaning that he spends the better part of half an hour listening to pre-quirk era music and tapping his foot along with the beat. As he waits, Izuku receives a message from Keigo, wishing him luck for his first day of school and his apologies for not being able to see him off to class. Izuku quickly replies back and goes back to his music.

“Midori-kun!”

Thankfully, his music is not loud enough to block out background noise. Izuku takes off his headphones at the sound of the familiar feminine voice.

“Uraraka-san! Good morning!”

“Good morning! Were you waiting long?” the brunette goes up to him.

“Not really, the perks of living on campus means that I get to places extremely quickly,” Izuku replies, “How are you feeling? Today’s our first day.”

“I’m so excited!” Ochako beams, pumping her fist into the air, “We’re going to be heroes!”

Suddenly, there is a whoosh of air coming from behind.

“Good morning!”

Izuku lights up, “Good morning, Yoarashi-kun!”

Inasa bows deeply to them both, “I got here as fast as I could! I even used my quirk to give myself a boost!”

“But isn’t public quirk usage illegal?” asks Ochako.

“Nobody notices when the wind picks up a little!” Inasa replies with an uproarious laugh, “At least I wasn’t flying my way here!”

They settle into idle, yet animated conversation as they wait for the remaining two members of their circle to arrive. Izuku spots a head of combed blond hair approaching after fifteen minutes.

“Good morning, everyone. Here I thought that I would be the last,” Neito remarks.

The trio return the greeting. Izuku has a mischievous grin, “500 yen that Shinsou-kun either got held up by his cats or actually fell asleep for once and overslept.”

“Fool’s bet,” Neito drawls, “Also, we all know better than to make a bet with you.”

“Yeah!” Inasa pipes up, “You made me cry last week! I’m broke because of you!”

Izuku shrugs.

“If you weren’t so goddamn cute I would shake you until your brain becomes a slushie!”

Izuku simply shrugs again, although a dusting of red appears across his freckled cheeks.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late.”

The purple-haired insomniac finally arrives, holding a large Starbucks espresso in his hand.

“Cats or overslept?” Ochako asks.

“Cats.”

“No such bet exists, Midoriya-kun,” Neito drawls, “Stop giving us that look.”

“You lot are no fun.”

“Yes, because we have learnt our lesson and know better by now.”

The banter continues as they make their way towards the main school buildings. Izuku acts as the group’s guide, leading them to the correct floor and to where the heroics classrooms are located.

1-A and 1-B are situated right next to each other, with their respective doors positioned with only about thirty centimetres of wall separating them.

“Wow! The doors are huge!” Ochako exclaims.

“Obviously to cater towards those with size or height-related quirks,” Neito muses.

They stop at the doors, glancing at each other.

“I guess…I will see you guys later?” Hitoshi breaks the silence.

“Of course!” Izuku beams, which makes the others look away slightly, “I will walk you guys to the station later!”

“Too bright…” Neito mutters.

The group bids Hitoshi farewell, and the insomniac heads for the 1-B door. He slides it open, gives the remaining four a final wave, and enters his new classroom, sliding the door shut behind it.

“So…shall we go in?” asks Ochako.

“Not yet,” Izuku shakes his head.

“Why?” Inasa asks, “Homeroom is about to start soon!”

Izuku raises a finger, “In a moment.”

A moment later, shuffling comes down the hallway. 

All four turn to the source. Three of them blink owlishly as what appears to be an oversized yellow caterpillar shuffles down the hallway towards them. It stops before the quartet, and the bewildered trio realise, upon closer inspection, that this being is not a caterpillar, but a yellow sleeping bag.

“Good morning, Aizawa-sensei! Have you had your coffee yet?” Izuku chirps.

The sleeping bag gets up, revealing the tired face of the hobo known as Aizawa Shouta. 

“I did, but not enough,” the man drawls.

“There is never enough coffee in the world for you, Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku snarks cheekily.

“No sass out of you, gremlin child,” Aizawa narrows his eyes, “It is too early for that.”

“Can I sass you after the test?” Izuku asks, which makes the other three blink.

What test?

“We’ll see how it goes,” Aizawa replies, “Anyways, you four head inside, but don’t acknowledge my presence. I am going to test your new classmates.”

“Okie dokie!” Izuku flashes a thumbs-up, before turning to his friends, “C’mon, you guys!”

The redhead slides the door open, and with his nonplussed friends following behind, Izuku enters the classroom and beelines to his seat, which is the third row adjacent to the window. Neito takes the seat behind Izuku, and Inasa behind Neito. Ochako goes to her seat, which is behind a familiar bespectacled snob whom Inasa clearly remembers from the briefing.

None of the four say anything as Aizawa shuffles to the front of the room, and gazes at the class with a deadpan, expectant look. 

Izuku sighs. His new classmates are still chatting amongst themselves, completely oblivious to the fact that Aizawa is at the front, waiting to start homeroom.

In fact, it takes a full three minutes for someone to actually notice the hobo, and then another two minutes for the rest of the class to progressively go silent when they realise that a yellow caterpillar is staring at them with an increasingly disappointed look.

“Five minutes. Apart from four of you, it took everyone five whole minutes to notice I was standing here. This is completely unacceptable. I expect a much faster reaction time by tomorrow.”

The hobo unzips himself from his sleeping bag, emerging like a sleep-deprived butterfly.

“I am Aizawa Shouta, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next three years,” Aizawa then pulls out twenty sets of gym uniforms, “Put these on, and meet me at the training grounds in fifteen minutes.”

Izuku gets up, and beckons Neito, Inasa and Ochako to follow suit. They go up to the front, and take their uniforms from the pile. They head towards the door, while the remaining sixteen stare in confused silence.

“What are you lot waiting for?” Aizawa now sounds a little irritated, “If you are not at the training grounds in ten minutes, I will assign you detention.”

That triggers everyone else to grab their uniforms and hurry out the door.

“That is our homeroom teacher?” Neito asks Izuku.

Having gotten to the locker room first, courtesy of Izuku’s good sense of direction, the trio of Neito, Izuku and Inasa are the first to leave and head towards the training grounds.

“Yep, Aizawa-sensei is rather rough along the edges, but he has a good heart,” Izuku replies.

“He sounds extremely exhausted!” Inasa remarks, his voice echoing in the hallway.

“I mean, imagine juggling teaching a bunch of hero hopefuls and patrolling the streets every night as an underground hero, and you can imagine that Aizawa doesn’t get much sleep,” Izuku points out.

“Wait, underground hero?” Neito gasps, “You don’t mean - !”

“Our homeroom teacher is the top underground hero in Japan, Eraserhead,” Izuku nods.

“No kidding!” Inasa exclaims, “He is like the hottest shadow in the industry!”

“The one and the same,” Izuku confirms, “Very few people know about his status as an underground hero, which makes him even more effective in his job.”

“That is so cool!” Inasa booms, “We are being taught by actual pro-heroes!”

“I mean, it’s only natural,” Neito muses, “Heroics is ideally taught by heroes themselves, or people with extensive experience in the industry.”

“But still! We’re being taught by an underground hero!” Inasa excitedly points out, “That means we got the top-tier educator who knows their stuff!”

“Hey, don’t dismiss the other heroes who work in U.A.,” Izuku pokes his side, “U.A. is the best heroics school in the country. Every teacher here is a top-tier educator.”

“I know! But being underground is the mark of a true hero!” Inasa booms, “They focus entirely on getting the job done, and not letting fame or glory get in the way!”

“Hm, maybe you should work to become an underground hero yourself,” Neito suggests, whether with sarcasm or not remains unclear.

