Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The late afternoon sky shimmered with a pink and orange glow as the sun sank beyond the horizon, and the polluted atmosphere distorted the perceived wavelengths of its light. The pink glow changed to violet as nighttime approached, and the violet shifted to indigo, and the orange vanished completely. Blue- deep blue- overtook the sky, and the lights of the city turned it to black. Only the brightest of stars could be seen at this time, the rest being obscured by the light of the earth itself, and all was quiet.

Midoriya Izuku, sitting beneath this sky, did not see it due to the roof over his head. He saw neither the trees shifting in the breeze, nor the stray cats wandering between wood and stone as though they'd known the area their whole lives, and he also did not see the slim silhouette of his mother coming home from a long day of work. Instead, within his red and white and yellow bedroom, Izuku saw only the homework he had to finish for school, just as it had always been.

"Tadaima! Izuku honey, I'm home!"

The sound of the front door closing broke through the silence of Izuku's room, and he lifted his head to call back, "Okaerinasai! Welcome home, Mom!"

Footsteps echoed gently through their home, and Izuku gave one final glance to his unfinished homework, before standing up and leaving his bedroom. He listened to the sounds of his mother's presence, and made his way into the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea for her- a ginseng and chamomile blend, to encourage relaxation and good health. This had been a part of their daily routine for a good few years, and by now, Izuku had long since become a master of making his mother's favored tea.

"Oh, Izuku, you wouldn't believe the day I've had! So much excitement, and it all started when Takahara tried flirting with one of my clients-"

A part of their routine that had existed since Izuku was eight years old was that they'd share how their days had been, with Inko starting the process, and Izuku ending it. Sometimes he wondered how it'd be if his dad was around, but that was something that could never be... the man had died shortly before Izuku was born, so he'd never know what life could've been like if Hisashi was alive.

That was okay, though. Izuku was the man of the house, and he could take care of Inko where Hisashi couldn't. He could clean the house and make her tea when she got home, and he could listen to her worries and calm her down when she started to panic, and he could support her in every way he knew how to. She did more than that for him, of course, but he was still young. He could catch up more as he got older, and once he was a hero, he could give her the comfortable lifestyle that she deserved...

"-and then he said, 'Of course, that makes sense. I've heard that the most beautiful flowers grow in the desert,' and she ate it right up! Mind you, this was occurring all throughout the day- he'd just drop by while we were in the middle of discussing her contracts and various affairs, and drop a one-liner before vanishing again! I swear, that man has no lack of confidence-"

...even if she didn't want him to be a hero. She wanted him to have a job like hers- she worked as a lawyer in a hero agency, and had won a surprising amount of cases over the past few years, with her specialty being domestic issues- and although she never directly pushed him or flat out ordered him to go for it, she did give him enough hints to figure it out. Of course, she was also fine with him showing interest in other careers as well, as long as they weren't related to fighting of any kind.

Anything that had him performing physical labor or getting into danger of any kind wasn't a good job for him, apparently. After all, he was quirkless, and quirkless people were at great risk for simply existing. His mother knew the numbers, and had taught him to protect himself by outsmarting everyone else, so he'd have a better chance at surviving. Never fighting, never letting his fist connect with another being's flesh, but letting others fight for him.

She was incredibly clever for teaching him like this, and it might've actually worked. If there had only been people his age willing to fight for him, then he would've likely abandoned his dreams of heroism and moved on to new ones, but that path just wasn't meant to be. It certainly didn't help Inko's argument that his entire family worked in heroics in some manner either, including her...

Well, he'd just have to fight for it, then. He'd train his brain by analyzing all the quirks he could see, and he'd study hard enough to get into Yuuei like they all did, and then he'd become a hero.

That was the plan, at least.

It was six in the morning.

At twelve years old, Izuku pulled his first all-nighter to make his science project absolutely perfect, tweaking the finer details to ever-so-subtly flatter his teacher's point of view. He'd found that his teachers gave him better grades if he did so, which was stupid, very stupid, but it worked out well for him. There was also the added benefit of them protecting him from his bullies, meaning that he'd have a peaceful lunch sometimes, and that his notes got torn up or blasted to bits much less often.

Of course, they weren't supposed to allow that in the first place, but he was quirkless. Nobody cared about quirkless people unless they made themselves tremendously useful, and so, that was what Izuku was doing. He was weak, and the rest of the world was strong, so he needed to get protection from stronger beings in order to survive. It was a symbiotic relationship, as were many survival-based relationships in the wild.

Izuku was going to survive. He was not going to be pushed to the bottom of the pile, and left there to rot. He was weak at this time, but he'd grow stronger by leeching the power from others, bit by tiny bit. This project on the genetic inheritance of quirks was just one strand of his ever-growing web, upon which he sat and waited to catch his prey. They were strong, and he was weak... but no matter how strong a person is, they can still be controlled.

Tsuburame-sensei would love this project. Izuku had used the man's favorite science books and journals as his references, and even if there were incorrect pieces of information in them, he didn't care. He knew what the right information was, and the man wouldn't care either way, because one of his students was 'cultured' enough to read the same things he did. He'd be sure to give the greenette extra marks for good taste, even if the boy was quirkless, because he was the only one of all these other snot-nosed brats to appreciate him. And thus, the man would be caught within his web, with every additional word spoken and assignment turned in being another strand to entangle him...

'Okaaay, time to stop sounding like a Machiavellian sociopath. Chill out Izuku, you're fine. Check the time now, see if you have enough time to sleep before school.'

Izuku lightly slapped his cheeks, gave himself a mental pep talk, and glanced towards the clock. To his mild dismay, he noted that he didn't have any time to sleep, and that he'd have to truly go two full days without sleep. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad though? He didn't feel physically tired at all, just the emotional exhaustion he usually felt these days, so he might be fine.

Taking a deep breath, the greenette stood up from his desk and began to prepare for the day ahead, his body lightly vibrating with anxious energy.

Standing on the school roof, Izuku stared down at the ground below, through the metal mesh of the chain link fence around it. He'd been there for hours, dazed after the events of the day, and it was getting late. Why hadn't anyone come to tell him to go home? It wasn't like he was hiding or anything- he could be seen by literally anyone who wandered by the front of the school- but nobody had looked up to see him yet.

Nor had they responded to his shouting, waving, or other attempts to grab attention. He was probably too quiet, being up here and not having a particularly strong voice, but he would've thought that someone would've noticed him by now. Instead, he'd been stuck up here since school let out, because Kacchan and his lackeys had locked the door on their way down.

He was going to have to climb down now, if he wanted to get home before his mom did. That was over two stories of climbing, with no fire escapes to rely on. If he fell and got hurt, or even died, they'd probably think it was a suicide. Over eighty percent of quirkless people died before reaching their thirties, and of that eighty percent, forty-two percent of those deaths were due to suicide. Apparently being repeatedly told that they were useless really wore down on their psyches.

If it had been six weeks ago, he would've included himself among them. But see, he wasn't quirkless. Or maybe he was, and his body was just very weird, but he could definitely do something that nobody else could. Even though he had the extra toe joint, he had found his kosei, his individuality...

Midoriya Izuku could live a completely normal life without needing to sleep. Ever.

That was it. Izuku could forego sleep without any noticeable differences to his physical or mental health. After pulling several all-nighters in a row and experiencing zero negative effects, he'd given in to his curiosity and had decided to stay up for as long as he possibly could before passing out. To pass the nighttime, he'd browse the internet and analyze whatever caught his interest, and that was that. It'd been six weeks since he'd begun, and he hadn't experienced any hallucinations or mood swings or anything else that was supposed to come with lack of sleep, so he definitely had something special.

The only thing that made him question whether or not it was a quirk was the fact that his x-ray had shown that he had the extra toe joint that quirkless people had. So, was he quirkless, or was he just weird? He didn't know. All he knew was that he didn't belong in any category now, and it hurt, but it was better than truly being powerless.

As greenette pushed his thoughts on his maybe-a-quirk to the back of his mind, he began contemplating whether he wanted to throw his backpack over the top or if he wanted to climb down with it on his back. It would probably be safer to climb down without it, but it was a limited edition All Might backpack from the last Hero Con, so it was still pretty new...

Making the decision that he was willing to die for his merch, Izuku approached the fence and began to climb, his backpack firmly hanging from his shoulders.

From what he'd heard about physical activities that have some form of inherent risk, it was important for the person performing those activities to be confident in their movements. Uncle Shouta specifically had mentioned that being overly anxious negatively impacted a person's physical capabilities, making them more rigid and shaky, and more likely to make a mistake. Izuku was always anxious, always, so he couldn't exactly go all zen and clear his mind for this admittedly very dangerous activity, but the fact that he was always afraid in some form also meant that he was more used to it. So, while he couldn't completely relax, he could work with his fear rather than letting it hinder him.

As Izuku slowly climbed down the other side of the fence, and rested a foot on the concrete edge of the building that dropped off to poorly-kept brick walls and wide window frames, he was not confident in his ability to climb down safely. He was, however, confident in his ability to pretend that he was confident in his own ability, so his movements weren't overly tense. This was a trick he often used to get around his anxiety, it having been recommended to him on a hero forum one time, and it worked out alright. Hey, as long as he kept it up, he might actually be able to get down the side of the building without dying!

And then, because Murphy's Law was a dick, Izuku slipped.

A terrified squeak escaped the greenette's lips as he scrambled for something to hold onto, the weight of his backpack pulling his upper body away from the wall and thus away from anything he could hold onto. He couldn't push off with his legs because then he'd be pushed even further away from the wall, but he couldn't get closer no matter what he did, so he had to do something-

He managed to maneuver his arms in front of and behind his head, before landing harshly on his back, a sharp pain zinging up his spine upon impact. With a quiet scream muffled by the arm in front of his face, the greenette rolled over onto his side in an instinctive retreat from the highly unpleasant sensation, and a hand went down to feel his behind. His tailbone hurt like a bitch- it could very well be broken, fuck- but he was hoping that it was just bruised. Of course, he had no way of knowing whether it was broken or bruised, so feeling it was pretty much a useless and stupid action... oh, whatever!

Izuku whispered profanities under his breath in an ever-flowing chain of creativity that would impress even Kacchan, as he laid on the ground for several minutes, trying to muster up the willpower to move.

'It's only pain... It's only pain... I can do this... It's only pain... I can get up, and I can stop being a useless fucking meat sack on the ground, and I can get home... It's only pain, I experience the exact same thing almost every day... Oh fuck, tomorrow's gonna be hell.'

As a streetlight turned on, and the sun began to set, Izuku finally pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He shouldered most of his backpack's weight on his upper back, wanting to avoid any of it resting on his tailbone, and slowly got into a standing position.

Now, was it more important for him to not be late, or did he want to be careful not to further aggravate what could be a broken tailbone? If he was late, he'd have to hide his pain and think of an excuse at the same time as to why he'd have gone out in his school uniform and his backpack, and his Mom would go all lawyer on him. However, if he was on time, he'd risk further injury and maybe further complications...

'Oh, fuck it. What are the odds that I'll get bone marrow in my blood and die of a heart attack at twelve years old? Fuck it. I'll survive just fine. I always do.'

Taking a deep breath, the greenette began to run home, with tears flowing down his cheeks the whole way.

He arrived half an hour before his mother did, and by the time she walked through the door, Izuku had found one of those cushions for pregnant women that were meant to keep their tailbones from touching their seats. Or were they meant for babies, to help them sit up? He didn't know. Either way, Izuku was able to sit on it at his desk without much trouble, so it worked for what he wanted it to. He did have to hide the gaudy yellow color of it with a blanket though, because he was sure that Inko would recognize it the second she saw it, and he didn't want to answer any questions.

After the two Midoriyas went through their evening routine and ate dinner, Izuku retreated to his room, and climbed into bed. He wanted to sleep to avoid the pain, but also because he didn't think he'd done a good job pretending that he was fine, so his Mom was likely to check in on him. If she caught him awake at ass o'clock in the morning, she'd definitely be upset, and he couldn't tell her that he had a quirk for not needing sleep. There was hard evidence that he didn't and never would have a quirk, so she wouldn't believe him, and nobody else would either...

Pulling his blankets over his shoulders, carefully curled up on his side to avoid aggravating his injury of unknown extent, Izuku closed his eyes. He'd just... continue on with his life, like he always did, once the morning came. Nothing would change, and he'd be fine again, like he always was.

Nothing would change... for now.

Chapter Text

When Izuku was still a toddler, before he was supposed to manifest his quirk, his Mama's friends would hang out at their apartment more than anywhere else. His memories of that time were full of laughter and stories, and he could even remember seeing the five of them sitting around a table with lots of books and papers one time, while he sat nearby and watched cartoons. They'd been studying for an exam of some kind, and even though they were in different classes- his Mama was in Management, while the others were in Heroics- they'd still hung out together rather than separately.

They were close enough that the greenette had been raised with the 'Fearsome Foursome of Yuuei High' as his aunt and uncles, and he loved them as much as he loved his Mama.

Izuku loved his Uncle Shouta's dry humor, and the crazy smiles he'd sport when he got particularly invested in something, and the way he'd bring in stray cats when it was raining sometimes. He loved his Uncle Hizashi's open heart, and the things he'd teach him when it was just the two of them, and the way he'd sing softly when he thought nobody else was around. He loved his Uncle Tensei's smile, and the silly pranks he'd play on the others when they were feeling down, and the way he'd carry him when they were outside and there was lots of space to run around. He loved his Auntie Nemuri's sassy nature, and the gossip she'd share about the other kids at Yuuei, and the way she'd teach him how to apply makeup 'so sharp it could kill a man' when she had the time to.

He loved them, just as much as he loved his Mama's hugs and the support she'd give them when they needed or even just wanted it, and the way she'd bring everyone together with a smile when times got rough. He loved them, and he loved her, and that's why it hurt so much when things began to fall apart.

When Izuku was four years old, and all the other kids had manifested their quirks but he hadn't, he'd been taken to a quirk specialist to figure out why. The boy was filled with restless energy the whole time, wanting to get back home to hear more stories and help his Uncle Tensei while he was recovering from a broken arm, but that restlessness was replaced with an unnatural coldness by the end of the appointment. He'd gotten an x-ray done- the first of many tests they'd put him through- and the results had damned him.

The greenette was carried home by a silent, shaking Inko, and he looked to her for support when his dreams began to take damage. He didn't want her to apologize like that- like there was no hope for him, or like she was relieved- and he didn't want her to tell the rest of his family that she didn't want him to be a hero anymore. When he was tucked into his bed that night, tears still streaming sluggishly down his cheeks, he didn't want to hear her crying in the arms of her friends.

After that day, she began to guide him away from being a hero, pulling him left when he wanted to go right. His Auntie Nemuri would help her, distracting him with shiny new things like the latest fashion trends and shopping trips and new makeup styles, because his Mama had asked her to. His Uncle Tensei would also help her, showing him safer options by explaining how they contributed to society and by introducing him to new people to talk to, because he'd gotten injured in the line of duty and he wanted him to be safe like his Mama did. Meanwhile, his Uncle Shouta had flat out refused to dissuade him, and his Uncle Hizashi had never really acted one way or the other.

With only one of his five family members openly against it, Izuku was slowly swayed towards a safer dream, but it didn't work out. He was getting hurt even when he was being safe, because the other kids were being mean to him, even though he hadn't changed. He was being treated like a stupid clutz, because they didn't want to see that he could do the same things they could, even though he had some of the highest grades in his class. He was being defined as less than human, because he didn't manifest some random special ability, even though it was entirely out of his control.

They were wrong. His family wasn't trying to be mean, but they were wrong, so why should he let them keep him from what he wanted? He wasn't going to give up his dreams of being a hero; not now. Not when he knew that because they were wrong, there was still a chance that he could do it.

There was still a chance. Why wouldn't they see it?

When Izuku was six years old, having held onto his dreams with the fierce protection a dragon would display over its hoard, his Mama realized that he wouldn't be so easily distracted anymore. He knew that she realized it then because he heard her talking with Auntie Nemuri about it, about wanting to keep him away from influences that would encourage him, about how they wouldn't be able to hang out as often anymore. He heard her ask his Auntie Nemuri to help keep the others away from him, just until he lost interest in being a hero and decided to be something else...

Over the course of a year, his Mama had slowly distanced herself from the rest of her friends to the point that they didn't hang out anymore, and Izuku would only see them on the news. He'd still hear them from time to time over the phone, but even that began to occur less often, until it was only Inko and Izuku.

Izuku was still young, at eight years old, but he was smart enough to know that he couldn't say anything. He knew that if he did, his Mama would take away even more than she had already, and he didn't have much left. The next things to go would be his collection of hero merch- the presents that his Aunt and Uncles had given him over the years- and he didn't want to lose that too. He didn't want to lose them... he loved them...

'Mama, let them come back soon...'

When Izuku was eight years old, a new routine had settled within the home of the Midoriyas.

In the mornings, his Mom would make breakfast and leave for work, and he'd get up a while later for school. He'd go to school, get knocked around, and take care of his injuries when he got home. Then he'd practice his analysis and study for heroics, while his Mom wasn't around, and he'd grab himself a small snack when dinnertime came around. He'd switch over to doing his homework at the same time, and a few hours later his Mom would arrive home, and he'd make her a cup of tea. They'd share their days with each other, Izuku keeping his hero-related activities to himself, and then they'd have dinner together. The two would do the dishes after that, and go to sleep, and then it'd all repeat the next day.

It was so quiet, and cold, and lonely...

He didn't like it, but he couldn't do anything about it either. Nobody gave the quirkless boy the time of day, pushing him aside in favor of more important things, and his family was no different. They were all busy saving people's lives in their own ways, whilst denying him the right to do the same, and he couldn't change it. He had nothing to use as leverage, no handholds available to grasp and pull himself upwards with; there was nothing. There was nothing. There was nothing.

By the time Izuku had turned ten years old, the weight of the world already rested upon his shoulders. He carried the fear of losing the things he had left in the back of his mind. He carried the stress of supporting a mother who wouldn't do the same for him in dark circles beneath his eyes and a resentful heart. He carried the denial of his dreams in starburst burns and sweaty clothes and tear-stained pillows. Izuku was always anxious, always afraid, always bent over backwards beneath the weight that dragged him towards the center of the earth.

As time went on, and the weight only grew, he couldn't help but wonder when he was finally going to break.

It was becoming a thing.

Izuku had gotten locked on the roof again, after he'd finally recovered from that bruised tailbone- he figured out that it was only bruised by how long it'd taken to heal- and again he'd been there for hours before a passing hero helped him down. Then he'd gotten locked up there barely a week later, and after that it'd been the very next day, and Izuku was beginning to see a pattern forming. It was a pattern he very much didn't like, but it was there.

He was gonna be locked on the roof after school for eternity, and he'd keep getting stuck up there, unless he learned to climb down on his own when it happened. It would only stop when he proved that it didn't affect him anymore, and he could never do so with words or feelings, so he'd have to prove it through action instead.

He had to learn how to scale buildings.

Thus, the boy found himself outside in the middle of the night, lurking by the wall of the apartment complex that had the least amount of security on it. Just in case he'd missed something though, he was wearing a nondescript black hoodie and some contouring makeup to alter his features, so he wouldn't be easily recognized. He didn't want this to get back to his Mom for multiple reasons; the primary reason being that it would stress her out unnecessarily, but the secondary reason being that she'd surely put a stop to it if she heard what he was doing.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku looked down to his phone and watched the freerunning tutorial video again, before getting to work.

The first thing he figured he had to learn was how to land safely, in case he fell again, because that tailbone bruise wasn't fun. According to this video and many others like it, that meant learning how to roll over his shoulders, so the force of his impact with the ground was evenly distributed throughout his body. An even distribution meant that he'd be far less likely to take actual damage, so as long as he kept moving forward, he could roll out the landing safely.

For roughly an hour, the greenette practiced rolling over his shoulders until he felt that he had it down pat, and his shoulderblades were aching from the repeated impacts. He then checked the time on his phone- three in the morning- and figured that he had two more hours to work with. His mother tended to wake up at five-thirty each morning, and he wanted to have extra time so he wouldn't rush and make mistakes while sneaking back in, so he was giving himself half an hour as a buffer.

He'd planned, and planned, and planned this out thoroughly. As Uncle Hizashi said, he could never have too many options available to him, and while he'd been talking about his classes and career choices, it was still applicable. It was also one of Murphy's Laws of Combat- no plan survives contact with the enemy- and despite the fact that those were supposed to be entertaining more than educational, he still figured...

'It's better to be safe than sorry.'

Thus, Izuku spent two more hours on learning how to identify stable handholds and footholds, and how to efficiently maneuver around his environment. When five o'clock eventually rolled around, he pocketed his phone and made his way back into the apartment, stepping over the creaky floorboards as quietly as possible. It took him twenty minutes to make it into his room due to the excess care he'd taken, but it worked out, as he heard his Mom shuffling down the hallway just fifteen minutes later.

As Izuku pondered his success, he decided that for the near future, he'd continue sneaking out to practice for the same amount of time. Once he got faster about sneaking in and out of the apartment, he'd start practicing a bit longer, but for now he was still too slow about it. Maybe if he was particularly sneaky about it, he could even get one of his Uncles' numbers from his mom's phone and call-

"Izuku? Did you fall asleep with your light on again?"

With a fresh burst of nervous energy, the greenette darted over to his desk and sat down; opening a book, closing his eyes, and smushing his sweaty cheeks into the pages hard enough to get some red marks going. Not a moment later, his bedroom door opened, and quiet footsteps approached him from behind and to the left.

The light touch of Inko's fingers brushed his messy bangs away from his face, and Izuku listened to the fond sigh that followed.

"I should have known you'd study yourself to sleep," Inko murmured to herself, not for him to hear. "Keep up the good work, Izu, and don't make the same mistakes we did."

Soft lips kissed his brow, then the light turned off, and then the door closed. Izuku listened in silence for half an hour as his mother made them breakfast and headed out for work, before he sat up again and closed the book, threads of guilt and happiness and resentment intertwining in his chest. He knew that it'd hurt her if she found out he was doing dangerous things behind her back, but he was still happy to receive her praise...

With a quiet sigh, the greenette opened his eyes and stared at his room, colored a cold greyscale without the desk lamp giving it warmth.

'I'm sorry Mom, but I'm going to let you down. I know you hate the thought of me in danger, and I know you pushed your high school friends away to keep me from getting inspired by them, but I'm still going to be a hero.'

He stood up and made his way over to the window, to watch the slim figure of Midoriya Inko turn the corner on her journey to the agency. The sun was just peeking up over the horizon, lighting the path before her, and he knew that she was going to hand in a letter of resignation today. She was going to be taking a job in a civilian office soon, to further discourage his focus on heroism... too little, though, too little in the face of what he knew.

'I wish you wouldn't try so hard to stop me, Mom. I wish I could talk about my dreams without being discouraged or put down by everyone. I wish you knew how much it hurts; that the world doesn't believe in me, that you don't believe in me, that you told our family not to believe in me either.'

Turning away from the window, Izuku left his room and made his way to the kitchen, where the breakfast his mother had made was just beginning to cool down in the fridge. He took it out, and sat down at the table, eating the semi-cold food to the steady ticking of the clock on the wall.

'I wish you knew that I understand hatred now, and how even though I love you, you're one of the biggest reasons for it.'

Once his breakfast had been completely eaten, the greenette took his plate to the sink and rinsed it off, before setting it down and leaving it to soak. He then quietly made his way back to his bedroom, and looked at the walls that were bare of posters, at the shelves that held books and nothing more. If he wanted to look at his hero merch, he'd have to go into his closet and dig out the box in the back of it...

He settled for looking at his All Might backpack, which had been through a lot with him already, and which would go through even more with him. It was a sturdy piece, built to last, and it was just a little too big for him at his current height of a hundred and thirty-seven centimeters. He was still growing, through, and eventually it would fit. Maybe by the time it did, he'd have finally convinced his Mom that he could be a hero?

Ha, not likely.

Eventually, Izuku stopped staring at his backpack and began to gather his homework from his desk, slipping the two copies into separate folders. One copy was going to be in pieces by the time he entered the classroom, one way or another, but if he was quick then he'd be able to pass in the second copy. Then he'd have to outrun Katsuki for the rest of the day, and let himself get locked up onto the school roof as punishment for doing so... and then he'd have to climb down again, and get home before his Mom did, and once she was asleep he'd finally be able to relax again.

As the sun shone brightly outside his window, and color returned to his room, Izuku made his way out of the apartment. He bobbed his head to the music playing on his Uncle Hizashi's radio station- currently a motivational song about some guy getting back up every time he's knocked down- and made his way to school. It was going to be another bad day, but that was okay- once he experienced enough bad days, they'd become okay days by being his average, and then the days with even minor improvements would be good days.

It was going to be okay, eventually. It was going to be okay.

Maybe someday he'd even believe it.

Chapter Text

"Hey, kid, get down from there. This isn't a jungle gym."

Izuku turned towards the source of the command, and saw a fairly average-looking police officer approaching the wall beneath him. The camera on his forehead was just good enough to catch the quiet expletive that escaped his lips... It hadn't even been ten minutes, and he was already busted? He just wanted a good view of the moonlit hero skirmish going on below him, was that too much to ask?

"Alright," the greenette in the black hoodie said, closing his latest hero analysis notebook mid-entry and shoving it into his backpack, "I'll be right down."

Once everything was secure, he glanced around quickly, pretending that he was having trouble with the zipper of his backpack to do so without arousing suspicion. There was currently only that one officer within range, but he knew that others would be around the area for the aftermath of the fight going on below. If he went with this one, he'd probably end up in the middle of them, being questioned for being so suspicious, and that couldn't happen. His Mom was a fantastic lawyer, certainly, but he didn't want to have her fighting for him before he'd even turned fourteen.

Thus, the very instant his backpack was securely hanging from both shoulders, Izuku turned and booked it in the opposite direction of the police officer.

"What the- Hey!"

Izuku sprinted for the edge of the rooftop, grateful that the buildings of Musutafu weren't too far apart due to the high population density of the area, and cleared the two meter gap without trouble. The officer he'd left behind groaned and started talking into his radio, the last thing the greenette heard being a brief description of himself and the fact that he was using the rooftops to maneuver, before he left earshot.

'Ah, yes, I was looking forward to being outed so quickly. The buildings in this area are so tall that I can't just use a fire escape to climb down either, so I'll probably have to use a roof access door and run down the stairs and hope that nobody stops me on the way. Or if I run enough buildings, I could get to an area where they start to get closer to the ground, and then I could climb down a fire escape...

Mumbling potential escape plans beneath his breath- he'd have to edit those out of the video later, if he even wanted to post this meagre amount of footage in the first place- Izuku made his way towards the center of town, where a shopping complex was being fixed up from a recent villain attack. The part of the building where reconstruction was happening had been cordoned off, but the rest of the mall was still open for customers to shop during all hours, so he was going to just slip through that way. It would be easy to get lost in the crowds there, and he had his makeup in full contour mode as he usually did when he was running around places he shouldn't be, so he wouldn't be identified easily.

As the greenette passed over an alleyway in the jump from one building to another, he stopped muttering, and smiled softly into the breeze.

It was such a beautiful night, tonight. The sky was clear, and even though he was in the middle of the city, he could still see the stars with vivid clarity. This may or may not have been because of the power outage caused by the fight he was previously trying to record, but that just made it even more enjoyable- it was a rare sight, what with all the light pollution in the area, so it was special...

Reaching the shopping complex, Izuku jogged to the construction side of the building where he could climb down most safely, and proceeded to do so. He also checked the time on his way down- it was three fifty-seven, so he had about forty minutes left to mess around before he had to get on a train home- and landed on the ground at approximately three fifty-eight. It was actually a perfect time to grab a snack, or maybe a full meal.

Due to the fact that the greenette didn't need to sleep, he actually ate four meals a day, instead of the three that people normally did. He also snacked a lot, and would still feel hungry afterwards sometimes, so he thought that it was related to his quirk in some way. His mother, meanwhile, just thought he was a growing boy, and gave him an allowance for morning and afternoon snacks. He planned to try sleeping nights again for a week and seeing if his eating habits changed at all though, in order to find out for sure if his increased needs for food were related to his quirk or not.

'Hmm... I think I'll grab a full meal tonight. Mom looked really tired when she got home, so breakfast later probably won't be the largest or the most filling...'

Heading towards the food court, which was decorated in brightly colored tables and chairs and neon lights, Izuku made a quick stop in the bathrooms on the way. There, he took off his black hoodie and turned it inside out, revealing a galaxy pattern with green and blue and purple clouds of stardust. He also washed off his makeup (except for the sharp eyeliner he liked a little too much to lose) and removed his camera, sliding the latter into the now-inside pocket of the reversible hoodie, before slipping his hands in the outside hoodie pocket and leaving the restroom.

Disguised mostly as himself, the greenette made his way over to the serving booths of the food court, and ordered katsudon. He deserved a treat like this every so often, right? Just to begin making up for all the shit in his life? Yeah, he fucking did. 'Just try and stop me, I'll knock your head clean off your-'

"Uh... you do realize that there's a curfew for minors in this area, right? The 'Match Made In Hell' duo is still on the loose, and the heroes don't want kids to be running around during their prime time of action. Go home, please."

Izuku blinked placidly at the man behind the counter, screaming internally, and turned around without a single word. Then, he walked across the food court to a booth that he knew was owned by a leading competitor of the one he'd gone to, and ordered his katsudon there.

'Okay, so I won't get physically violent with you, but I'll get... emotionally violent? You've just temporarily lost a customer for your brand tonight, how do you feel? You probably don't care, really, but I like feeling like I've done something of some relevance in the life of someone else, even if it's something petty like this. Plus you're probably a nice person, you seem to maybe care about my well-being, so I don't want to punch you. I don't want to punch anyone, really. I just think violent thoughts because it's a nice stress-reliever to imagine destroying things. Kinda weird how Kacchan is so stressed all the time though, considering he can actually destroy things whenever he wants to. I wonder if...'

As Izuku's katsudon was delivered hot, with warm steam rising from the surface and brushing against his cold cheeks, he thanked the booth employee and wandered over to one of the blue tables in the middle of the food court. There were a few other customers around, all a respectable distance away from one another, but nobody particularly interesting enough to catch his eye. Thus, as he ate, he turned his gaze upwards to the skylights in the ceiling.

Due to the power outage going on and off throughout the city, the lights in the shopping complex were dimmer than usual, as it ran on its backup generators. This meant that he could actually see the stars through the glass, though he had to squint to do so.

'Mmm... I can't see Polaris from in here, but I think that's the scoop of Ursa Major... so, if I follow Merak and Dubhe, it should be to my right. Keeping that in mind, I'll have to go left past the restrooms again, and either through the reconstruction zone or around it, to get to the train station. Of course, southeast is where the fight I'd gotten chased away from was, so I should curve a bit southwest to avoid any remnant police looking for me...'

As Izuku finished his meal and disposed of the tray and utensils, he pulled his hood up over his hair again, and set out at a brisk walk. Instead of going back through the reconstruction zone, he went around it on its right side, and turned his gaze to the sky the second he ended up outdoors. It probably would've been better for his identity if he kept his head down, but he just couldn't keep those stars out of his eyes... they were too beautiful, and too ignored by the vast majority of people. How could humanity have forgotten about space?

If he hadn't already been determined to be a hero, then he might've wanted to be an astrologer, though that career wouldn't have lasted long. There wasn't any demand for astrologers these days, so once he tried that and got laid off or never even got hired in the first place, he probably would've turned to quirk science. He loved quirks as much as he loved space though, so it wouldn't be a huge loss.

But no, no, Izuku wasn't going to be a scientist. It interested him, sure, but his heart called out for the heroism he'd been exposed to in his youth. He wanted to save people, like his Uncles and his Aunt did, like All Might and Fatgum and Gunhead did. Losing the material possessions he had related to the subject didn't mean he was going to lose his drive, no...