“Yoarashi-kun? No way,” Izuku shakes his head, “His quirk is too noticeable, and his loud personality doesn’t help in the sneakiness department.”

“HEY! I can be sneaky too!”

Izuku simply gestures to Inasa, “I rest my case.”

They reach the training grounds with plenty of time to spare. Aizawa is already waiting, and as the trio approach, he turns to them and nods approvingly. A minute later, Ochako rushes up to them.

“I’m so sorry! I got lost!”

“You made it on time, so that counts,” Aizawa replies.

Beaming from the approval, the brunette joins the idle conversation as they wait for the rest of the class to show up. The remaining sixteen eventually trickle out and hover behind the quartet, confused about why they are out here on the bright, sunny morning.

“13 minutes and 47 seconds, cutting it extremely close,” Aizawa drawls, “I expect you to get to places faster. You cannot afford to waste time in the world of heroics.”

The bespectacled snob raises a hand ram-rod straight, “Sir! I believe we are supposed to be attending the orientation ceremony and our sessions with the guidance counsellor!”

“Both are nothing but meaningless wastes of time,” Aizawa cuts right through, “Every teacher in U.A. is given free reign on how they run their classes. As it is, we are going to have a quirk apprehension test.”

The hobo turns to Izuku, “How good is your softball throw, without your quirk?”

“74 metres, Aizawa-sensei.”

A softball is tossed to him, “Do it again, just stay within the circle.”

Izuku goes to the circle, softball in hand.

“When you are ready, Midoriya.”

Everyone expects the redhead to show off his quirk to send the ball flying. Instead, Izuku turns back to the gathered students, “Uraraka-san! Can you come here for a moment?”

All eyes turn to the brunette, who blinks in surprise before heading over. Izuku gives her the ball, “Use your quirk on it.”

Still a little confused, Ochako activates her quirk, and the softball rises from her palms. It goes higher and higher up into the sky, eventually disappearing from sight. Izuku turns back to Aizawa, who huffs. The hobo has a digital tracker in his hand, and he shows the result to the class.

“Infinity.”

The entire class explodes with noise, but the loudest comes from the bespectacled snob, “Aizawa-sensei! This is cheating! Midoriya did not use his quirk!”

“Did I say that he can only use his quirk?” Aizawa raises an eyebrow, “The only restriction I gave to Midoriya is to not leave the circle. He is well within his rights to ask for help from his classmates. As it is,” the hobo addresses the class as a whole, “none of you are allowed to copy Midoriya after this, so no asking Uraraka to help you with your toss. Am I clear?”

The class nods, while the snob is left chastised and mortified.

“Let’s get on with this,” Aizawa continues, tossing Ochako a softball, “Your turn.”

In the end, the students of 1-A use all manner of creative means to complete their softball toss. Inasa uses a hurricane to blast his ball into the heavens, while Neito copies Inasa’s quirk and does the same, albeit with less power since he only copied the quirk at the base level. One of the recommendation students, a beautiful raven-haired girl by the name of Yaoyorozu Momo creates a missile launcher from her body to shoot the ball into the stratosphere, while a girl who is completely invisible, who goes by Hagakure Tooru, scares one of the male students, Ojiro Mashirao, into launching the ball just as he is about to throw it.

From there, a series of other tests are conducted.

For Izuku, it is simply a repeat of the first fitness test that he did with Aizawa last year. Only this time, he has his wings as an extra boost. He outflies Iida Tenya, the snob, in the 100-metre dash and the long distance run, although Inasa puts up a close fight with his wind propulsion. 

This, however, results in an unexpected interruption, whereupon after he shows his wings for the first time, a dark being slams into him.

“You are a birb! My host is also a birb! You two should be best friends!”

“Dark Shadow! Cease such behaviour at once!”

This is how Izuku meets Tokoyami Fumikage, a short teen with the head of a bird that resembles either a raven or a crow. Fumikage apologises for Dark Shadow’s behaviour and retreats away, which makes Izuku believe that Fumikage prefers to be left alone.

But back to the tests.

Everyone else has their own advantages in the different tests. Shouji Mezou, a six-armed teenager who can create any limb or external body part from his arms, outclasses everyone in the grip-strength test. Asui Tsuyu, a girl with a frog mutation quirk, dominates the side-steps test. Aoyama Yuuga, the one whom Izuku healed his stomach cramps at the end of the entrance exam, dazzles the standing long jump by using his navel laser to clear the sandbox. And Ashido Mina exceeds everyone in the seated toe-touch due to her enviable flexibility.

It is Mina that unintentionally sets things in a different direction with an off-handed comment.

“This is so much fun!” she exclaims within ear-shot of Aizawa, “U.A. is going to be great!”

The hobo says nothing, except glancing at Izuku and nodding slightly. The redhead gets the signal and nods back.

When all tests are concluded, the class gathers before their teacher, sweaty and exhausted.

“Before I release the results, I have something to say,” Aizawa drawls, before his voice takes on a dangerous edge, “It appears that several of you think of this exercise as a way of goofing off, that this is “fun” and nothing but a game to you.” Izuku notices how Mina flinches at the word “fun”, “The world of heroes is not fun and games. Villains and criminals will not hesitate to harm or kill you if you don’t take things seriously. Innocent civilians could get hurt or even die if you are not up to par. As a teacher, it is my duty to ensure that only the best become heroes, and those who are here for a good time are kicked to the curb before they become collateral damage to themselves and others.”

The atmosphere tenses.

“As I would normally do, the worst-performing student will be expelled from the heroics course.”

The class, for the second time today, explodes .

“You can’t do that!”

“That’s unfair!”

“What the fuck?! This is bullshit!”

“You will find that I can, and will expel students who don’t maintain a high standard,” Aizawa silences all protest with his quirk-activated glare, “I will not send students to their untimely deaths because they think heroism is a given right since they have flashy or powerful quirks. If you are not here for the right reasons, then get out before you cause heartbreak to innocent people.”

The class shifts uncomfortably, on edge as the moment of truth approaches.

“Here are the results.”

A holographic screen appears, listing the students in descending order on how well they performed overall.

Izuku finds himself in second place below Momo, which is kind of expected, given how versatile her creation quirk is. Inasa is third, Uraraka is sixth, and Neito is at a comfortable ninth. 

All eyes, however, are at the bottom of the list, where Tooru’s name is placed.

The invisible girl promptly bursts into distraught tears.

Aizawa closes the screen, and addresses the class, “This would be the moment where I send Hagakure packing. However, I also did say that this would happen in normal circumstances.”

Confusion starts to spread.

“The fact is, all of you have potential to be heroes. Your strengths are different, but each of you have abilities that will give you an advantage in the line of duty. Also, none of you slacked off during the tests, despite the incorrect mindset that a few of you currently possess,” he stares at Mina for a moment, “However, that can easily be corrected over time. Since all of you have proven that you are, at least, willing to work hard, nobody will be expelled today.”

Tooru cries in relief, but Aizawa is not done, “However, my threat of expulsion still stands. If you show any signs of slacking off or you fail to take things seriously, you will be kicked to the curb faster than you can say “hero”. This is U.A., after all, and we expect you to go Plus Ultra in everything you do. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sensei!” the class chorus.

“Good, now go back to class and collect your syllabus,” Aizawa shoos them off, “We’re done for today. I will see you all tomorrow.”

The hobo stalks off, leaving the class to their own devices.

“That was insane!” Inasa booms, “I thought he was really going to expel someone!”

“Did he really expel people before?” Ochako asks nervously.