With stars in his eyes and dreams in his heart, Midoriya Izuku made his way home, and snuck back into bed before his mother woke up for the day.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 3:57am:

Hey guys? Y'know how the advancement of technology and society as a whole stagnated when quirks first started appearing?

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:58am:

unusual conversation starter there

but yeah

what about it

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:07am:

Well, I was just out running again, getting some footage for some new videos, and fucking space. Space exists, and it's this whole massive unexplored area with what's left of our space stations and satellites and drones from a couple centuries ago up there, and the only thing we do with it is occasionally send up some new satellites when the old ones get too trashed to function anymore. We don't look at the sky anymore. We don't dream of going beyond our solar system, and we don't think about what it'd be like to visit other planets. There are so many stars down here on earth- quirks, heroes, vigilantes, villains- that we've become blinded to our past aspirations. Why? How could we forget about our desires to grasp what is just out of our reach?

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:10am:

welp, I sure walked into something here

how ya doing Aphelion?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:10am:

Ksjcjsmdks

Fine

Sorry

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:11am:

no, don't worry about it, keep going

I like to hang out on the roof sometimes and stare at the night sky, and I've had a few thoughts about similar things

so I'm interested, keep going.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:16am:

Sorry.

It's just... confusing.

We've had centuries to get used to quirks, but we're in the same places we've been in from the start. Where did all of that drive go? Obviously it went into quirks for the first few decades, but we know so much about them that by now you'd expect us to have balanced out again. So what's keeping us here? Has the whole heroes and villains thing been such a focal point of our current society that we can't move beyond it? We should've gotten used to it by now, but it's such a strong focus that everything always somehow circles back around to it.

Why can't we move forward?

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 4:18am:

Ah, I do so appreciate knowing that young minds such as yours are asking these kinds of questions unprompted.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:19am:

oh shit you got grampy cryptid to notice you

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:19am:

ÓoÒ

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:19am:

I'm not sure whether to start clapping or to go back to lurking

I think I'll go back to lurking.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:20am:

same

i'm just gonna sit here and watch this conversation unfold

also 420 blaze it

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 4:21am:

You flatter me, children. I am surely not so impressive as to induce such a reaction by my mere presence, but I appreciate the thought all the same.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:24am:

Ahh, no, you're great actually! Your theories are always so engaging and thought-provoking! Like the one about what society would be like if a single Symbol of Peace never arose and All Might had just been an ordinary hero, and the one about how society might've actually been so simultaneously stagnated and chaotic at the first appearance of quirks! I wish we actually knew what the times were like back then instead of having our history books gloss over the details, but I feel like your theory is pretty close to what it could've been!

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 4:26am:

Thank you, it does my old ego good to know that people think so highly of my ideas. However, we are here to discuss your ideas, not mine, so please... continue. Why is it that you believe our world has stagnated?

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:30am:

aphelion is typing a lot

aren't they

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:32am:

don't worry, you get used to it after the first six weeks.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:47am:

Well, um, my first thought is that we're so focused on heroes and villains that we've forgotten about everything else. Our world is like that of a 20th or 21st century comic book, so there's technically a precedent for how it should be, and it's one that was widely loved by the people of those times. So as quirks began to show up and chaos broke out, the governments of the world probably looked to this fictional precedent and developed new laws and such based upon those in the comic books. Then as time went on, laws were added and revised as real-world problems arose, and the hero profession rose at the same time. This is all pretty easy to figure, but as for why things are still the way they are?

I think that it has to do with the media and the governments again. They want to focus on the good things, so we don't see or really notice the bad things. For example, racism- a problem that was surprisingly rampant in the 20th and 21st centuries- faded away once mutant quirks became the norm. Like, it's impossible to discriminate based on skin color when there are people with literally every color of the rainbow on them or around them, so the end of racism was widely celebrated once society settled down into the heroes and villains mindset. However, we don't hear about the quirk discrimination that's taken its place all that much, because society is still so focused on heroes and villains.

What once was necessary for stability has become the focal point of the country, if not the entire world, and people are judged by their quirks and how useful those quirks would be in the field of heroics alone. And if you have no quirk, then you're seen as worthless, when the only difference between you and most other people is that you just can't do something powerfully unique. With the way the world is now, all men are not truly created equal, even though we all came from the same starting point and are all going to have the same ending points. And the world is so focused on covering that up, that we can't move forward, because we're stopping everything that dares to step outside of our expectations.

So, I think it's a problem that began with the government, but was perpetuated by the people until it got to this point. Social stigmas, the expectations of the masses, judgement of usefulness based upon things that are out of the individual's control... and there are probably a ton more details contributing to stagnation that I'm not aware of, because I have no idea how the world is even functioning right now.

I just want us to figure this out as a species, to take off our rose-tinted glasses and see what we're doing to ourselves, before it's too late. I want us to set aside our differences and look to the stars again, reach for things beyond our collective understanding again. We need to unpack all those little boxes we've sorted ourselves into and figure things out in new ways that don't cause such pain and misfortune to the masses...

Anyways, um, sorry for rambling so much. Wow, I was only asked about stagnation and off I went. Um. Any thoughts? Comments? Rotten fruit you wish to throw in my general direction? Let me grab my poncho-

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:52am:

...

holy shit, my dude.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:53am:

i'm tempted to get the fruit

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:54am:

hey, don't throw fruit at my conspiracy bro.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:55am:

i'm getting the fruit

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 4:56am:

Fascinating... You have a remarkable mind, young Aphelion. Do continue to nurture it.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 4:57am:

i'm putting away the fruit

they or he or whatever pronouns they use have been blessed by grampy cryptid

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:58am:

0/////0

Thank you so much, I didn't expect you to like it!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 4:59am:

bitch, speak up more, you know we love you here.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 5:00am:

>///<

Oh wait I've gotta go now, my guardian is gonna wake up soon. Cya later guys!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 5:01am:

same, cya later.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 5:02am:

I do hope we may have conversations of a similar caliber in the future.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 5:03am:

later losers

Chapter Text

"H-Hey guys, it's AlexandriteAphelion, back with another hero analysis video! To start things out, I'd like to give a shout out to the lovely people on HoloGraphic who gave me the heads up on the fight we're all about to see! I'm not sure where or how you got this information, and I'm not going to ask, but I love you all and thanks for sharing it with me!"

Izuku adjusted the plain black mask on his face, which he planned on eventually decorating with glow in the dark paint galaxies, and took a chilly breath filled with anticipation for what he was about to see. His camera- an efficient little thing with surprisingly good visual quality for its price- was strapped securely to his forehead over the mask, where it had both the best view to capture what he saw and the least likely chance of taking damage if he had to run. He had considered strapping it to his chest when he first started up his channel, but sometimes his torso scraped against the walls he was climbing, and he didn't want to risk losing any nights of footage because he'd had to make a hasty escape.

"Tonight, the notorious villain duo known as 'A Match Made In Hell' is supposed to attack the central Yavin Station, with the goal of disrupting subway and train travel for the majority of Japan. This is going to be the biggest event I've ever observed thus far, so I expect either a higher number of low-ranking heroes or a more compact team of high-ranking heroes to show up... Given how long this couple has been paving a path of destruction through, the latter is more likely, and given the fact that this attack is occurring during the nighttime, the selection of heroes has been narrowed down significantly."

The slightly-shivering greenette was currently located on a high rooftop overlooking the area; strategically chosen for its height and location. It wasn't the tallest building around Yavin Station, and it didn't have the best view either, so the heroes who attacked from above would be more likely to pass it over and choose others. In addition, this building was a residential one, so his presence would be overlooked as him being an occupant by any who saw him.

This was how Izuku usually approached his combat recordings, really, both in day and in night. As long as he looked and acted like he belonged wherever he was, and nobody had any reason to question that notion, people would be far less likely to approach him. That was one of the first lessons Inko had taught him, with the help of his Uncle Hizashi and Aunt Nemuri, and he remembered it more clearly than some others because it had been one of the last ones he'd had before Uncle Hizashi wasn't able to hang around anymore.

"The first variable I like to consider in my combat analyses is the setting; mainly the location and time at which the fight takes place. Here in Musutafu City, there are a lot of high-ranking heroes keeping the streets, and they all do so at different times of the day. Midnight, for example, is a well-known example of a frontline hero who works during the late evenings up until the time of her namesake, and for some additional time afterwards. Right now, it's getting close to her usual cutoff, so we might not see her in action today. However, this is also the prime hour for other heroes like Edgeshot and-"

The sound of heavy footsteps coming from behind the roof access door of the building caught Izuku's attention, and he stopped speaking immediately, knowing that he was going to add a voiceover to the video later on anyways. Additionally, he darted over to a ventilation block to hide himself from whoever was coming, not wanting to give up his key position for viewing Yavin Station. This was a fight that his viewers were looking forward to, especially his friends on the forum, so he couldn't let them down by missing it.

If the greenette just stayed still and quiet, then he'd be able to record the battle without drawing any attention to himself... Easy, right?

A sharp squeal pierced the night air, as the roof access door was pushed open, and the rough murmur of a familiar furious voice rumbled and grated against his ears.

"Your mother and I have had enough of you, brat. If you're just gonna be a fucking drain on our resources, then you're fucking gone. Go sit by the edge of the roof and silently wait there for me to finish my cigar. We'll get to your suicide once I'm good and fucking ready."

The body of Shinsou Hitoshi followed the commands that its master gave it, and with movements made jerky and uncoordinated by his resistance, made its way over to the edge of the rooftop. He had a wonderful view of Yavin Station from here, at the top of his apartment building, and he'd been planning on coming out to watch the fight that was going to take place there soon. Maybe he'd be able to see it before his father finished his cigar...

As his body collapsed into a limp seated position, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, this last hope was dashed as well. He couldn't see over the concrete wall while he was seated, so he wouldn't be able to see the fight that was going around HoloGraphic like the hot topic it was... he was going to die here.

But he didn't want to die.

Tears flowed down his tired face, as his eyes darted around in wild search for someone or something that could help him. His father's quirk controlled his target's bodies like they were his puppets, but left their mind unhindered, along with any body parts that he failed to give specific commands. His eyes were thus free to move at his will, but because he had been ordered to be silent, his vocal cords would produce no sound.

What could he do? He didn't want to die, but his father had much greater control over his quirk than he himself did, and won every battle of wills that they had. His mother was even more powerful, and could go so far as to turn his brainwashing against him, leaving him in an unpleasantly blank feedback loop of static for hours on end if she so wanted to. But he still had to try- if he didn't prove his worth, he'd be disposed of, just as he was about to be right now.

What did he do wrong? He'd done everything they asked of him, he'd used to love them and had even gotten some love back at times, he'd been just as rebellious as they allowed or wanted him to be... what had he done? Why was this happening? What did he do to deserve this?

The purple-haired teen shook with the effort he put forth into fighting his father's control, but it was useless. He couldn't do anything to save himself. All he could do was struggle helplessly, and hope that somebody else came along to save him. Was anybody nearby even awake at this time of night? It was close to three in the morning, and while it was his favorite time of night, he cried at the thought of dying in it before he even made it into high school.

As he kept fighting, kept searching for any sign of hope, his eyes met with a pair of brilliant green ones hidden in the shadows of a ventilation block... and that green briefly flashed red in the light of the explosion that took over Yavin Station in the distance.

Shinsou watched as his father and the masked stranger turned towards the flames, and continued watching as the stranger took off the camera attached to his forehead. The camera was then set up to continue recording the chaos occurring in the distance, and as soon as that was done, the stranger began to quietly sneak over to where he was sitting. Reddish-green eyes swept over his limp form, and gloved hands reached forward to roughly shake his shoulders, snapping him out from under his father's control.

'They must have been there a while... to have figured it out so quickly...'

Taking in an unsteady breath, Shinsou moved with the emotions rolling about inside him, surging forward to wrap his arms around the stranger's legs in gratitude. He couldn't say anything, lest his father hear them, but he could show his thanks this way. Hopefully they didn't have an aversion to touch or anything, because he didn't think he could let go right away.

"H-Hey, hey," the stranger muttered, their muffled but oddly familiar voice barely audible beneath the sirens closing in on Yavin Station, "it's alright, I'm not gonna let him get you again. If you can tell me anything about his quirk, it'd be really helpful."

He could do that. He could do that, right? The man had been just about to kill him, and that was a betrayal of far greater magnitude than sharing a little quirk information, so he had no reason to hold back. He could sing like a bird, if he wanted to. He could tip the scales in this stranger's- this hero's- favor, without the need to feel any form of remorse. He had no reason to hold back.

"His quirk is called A Leader's Command," Shinsou began, keeping his voice as quiet as he possibly could. "I-If you follow any of his movements or orders, then his quirk will be triggered. Like, if he punches you with his right fist and then you punch him back with your right fist, or if he tells you to hit him in the face and then you do. You'll be under his control then, and he'll be able to command you to physically do things with his voice or body, by saying or doing what he wants you to do."

The short stranger nodded, and their mask shifted as though they'd opened their mouth to speak, when the sound of metal scraping against concrete lightly coasted beneath the sirens in the distance. Shinsou watched as the stranger turned, and threw up their arms, just in time to save their head from being introduced to the rusted pipe in his father's hands. The collision of metal on flesh produced a sickening thud, and he heard a loud gasp of pain from the stranger above him, before realizing that he was still holding onto their legs.

He released them as though he'd been burned, and hurriedly scrambled back several meters, calling out once more, "Don't follow his lead!"

The next few minutes were a blur, as the stranger and his father fought.

Even to Shinsou's untrained eyes, he could tell that his savior wasn't experienced with combat at all, although they were very good at dodging. They had the same sort of skill that he did in that- honed from years of being a target in one way or another, 'nobody will save you so you have to save yourself-' but it was more developed than his own. He tried to imagine himself diving to the side and rolling out of that dodge in the same way they did, and he could only imagine himself landing ungracefully on his shoulder and his hip or on his stomach.

Still, for all their skill in agility and evasion, the green-eyed stranger was at a distinct disadvantage. His father had some measure of experience in fighting, and the pipe in his hand wasn't doing them any favors either, as they took several more hits than they could actually give.

It seemed they came to that same conclusion, as they called a short and stressed out command in his direction.

"Run!"

They mostly dodged another swing, his father's face flushed with irritation as he merely clipped their side, and Shinsou watched with wide eyes as they then took another hit to the shoulder in order to yell at him freely, "G-Get to one of the heroes down there!"

This person was more worried about him than they were about themself.

'Nobody ever came before... now...'

Another pained cry shocked the purple-haired teen into movement, and he ran towards the fire escape on the side of the building. It was rickety and old, but he'd used it many times before to sneak in and out of his room when he'd been locked in without food for too long, and he knew where to step safely. As the fight went on above him- his father cursing out the stranger and trying to provoke them into following his lead- he made his way to the streets below, and sprinted towards Yavin Station.

He wasn't going to abandon his savior, though. He was going to get a hero and return, and then he was going to thank them for stepping in where nobody else had, once his father had been subdued. He was going to get their name, get their number, and repay this debt as many times over as he could.

There- it was Midnight, overseeing the end of the Yavin Station fight, where the HellMatch duo had been subdued sometime during Shinsou's travel. He cried out to her, begging for help, and she answered the call. She followed him all the way back to his apartment building, and went up the fire escape ahead of him, as he panted from the exertion of his sprint.

She'd be able to help his hero, if he hadn't taken too long to bring her back here. He could trust one hero to save another. He could trust them...

"Wait, come back!"

Shinsou looked up at the startled cry from the R-rated hero, and saw the pink fog of her quirk rolling down the edges of the building. From that fog, he saw the dark silhouette of his savior leap from the edge of that building and climb up onto the next one over, and a realization came to him.

The stranger who'd saved him wasn't a hero. He should've realized that from the moment he saw them take that first hit, let alone the ones that followed. But, they weren't a vigilante either- otherwise they'd have still had better fighting skills. So, who were they? Who was the person who had stepped in to help? How could he thank them and repay his debt if he didn't even know their name?

As the pink fog began to dissipate, his savior long gone, Shinsou made his way up the fire escape to meet Midnight and his unconscious father.

He could begin to thank the short, masked stranger by making sure their unknown injuries were not gotten in vain; by leaving his parents behind and getting someplace safe. It would be difficult on him- some small part of him still wanted their approval, even if they'd been about to murder him just like that- but he could still do it. The heroes would be able to help him, where the police in the past had failed, and then he'd finally be free.

'...and if there's one place I can find information on an unknown entity like this, it's the internet. Even underground heroes like Eraserhead aren't completely hidden from people there, so if I just search hard enough, I'll be able to find them and thank them to their... screen, unless they actually let me get in a voice or video call with them.'

His purple eyes filled with determination, Shinsou moved forward to face his uncertain future, and prayed that he'd be able to find his nameless hero again someday soon.

Chapter Text

Midoriya Inko loved her son.

She loved her son more than anything in the world, and had loved him as such from the moment she knew that she was pregnant. It didn't matter to her that she was only fifteen at the time, or that she hadn't even graduated high school yet. She loved him, because he was hers, and he was theirs, and she just knew that he was going to be the most loveable child in the whole world.

Her parents disagreed.

They wanted to pull her out of Yuuei, to transfer her away to some far off boarding school to hide her pregnancy and give up the child for adoption when it was born, and it was all she could do to protest through her shock. She knew that her family had always been on the more conservative side, but it still hurt to hear from them directly that they would not support her- that they would not want to even contact her- if she wanted to raise the child herself. They disowned her, each and every one of them, and thus she was left homeless with an innocent human being still growing inside her.

It wasn't his fault. She felt a conflicting mixture of guilt and rage and the deep sorrow of one abandoned, but she knew that it wasn't his fault, and she still loved him.

She was still wounded deeply enough that when she went to her friends- her only remaining loved ones- for help, she didn't tell them who the father could be. She didn't say anything about the father, and after she burst into tears once under their concerned queries, they stopped asking, but they never stopped being there for her. Shouta, Hizashi, Tensei, Nemuri- they supported her where her family by blood did not, and her love for them only grew as a result.

Giving birth to her Izuku, just a little over a week after Hizashi's birthday, brought her more physical pain than anything else ever had before. The pain was nothing compared to the joy she felt afterwards though, marveling at the strength she had and the deep contentedness she felt with him in her arms... She both loved and was thankful for how much he looked like her, because this way she still had time to think about how she was going to tell her friends that this boy was their son.

She... never did tell them.

When Inko got home, to the small apartment in a safe but constricting part of Musutafu City, her son cried for the first time. She froze up for far too long, doubts running through her head and stress running through her blood, before the permanence of the situation finally set in.

She had a son now.

She had to take care of him, to put aside her own wants and needs in favor of his.

She might even have to give up on her dreams, if she couldn't balance school and work and taking care of Izuku all at once, if the support of her friends wasn't enough to keep her afloat.

Truly, Inko was lucky that she had such wonderful loved ones. Tensei had money to spare when she came up short, and he always said that she didn't need to repay him for anything, though she kept a careful list of items and costs so that she could do so when she was in a better place financially. Shouta had experience with younger kids through being in the foster care system, and he helped her with Izuku directly, teaching her how to tell what he was crying for and babysitting him when she had work. Hizashi brought her class notes- even though they were from the Heroics Course and thus partially not applicable- and kept her studying hard on what he couldn't take notes for, so she'd keep passing her tests and excelling where she thought she'd be failing. And Nemuri, Nemuri was Inko's confidant for all the stresses and fears she kept locked up inside herself, the one who helped her calm down when it seemed like everything was falling apart...

She was lucky to have her loved ones by her side, and she loved them almost as much as she loved their child. This was why, when her little Izuku- her precious, fragile, quirkless Izuku- showed a stubborn determination to be a hero, it hurt her so much to push them away.

It probably hurt them more, to slowly drift apart after so many years of being together, whether as friends or as lovers or whatever their relationships were at any given time. It probably hurt them more, because while they were losing everything of her, she still selfishly had a physical piece of them with her. She had their Izuku, and all they had were memories, which would fade away into the void as the years went by.

Maybe she'd been wrong, to do things the way she had, but it was too late to go back by the time she'd realized it. Her friends had their hero work to keep them occupied, and she had her own business to take care of in the courtroom, so her course was set. At twenty-five years old, Inko was once again faced with the consequences of her actions, and she reacted with the same fierce emotion she'd felt in the moment her parents had given her their ultimatum.

None of her choices were Izuku's fault. Yet somehow, she felt as though he was the one being punished for them, and that wasn't acceptable. He was the last link she had to the loved ones she'd pushed away- 'My dearest friends; I see all of you in him every day-' and she wouldn't let the world hurt him the same way it had hurt her. She wouldn't let him needlessly put himself into danger, when she could take the blows for him, when she could still keep him safe.

So, Midoriya Inko loved her son. She loved him, and thus she would protect him with everything she had in her. Even if he got upset sometimes, someday he'd understand that she only wanted him to be safe. Someday, he'd give up on heroism, and find a safer dream to dream.

When that day came, she dearly hoped that he wouldn't hate her, because she was denying him what she had already attained.

Midoriya Izuku was exhausted.

He knew that his quirk removed his need for sleep, and prevented him from feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, but that didn't mean that he couldn't still feel exhaustion. The difference was, where other people felt it as a bone-deep tiredness that dragged them down with a pull just slightly stronger than gravity normally was, Izuku felt it on a more emotional level. It wasn't something that could be fixed by sleeping like a normal person either- he'd tested that out, and had come to the conclusion that his brand of exhaustion was unrelated to his quirk, and thus something that other people could feel as well.

The internet said that he was depressed. Medical websites said that he was dying of some many horrible diseases and that he only had five or ten months to live. His friends said that they felt the same way. Everyone was tired, and they all had their own reasons for being such, and some of their reasons just couldn't be helped.

Izuku's reasons especially couldn't be helped, because they originated from sources beyond his control. He couldn't change society on his own; not when he was still an inexperienced middle schooler and thus had no real influence upon the outside world. He couldn't change the fact that his classmates and teachers had grown up with elders that taught them to judge people by their quirks- their kosei, their individuality- before anything else. He couldn't even change his mother's admittedly well-founded fears, because they were rooted in truths that were not his own, and he couldn't convince her of what his truths really were.

Thus, he remained in limbo, feeling the pressure on him slowly increase over time.

He was beginning to realize that if it weren't for the friends he had on HoloGraphic, he'd truly be alone. The adults in his life had almost all proven themselves untrustworthy; be it the teachers failing to protect him from his bullies, or his Mom trying to push him into this ill-fitted mold of safety and pacifism, or his Aunt and Uncles abandoning him when they were the ones he looked up to most. The only exceptions he could think of were maybe Uncle Shouta and Uncle Hizashi, because they'd at least tried to stick around before their schedules got filled up and kept them away...

The greenette would be completely alone, sinking beneath the hateful quicksand that sought to pull him away from the few things that gave him happiness, if it weren't for the invisible hands of his friends keeping his head and shoulders above the surface.

"Izuku, honey, you're quirkless. Don't you know how dangerous being a hero can be?"

Yes, he knew that being a hero was dangerous. He'd been there for the aftermath of Uncle Tensei's broken arm in the line of duty, and he'd seen countless heroes end up in ambulances after a skirmish gone bad. He knew very well that heroism wasn't a career for those who wanted to live long and physically safe lives, but every time he thought of giving it up, something told him to wait just a little bit longer.

It was the hope in the hearts of all people, nurtured by the confidence and skill of their protectors, that told him to wait. It was the tearful reunion of a mother who had been separated from her child in the midst of a disaster, and the pleased smile on an old man's face as a young sidekick carried his groceries for him, that told him to hold on a while longer. It was the feeling that even though the world was a terrible place, there were still good things thriving within it, that told him he could be a hero someday.

So, Midoriya Izuku was exhausted. He was constantly tired, and he was unmotivated beyond those few small shreds of goodness he had left, but he was certain that there were great things in store for him. Call him an idealist, but he truly believed that the world could be a better place. He wasn't going to give up on those in unfortunate situations, or judge people by the limitations that society wanted to place upon them. He was going to be one of the top heroes someday, and once he figured out the first steps to getting there, he was going to change society for the better.

Once he was a hero, he would take the weight of the very world upon his shoulders, if it meant that those who were broken and abandoned could find the peace and joy they were denied.

Bakugou Katsuki was a bit of an asshole.

He'd have to be stupid not to know that, and he was anything but stupid, so of course he knew. He was highly self-aware in both a physical and mental sense, and the opinions of his peers regarding him were well within his range of awareness. They saw his aggression and his quick temper and his foul language, and thus categorized him as an asshole. However, they saw his heroic dreams and his overwhelming drive, and thus he was also categorized as great.

Yes, the blonde was as great as he was an asshole. His quirk was incredibly powerful, and versatile, and they'd seen it from the very beginning. The lights in his hands blinded those who looked upon him, and thus he was placed on a pedestal above all others. He couldn't forget that- he couldn't let himself forget that his throne was built upon the heads and arms and shoulders of those beneath him. His position was a precarious one, relying heavily upon how he compared with the average extra, so he had to always be careful not to step out of line.

From the moment Katsuki's quirk had manifested, the eyes upon him had carried true weight, and the arms of those weaker than him reached up to where he stood. They simultaneously praised him and sought to tear him down, every touch and every word being another attempt to obtain a grip upon his person. He fought them off, tried to stay too slippery to grasp, tried his best to get higher than anyone could hope to reach him...

"Kacchan, are you okay!? Did you hit your head?"

However, his throne was built upon his followers, and thus a few of them would always be within his reach. Even if he managed to stand higher than all others, he still needed something to stand on. Even if he could get away from the parasites who sought to tear him down and take his place, there would always be at least one person holding him up, protecting him from the terrible, disturbing touches of the weak.

That person was Deku- the one person he harbored any smidgen of respect for in this school- and he absolutely hated it.

Deku was the bridge that kept him tethered to the rest of the world; the impossibly strong hold that he could never shake off. No matter what he did, no matter how they interacted, he would never be able to shake him loose. He so desperately wanted to be free of that grip, but he also knew that if Deku fell, then he'd be dragged down too.

The quirkless nerd was the only one who could compete with him; the only one who could truly touch him. If that touch was lost, then he'd fall into the hands of those who were even worse than Deku, and in greater numbers as well. They'd take advantage of their new grips, and he couldn't fight against them all. If he fell far enough, he wouldn't be able to break free, and then he'd drown.

But, he couldn't leave it be, either. If he left Deku to his own devices, then he'd slowly climb up Katsuki's pedestal, and the rest of the world would follow. He'd get within their reach- he'd be touched, he'd be grabbed, he'd be yanked down to their positions beneath him- and then he'd drown. He'd drown if he let Deku stand beside him, and he'd drown if he ever escaped Deku's grip...

It was a constant battle for the number one spot, and no matter how hard he fought, he would always be too close to the bottom.

So no matter what, he couldn't let himself forget. He couldn't forget that his position was fragile, or that he was only where he was because of those weaker than him. He couldn't forget that those beneath him were just valuable as he was, or that he had to protect them in return for holding him up. He couldn't forget that they decided his fate for every second he lived, or that he had no way to change their minds outside of his own actions. He couldn't let himself forget...

"Stupid Deku, I'm fine! I don't need your help!"

...that even if a boulder could withstand the flow of a mighty river, it was still held in place by the pebbles beneath it, and the loss of a single, crucial pebble could cause the boulder to fail. The blonde knew who that pebble was, and until he could climb up away from the people he'd grown up with, he'd have to keep that pebble in its place.

So, Bakugou Katsuki was a bit of an asshole. Maybe he could change someday, but for now, he was stuck in the world that had been created for him. He had to keep his followers in line, to make sure he didn't lose his chance at reaching the next pedestal. Once he did that, he could move forward and finally change things, and nothing would be able to drag him back down.

Once he got into Yuuei High, none of the extras from this shithole school would be able to touch him, and he'd finally be out their reach for good.

Chapter Text

The reactions that Izuku's HoloGraphic friends had to the Yavin Station video were mostly a mixture of amazement, concern, and delight, at how he'd put their information to good use and even helped one of their own in the process. It was all he'd hoped for and more, and other than the bruises he'd gotten from being hit, the night had been a resounding success.

Even now, in the middle of class, the greenette still had a faint smile upon his face because of it. He knew that it was annoying Kacchan, and that it was getting confused and condescending looks from his other classmates and the teachers, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It had been a great night, even if it had been stressful, because he'd met someone that he already knew before.

The purple-haired teen was one of his friends, and he didn't even know it until after he'd realized his camera was missing, and CatspiracyTheorist had sent him a message saying that he had it. He hadn't known just how close he was, until the two had met face to face once more, things that had been lost returning to their rightful places.

He'd saved the life of one of his only friends.

He really could be a hero someday.

He wasn't useless, after all.

"Oi, Deku, the fuck are you so happy for?"

Izuku twitched slightly, his stress levels rising as he tried to think of a reason that wouldn't piss Katsuki off too much. He couldn't say it was something as stupid as the weather, that would get him an explosion to the chest the second that the teacher turned around. He also couldn't say that he met one of his online friends in person for the first time either, because having internet friends was kind of looked down on as a sign of 'wow, you're so pathetic you can't even get a real friend,' and him having friends at all tended to make Kacchan angrier than anything else...

"Fucking today, Deku!"

The greenette jumped, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I have a boyfriend!"

Dead. Silence.

His eyes widened as he registered what he'd just said, and darted around the classroom quickly, taking in the mixed expressions of all those present. Most of them- like the teacher- had doubtful amusement upon their faces, as though they couldn't believe he'd make up such a stupid thing, but a few had disgust or jealousy shining through clearly. Disgust, because he'd kinda outed himself and he wasn't fucking straight like he was 'supposed to be,' and jealously because he'd apparently gotten a datemate before they had...

Oh no. Kacchan had gotten requests to date before, but he'd turned them all down, seeing them as unworthy partners. And here was quirkless, useless Deku, beating him at something.

This was going to end terribly.

"Wow, I didn't know Midoriya was a fa-"

An explosion burst forth demandingly, silencing the chuckles and snickers that were beginning to sound around the classroom, and Izuku covered his face with his hands. This was it, the teacher was going to turn around any moment now and then he'd get nitroglycerin and ash for a midmorning snack-

"Shut up, twerps. Who even fucking cares about that? He's just a quirkless Deku."

It... wasn't ending terribly?

Even weirder, Kacchan wasn't making fun of him or trying to kill him? He was defending him instead?

This couldn't be a dream, because Izuku hadn't actually had a real dream since he was around five- probably due to his quirk manifesting at that time, he realized in hindsight- so it had to be reality. Or maybe it was a hallucination? That gas station sushi he'd grabbed on the way home last night was pretty questionable, so maybe he was experiencing particularly serious food poisoning. Somehow. Without any of the nausea or throwing up that normally accompanied bad food poisoning.

Well, whatever the case, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was going to take this blessing as it was and live with it.

'Oh shit now I have to actually procure proof that I have a boyfriend so Kacchan won't get pissed that he defended me for no reason-'

Much like any other day, Izuku's levels of stress and anxiety thus shot through the roof, and he prepared to die once more.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:07am:

Guys help

My IRL friend/tormentor defended me in class earlier because I panicked and said that I had a boyfriend

He's going to kill me if he finds out that I don't actually have a boyfriend

How do I get out of this

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 11:08am:

Hm. I believe you're fucked.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:08am:

GEE THANKS.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 11:09am:

it'd totally suck to lose the only friend I currently have met in person

a fake romance with your resident asexual should help keep you alive a while longer.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:10am:

Ahhhh I can't ask you to do that! You have enough turmoil going on in your life right now, you don't need me messing things up too!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 11:11am:

bitch, you literally saved my life, I owe you for that shit

and you're not asking, I'm offering

if I didn't want to help then I wouldn't have said anything.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 11:12am:

I think you should accept the offer.

The two of you have met in person already, in a stressful situation, and therefore have a preset time for your "love at first sight" to have occurred. In addition, you have some similar personality traits and share an oddly strong love for cats, so there is the supporting evidence for the two of you wanting to be in a relationship with one another.

...