“He did,” Izuku nods, and all four of his friends swing towards him, “He expelled all of last year’s class because none of them took things seriously or felt entitled to be in the programme because they had powerful or flashy quirks. While Aizawa did re-enrol some after they learnt their lesson and promised to do better, he had the hopeless cases removed from the heroics programme entirely with no chance of re-enrolment.”

“Holy shit,” Neito wheezes.

“But so long as you work hard and don’t get on his bad side, Aizawa will leave you alone,” Izuku continues, “That being said, Aizawa is partial to highly-caffeinated coffee, so you might earn a few favours if you present your offerings at the right times.”

Tenya happens to pass by and overhears Izuku’s last comment. He chops his hand at the redhead, “Midoriya-kun! That is highly unacceptable behaviour! You are not supposed to bribe your teachers just to get on their good side!”

“Oh shove off,” Neito sneers, “Can’t you tell that he is joking? Stop being a busybody and get that stick out of your ass before you open your mouth.”

Tenya gasps, scandalised, “What has this got to do with my posterior?!”

“Everything, now leave us alone,” Neito turns on his heel and guides Izuku away. Inasa and Ochako follow suit, leaving behind a spluttering, red-faced Tenya.

“For the record, I wasn’t joking,” Izuku says, once they are out of earshot.

“For real?” asks Ochako.

“Yep, but you have to be strategic. Aizawa will catch on if you keep at it.”

“Duly noted, Midoriya-kun!” Inasa booms.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

sleepy cat: how was ur first day, guys?

sleepy cat: i didn’t see u all at orientation

Wind Maestro: IT WAS CRAZY!

Defying Gravity ~: we had a quirk apprehension test!

sleepy cat: wats dat?

Copycat™: It was a series of fitness tests where Aizawa-sensei had us use our quirks to achieve our best results

Flaming Demon: he threatened to expel the worst-performing student

sleepy cat: damn

sleepy cat: did he actually do it?

Flaming Demon: no

Flaming Demon: but it was a close thing

Wind Maestro: HE SAID IT WAS BECAUSE SOME OF OUR CLASSMATES WERE NOT TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY!

sleepy cat: holy shit

Copycat™: I had the same reaction

sleepy cat: kan-sensei seems pretty chill in comparison

Flaming Demon: any teacher in U.A. is chill in comparison

Defying Gravity ~: damn, midori-kun, you just roast people without hesitating, don’t you?

Flaming Demon: it's fun

Copycat™: Well, his quirk is fire-based, so it is only natural that he roasts people for fun

Flaming Demon: I mean, I have yet to literally roast someone with my flames

Chaos Rodent: Midoriya-kun, I need to speak with you for a moment. This is important.

Flaming Demon: Okay.

Flaming Demon has gone offline.

Chaos Rodent has gone offline.

sleepy cat: eh?

Wind Maestro: I WONDER WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT?

Copycat™: I suspect that it is school-related.

Defying Gravity ~: oh yeah! don’t we have foundational heroics tomorrow?

sleepy cat: 1-b is on wed

Wind Maestro: WHO IS GOING TO BE OUR TEACHER?

Copycat™: It has to be a pro-hero.

Wind Maestro: BUT WHO?!

Flaming Demon is online.

Flaming Demon: I AM DISGUSTED

Flaming Demon: I AM REVOLTED

Flaming Demon: I DEDICATE MY LIFE TO BE A HERO

Flaming Demon: AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!

Flaming Demon: FUCK. THIS. SHIT!

Defying Gravity ~: 😨

Copycat™: Holy fuck

sleepy cat: catch me diving under my bed

Wind Maestro: MIDORIYA-KUN! WHAT IS WRONG?!

Flaming Demon: ASS FUCKING MIGHT IS OUR FOUNDATIONAL HEROICS TEACHER!

Wind Maestro has gone offline.

Defying Gravity ~: WTF 😱🤬

Copycat™: What is this bullshit?!

sleepy cat: @Chaos Rodent i trusted u! 

sleepy cat: how could u let that bastard into U.A.?!

Chaos Rodent: Trust me, young Shinsou, I am just as outraged as you.

Chaos Rodent: If I had any say in the matter, I would not have let that fucker come within a kilometre of the front gates

Chaos Rodent: Unfortunately, the hero commission forced me to enrol him as a teacher. My paws were tied on the matter

sleepy cat: does that ass even have a teaching licence?!

Chaos Rodent: No, he does not

Copycat™: Well that is just wonderful. Our grades are going to suffer.

Defying Gravity ~: shouldn’t the lack of a licence prevent him from being around students?

Chaos Rodent: In normal circumstances, yes

Chaos Rodent: Unfortunately, the hero commission often acts above the law, especially in the name of heroism

Defying Gravity ~: I don’t like this

Defying Gravity ~: can we get that revolution going and overthrow the commission and the government?

Chaos Rodent: Believe me, young Uraraka, I have been trying for years

Chaos Rodent: Right now, I just sent Midoriya-kun outside to release his anger

Chaos Rodent: Our house may be structurally safe against fire, but I am not taking the risk

Copycat™: How is Yoarashi taking this?

sleepy cat: he went offline…

Wind Maestro is online.

Wind Maestro: SORRY GUYS!

Wind Maestro: I WAS BEING PUT ON BLAST BY MY MUM!

Copycat™: What in the world did you do?

Wind Maestro: I WAS SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER AND UNLEASHED A HURRICANE IN MY ROOM

Wind Maestro: MY ROOM IS IN SHAMBLES AND NOW I HAVE TO CLEAN EVERYTHING UP

Wind Maestro: ALSO, I THINK MY NEIGHBOURS ARE COMPLAINING

Wind Maestro: IF I DON’T SHOW UP FOR SCHOOL TOMORROW, I AM LIKELY IN A JAIL CELL FOR BEING A DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE

sleepy cat: at least u will get to avoid ass might 

Defying Gravity ~: ass might should be the one in prison for what he did to midori-kun!

Copycat™: I wholeheartedly agree

Chaos Rodent: I know the situation is not ideal

Chaos Rodent: However, I will make things a little more tolerable

sleepy cat: how?

Chaos Rodent: I am granting you all permission to call the fucker as many insulting names as you wish.

Wind Maestro: SWEET!

Chaos Rodent: I am also allowing you all to drag him through the mud as you see fit.

Chaos Rodent: Any detentions he metes out will be voided by me.

Defying Gravity ~: thank you so much, Principal Nezu!

Copycat™: Perhaps we can get through tomorrow

Wind Maestro: YOU ARE THE BEST, PRINCIPAL NEZU SIR!

Chaos Rodent: It is the least I can do

Chaos Rodent: Now if you will all excuse me, I need to check that Midoriya-kun has not burnt down the forest around our house

Chaos Rodent has gone offline.

—-----------------------------

The next day, there is a dark cloud of tension over the group of four in 1-A, and a single cloud over Hitoshi in 1-B.

While the permissions from Nezu has made things a little better, none of the 1-A quartet are looking forward to the foundational heroics lesson in the afternoon. 

Their collective irritation remains volatile throughout the morning. Any mention of the afternoon lesson by their classmates are met with snappish remarks and cutting sneers, meaning that the rest of 1-A very quickly gave the quartet a wide berth up until around lunchtime.

As a quintet in the cafeteria, the dark cloud is so palpable that surrounding students steered clear of them in fear of accidentally setting off a metaphorical bomb. Whispers and rumours spread quickly about what could have gotten all five in a murderous mood, with some speculating that the quintet are secretly villains plotting to cause a school-wide massacre.

Inasa did not take that sitting down, and blasted the gossipers with a gale that sent them flying across the cafeteria.

The tension only got worse as the lunch hour ended and the 1-A quartet returned to their classroom. As the minutes ticks down, fists clench tighter, teeth grit harder, and veins begin to pop across foreheads. Those sneaking quick glances at the quartet wonder what has gotten them looking ready to spill blood, but all of that goes flying out of the window when a deafening voice booms from behind the door.

“I AM - !”

The door slams open.

“ - COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

Sixteen students promptly go apeshit as All Might, dressed in his Silver Age costume, strides into the classroom.

“No fucking way!”

“I can’t believe it!”

“All Might is our teacher?!”

The cloud of darkness grows stronger over the quartet.

All Might goes to the lectern, and laughs, “Today, we are going to have our first-ever foundational heroics lesson! I am going to wring out the very best out of you, and turn you all into the greatest heroes you are destined to be! Everyone has a starting point, and today, we are going to have - !”

The Symbol of Peace produces a card from somewhere and thrusts it out to the class, “ - BATTLE TRIALS!”

Izuku snorts.

The card is upside down.

All Might’s eyes flicker to the redhead momentarily, but he says nothing of it, “Before we all head down, you lot will need these!”

From the left wall, four metal slots emerge, each containing five metal cases with numbers stamped into them.

“Your costumes are tailored and ready for use! I will see you all in Ground Beta in twenty minutes!”

Just like that, All Might dashes out of the room.

Excited chatter resumes, as the students get up to retrieve their respective cases.

Nobody notices the murderous quartet quietly leave with their cases, not saying a word to anyone.

“Just starting out, and he is already incompetent,” Neito mutters.

“What are the chances of him becoming much worse when the lesson actually begins?” Inasa wonders, voice uncharacteristically quiet.

“Guaranteed,” Izuku replies, as he puts on the final piece of his costume.

The redhead has gone for an armoured look, taking inspiration from the characters of the pre-quirk era anime Saint Seiya. A sleeveless bodysuit, golden armour pieces that protect his legs, chest, shoulders and lower arms, and a headpiece with golden wings above his ears. Neito’s costume is clearly inspired from Tuxedo Mask from the classic anime Sailor Moon, a full suit with a black cape and Venetian mask covering the top half of his face. As for Inasa, his costume is perhaps the most complicated of the trio, a thick burgundy suit pinned together with yellow buttons, a cape lined with thick faux fur draped over his shoulders which almost conceals the jetpack-like propulsion system attached to the back. His left hand is covered with a glove with air pipes in it, while his right arm is exposed, covered only by the navy blue undersuit. There are more tubes around his torso and ankles, his knees are protected by plates, his feet are covered by boots and a pair of goggles are strapped to his forehead.

Leaving the rest of their classmates to change and gush disgustingly about their teacher, Izuku, Neito and Inasa leave the changing room and head to Ground Beta. 

They meet Ochako along the way.

“Going for the outer space theme?” Izuku remarks.

“Yep!” the brunette nods, “Although, you were right to have me stress the need for the bodysuit to have some breathing room. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it would be if it was skintight! Also, I agree, the heels were a bad idea.”

“Yes, you don’t want any twisted ankles in the line of work,” Neito nods approvingly.

“So…you guys ready for this?” Ochako asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Izuku replies, with both Neito and Inasa agreeing.

The quartet head out into Ground Beta, the same place where the entrance exam was held. All Might is already waiting, and he beams upon seeing them.

That beaming smile, however, becomes a little fixed when all four glare at All Might with disdain and maintain a respectable distance from the man.

The air becomes thick with tension, and it continues as the rest of the class arrive, all dressed in their costumes.

“The costume makes the hero, as the saying goes!” All Might booms, “You all look spectacular!”

Izuku glances at his classmates. While there is a wide variety of costumes on display, he has issues with a good number of them.

First of all, is Tooru really wearing nothing but a pair of gloves and boots?!

Sure, the girl is invisible, so there is practically nothing to see. But the fact that Tooru, a teenage girl, is parading around naked with no means of protective gear just screams  wrong on so many levels. This also has to be in violation of hero costume and child protective laws.

Speaking of violating child protective laws, Momo’s costume looks more like something a stripper would wear in a nightclub. It is essentially a leotard that barely covers her breasts, exposes her midriff, and the only form of protection is the padding around her waist and groyne.

Izuku understands that this is supposedly to maximise the area of exposed skin so that Momo can create things faster, but that objective can be easily done without the costume looking like it was made to fulfil some pervert’s sick fantasies.

He will be having words with Nezu about this later.

Moving away towards the impractical, Tenya’s costume is just…why. His quirk is turbo engines, which means that his body should be sleek and aerodynamic to maximise the boost in speed that his quirk gives. Instead, Tenya’s costume is essentially full-body mecha armour that is incredibly bulky and heavy. Yes, Tenya has a bulky, muscular body, but he needs to be as light and aerodynamic as possible to maximise his speed. He may be a robot in personality, but that doesn’t mean he needs to look like one too.

Kirishima Eijirou is an example of an over-reliance on one’s quirk. He is practically topless with only two red cog-shaped pieces around his shoulders. Yes, his hardening quirk is extremely tough, but Izuku guesses that Eijirou cannot remain in his hardened state constantly. If someone manages to get a lucky shot while Eijirou does not have his quirk activated, the spiky redhead is setting himself for injury.

The rest of his criticism goes towards poor aesthetic choices. Mina’s colour scheme is an atrociously-bad eyesore, Todoroki Shouto looks like an ice monster with the fake ice covering his left half, and Satou Rikidou and Kouda Kouji could do with some overhauling to improve the lacklustre appearance of their costumes.

But back to All Might.

The Symbol of Peace is rambling about something when Tenya thrusts a hand into the air.

“All Might-sensei! I can’t help but notice that we’re in the same grounds where some of us took part in the practical assessment of the entrance exam! Are we by any chance performing city-based manoeuvres like in the exam?”

“Not exactly, young Iida -”

That triggers a tsunami of questions that completely overwhelm All Might.

“How are we going to be grouped?”

“Are you going to expel the worst-performing student like Aizawa-sensei?”

“Does my cape look tres chic?” that one was from Yuuga, but he is completely ignored.

“How will we be graded?”

“All Might-sensei - !”

“Sensei!”

“All Might-sensei!”

“WAIT! WAIT! Not all at once!” All Might booms, “I don’t have enhanced hearing!”

Then, as a second show of his incompetence, the Symbol of Peace produces a training manual from somewhere and begins reading off of it, “The class split into two groups – heroes and villains. You will be pitted against one another in two-versus-two fights that will take place in an enclosed building. The villains have a nuclear bomb in their possession, and it is the heroes’ job to either capture the villains or secure the bomb within the time limit. If the hero team is unable to accomplish either objective, the villain team wins.”

The manual is put away, and a box is produced, “We will draw lots to decide the teams!”

“All Might-sensei!” Tenya pipes up again, “Why is it that we cannot decide who we want to work with?!”

“You will not always get the chance to choose your teammates in real life!” All Might replies, “It is imperative that all lessons replicate real life in some way!”

“I understand! Thank you, sensei!”

Izuku simply rolls his eyes.

“Come forth and draw your lots!” All Might booms.