Is this going to end up being one of those fake-relationship-to-real-romance subplots?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:15am:

Jskakmdms Soba no

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 11:16am:

Soba yes.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 11:17am:

*shrugs*

I don't expect it to, but I wouldn't be against it if it did

we'll just have to wait and see.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 11:18am:

Okay.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:20am:

I... Alright.

Thank you, Catspi. I appreciate it. And if this works, consider your life debt absolved!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 11:21am:

wooooo.

"Dude. This is a cat cafe. You're taking me to a cat cafe for our fake first date."

Hitoshi nodded, a tired smirk upon his face, as Izuku stared upon the building with mixed anxiety and glee.

"Someone has to be established as the top, and that's clearly me. And there is literally nothing more dom for me to do than take care of my sub."

The greenette sputtered, his cheeks flushing red against his will, and quickly shook his head at the other. "Nope. Nuh-uh, you're not the top. You're catering to my tastes, which means you're actually the bottom!"

As the two made their way inside, they lowered their voices, but kept going.

"Bullshit, this is catering to my own tastes too. I love cats, and I could totally have a kink for seeing my subs covered in pussy."

Someone at a nearby table snorted, and Izuku huffed in response to both them and Hitoshi's teasing.

"That's all talk and we both know it."

"Oh really?" As the greenette realized what he'd just done, his purple-haired friend held up a hand for one of the employees to notice them, and then it was too late. "Excuse me, could we get some catnip along with two hours in the cat room? My friend here has no game and I want to console him with something better than the entirety of humanity itself."

"Wait, this is slander-"

The lady behind the counter laughed, and slid them two passes along with a small plastic bag of catnip, before pointing them in the right direction. Hitoshi thanked her and thus dragged him down the appointed path, not stopping until they were in the middle of the cat room with a bunch of cushions around them.

For a moment, it seemed as though he wasn't going to do anything. Izuku was wrong.

"Calling me all talk, huh? Joke's on you, my friend-" the bag of catnip was upended over the greenette's head, and a harsh noogie session had the substance mixed in thoroughly, despite his best efforts to escape- "cuz you're about to fucking bathe in cats."

The next two hours were spent with Izuku being literal catnip, and all the cats in the room getting relaxed out of their feline minds upon him. The purple-haired teen took many pictures and short videos of the scene, for what he claimed were 'absolutely not blackmail purposes,' and then took a few careful selfies of the two of them. They did kinda need to have pics of them together to perpetuate the idea that they were dating, but regardless, the whole thing was still pretty fun.

They enjoyed each other's company, and while they didn't currently feel interested in one another in a romantic way, it was easy to see that they might be someday.

Chapter Text

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered],

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:19am:

hey guys, I just had a thought

Aphelion, the first part of your username is because of your eyes, isn't it?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:20am:

Um, in part, yes. How did you know?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 2:21am:

They're already flirting on the forum.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:21am:

You shut your fuck.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 2:22am:

I will when you make me, bitch.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:22am:

it's cuz I saw your eyes change color when the light hit them at a certain angle

must be a bitch getting photos taken with the flash on, huh?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:23am:

Ohcjkkcksms you have no idea

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:24am:

lol, good thing I didn't have the flash on during our 'date'

anyways, now that I know why the first part of your username, why the second part?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 2:25am:

I'm curious about that too. It could just be because he's a massive fucking space nerd, but I get the feeling there's more to it.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:27am:

You're right, it is more than me just being a nerd. It's um... it's actually a little bit personal. I'm fine with telling you guys, but I need to think about how to phrase it.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:28am:

take your time.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:35am:

Okay, so, an aphelion is basically the point in which a planet's orbit is furthest from the sun. It's as far away from the light as it can possibly be, while still remaining in a stable orbit around it. Conversely, a perihelion is the point in a planet's orbit that's closest to the sun, and I like that idea too, but aphelion sorta... speaks to me more.

So, for this metaphor, I am a planet. And my whole life, people have been telling me that I can't be a hero. The hope that I could be one despite what they're saying, that I could someday make it and make a difference in the world around me because of it, has been the sun I'm orbiting around. I'm about as far away from that dream as I can possibly be right now, but I haven't lost faith in the fact that I can still someday reach it, so my orbit is stable.

I am currently- most likely- at the darkest part of my life, and thus I am at the aphelion of my orbit.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 2:36am:

spoken like a true goth.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:37am:

Wow, I've never had anyone say I was emo before... Wait, have I seen you before?

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 2:38am:

ah, emo is one type of goth, but you strike me more as a romantic or geek goth. perhaps with a hint of pastel. would you like me to explain?

also yes, we have spoken once or twice before. we had a particularly decent discussion on constellations and their origins in mythology, roughly two weeks past. your thoughts on canis major and canis minor were quite interesting, though apparently not so much as you believed my thoughts on ara to be.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:40am:

Oh! I remember you now, that conversation was fun! I enjoyed learning more about the constellation Ara and its connections to offerings and sacrifice, and I'm happy you found my theories on the dog and fox entertaining!

And yes, if it's no bother, I'd love an explanation! Even if it doesn't apply to me, it'll still be good to know someday!

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 2:48am:

i seem to have walked into another neat conversation

time to witness the self-discovery of an infant

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 2:49am:

I would argue that I'm not an infant, but with how often I end up crying these days, I might as well be.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 2:50am:

that's no fun

i wanted a fight to pass the time :P

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 2:57am:

right, aphelion. let us begin.

certainly, you are aware of the negative view that society takes on people who are of the goth subculture, regarding satanism and depression and shock factor. in truth, that is not what being a goth is about. it is an art, a lifestyle, of showing people who we truly are. we see the beauty that accompanies the darkness, such as the innumerable stars in the pitch black sky, or a dead flower that's been preserved in the form of a bookmark, and we acknowledge it. most people would prefer to turn away from the darkness within their lives, but no matter how hard they try, our beloved families and friends and pets still die. the light of day turns into the dark of night. hearts break and what once was love becomes loss. you cannot have hope without despair, and we acknowledge that. we accept that. we embrace all parts of life; not just the bright and the cheerful and the joyous.

those are the basics of being goth. we live, we love, we die. now, on to the types that were mentioned previously.

emo, as you mentioned before, actually originated as a particular genre of punk. and visually speaking, it's a collection of many different styles, including punk, retro, urban japanese, and other goth types. given this, it was inevitable that it would crossover more completely with goth in some people, and thus the emo goth type emerged. emo goths have an overall reputation for being moody and for loving their music, and are often attracted to dying their hair, painting their nails, and wearing eyeliner in a bold black style, as well as adorning the aesthetics of skulls and bones and piercings. while this could apply to you, it only does so minimally, and as such there are other types that fit you better.

for example, the geek goth type strikes me as the most remarkable fit for you. the typical geek goth doesn't place as much emphasis on goth as a fashion, but moreso on its overtones of dark fantasy. they are generally more inclined than others to indulge in roleplay, appreciate the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, and find videogames and anime more entertaining than other goths would. it's very possible for them to go their whole lives without being aware that they are part of the goth subculture, due to how easily mistaken it is for other subcultures in society, as their diverse and interesting tastes in so many parts of life leave them never quite fitting into one specific category. they are misfits among the misfits, intelligent and creative and some of the most open-minded people one may ever meet, able to understand and/or empathize with peoples of all different kinds.

romantic goths, meanwhile, tend to focus on the dark, sensual, and mysterious gothic world created by victorian literature and films. velvet and lace are a strong part of their aesthetic, along with flowy clothes such as long dresses and waistcoats, and they almost always possess a love of poetry and literature in some shape or form. romantic goths are typically emotional, creative, and dreamy types, finding beauty in crumbling graveyards and dead flowers and the ancient bones of those long passed. they live for the atmosphere, the mood, the mystique. while you don't strike me as a pure romantic goth, you have displayed appreciation for the general atmosphere and some other elements, so we believed it prudent to inform you of this type of goth as well.

as for the final goth type that may apply to you, the pastel goth is a rather new one. pastel goths seem to be generally inspired by 'kawaii' japanese fashion, with various gothic aspects added in; often enough so that there is more goth than pastel. the gothic inspiration is taken particularly from nu goth (otherwise known as hipster goth, possessing punk influences), diluting the kawaii aspects and increasing the pastel or bright colors being displayed, such as various blues and pinks and greens in their hair. they also tend to appreciate the 'creepy cute' aesthetic, such as pastel bunnies with x'ed out eyes to signify death, or zombies and other monsters with attributes associated with love and cuteness. this type barely seems to apply to you, but for some reason the 'creepy cute' aspect stuck out to me when considering our previous conversations, so you are being informed of this as well.

if you do find yourself with questions about various goth subcultures, feel free to bring them to me or to the internet for more information.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 2:57am:

here it comes

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:58am:

can I get a tl;dr?

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 2:59am:

wait for it

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 3:00am:

the witching hour is now upon us.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:00am:

wait for iiiiiiiiit

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 3:01am:

Tl;dr.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 3:02am:

isjdkwiksgra Soba why are you like this

who hurt you?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 3:03am:

Would you like a list or a general approximation?

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 3:04am:

aphelion, are you alright?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 3:05am:

I... I'm good, I'm just... processing...

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 3:06am:

good processing or bad processing

cuz I'll totally kick Raven's ass if you want me to

just say the word.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 3:07am:

Flirting again.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:07am:

shhhhhh

we're about to witness something beautiful

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 3:09am:

It's good processing. Please don't kick anyone's asses.

I didn't know that there was actually something to describe how I feel, how I am. I always thought that I was destined to just never fit in anywhere, because I think differently than the people around me, but there's actually a place for me. I actually... belong somewhere...

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:10am:

there it is yo

the wholesome shit

anyways welcome to the dark side

grammy cryptid will send you cookies when she gets online

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 3:11am:

Bold of you to assume that I wasn't already online

Enjoy the cookies, Aphelion

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 3:12am:

wAIT

THERE ARE ACTUALLY COOKIES ON MY BED NOW

They're delicious, thank you, but how do you know where I live and what my favorite flavor is?

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 3:13am:

I don't! :D

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 3:15am:

I-

What-

How-

Quirk!??!?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 3:16am:

:thinking:

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 3:15am:

no mere mortal may comprehend the ways of grandmother cryptid. just enjoy the cookies, and the new worldview that has been opened for you.

Chapter Text

Izuku was nervous, as he stood in the hallway outside of his mother's bedroom. It was getting to be a little later at night, and it was almost the time at which she'd be falling asleep normally, so he really didn't want to bother her... but he hadn't been able to properly work up the courage to talk to her yet.

It had been a few weeks since he'd discovered the words for what he was, and since that first day, he'd thrown himself into research about the goth subculture. He was a geek goth primarily, as Raven suspected, but he was also drawn to a few of the aesthetics of romantic and pastel and emo goths- specifically, the differing hairstyles and piercings. He wanted to have something physical to show his latest discovery, to display a little piece of who he was, and he wasn't sure how Inko would react to it.

...well, he had some idea. She was very open-minded about anything that wasn't related to heroics, so she'd probably love and accept him all the same, once he told her how he felt. He shouldn't be anxious, but he was always, always anxious, and he couldn't help but imagine everything that could go wrong.

"Izuku? Is everything okay?"

Oh. She'd opened her door while he was busy biting his nails, lost in thought, and apparently he looked bad enough to elicit concern. Maybe he should just go back to his room- ah, but doing that would leave his intentions up to her imagination, and he knew how bad that could go. Maybe he could say it was something else, something stupid, and then he could just go back to his room and think about how to do things himself. Or maybe, because he was already here, he could go ahead and blurt it out and try to connect with her again.

He didn't like the distance that was growing between them. He didn't like the discomfort and slowly growing fear he was feeling around her, increasing with every day that went by. He felt like a rubber band, being stretched too thin by the weight of his worries, and he wanted to lose some of that weight because he didn't want to actually break...

"Oh Izu, come here, give your Mama a hug. Tell me what's wrong."

The greenette, shorter than most of the kids in his class but still growing rapidly, was currently at the same height as his mother. He could look her in the eyes, and he could rest his chin on her shoulder, and there was no warmth lost in their embrace. The only chill present was that in his own heart and mind, seeping through his blood and making his hands cold to the touch.

The two Midoriyas made their way into the living room, and sat down on the couch, with two cups of comforting warm tea before them.

"W-Well, Mom, I found something out about myself recently. Like, identity-wise... and I wasn't sure how you'd take it."

There. The first words were out there. It would only get easier from here on, right?

"Oh, honey, you don't have to worry about that. I'd have to be more than a tad hypocritical if I were to judge you after what I've been through. Back when I was still dating your aunt and uncles, we had to keep our relationships particularly quiet to avoid becoming targets of hate crimes and controversy and bad media publicity. You don't have to worry about that so much these days. So, what did you find out?"

Izuku took a shaky sip of his tea, and focused on the feeling of the warmth running through him, imagining that it was fuel for his courage. The warmth faded quickly, but each subsequent sip made it last longer, until he felt as though he could speak again.

"Okay, um, it's nothing to do with sexuality, but I do think I'm demisexual, or pansexual, or whatever a combination of those two would be. U-Um. A few weeks ago, I recently found out that I'm a Goth..."

He glanced up quickly to gauge his mother's expression, and upon seeing that it was still open, gained the motivation to keep talking.

"A friend who's also Goth told me about some of the subcultures, and a few of them really resonated with me. It feels right to me, like a key piece of a puzzle just slid into place, and I want to show it. I want to get a haircut, and maybe some piercings if you'll let me. I want to show off who I am, loud and proud!"

As he looked to Inko once more, this time holding eye contact, he smiled nervously. "C-Can I do that?"

For some reason, he could read an immeasurable sadness in her eyes, hidden behind the love and joy and acceptance as she leaned forward to hug him. It was nostalgia and pain and loss all at once, and upon realizing that, it clicked.

He'd reminded her of his father.

"Of course you can, Izu. Let's start small with the piercings, just in case you don't like them, okay? Maybe a couple of standard lobe piercings first, and if you do enjoy them, you can try something more adventurous. What kind of haircuts were you looking at? Considering you discovered this part of yourself a few weeks ago, I'd imagine you've been putting a lot of thought into it."

The two continued talking for a while longer into the night, hammering down the details, before both of them returned to their beds. Izuku didn't have the time to go out as a result, but he was still able to put the sleepless hours he had to good use. Research was done to locate the safest and most sanitary places to get his piercings, and to find the hairdressers with the best ratings for the particular style he wanted. By the time his Mom woke up again, he'd compiled a list of places for her to look over, and his gut twisted with a mixture of delight and anxiety at the thought of getting these things done.

He was sure that his new look wouldn't be very appreciated at school, but with the endorphins currently rushing through him, he thought he could use that to his advantage... In the turmoil that would arise at the sight of him, there would be the brief opportunity to alter their perceptions of him. 'New look, new me,' as the phrase went? If he found the right things to say and the right ways to act, he'd be able to pull himself up out of the social ditch he was in just a little bit, and he'd do his damnedest to keep from falling back down there again.

Midoriya Izuku was a survivor. He kept going when the going got tough, and no matter how far he fell, he kept reaching for the top. He was still tired, still irritated, and still weak, but he was gradually getting stronger. Soon he would no longer need those lame excuses for 'protection' that his teachers displayed, as he grew beyond the limits of what he used to be. He was a survivor, but he had gotten a taste of what it was like to live, and he wasn't about to let that taste fade away anytime soon.

No longer would the greenette allow himself to be pushed to the bottom of the pile, trodden upon and left behind to rot. No more would he tolerate the treatment he received because of a misunderstanding that was beyond his control. If they wanted to keep beating him and mocking him and destroying his things, they'd have to find different reasons to do it, because he was going to make a difference. He was going to make things change, one detail at a time, until they were no longer recognizable as what they used to be.

That web he'd been building for several years past... the people he'd ensnared and the things they'd be willing to do for him... perhaps it was time he put it all to use. It would require great effort and a skillful management of his time, but when had he ever been unwilling or unable to do those things? He was ready. He was ready to turn the tides of war, and to the beat of the bloody drum in his chest, he would go on to do so.