All twenty students draw their slips of paper. After a period of time finding their corresponding letters, the pairings are decided as such:

Team A: Iida Tenya & Hagakure Tooru

Team B: Shouji Mezou & Todoroki Shouto

Team C: Uraraka Ochako & Kirishima Eijirou

Team D: Midoriya Izuku & Tokoyami Fumikage

Team E: Satou Rikidou & Kouda Kouji

Team F: Ojiro Mashirao & Yoarashi Inasa

Team G: Jirou Kyouka & Kaminari Denki

Team H: Ashido Mina & Sero Hanta

Team I: Asui Tsuyu & Monoma Neito

Team J: Aoyama Yuuga & Yaoyorozu Momo

“It seems that fate has dictated that we will work together,” Fumikage approaches Izuku.

“I find it quite poetic,” Izuku replies, “We are both avians, but we represent polar opposites. My quirk produces light, while yours embodies darkness.”

“I agree,” Fumikage nods, “That said, if I had been told before that we would be working together, I would have brought a pair of sunglasses to school today.”

“Eh? Why?”

All Might produces two boxes, one white and the other black, from somewhere, “We will randomly decide who will be the heroes and villains!”

The first two balls are a white ‘D’ and a black ‘A’.

“Team D will be the heroes, and team A will be the villains!”

“Ah, that's us,” Izuku says.

“The rest of you, please make your way to the observation room! Teams A and D, please follow me!”

“Good luck, Midori-kun!” Ochako calls out.

“Kick some robot butt!” Inasa yells.

“Why are you still talking about my posterior?!” Tenya exclaims.

“Because I could help to dislodge the stick that is still stuck up your ass?” Izuku replies.

“Oh shit! Need some ice for that burn?” Dark Shadow cackles.

Tenya splutters, while Izuku ignores him in favour of speaking with Tooru.

“Hagakure-san.”

“Hm? What is it, Midoriya?”

“Pardon my forwardness, but are you…really naked?”

Instead of being offended, Tooru giggles, “It does seem that way, isn’t it? Don’t worry though! I am actually wearing something on my body. My suit is made from my DNA, which helps me to remain invisible while protecting my dignity! It’s just fun to see everyone assume that I am naked and freak out!”

“Ah, I see.”

They reach the building where the test will be conducted. 

“Team A, please make your way inside!” All Might booms, “Team D, you will remain outside until I give the signal for you to enter the building! We will give the villain team five minutes to prepare before we commence with the exercise!”

After that, All Might dashes off towards the observation room. Now on their own, Fumikage turns to Izuku, “Do you have a plan?”

“Hagakure-san will make full use of her invisibility to keep herself hidden and to possibly get the jump on us if we are not careful,” Izuku slips into analytical mode, “Iida will most likely be where the bomb is. There are two possibilities that he could do. Iida could either change the location of the bomb, or stand guard over it and use his speed to out-manoeuvre us should we attempt to reach the bomb.”

“So what do we do to counteract these acts of darkness?”

“The heat I produce allows us to see air currents, so I hope to be able to make Hagakure-san visible enough to take her down. As for Iida, we could make use of his bulky armour to cause him to slip up. I can keep him distracted with my flames, and Dark Shadow can intercept the bomb while I keep Iida occupied.”

“Noted,” Fumikage nods, “The only thing I request is that you keep your flames away from Dark Shadow. She is especially vulnerable to light, and I don’t wish to see her get hurt.”

“I will do my best.”

“That is all I ask for.”

“Team D, you can enter the building! The exercise begins now!”

A buzzer echoes across the city, and the pair enter the building.

“I have to say, Midoriya-kun has quite a solid plan,” Neito remarks as he listens to his friend explain the procedure to Fumikage.

“That is because he is a genius!” Inasa booms, “He knows how to handle any situation effectively!”

“I think he and Tokoyami have this in the bag!” Ochako cheers.

“Do not discount the villain team, young Uraraka!” All Might interrupts, “They have great quirks that give them a good sporting chance at victory too!”

The smile is wiped off the brunette’s face, replaced with an unimpressed deadpan, “I rather have brains than quirks, Ass Might.”

The entire room goes deathly silent.

“What…did you just call me?”

“Gosh, are you deaf as well?” Neito scoffs, “She called you Ass Might, Arse Might.”

The Symbol of Peace splutters in outrage, “I will not tolerate such disrespect in my classroom!”

“We don't even tolerate you to begin with, Ass Dick!” Inasa declares hotly.

“DETENTION, ALL THREE OF YOU!”

“Uno reverse, bitch,” Neito grins savagely, “Principal Nezu gave us explicit permission to insult you as much as possible. All detentions meted out by you are null and void.”

The rest of 1-A watches the exchange with horrified awe.

“Do not lie to my face, young Monoma!” All Might shouts.

“Well, why not go and ask Principal Nezu yourself?” Ochako challenges, “Why would we lie to you when you are the ultimate liar yourself?”

The Symbol of Peace falls for the bait and dashes out of the room, leaving three students shaking their heads smugly, and thirteen others in stupefied horror.

“Dude…” Eijirou breaks the silence.

“Did you just insult the number one hero?!” Denki splutters.

“Number one hero?” Neito scoffs, “The only number one thing that Ass Might is is being a quirkist bigot who feeds into society’s failings and biases.”

This causes an uproar of indignant shouting and accusations of trying to blacken the good name of the Symbol of Peace. The trio simply ignores the backlash and turns their attention back to the screens.

Short of setting the entire building on fire, Izuku conjures a small flame and presses it against the floor of each level he and Fumikage reach to let the heat spread across the concrete surfaces. So far, the visible air currents show no human-like shapes, but Dark Shadow is able to listen out for any noises that resemble footsteps, and as they reach the third floor, the dark sentient being picks up footsteps running across the floor above.

“She’s coming!”

“Thank you, Dark Shadow,” Izuku nods, readying himself for a fight.

They approach a doorway that leads to a long corridor. Peeking around, Izuku sees nothing, but he places his hand on the floor, and the air currents begin to appear once more. A few seconds later, the currents distort with movement, followed by a sharp yelp.

“Ow! Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!”

That is the cue to move. 

Izuku surges into the corridor and throws a ball of fire down towards Tooru. She yelps, and there is a thud as the invisible girl throws herself to one side to avoid the fireball. Izuku unleashes heat across the corridor, and amidst the pulsating air currents, a human shape appears.

Izuku unfurls his wings and propels down the corridor. He tackles the spot where Tooru is, and knocks her to the floor. 

“Tokoyami-kun! Now!”

Fumikage unleashes Dark Shadow, who is carrying the capture tape. As Izuku keeps Tooru pinned down, Dark Shadow wraps the capture tape around the girl.

A buzzer rings across the building, but strangely, All Might does not declare Tooru as captured.

“Aww, you got me good, Midoriya!” Tooru pouts, “I didn’t even get the chance to act!”

“We will have good and bad match-ups,” Izuku replies, “Don’t worry, you will get the chance to show your true strength another time.”

“Can you move me to someplace else? This corridor is too hot!”

“Sure thing, Hagakure-san.”

A seething All Might stomps down the corridor, steam pouring out of his ears.

He has never been so insulted and humiliated in his entire life!

He had gone to Principal Nezu’s office with the expectation to be correct in that those insolent brats are lying and that the rodent will gladly approve of a punishment for their disrespectful behaviour.

Instead, not only did Principal Nezu confirm that he did give those three his permission to insult All Might’s name as much as they liked, but any punishment or detention meted out by him is indeed automatically declared null and void. When All Might protested this act of blatant favouritism, all pretences of joviality disappeared from the rodent’s face.

In that moment, All Might found himself dragged through hot coals. 

“Don’t think I am not aware of the grievous crime you committed against an innocent victim who drew the short straw in life. I know full well how unprofessional and unethical you were when you so callously ripped his dream to shreds and left him in a vulnerable position all by himself.”