Next Monday, after Saturday was spent getting his new look perfected and Sunday was spent building himself up for the execution of his plans, he would make them see him for who he actually was, rather than what they thought he was.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:37am:

Alright everyone, today's the day. I'm about to blow these fuckers' minds.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 6:38am:

Ah. I shall keep an eye on the news for reports of exploding brains. Good luck.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:39am:

Kskmxmjs Soba no, thank you but no

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 6:40am:

Soba yes.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:41am:

Akmsksmx betrayal

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 6:42am:

send me pics of your new look dammit, I still haven't seen it

maybe then I'll stop being a traitor.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:43am:

Fine, check your phone.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 6:43am:

I am on my phone :3

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:44am:

Kmsmdsk k then mister 'kinkshaming is my kink'

I'll be back on later to tell you guys how things went. For now, it's off to battle I go.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 6:45am:

hopefully you've gotten better at fighting since the time we first met in person.

Izuku was in full analysis mode, his bright green gaze flicking from person to person as he made his way down the hall.

His back was straight, and he was wearing one of his older uniforms, which was both a little bit too small and somewhat worn from many encounters with Katsuki. This was to show off the small but decent amount of muscle he'd built over the past year and a half, and to give him a look that was a little bit closer to a delinquent's. He knew that they wouldn't fear him, because he'd been at the bottom of the social ladder for so long, but it would definitely give them additional pause.

His makeup was on point, sharpening his jaw and drawing attention to his eyes. Hopefully his gaze would appear more piercing, but not dangerously so. He hadn't overdone things to the point that his baby fat was gone, or that anything was even obvious; all of his makeup looked entirely natural upon his face. The flashier styles didn't really appeal to him, unless they were being done for a special event or something, and while this could constitute as a special event for him, he didn't want to make too many waves. Just enough to shake them up. Just enough to make them see.

And more important than all else, his hair was now cut in the very essence of a messy undercut, and he had two shiny studs embedded in his ears. The shaved parts of his head felt much lighter and colder than they usually did, but he hadn't cut it down to nothing; he still had a centimeter-thick layer to protect him a bit from the winter chill. The rest of his hair had been left alone, and he was planning on growing it out so he could tie it back in a ponytail, or let it hang down if he got particularly cold. As for his silver studs, he was going to be using them until his ears had healed up a bit, at which point he'd switch over to fake alexandrite gemstones.

As the greenette made his way to homeroom, he realized that he'd never felt so alive at school before, but the endorphins rushing through him had a bright smile upon his face. However, the corners of his smile were made sharp by the anxiety that also flowed through him. After all, Izuku was finally being more Izuku, and less what everyone else wanted him to be, so he had no idea how exactly things would go from here.

He couldn't plan for variables outside of his knowledge. He couldn't even reliably predict how Kacchan would react- being protected for supposedly having a boyfriend had surprised him, and he could no longer rely upon his previous observations until he'd compiled a new profile upon the explosive blonde. Therefore, he'd have to take things as they came, and do his best to direct the flow to a more favorable outcome.

His first test came in the form of the homeroom teacher, as all of his classmates were stuck whispering and staring, Kacchan being one of the latter crowd.

"Midoriya, your appearance is not appropriate for class. Take out your earrings and put them away until the school day is over."

This was it. The tension was higher than ever. All eyes were on him, and he wanted to puke, with his first instincts being to obey and apologize.

But the greenette did not obey.

He pushed down his ingrained habits after one of his hands moved upwards, and recovered as best he could, by silently pointing to one of his female classmates. It was the one with what were basically flamethrowers for hands, though it was transformation quirk and not a mutant quirk, so they could be turned off.

She stared back at him, confused, and slowly growing irritated the longer he did so. "Excuse me, Quirkless, what do you want?"

"I don't see how she applies to you needing to remove your accessories, Midoriya."

The greenette grinned wider, sharper, and lowered his hand back to his desk.

"If you want me to remove my earrings, you'll have to tell her to do the same. Little Miss Flamethrower has had her earrings in for approximately four and a half months, and not a single word was said to her about them, despite earrings being against the dress code for all students."

If a pin were to be dropped in the seconds after he finished speaking, it would be heard from the next classroom over. And that was understandable, really. It was the first time Izuku was being openly defiant, and it was the first time he wasn't bending over backwards to accommodate and ingratiate. This was the first time he was showing who he was when he didn't have to do those things.

This was the Izuku who maneuvered the rooftops of the city by night, and the Izuku who had jumped in to save the life of some random kid he didn't even know.

"Excuse me, my name is not Little Miss Flamethrower, it's-"

He cut her off, "-something I refuse to acknowledge for as long as you continue to call me derogatory, mean-spirited, or discriminatory nicknames. Same goes for everyone else here, except for Kacchan, because he had the privilege of being my friend once upon a time. Oh, and our sensei, because he's obligated to treat his students as equals due to the anti-discrimination laws that apply to all educators, and thus will not be a problem in the case that I have evidence of him doing otherwise."

The tension would need a chainsaw to be cut through now. Students in the classroom turned to their sweating homeroom teacher, looking for some sort of direction to take or even just some reassurance, and were met with a face of mortification and uncertainty. And while they floundered in the turmoil of this situation, he knew that the man would have to back down. Even if his Mom wasn't a lawyer, the mere possibility that Izuku could have evidence of his severe negligence would give him pause, and it was more likely than not that he did.

'When I considered this to be war, and when I said that today was the first battle, I meant it. Thanks for the training, Mom. I truly appreciate it.'

"...you may wear your earrings in my classes, Midoriya."

Whispers broke out as the teacher folded, and Izuku thus took his first victory.

"However, I cannot speak for the other teachers and staff members of this school. If you can't defend your accessories from them as well, you'll have to remove them, and I'll expect them to not return afterwards."

The greenette nodded, and responded with an easy, "Of course, sensei. I'd expect nothing else."

As homeroom thus commenced, and the tension began to give way to a quiet, internal chaos amongst his classmates, Izuku sat calmly at his desk. His hands shook lightly as all of the adrenaline pumping through him gave way to shock, and a form of detachment settled in his mind, chilling his body and pushing his emotions into the void.

So lost in his thought he was, that he didn't notice Katsuki staring at him for the rest of the period, with an expression on his face that was not some mixture of rage and derision.

Chapter Text

Deku was different.

Actually no, he wasn't different. He was still who he'd always been- he just wasn't hiding it anymore. He wasn't hiding or downplaying his intelligence, and he wasn't pushing his own desires away to make room for those of others. This was a chunk of gold that had been caked in dirt so thoroughly that it looked to all the world to be an ordinary pebble, and the dirt was finally being washed away.

This was the Izuku that Katsuki had grown to respect, over the years of daycare and primary school in particular.

Katsuki and Izuku had first met one another in daycare, much like the rest of the kids there, and something had drawn him to the greenette. It was a mixed feeling of belonging and frustration, like a toy that was rightfully his had been denied to him for far too long, but something greater than a toy. Something better than a toy. A friend, maybe, or a rival.

Of course, nobody could just be his friend, so he had to test him a little. He started with the most obvious questions- about heroes, and quirks, and anything else that came to his three year old mind- and found Izuku to be an acceptable companion. He knew a lot about heroes because some of his family members were training to be heroes, and his Ma was no slouch herself. He didn't know what quirk he'd get, but neither did he, so what did it matter? As long as he got one, of course.

Katsuki's quirk came in, and Izuku was right there next to him, praising him and spouting out a slew of ideas on what he could do with it. The same went for the rest of the class and the teachers as well, and that planted a seed in his mind. He was the greatest, because his quirk was the greatest. He was amazing, because his quirk was amazing.

Even though it pissed him off, he was grateful that seed didn't get to grow much, before the leaves got hit with plant killer in the form of a quirkless Deku keeping up with him.

There was one particular event that Katsuki recalled from primary school, where he first realized how clever Izuku really was. The entire class had to do a report on a book they'd been reading together, and he was certain that his was going to get the highest grade, but then he didn't. Deku got the highest grade, and when he took the nerd's sheet to look at both of their reports side by side, it took him a few minutes to figure it out.

The topic was the same, and they'd even referenced some of the same lines, but the wording they'd used was startlingly different. Whereas Katsuki had plowed through the points without regard for the feelings of anyone reading it, Izuku had catered his towards the teacher that would be reading it, going so far as to recycle some of the words and phrases the woman had used in class. Other than that, their work had fulfilled the exact same requirements... thus Katsuki began to realize that quirks weren't everything.

He watched Izuku carefully after that, and now that he was no longer completely dismissing the nerd's value, he began to notice more and more gold shining through the dust and dirt. The greenette was sneaky, intelligent as fuck about what he did and how he did it, when he wasn't busy sniffling in secluded areas and being a whiny bitch. He had traits that Katsuki... admired... and as such, he gained a small modicum of respect from the blonde.

The other students didn't notice anything amiss, and if they were honestly too stupid to do so themselves, then Katsuki wasn't going to bother helping them out. Of course, this meant that only Katsuki had any idea of the useless Deku's worth, and subsequently that nobody else would change their minds about him. It was far too late to change things, anyways. The last so many years of primary school passed by without any difference, and then middle school came, and the same old routine continued.

And yet, here Izuku was. He wasn't hiding anymore- he was showing off his true colors, shaking up the thoughts and expectations of those around him. Already, the eyes of those shitty extras were turning to Katsuki for guidance, and he knew that if he didn't act fast, then his position would be put in danger. His throne would be threatened soon, his pedestal grasped by the base and tipped as though it were the target of a pole-toppling contest, but he would finally be able to acknowledge Izuku as an equal without losing everything.

If the greenette kept it up, who knew? Katsuki might even be willing to share his new pedestal once they get to Yuuei. For now though, Deku still had a long way to go, and the blonde would be sure to challenge him every step of the way.

It was time for the war to truly, finally begin.

"Okay, so, my plans have been as much of a success as I thought they'd be. A little moreso even. Of the school faculty, attitudes towards me are neutral at best and resentful at worst, but that's not too different from what they used to be, so I'm not all that affected by it other than just having to be a little more careful with my stuff. For some reason they think I'm stupid enough to keep my evidence all in one place, with that one place being my phone, and thus actively encourage my classmates to destroy my stuff when I'm not guarding it. Haven't they heard of cloud storage? Idiots."

In the midst of his muttering, Izuku repeatedly paced forward several steps before turning and pacing in the opposite direction, as an interested Hitoshi listened on from his couch. The two were hanging out at the home of the purple-haired boy, but his adoptive father was busy at work, so the greenette felt safe enough to rant to Hitoshi out loud rather than on the forum.

"As for the attitudes of my classmates, things are about as well as they can be. I'm definitely getting beat up less, almost not at all, and I'm struggling with my ingrained instincts to let them do whatever, but I'm getting over it. It's like breaking a bad habit, kinda. You have to really wanna do it, and the first few times are the hardest, but it'll only take about a month for the changes to set in. And I'm already halfway there, score!"

Hitoshi spoke up at that moment, with the question, "And what about Bakugou?"

Ah, what about Katsuki indeed. The greenette was actually quite perplexed by his behavior, as it almost completely threw his previous profile of the blonde into a small koi pond and soaked the ink beyond legibility, so he'd clearly gotten something wrong at some point. Some core trait of his character had been grievously mistaken for another, and there was no way to figure it out unless he could actually talk to his old friend, but that wasn't possible at the current time.

"He's been... surprisingly passive, for most part. Indirect. He's not confronting me himself anymore, but is instead encouraging his lackeys or whatever to do so for him. Of course, we still have our daily routine of him locking me up on the roof once school is out, but there's actually not much malice behind it. He's acting... different, and I can't figure out his angle."

He scratched his head, fingers tracing along the line where his undercut ended and his unaltered hair began in a grounding motion, and sighed.

"The thing is, he disguises his tactical intelligence with impulsive behavior, and all of his thoughts and emotions with rage and overwhelming ego... But, his current behavior doesn't match up with what I thought it'd be. I thought he'd be pissed off, gunning for me harder than ever before, now that I'm actually standing up for myself. But he's not, so I'm missing something; some core trait of his that I might've noticed if I'd gotten to know him better before his quirk manifested... ugh, this is going to bother me until I figure it out."

A hand reached forward from the couch to lightly grab his upper arm, and he finally stopped pacing, looking over at Hitoshi with a furrowed brow.

"Alright, you probably won't be able to figure it out without him there for you to watch and analyze, right? So if you actually do get any recordings of the class like you hinted you'd already done, you can analyze him with those, but we can just focus on the cats for now." The purple-haired teen gestured towards the black cat that was now insistently stepping on Izuku's feet, her violet eyes wide and her tail swishing with displeasure. "Nyx has been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes and is very upset that you've been ignoring her."

The greenette laughed quietly, and moved over to the couch, where he was immediately assaulted upon taking a seat. Nyx hopped up onto his lap and made low grumbling meows, warning him not to move, while Hitoshi watched on and smirked. Eventually they all settled down, and the ticking of the clock on the wall filled the room, along with the disgruntled purrs of the cat.

The lack of conversation didn't last for long, as Izuku got a few thoughts and immediately decided to spit them out.

"Hitoshi, how have things been? Like, I know how they are in general, but how are they specifically? What's it like to pick up the most important parts of your life and then leave the rest behind?"

This was a topic that they couldn't discuss on the conspiracy forum, for multiple reasons.

One of the first rules of HoloGraphic was that a user couldn't reveal identifying information about another user that the other user hadn't already shared, as the community liked to keep their lives to themselves, and violating another user's privacy like that was unacceptable. And while Hitoshi had been the one to first say he'd met Izuku in person, he hadn't given the circumstances why, and neither of them felt comfortable revealing that information unnecessarily. Therefore, nobody on the forum knew the circumstances behind their meeting- only that they had met in person and that they regularly enjoyed each other's company.

Another thing was that while they did have the option of private messaging each other about it, it was such a private issue that Izuku didn't feel quite right about talking to him about it in text. Putting screens between them both helped and hindered in different aspects of social interaction, and one hindrance was that it let people lie easier. Of course, he was certain that Hitoshi wouldn't lie to him about it, but he wanted to make it clear that he wouldn't be lying during this conversation too. He wanted there to be mutual trust between them, tangible trust, as he knew quite well how difficult it was for the two of them to trust other people.

Thus, Izuku used the silence to begin this conversation, and waited for the visibly surprised Hitoshi to respond.

"...well, things have been... nerve-wracking. Logically, I know that I'm in a better place now, but there are still times I miss my bio parents. Even though they were shitbags. I miss our dinners, mostly, when they'd talk about their days and the things they did, because they wouldn't treat me so badly then. But I'm happier living here than I was there, because I have you and Toyomitsu- I have you and Dad supporting me."

The purple-haired teen's attention flicked towards the door to the hallway for a moment, almost drawing Izuku's gaze there after it, before he spoke up and the greenette was thus focused on him again.

"Why do you ask? I didn't think things were getting worse with your mom. Did you two have another discussion about heroics?"

Izuku shook his head, and tried to think of what words to use in his response, keeping quiet for a few moments before he responded.

"No, we didn't. It's just... it's the rest of my family. Back when I was little, my mom had four heroes in training as her best friends, and so I grew up with them as my aunt and uncles. They all graduated together, and became pro heroes together, and seeing them helping people both on tv and in person? Of course I wanted to be a hero. But then I got diagnosed as quirkless, and my mom had a panic attack at the thought of her defenseless baby getting into so much danger, and the door to heroism was basically slammed shut in my face. She started small, pushing me towards fun things and ideas that weren't related to heroics at all, and taking away things that could keep influencing me towards dangerous careers. Eventually she realized that my aunt and uncles were my 'worst' influence, and in the name of loving sacrifice, decided to take them away too."

Izuku stopped petting Nyx, and shifted over so the back of his head was resting up against Hitoshi's shoulder, so he didn't have to look anywhere but at the ceiling and the wall as he grew upset.

"Like, I get it. I get that she loves me and that she only wants to keep me safe, but this doesn't seem right. I'm scared of her, not because she'd hit me, but because there are things I still have that she can take away. The collection of hero merch in the box in my closet, the chance of actually taking the entrance exam when it comes by, the freedom to choose who and what I want to be. She could take away everything I have left if she wanted to, and I don't want to fear or hate her like I do because of it, but I don't want to be smothered either..."