All Might was about to instinctively deny ever committing such a heinous act, but then, he remembered the beating he received from Naomasa just before the infamous raids on all three Aldera schools. 

“You are the epitome of everything that is wrong with this society, Toshinori Yagi,” Nezu cut through him mercilessly, “ You propagated an ideal image upon impressionable minds, while you yourself harbour bigoted and prejudiced beliefs that make you no better than the monsters that are the Meta Liberation Army. I only hired you because the hero commission forced my paw. But if you fuck up just once , you will be kicked to the curb faster than your Detroit Smash. I don’t care if you are looking for a successor, I will not allow my students to be corrupted by a failure of a human being if you step out of line. Now get out of my office, you still have a lesson to teach. Starting from now, every minute you are not in Ground Beta will be used to deduct from your salary accordingly.”

Safe to say, All Might flew like Hawks back to Ground Beta. Only then did he slow down and stomp his way back to the observation room like a child that is throwing a tantrum. He throws the door open and stomps inside. The 1-A students turn expectant looks towards him, but he is unable to face them. 

He seethes even more when those three brats cast him smug looks.

All Might pushes down the urge to punch something, and focuses back on the screen.

After moving Tooru to a cooler place, Izuku and Fumikage scope the rest of the building for Tenya and the bomb. This time, they get Dark Shadow to listen for any noise in the rooms on each floor. 

“I can hear him above us, down the corridor!”

“Let’s move.”

The pair reach the floor in question, and quietly check each room for their opponent.

A sudden cringe-worthy attempt at villainous laughter sends Izuku and Fumikage running towards where it is coming from. 

They find their target and the bomb in one of the back rooms. Tenya has his back turned to them, and he appears to be monologuing like a stereotypical villain from pre-quirk era cartoons.

“They will never find me here! I made the effort to keep moving the bomb around whenever I hear noises! My plan is fool-proof! Nothing will stop me from - !”

“Wow, you are so lame.”

Tenya spins around. Izuku gives him an unimpressed look, while Dark Shadow is cackling like mad.

“Heroes! I see you have discovered me! I know what you have come for, and I will not let you get past me!”

“Alright then, are you afraid of fire?”

Izuku throws a fireball at Tenya, who speeds out of the way. Fumikage rushes for the bomb, but is intercepted by Tenya and is forced to leap out the way from a roundhouse kick. Now that they are engaged in combat, Izuku sets the plan in motion.

Izuku repeatedly throws fireballs at Tenya, not letting up and never giving the engine-quirked teen a chance to recover. Izuku times his assault irregularly, in an attempt to catch Tenya off-guard. It eventually works when Tenya miscalculates a dodge and his momentum causes him to crash onto the floor. 

Fumikage immediately sends Dark Shadow towards the bomb, and the sentient quirk wraps herself around the shell. 

“Captured!”

“NO!” Tenya screams.

A buzzer rings across the building.

“The hero team wins!”

Inasa whoops loudly, “YEAH!!!! You kicked his butt good, Midoriya-kun!”

Neito claps, “A wonderful show. 10 out of 10 would watch again.”

“That was so cool, Midori-kun!” Ochako cheers.

They are the only ones.

Five minutes later, both teams return to the observation room. The trio whoop and cheer again, and Izuku thanks them with a nod.

All Might clears his throat awkwardly and booms, “So! Who is the MVP of this round?”

Momo raises her hand, “I believe Midoriya-kun is the MVP.”

“How so, young Yaoyorozu?”

“Midoriya-kun exhibited his ability to analyse a situation and its individual factors under pressure, and to come up with a plan that takes into account both his and his teammate’s strengths. He executed his plan flawlessly, and showed excellent control and usage of his quirk in the process.”

“I agree with Yaomomo!” Ochako pipes up.

“So do I!” Inasa booms.

All Might clears his throat again, “V-Very well! Young Midoriya is the MVP of this round, but the rest also performed admirably too, so give them a round of applause!”

The class claps politely.

“With that out of the way, let us continue with the next two teams!”

Izuku and Fumikage head over to the grinning trio.

“Too bad you didn’t get the chance to literally kick Iida’s butt,” Neito says, “That would have been hilarious.”

“I mean, I probably would hurt my foot if I tried. And while I could have set Iida’s butt on fire, I’m not sure if his armour is combustible,” Izuku shrugs.

Nearby, Tenya splutters, “W-Why do you lot keep talking about my posterior?! This is beyond obscene and inappropriate!”

“The faster you stop being an uptight prick, the faster you can get the stick removed,” Izuku deadpans.

“W-What stick are you referring to?! You keep saying that!”

“You’ll get it eventually,” Ochako waves off, “...I hope.”

“Knowing that snob, it will just keep going higher and higher until it comes out of his mouth seasoned with pepper and salt,” Neito mutters.

“What a mad banquet of darkness…” Fumikage remarks quietly to himself.

The rest of the battle trials vary in terms of performance.

Team B is selected as the heroes, and are pitted against Team H. 

To describe the match in two words, it would be “shit-show”.

No sooner had the buzzer gone off, Shouto had Mezou leave the building, before promptly encasing it entirely in ice. Both Mina and Hanta are frozen solid up to their waist, and the freezing cold nearly gives them frostbite, if not for Shouto finding the room they are in and retrieving the bomb.

When Team H are defrosted and all four have returned to the observation room, All Might asks, “Who is the MVP in this round?”

It would seem that the answer is blindingly obvious, but Izuku speaks up and surprises everyone.

“No one.”

All Might is caught off-guard for a moment, “U-Um, what do you mean, young Midoriya?”

“While it is true that Todoroki-kun incapacitated the villains and secured the bomb in record time, his way of doing so is not only illogical, but also highly dangerous, in both a metaphorical and literal sense. Ashido-san and Sero-kun could have suffered from frostbite if they were not defrosted in time, and if Asui-san had been in their place, the sheer cold would have shut down her body and sent her into hibernation. Also, freezing a building could compromise the structural integrity of the building. Water molecules inside the concrete turns into ice and expands, breaking apart the concrete and potentially causing a collapse. Had the building collapsed, it could potentially hurt or kill Team H as they are unable to escape. Plus, while I am not a nuclear physicist, and correct me if I’m wrong, but subjecting a nuclear bomb to frigid temperatures could cause it to explode, resulting in widespread destruction to the immediate area and causing nuclear fallout to poison the landscape. We are talking about hundreds, if not thousands of people either dying immediately or suffering a slow, agonising death via radiation poisoning.”

Izuku gives Shouto a pointed look, “As such, and I know who you wanted to name the MVP, Ass Might, no one in this round can be called the MVP.”

All Might grits his teeth at the return of the insulting name, but he finds himself unable to refute Izuku’s argument.

“Very well. We shall proceed with the next round!”

Izuku turns back to his friends, all the while ignoring the heated glare from the bi-colour haired teen.

“He is so cold,” Inasa mutters darkly, “Just like his father.”

“Beyond excessive too,” Neito adds, “Is he trying to compensate for something?”

“I don’t know,” Izuku glances at Shouto, “But he will not win any favours if he continues to disregard his peers like that.”

That remains to be seen.

The match between Teams G and I is arguably the most entertaining. With Kyouka and Denki as the heroes, they scoped down Tsuyu and Neito to a face-off in the room where the bomb is located. Unlike Kyouka, who chose to remain back in case of an attack, Denki rather recklessly unleashed his signature move of two million voltage watts all at once, forcing his teammate and Team I to take cover so as to not get electrocuted. In the end, the only victim is himself. As the class very quickly discovered, unleashing that high of a voltage all at once causes Denki to short-circuit his brain, leaving him a bumbling, drooling fool who makes unintelligible sounds and thumbs-ups in his stupor.