It felt good, to say it out loud. The ball of stress that continuously wound up within his torso was beginning to unravel, and the strings were whipping about wildly, but weren't damaging anything. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could tell Hitoshi what his backup plans actually were, now, instead of just fishing for more information.

"Oh, hey Dad. Welcome home."

Izuku shot into an upright seated position, startling Nyx off of his lap altogether, as his gaze turned towards the hallway door. Hitoshi's adoptive dad was there- 'how much did he hear?-' and he had a rather concerned expression on his rounded face.

Well, the greenette couldn't share his plans now. Telling a hero that he was planning to run away from home would only end up with said plan being foiled.

"Thanks kiddo. Everything alright in here?"

As Hitoshi shrugged helpfully, Izuku instinctively glanced towards the exits of the room, his first go-to being the window on his right. He obviously didn't want to run off and totally ruin his future hangouts with Hitoshi just because he'd gotten a bit spooked, but hey, better safe than sorry.

"Um. We're good, thanks. I'm just venting a little, haha. Nothing to be worried about."

The purple-haired teen facepalmed, and Fatgum made his way into the room, two boxes of donuts in one hand. He opened one box and slid it towards them across the coffee table, and Izuku slowly reached over to snag a chocolate one, accepting the offering.

"I'm sorry, but I overheard some of your conversation while I was coming in the door. You're worried about how your mother will react to you still wanting to be a hero, right?"

Welp. This was his life now. Might as well just yap his face off to a hero too.

"Pretty much, yeah. I don't feel like I can talk to her about it without getting metaphorically smothered in bubble wrap, and subsequently losing out on the opportunity to fulfill all my hopes and dreams, so yeah! That about sums it up!"

His chest hurt, while he was speaking. The stress was balling up again, making it hard to breathe, making it hurt to speak. He knew very well what it was a sign of, but he moved to bite his fingernails- wait no, that was an obvious sign of anxiety- but he was already showing signs of and- but he didn't want to completely lose his shit in front of a pretty fucking decent hero-

The greenette settled for taking another donut and shoving it into his face, pinching his leg to try and ground himself as he chewed. His breathing was even- he made absolutely certain that he monitored it, keeping it down- and he was okay. He was fine. He was a little stressed, but he was always stressed, so what did it matter? It was fine.

"Well, what are your alternatives? If you can't talk this out with her, what will you end up doing then?"

He chewed the donut slower, giving himself more time to answer, before swallowing it and blurting out, "I plan to pretty much run away and become a vigilante if worst comes to worst."

'Fuck! Brain to mouth filter, why do you consistently betray me when I can't think straight?'

"I see. That is generally the first thought that comes to mind for kids at your age, but you should look for other options. Having a friend house you would be a lot safer than living on the streets, for example, or maybe there's a way to avoid it altogether. Do you think that discussion would go better if you had someone vouching for you?"

Izuku froze at those last words, feeling a faint glimmer of something within him before swiftly crushing it down and unfreezing, and then shrugged as he reached for another donut. These donuts weren't small ones, either. He was just plowing through them, due to the facts that his quirk liked food and he liked distracting himself.

"Maybe? Someone around my age wouldn't be of help though, because she'd just see them as a bad influence, which is why I haven't asked Hitoshi for help on this. She didn't even listen to one of my uncles when he said I had the potential to be an underground hero, so I'm not sure if you'd be able to help either."

Hmm. Maybe Izuku had inherited the tendency to stress-eat from his mom...

"Potential in underground heroics, you say? I used to be a cop before I was a hero, so I have a good amount of knowledge on the underground. If it was an underground hero saying that you had potential however long ago it was, I'd be able to back up that opinion after a couple tests, and maybe a fresh face doing so would get through to her."

Maybe... it was a possibility... a greater than zero chance... Did he have any better options? Could he get anything better than this?

...probably not.

"A-Alright, um, what kinds of tests?"

Hitoshi looked at him like he was insane, and he smiled back nervously, shrugging. He had no idea what he was doing anymore, and Fatgum had a reputation for being impulsive, so the BMI hero probably didn't have any idea what he was doing either. Might as well just try something before packing up and heading off to live on the streets.

"Just a quick few physical activities and some intelligence-based things. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours, and I'm officially off duty for the rest of the day. Think you're up to it?"

Picking up his fourth donut, with Hitoshi now staring at both him and Fatgum like they'd gone insane, Izuku nodded.

"Sure, why not? Best case scenario things have a better chance of ending in my favor, worst case scenario I just end up wasting your time! I'm up to it!"

With his signature grin, the BMI hero reached over and picked up the two teenage boys under one arm, and the rest of the donuts in the other. "To the agency," he cried, whisking them off down the hallway and out the door.

Thus, they were carried to the agency as the hero had proclaimed, Izuku consuming as many donuts as possible along the way.

Chapter Text

Just as Fatgum had said, Izuku was given a few physical tests to start, which he apparently did pretty well on. It wasn't like he'd expected to fail, but the things he did during the nighttime hours had clearly given him an edge in physical activity. When he was tested on several basic things like strength, speed, agility, and endurance, he absolutely broke a sweat, but it wasn't all that bad. There wasn't anything particularly outstanding though, other than a surprisingly great endurance that kept him going steady until the end.

After the physical tests, Fatgum had given him a few intellectual challenges, as he'd said he would. Hitoshi suggested that they include battle analysis in some manner, and the hero had obliged with a couple old training videos of his, allowing the greenette to show off the skill that he was most proud of having cultivated. The hero had even added a few things into his usual scope of analysis, such as reading the faces and body language of the people involved, and then they'd moved on to reconstructing crimes based upon the evidence that had been found.

Once all the tests had been completed, Izuku slid into a chair next to Hitoshi, and watched the people of Fatgum's agency wander by.

"How do you think I did? Did I completely flop or what?"

The purple-haired teen sighed, and shook his head, and didn't say a word. That was fair, honestly. Izuku should probably stop being so negative about himself- it didn't really work with the cute face he still had. Maybe when his baby fat was gone, then he could shed his optimism like a snake sheds its old skin, and emerge from a cocoon of concentrated pain and despair like the world's most emotionally exhausted butterfly.

"Alright you two, ready to head out?"

Fatgum appeared, and the two teens got up, stretching for different reasons before following him to the streets. The sun was beginning to set, and while it would be cutting things close with the curfew his Mom had given him, he'd texted ahead to let her know to expect company. She was happy that she was finally getting to meet his friend, and less happy that she was also going to be meeting a hero, but still cordial.

On the way there, just in case everything was going to go to shit, Izuku advised Fatgum and Hitoshi to keep their familial relation to themselves at first. He didn't want to lose Hitoshi, after all, and him being related to a hero would be an instant mark against him if Inko didn't relent.

All too soon, they were at the front door, where Inko met them with a polite smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hitoshi-kun. Oh, and Toyomitsu-san... it's been a while. Come in, come in."

Izuku led their two guests inside, and guided them over to the couch, where Fatgum whispered quietly, "I did not expect to see Midoriya-sensei today. Hitoshi, if I should perish, I leave everything to you."

"Wait, what?" Hitoshi whispered back, "that's her? Wow Izuku, you're really in a tough spot."

The greenette smiled, his eyes full of existential pain and despair, and responded cheerfully, "Yep! Anyways, she's probably going to be back with some tea any moment now, if she is thinking about killing you, it'll taste particularly bitter. Not because it's poisoned, but because she doesn't like using the sugar on people she doesn't like."

The two guests nodded, and Inko soon walked in, a tray of tea in her hands. She set the tray down on the small table in front of the couch, and took a seat of her own in one of the two comfortable armchairs at the ends, leaving Izuku to take the other armchair.

As Fatgum and Hitoshi accepted the cups that Inko gave them, Izuku nervously took his own in hand, and began to speak.

"Hey Mom? You know how I used to be really into heroes, and how I wanted to be one?"

She hummed, and nodded for him to continue, seeming to realize that their guests were mostly there to support him.

"Well, I never really... stopped. I just started hiding it from you. And I've hidden a lot of things from you over the years, but this seems like the most important thing to me, because it's the one thing I've never been able to talk to you about for fear of you... taking more of the things I care about away. But Mom, I still want to be a hero. I always have, and just because I got one test done that says I'm quirkless, doesn't mean that I'm actually useless."

Inko breathed calmly, and took a sip of her tea, and slowly shifted her gaze around the people in the room. Izuku knew what she'd see, and he knew that she wasn't going to like it.

"I never said that you were useless, Izuku, I only want to keep you safe. But perhaps I've been a bit too unyielding, regarding your ideas of heroism. What are you bringing to the table that can prove that I don't have to worry about you getting killed in the first fight you get into?"

'She's treating this like a court case,' he thought, taking a sip of his own tea to buy himself time to word his answer carefully. 'That's why she hasn't asked why I didn't bring this up in private. She considers Hitoshi and Fatgum to be my witnesses, or at least Fatgum, because he definitely reacted to the bitter tea. Then again, Hitoshi might be so used to bitter coffee that bitter tea doesn't even affect him, but I don't think she'd consider him a threat anyways.'

"To begin with, I have the fact that I have actually gotten into fights before, and I'm still here. Sometimes a few delinquents by the arcade like to use their quirks on me, one time even giving me faint burn scars on my back and my left shoulder, and I took care of them myself. I've also stopped someone from murdering their kid, and even though I got hit several times, I was able to hold them off until the heroes arrived. I took care of my injuries from that as well, and as you can see, I'm still very much here. I haven't learned any kind of self-defense training, and have no official way to protect myself, so the first point I bring to the table is that I fail to see how receiving hero training will be any more dangerous than what I have already experienced."

Izuku spoke in a measured tone, staring his mother directly in the eyes as he did so, and ended his first statements by taking another sip of tea. He stayed calm, so his mother would as well, because he could see the emotions churning behind her eyes. Protectiveness, anger, pain, guilt- everything he'd just said was basically a list of why she was a bad mother, and although it hurt, he knew that the best way to get through to her was to use the psychological training she'd given him.

He watched as Inko took a sip of her own tea, as Fatgum and Hitoshi glanced back and forth between them with mild alarm, and took a brief moment to give them a reassuring look. He was in no physical danger, and neither were they. They just had to wait for her response before they could continue.

"...go on, Izuku. I'm listening."

And there it was. Shaky, but that was barely noticeable- she was holding up well.

"Additionally, for my next point, earlier today I took a few tests to determine whether I still had the potential that Tired Uncle said I did when I was younger. I'm not sure what the results are myself, because I asked Fatgum not to tell me, until the point in our conversation at which I'd ask him to speak."

Izuku nodded towards Fatgum, and the BMI hero warily glanced between the two Midoriyas, before acting on the obvious cue. His tone was light but serious as he spoke, clearly acknowledging the current atmosphere in the room.

"Midoriya-sensei," he said, "earlier today I offered to give your son a few physical and intellectual tests based upon the average scores of heroes in training over the past few years, after hearing him speak with his friend here about how a hero he knew had once said he had potential to be one. Nothing intrusive, I promise you, just simple things that anyone in your average gym could do."

Inko squinted at the hero, who began to sweat under her intense gaze, before she took another sip of tea and waved for him to continue.

"Well, according to the results, he does indeed have potential. Much of it, in fact. His physical scores are on par with students of ages two to three years older than himself, and his intelligence is at the same level, if not a higher one, as your average third year heroics student at both Yuuei and Shiketsu High. He's got a particular eye for weaknesses and loopholes, and the score from his basic subjects test show that he must have incredibly high grades in school. He's got great potential to be a hero, Midoriya-sensei, and it'd be a shame if that potential was wasted on something he was unhappy with."

As Fatgum spoke earnestly on his behalf, and as Inko seemed to be genuinely listening, Izuku felt the faint glimmer of hope from earlier rise. Maybe this wouldn't end so badly as he'd feared it would. A couple years of silence on the matter might've been enough to calm her down, enough so that she wouldn't immediately leap into overprotective mama bear mode upon its very mention. She had accepted the other parts of him, so maybe she'd be willing to accept this part of him as well...

"Thank you for coming here to support my son, Toyomitsu-san. I'd imagine that a busy hero such as yourself wouldn't do so for just anyone, so he must have something special to have caught your attention." Inko subtly probed the hero for additional information, but he simply smiled and nodded, forcing her to continue.

"And Hitoshi-kun, I presume you're the friend he's been hanging out with recently? You look tired. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

The purple-haired teen shrugged, reaching a hand up to trace the faint circles under his eyes, before lowering it to grasp his cup of tea again. He was quiet, definitely a bit spooked by the whole conversation going on, but apparently unwilling to leave.

"Thank you for also supporting my Izuku. He doesn't have too many friends at school, so I appreciate someone other than myself being there for him."

Once he murmured back a quiet "thank you," the room thus lapsed into silence, one interrupted only by the sounds of tea being sipped. Izuku observed those present, but none moreso than his Mom, trying to read her mood. She might need some alone time to properly process this, but she might also want to speak with Fatgum or Hitoshi privately, so he'd just go ahead and-

The timer for the oven dinged merrily, and Inko stood up, a neutral but not entirely closed expression upon her face.

"Toyomitsu-san, Hitoshi-kun, please feel free to entertain yourselves with the TV while Izuku and I set things up for dinner. It may be a few minutes, so your patience would be appreciated."

This was it. Either she was going to shut him down one last time, or she was finally going to accept his dreams as they were. This was the end, and whatever happened tonight would guide him down the path of his future.

Izuku stood from his seat, took a deep breath, and braced himself for the evening to come.

The two Midoriyas worked in silence, their guests having left already, the only signs of their presence being a small packet of papers on the couch and the dishes on the table. Inko had cooked a little more than double what they normally had- which would be about right for having two guests over, even if one of them ate as much as he did- and as she retrieved the empty plates and silverware from the table, he began to wash them in the sink.

There had been enough time for his Mom to think things through, and as she brought the last of the dirty dishes over, she initiated the conversation.

"I don't like this, Izuku. I really, really don't like this."

The greenette chewed on his lower lip for a moment, watching his mother to see if she was waiting for a response or if she was gathering her thoughts to continue.

"Every time I've tried to guide you away from heroics, it's been to protect you. To keep you safe. You're all I have left, and I don't ever want to see you in a casket, Izuku. No good mother wants to see her child die before she herself does."

It was the latter, it seemed.

"And in there, you tell me those... things. You tell me that you could've died already, and I wouldn't have known it until it was too late. You tell me that I've done so far hasn't actually helped you, but has been hurting you, and could've actually hurt you enough to... to kill you. I would've had a part in my own son's death, because I tried to shelter you too much..."

Izuku's lip began to bleed, and he took a step towards his Mom, arms lifting to give her a reassuring hug. She turned away though, picking up one of the wet dishes to dry; to keep a certain distance between the two of them.

"Mom, I understand. I know you only want to protect me, but... it's suffocating, sometimes. I know you don't want to hurt me, and I don't want to hurt you... b-but I feel like there's no other way to get through to you. I've thought about bringing it up to you so many times before, but every time, I'd remember how much you can still... t-take away."

She turned to him now, dismay visible upon her face, and a hand crept up to press against her lips.

"Th-That's how you saw it? You were so focused on being a hero that I had to limit your access to things related to it, but I wasn't going to keep them from you forever. I wanted to make sure that you were considering the other options, the safer options... I wanted you to realize that you could be happy doing something else..."

Tears were beginning to well up in both Midoriyas' eyes, and Izuku blotted his away with his left shirt sleeve before moving in. He then placed his hands on his Mom's shoulders, and looked her in the eyes as best he could, a sad smile on his face.

"I never knew if I'd get anything back, so I started keeping things to myself. Like I said out there, I hide a lot of things from you, but I don't want to. I don't want there to be this distance and mistrust between us. You're the only family I have too, and I don't want to fear or resent you, when I know full well that you love me. So please, can we just... move past this? I promise to be as safe as I possibly can, if you'll let me be a hero. I won't take unnecessary risks, and I will always fight my hardest to come back home. Please, Mom... can I be a hero?"