Once the electricity had subsided, Neito displays his abilities by copying Denki’s quirk and immediately incapacitating Kyouka with a much milder electric shock, winning the battle for his team.

Neito is also awarded MVP status by both Izuku and Momo for not only taking advantage of his opponent’s weaknesses, but protecting Tsuyu from the worst of the electric attack. Neito recounts how Tsuyu told him that she is particularly vulnerable to electricity, so she was really grateful for him protecting her when Denki unleashed his power move.

Ochako and Inasa also have relatively successful runs in their respective trials. Acting as the hero, Ochako uses quick thinking by cancelling the gravity of large chunks of debris brought down by Yuuga’s navel laser and blasting them at Yuuga and Momo. Then, Eijirou hardens his fists slightly to knock both out, securing the win for the heroes. Inasa, on the other hand, accidentally goes on the extreme by blowing the flock of birds that Kouji summoned back at the hero team with such velocity that many of the tiny avians exploded in showers of feathers upon impact. In the ensuing confusion, Mashirao is able to knock both heroes down and incapacitate them, securing the win for the villains.

There is no clear MVP for that final match, as the death of a flock of small birds overshadow the proceedings. Inasa is so wracked with guilt that he apologises to Kouji repeatedly in dogeza, hitting his head over and over until blood begins trickling down his face. It takes Kouji hurriedly forgiving him in sign language for Inasa to stop, and Izuku’s healing tears to stop the bleeding and closing the wound.

And so, a chaotic lesson comes to an end. All Might bids the class farewell and vanishes off in a cloud of dust. Izuku and his friends are just happy that the man is finally gone, but the day is not over for them.

The male trio are changing out of their costumes when Izuku is barrelled into by Dark Shadow.

“Midoriya works well with my Fumi! Both birbs should be friends!”

“Dark Shadow!” Fumikage rushes over and forces his quirk back, “I’m so sorry for her behaviour.”

Izuku glances at Dark Shadow and shrugs, “I’m cool with it. She seems fun.”

The sentient quirk whoops and tackles the redhead in a hug. Fumikage simply sighs, giving up on trying to quell his excitable symbiote.

“I think Dark Shadow has imprinted on Midoriya,” Neito remarks.

“I certainly did! He is very warm, and his hugs are the best!”

“I like her!” Inasa declares, “We should be friends!”

Dark Shadow cheers, “Yahoo! More friends for Fumi!”

Fumikage simply buries his face in his hands.

To Be Continued.

Chapter Text

[Private chat between Hawk and Flaming Chicken]

Flaming Chicken: have i ever mentioned how much i hate this name?

Hawk: haters gonna hate. u should not have let me have mod privileges

Flaming Chicken: i will literally turn you into kfc if you don’t square up

Hawk: not if i tickle u 2 death first!

Flaming Chicken: dammit

Hawk: lol

Hawk: anyways kiddo

Hawk: how was ur first heroics lessons?

Flaming Chicken: so-so

Flaming Chicken: would have been better if ass might was not my teacher

Hawk: ah yes

Hawk: i heard about dat

Hawk: i also heard about how u and ur friends constantly insulted the no. 1 hero 

Flaming Chicken: he deserved it

Flaming Chicken: he is a piss-poor excuse of a teacher and overall terrible human being

Flaming Chicken: on a different note

Flaming Chicken: i guess i made a new friend?

Hawk: u guess?

Flaming Chicken: more like, his quirk pushed us together and said “now be friends!”

Hawk: owo?

Flaming Chicken: cursed

Flaming Chicken: you would probably like him

Flaming Chicken: he has the head of a bird, and his quirk is a shadow being with avian characteristics

Hawk: sold

Flaming Chicken: you haven’t even met him yet!

Hawk: did i stutter?

Flaming Chicken: …

Flaming Chicken: you would be friends with anyone who looks like a bird, won’t you?

Hawk: u kno me so well, kiddo

Flaming Chicken: i probably shouldn’t mention that Yoarashi-kun added him to our group chat earlier

Hawk: I demand to be invited into this group chat!

Flaming Chicken: calm yo feathers, keigo-san

Flaming Chicken: i should warn you that it is complete chaos over there

Hawk: i need the chaos, my life is one boring descent into the void

Flaming Chicken: don’t say i didn’t warn you

sleepy cat changed the chat name to [Send Ass Might To Hell]

…

…

Copycat™: So what you are saying is that we should summon a demon that is not Midoriya and give it Ass Might’s soul as payment?

Wind Maestro: YES, THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING

Defying Gravity ~: how will we convince the demon to take the bastard’s soul and not ours?

sleepy cat: i mean

sleepy cat: all we need 2 do is list out all of ass might’s sins

sleepy cat: surely the bastard has committed a lot more sins than us?

Edgelord: Unless we have intel on what the false hero has done, simply saying that he caused Midoriya to take his life may not be enough, especially when compared to his public record as a hero

Copycat™: Damn it

Wind Maestro: SO DEMON SUMMONING IS OFF THE TABLE THEN?

Edgelord: For now, at least

Defying Gravity ~: @ Flaming Demon you analyse heroes, do you have any dirt on Ass Might?

Flaming Demon has come online.

Flaming Demon: sorry, was being held up

sleepy cat: by what?

Flaming Demon has added Unknown User into the chat!

Flaming Demon has named Unknown User as Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Flaming Demon: two can play at this game

Kentucky Fried Chicken: rude

Kentucky Fried Chicken: and did u seriously lock my chat name and not give me naming privileges?

Flaming Demon: i’m not risking it

Kentucky Fried Chicken: ur no fun

sleepy cat: who dis?

Edgelord: Another soul has joined our coven

Copycat™: Midoriya, who is this?

Kentucky Fried Chicken: hello fledglings!

Defying Gravity ~: fledglings?

Flaming Demon: i will give you all three guesses

Wind Maestro: WAIT

Wind Maestro: HAWKS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS KEIGO?!

Kentucky Fried Chicken: sup kiddos!

sleepy cat: holy shit

Copycat™: What?!

Defying Gravity ~: omg omg omg omg omg omg

Edgelord: I see that a mighty being has graced us with his presence.

Kentucky Fried Chicken: tell me kiddos

Kentucky Fried Chicken: which 1 of u is the birb?

Copycat™: I presume you mean Tokoyami @ Edgelord

Kentucky Fried Chicken: yes!

Edgelord: What can I do for you, my lord?

Kentucky Fried Chicken: @ Flaming Demon i like him already

Flaming Demon: you like anyone who looks even remotely like a bird

Kentucky Fried Chicken: shush u

Kentucky Fried Chicken: @ Edgelord u and i are gonna be best friends!

Edgelord: I will be most honouraslajlfjajfdslzijladfs

Flaming Demon: Tokoyami-kun?

Edgelord: OMG the ultimate birb is here! Fumi has made another friend who is a birb!

Copycat™: Dark Shadow, did you steal Tokoyami’s phone?

Edgelord: Sorry, she got too excited. 

Flaming Demon: she tends to do that around people with avian characteristics

Kentucky Fried Chicken: i like her too!

Edgelord: Please excuse me. I need to calm Dark Shadow down

Edgelord has gone offline.

Wind Maestro: WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE, HAWKS-SAN?!

Kentucky Fried Chicken: call me keigo, kiddo

Kentucky Fried Chicken: hawks makes me sound old

Wind Maestro: OF COURSE, KEIGO-SAN!

Kentucky Fried Chicken: as for why i’m here

Kentucky Fried Chicken: the flaming chicken added me

Flaming Demon: more like demanded me to add him since Tokoyami-kun is here

sleepy cat: …

sleepy cat: u really want the bird aesthetic huh?

Kentucky Fried Chicken: of course!

Defying Gravity ~: keigo-san! I have a question!

Kentucky Fried Chicken: sure thing, kiddo

Defying Gravity ~: is eating fried chicken considered cannibalism for you?

Kentucky Fried Chicken: …

Kentucky Fried Chicken has gone offline.

sleepy cat: damn, ‘raka

sleepy cat: u just killed the no. 3 hero

Defying Gravity ~: 😱

Copycat™: Do we have to prepare a funeral?

sleepy cat: for who?

Copycat™: I don’t know

Edgelord: Revelry in the dark

Flaming Demon: @ Defying Gravity ~ don’t worry

Flaming Demon: he’s fine

Flaming Demon: he’s just laughing his ass off as he is calling Nezu

Flaming Demon: apparently no one has asked him that question in over two years

sleepy cat: huh

Copycat™: You learn something new every day

Edgelord: What a mad banquet of darkness…

[Private chat between Nezu and Midoriya]

Nezu: Midoriya-kun, heads up

Midoriya: hm?

Midoriya: what is it?

Nezu: There is a crowd of reporters and camera personnel camped outside the front gates

Midoriya: what

Nezu: Word must have gotten out that Ass Might is working in U.A.

Midoriya: great

Midoriya: how am I supposed to meet up with my friends then?

Nezu: I will give you permission to use your quirk to get over the walls

Midoriya: thanks, Principal Nezu

Nezu: You’re most welcome.

[Send Ass Might To Hell]

Flaming Demon: are you guys at the gates yet?

sleepy cat: not yet

Copycat™: I’m about two stops away.

Defying Gravity: i just arrived

Wind Maestro: I’M WITH TOKOYAMI-KUN!

Edgelord: What is the matter, Midoriya?

Flaming Demon: there is a huge crowd of reporters and camera personnel at the front gates

Flaming Demon: apparently word got out that Ass Wipe is working at U.A. and they are now crowding around in hopes of a scoop

sleepy cat: *wheezes*

Copycat™: Ass Wipe, how have I not thought of that?

Defying Gravity ~: what do we do then?

Flaming Demon: i will meet you guys at the station concourse

Flaming Demon: see you all in a bit

Nezu was not kidding.

Izuku had not even reached the front gates, but he could already see the chaotic crowd of reporters blocking the way into the school. 

Knowing that he will be swamped as soon as he appears, Izuku makes use of Nezu’s permission and flies over the wall and down onto the pavement outside. He makes the short walk to U.A. station, where he meets up with Inasa, Fumikage and Ochako. They wait for Hitoshi and Neito to arrive, and they head towards the gates as a group.

“Damn,” Hitoshi whistles, “That’s a crowd.”

The reporters are shouting questions and harassing students who are simply trying to make their way to classes.

“How are we supposed to get through that?’ Neito asks.

Izuku simply manifests his wings.

“Ready for a lift?”

“Principal Nezu gave you permission, didn’t he?” Ochako asks.

“Yep.”

Izuku makes four trips, bringing his lighter classmates over the wall and into the grounds. Inasa saves him the trouble and leaps over the wall with a blast of wind. Safely out of the grasp of the vultures known as the press, they make their way to their respective classrooms, the 1-A quintet wishing Hitoshi good luck for his foundational heroics lesson later that afternoon.

As the quartet enter, they notice that only Momo and Shouto are currently present.

“Good morning, Yaoyorozu-san,” Izuku greets, “Were you harassed by the press outside?”

Momo tilts her head, “What?”

“Were you not caught up in the madness at the school gates?” Fumikage asks, “The press are acting like vultures honing in on carcasses.”

“Really?” Momo is intrigued, “I mean, my chauffeur dropped me off in the underground carpark, so I made it to class undisturbed.”

Izuku nods, while Ochako mutters something about “rich people”. They all go to their respective seats, and wait for homeroom to start.

As time passes, more of their classmates show up, chatting and groaning about getting harassed by the reporters and having microphones shoved in their faces. The quintet sends grateful looks to Izuku, which he nods in acknowledgement.

At precisely eight on the dot, Aizawa shuffles into the room, looking not only exhausted, but just completely done with everything.

“Fucking vultures,” the hobo mutters under his breath, “I’ll kill them if its the last thing I’ll do…”

“You and me both, sensei,” Izuku says.

Aizawa glances at the redhead, before going to the lectern, “Anyways, good morning to you all. At least your reaction time is faster today. As for homeroom, we are going to be doing something important.”

The class collectively tenses up. 

“You are going to choose your class presidents.”

The tension is cut, as everyone internally celebrates the commencement of a completely normal classroom activity.

Then, the voices start coming right over the other.

“I want to be class president!’

“No! Pick me!

“Me!”

“I volunteer myself as tribute!”

The voices grow louder and louder, and Izuku wonders if the verbal assaults will escalate into physical violence.

“EVERYONE! STOP THIS NONSENSE AT ONCE!”

The entire class goes silent as Tenya is now on his feet, hands chopping in the air.

“The role of class presidents are sacred duties!” the robot goes on a spiel that Izuku tunes out immediately, “They are supposed to lead the class and be role-models for their peers! This is not something to be taken lightly!”

“He is blowing this completely out of proportion,” Neito murmurs to Izuku.

“We must uphold our values in democracy and select our class presidents through a fair and clean vote!”

“Yep, definitely out of proportion.”

Tenya turns to Aizawa, “Do you approve of this method, sensei?!”

“Whatever, just do it quietly. I didn’t get my morning coffee because of those vultures, and I need to nap for a bit,” the hobo slides back into his sleeping bag, “Don’t disturb me unless someone is hurt or dying.”

Aizawa lowers down to the ground. Tenya chops his hand, “We shall proceed with the vote!”

“But how do we know who to vote for?” Hanta asks.

“Won’t everyone just vote for themselves?” Tsuyu raises her point.

“Then the one with the highest number of votes will be elected!” Tenya declares, “Yaoyorozu-san! Please help us make some paper slips!”

A total of twenty are made, and the class goes about writing down their preferred choice. For Izuku, it is fairly simple. Momo has the potential to be a good class president, and she is an infinitely better choice than an uptight, insufferable prick like Tenya.

He writes down his name of choice, and his slip is collected near the end of homeroom. The numbers are tallied up, and the results are released.

Yaoyorozu Momo: 5 votes

Midoriya Izuku: 4 votes

Kirishima Eijirou: 1 vote

…

…

Well, okay then.

Aizawa rises up like the undead from the grave and sees the tallied votes, “Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, please come up front.”

The pair get up and go to the lectern, standing before their classmates.

“Yaoyorozu is the class president and Midoriya is her deputy,” Aizawa drawls, “Don’t give them any trouble.”

Izuku glances over at Tenya, hunched over his desk and fists clenched. The robot did not gotten any votes, and is clearly affected by his poor performance.

Oh well.

“You all voted for me, didn’t you?”

“Why not?” Neito drawls, “You certainly know what you’re doing.”

“Of course!” Inasa booms, “If there is anyone fit to be a leader, it is you, Midoriya-kun!”

“It’s a pity that you didn’t get the top spot,” Ochako remarks after swallowing a bite of food.