Inko stared at him with big, watery eyes, and slowly set the dish that was still in her other hand onto the drying rack. He could see her inner conflict in the tiny expressions flitting across her face, and in the way she nervously chewed on her lip just as he did, and he wasn't sure if she would agree. The stress wound tighter in his chest with each moment she remained silent, until he felt as though he would implode.

"I really don't like this, Izuku..."

It wasn't a no.

"...but knowing how I've been making you feel all these years, I have to stop somewhere. I don't approve of this in the slightest, and I still think you're going to get hurt, but I won't keep you from being a hero. I promise that I'll... stop taking things away from you, but I also won't support you, until you can prove that you can take care of yourself. So I want you to stop hiding things from me, okay?"

His Mom moved in to give him a hug, and he accepted it, the sad smile on his face widening into a brighter, more genuine version. She said yes, she said he could be a hero, she said she'd support him if he could prove himself-!

"I'll try my hardest to break the habit," he promised, before a new, hopeful thought came to mind. "D-Does this mean that my Aunt and Uncles can hang out like they used to? Can I, can I see them and talk to them again?"

He felt her grip tighten, and after a few moments of waiting with bated breath, her response was little louder than a sigh.

"I suppose so, Izuku. Just... give me a bit on that, okay? I'll need to prepare myself to see them in a casual setting again, after so many years of only interacting with them in courtrooms and agencies."

It wasn't a no! She didn't say no!

He could see the rest of his family again!

"Thank you," he sniffled, his grin as bright as the sun as he embraced her fully. "Thank you, Mom!"

With his chin tucked over her shoulder, Izuku failed to see the shrouded expression of doubt and displeasure that formed upon his mother's face. He continued to hold her until she'd concealed that emotion behind a watery smile, and pulled away of her own volition, returning to the chore of cleaning the dishes.

"You're welcome, Izuku..."

Chapter Text

Izuku was... happy.

While his Mom didn't approve of him chasing his dreams, she was no longer actively trying to stop him, and had even given her permission for him to receive self-defense lessons. He really needed them too, judging by how often he got into trouble with Kacchan's followers, whom Inko believed to be random delinquents by the arcade. He felt a bit bad about lying to her, but he also knew that she'd go after his school like fuck if she knew the truth, and he didn't want to risk messing up the setup he had going on.

With his newfound sense of relaxation, in trusting his Mom and not having to fear the worst as he had before, the greenette found himself faking his confidence less and less often. He was overcoming his instincts to cower and bend over backwards for people who didn't even like him, and it felt genuine to him, as though he'd been playing around with a plastic apple and had finally taken a bite out of it, only to discover that it'd been real all along. This was who he was, who he felt the most right being, and he was happy.

At school, he smiled more, and was beginning to see the good things around him that he couldn't see clearly before. All he used to see were enemies- fellow victims who had been deluded by society, but enemies nonetheless- yet now he could spot the neutral parties running around, and even the few allies he had. The population of the school was slowly taking sides between himself and Kacchan, and there were more people behind him than he thought there'd be.

'However, a great many of them are fickle. Almost all the people on my side are those who just like shaking things up on occasion, or are spiteful creatures doing things because other people told them not to, with the occasional soul seeking out sympathy and understanding and maybe also protection. I need to be careful with how I tread, but if all goes well and nothing really shakes things up, I should have a smooth and mostly uncontested path to graduation.'

Nodding to himself, Izuku closed the notebook he'd been writing his plans in- encrypted, of course, with a code and key that only he and two of his uncles understood- and slid it onto the shelf with the others. It was Saturday morning, just a couple hours before he had his self-defense lessons with Hitoshi, and he didn't want to be late.

The greenette left his room, picking up and slinging a duffel bag over his shoulder as he went. Laughter came from the living room, the familiar voices of his mother and his aunt coming down the way, and he smiled at the sound.

Aunt Nemuri was the one Inko was closest to, near the end of Before, and she had a flexible schedule outside of her teaching and hero hours, so it made sense that she'd be the first one able to hang out on a regular basis again. He appreciated that his Mom would have a friend around again, and that the stress she had would be able to be unloaded on someone else, despite the fact that he didn't like Aunt Nemuri much. She'd been the first and most firm one to hurt him, other than Inko herself, after all.

As for his uncles, their schedules were pretty full, so they wouldn't be able to free themselves up for a while. Uncle Tensei had a ton of sidekicks to lighten the load though, and he'd already been contacted again, so he'd probably be able to show up again soon. A good few attempts to contact Uncle Hizashi had also been made, but he was so busy and popular that every call his Mom made just went to voicemail, and the message box was full every time, so it would take a while yet for him to come around.

There hadn't been any attempt to contact Uncle Shouta though, mainly because just as Izuku didn't like Aunt Nemuri, his Mom didn't like Shouta so much anymore. The last time they'd spoken had been a terrible argument, and while reconciliation would be ideal, he wasn't so sure if that was going to happen. He couldn't remember if his unkempt uncle was the type to hold a grudge, but he knew that his Mom would be a little sore about how things had ended up, so he wasn't going to push her on calling him until everyone else had successfully been reintegrated into their lives.

"Bye Mom, bye Aunt Nemuri, I'm off to my lessons!"

Izuku finished putting on his outdoor shoes, and set his house slippers to the side, as he called out his usual farewell for Saturdays.

"Have a good day sweetie, and remember to call us if you need anything!"

He stepped outside with his mother's voice following him, and he called back a quick, "got it," before closing the door. Whatever his aunt had been about to say was cut off, and Izuku kept smiling as he turned and made a break for it, running down the hall and taking the stairs to the ground floor.

It was a beautiful, sunny day out, and Izuku was happy.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 12:15pm:

I hereby call to order the Monopoly Strings Conspiracy Meeting.

Those of you present from the following list, please respond now:

AlexandriteAphelion (if you're online rn)
ByThePrecursors (bold of me to summon a mod, I know)
CatspiracyTheorist (I still think you're dating Aphelion)
FatherKnowsBest (no he does not)
GetItWhileItsHot (where the fuck you been, you dead or smth?)
InnovationAtItsFinest (you may wish to get your outsourced materials ready to be checked)
HowAboutYouDidgeridont (you've been hella quiet recently)
NeutralLoud (if you're online rn)
QuothTheRaven (this was half your idea so you'd better be here)
ThisIsOnlyDABeginning (I know you have a new username but I don't like it so perish)
TwoTicketsToParadise (still don't get your username but whatever)

[☆] TheLostTodoroki404 >> 12:16pm:

guess i'll die

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 12:16pm:

As I said before; then perish.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 12:17pm:

i am present, soba, and my notes are ready.

[☆] NeutralLoud >> 12:18pm:

Eyyyyy! Present and accounted for!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:18pm:

me and Aphelion are here, we're just also hella busy so don't expect too many comments from us.

[☆] FatherKnowsBest >> 12:18pm:

daddy issues huh ill keep that in mind

[☆] NeutralLoud >> 12:19pm:

Hmm! Don't like this song!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:19pm:

same hat, Loud.

[☆] InnovationAtItsFinest >> 12:20pm:

corruption amongst my sources/distributors? Disgusting. Must be the higher ups.

[☆] TwoTicketsToParadise >> 12:21pm:

Agreed, Innovation.

The distributors are often innocent workers with no idea what they're handling, with the occasional case of someone being planted to make sure it gets through correctly.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 12:22pm:

Alright, it looks like almost everyone is here. We're only missing Precursor and Hot.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 12:23pm:

indeed. hot may not participate in this conversation on shadow companies and how everything is secretly run by one party in charge of all others, as he has been quite busy lately, but precursor may yet show.

[☆☆] ByThePrecursors >> 12:24pm:

ah, a good conspiracy theory just in time for my tea to be ready. Give me but a moment longer and I will be ready to converse.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 12:25pm:

Alright then, everyone is here who will be here, so let's start. Raven, you begin.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 12:28pm:

as you wish.

soba and i, whilst doing research on a few individual projects of ours, have noticed a disturbing pattern amongst the commercial market. specifically, we've been following the trails of ownership of each company, and their statistics each time ownership is transferred. there has been minimal change, but for blunders so idiotic that they could only be deliberate, and the various identities of each current company owner can all be traced back to one specific family...

the emperor's.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:29pm:

welp, if this is going where I think it's going, there goes my faith in what little privacy we had left.

[☆] TheLostTodoroki404 >> 12:31pm:

aaaand this is why the black market exists

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 12:33pm:

These connections are not by blood, in most cases, but by association. Many family members of Imperial Guardsmen are in high positions throughout society, and as such, practically all of our legal product is managed by the government in a capacity beyond what it's supposed to be. Private businesses are partially shut out of the market and bought up within so many years of opening, unless they have some alternate source of income along with their main source, or members of the media like their services enough to promote them.

[☆] InnovationAtItsFinest >> 12:34pm:

welp, looks like it's time for me to start building all the tech I need from scratch! Truly a travesty! If any of you are interested in devices not monitored by the government, send me a private message and we'll talk details!

[☆] TheLostTodoroki404 >> 12:35pm:

or you could just buy the shit you need from the black market

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:36pm:

bold of you to assume that I have the money to buy shit from either of you

[☆] TheLostTodoroki404 >> 12:37pm:

i never said i was a seller on the black market

just that it's a good place to buy your shit

if you know how to navigate it safely

[☆] InnovationAtItsFinest >> 12:38pm:

why buy stuff from mysterious sellers when you have a known seller right here? Y'all know me, and y'all know my tech is good, so just buy it from me! :D

[☆☆] ByThePrecursors >> 12:39pm:

perhaps, for the items you need that are not available for purchase from Innovation, it would be wise to acquire your products from private businesses while they are still owned privately. Supporting private businesses would assist in preventing certain parties from getting a monopoly over the market, whilst maintaining your own safety from the law in the form of buying things from the legal market rather than the black market. I personally use both, but I know that some of our users here are on the younger side, and thus cannot protect themselves from the repercussions. I would hate to see young hopefuls be branded as "villains" simply because they wish to maintain their privacy.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:40pm:

mmm, yeah, deal with that villain brand shit enough already

[☆] NeutralLoud >> 12:41pm:

Wow, I still don't like this song!

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 12:42pm:

Mood, also Catspi plz get me water, I can't feel my legs.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:43pm:

you're literally right next to me, why did you feel the need to ask me in the forum?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 12:44pm:

So these beautiful people know that a) I am indeed here, b) you weren't just saying I was earlier, c) I am interested in this discussion despite being unable to feel my legs and most of my torso, and d) I am too lazy to speak verbally when I am already typing.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 12:45pm:

okay, same hat, that's fair.

When Izuku arrived home later that night, the sounds of discussion from the other room included a male voice with the two female voices he usually heard, and he perked up instantly. It had been years since he'd heard that voice, but time hadn't dulled the memory. He knew who this was, and as he called out, "tadaima," into the apartment, he was filled with a mixture of anticipation, joy, and discomfort.

"Oh, there he is! Okaerinasai, Izuku! Your Uncle Tensei was finally able to get a clear spot in his schedule to visit us in!"

As he'd suspected, it was Uncle Tensei who was the first of his uncles to drop by. Were his visits going to be regular, or was he going to just drop by when he had the free time? Izuku didn't know which would be better, as he had mixed feelings about the man.

On one hand, Tensei had supported Inko and Nemuri in their various plans to quash his heroic dreams. On the other hand though, he'd still enjoyed that time he'd spent learning more about the world with him. So it was an inner debate between 'hold a grudge' and 'appreciate the experience'...

The greenette entered the main room, and saw three of his five family members sitting on the couch together, drinks and snacks and the TV in front of them. All of them had positive expressions on their faces, all facing towards him when he came in, and he could see the effects the other two were having on his mother already.

They were doing her good, lightening the load she carried just by being there. Her usual wrinkles of stress and anxiety were nowhere in sight, and she looked like she was glowing, from where she sat in between them. They were doing her right, even though they'd done him wrong in the distant past...

'...I suppose I should try to drop that grudge, if I can. They're helping her better than I ever could.'

Pulling a slight smile to his face, Izuku waved to his Aunt and Uncle, and began to lower his guard once more.

Chapter Text

The furious roar of a cornered villain echoed through the streets, crowds gathering as the rush hour traffic around him came to a stop.

"BACK OFF, I'LL KILL YOU," the giant man yelled at Kamui Woods, when the hero approached to take him down.

Izuku stood in one of the many small crowds, his All Might backpack hanging securely from his shoulders, and a somewhat blurry notebook in hand. He was squinting in the bright light of morning, jotting down the typical information he gathered when analyzing fights, but he wasn't putting too much effort into this one. It was obvious that while the fight could be difficult for Kamui, the hero was deliberately dragging it out a little bit to get more publicity, and the fangirls beside him were eating it up with delighted screams.

'How annoying.'

As the villain was captured by a new hero, Mt. Lady, the greenette took a few notes down on his impressions of everyone involved, and made his way onwards through the area. Whispers echoed through his mind, of how the crimes didn't match the punishment, of the panic in the giant man's eyes throughout the whole situation...

When Izuku joined the hero industry, he would be more merciful. He would take his villains down with the efficiency of the battles he saw at night, rather than waste time toying with them and risking the lives of innocents. Rankings mattered to keep the people and the media on one's side, sure, but it would be cruel to play with other people's lives like most of the current surface heroes did. He could get his brownie points doing other things.

Done recording his thoughts, Izuku slipped his notebook into the secret pouch he'd sewn into his backpack, there to avoid it being destroyed by one of Kacchan's followers. The social war was still raging between them after all, and even though he sometimes saw glimmers of approval in the other's eyes, the students and staff members who were against him weren't allowed to see such a thing. As far as anyone knew, they were the most bitter of enemies, never to set foot in the same room as the other without some form of fight breaking out.

Because of his more active rivalry with the spiky blonde since getting his new look, the greenette had pushed himself and learned things quicker than he normally would have. His grades were even better than they were previously, almost always perfect scores, and he was excelling in physical activities as well. Heck, he'd even stopped crying so much- he was still highly emotional, but he was getting better at hiding it, or maybe he was getting better at processing it.

Of course, Kacchan still did better than he did on average, but he was definitely catching up fast. The two had nearly reached the point of being neck and neck on everything, even. In class, the blonde would always be stuck in the middle of rage and satisfaction, as though he was getting what he wanted and it was even more than he'd expected.

The blonde was pleased with what Izuku was doing... he wasn't exactly sure how to take that, though.

'Is it a good thing that I have his approval now, even though we're technically enemies? I think it is, but I'm not sure. I'd rather be friends than enemies- maybe I can work us into friendship once we get into Yuuei, assuming we both do so. Why does he approve of me, though? When he looks at me, standing up to him just one seat over and one seat back, why does he like it? I can't figure it out. I wish I knew him better.'

Lost in thought, the greenette made his way into the school, and failed to notice the speculative gazes following him as he went.

As the last class ended and most of the students left, Izuku packed up his things and got ready to leave, when a hand held his class notebook down to his desk. He looked up, and green eyes clashed with red, smiles of varying feral inclination spreading across their faces.

"How can I help you again today, Kacchan? You look tired. Are you wanting me to put you to sleep?"

The spiky blonde grinned, two of his followers hanging back behind him, while a neutral classmate observed them from the door.

"Funny, that's what I was about to ask you. Your dark circles haven't faded in over a year. What's the matter? The fear of only being second best keeping you up at night?"

Izuku snorted, and his notebook was released, allowing him to slide it into his backpack where it belonged. He then slid said backpack on and started making his way towards the staircase to the roof, Katsuki walking alongside him with an arm thrown over his shoulders in what would be a friendly way for almost any other pair of students, with the lackeys trailing behind and the neutral party leaving them alone.

This was their daily routine, where Katsuki would take him up to the roof and lock him there, while his lackeys reveled in their perceived superiority over him. He'd chill out up there for roughly fifteen minutes, checking on the news and HoloGraphic while everyone else left, before climbing down and going on his way home. A simple and rather relaxing part of their routine, now that Katsuki had stopped being a dick about it.

"Blah blah blah, stay up here and think about your place in the world, blah blah blah. Cya tomorrow, loser."

The roof access door closed, and a loud click sounded as it locked, along with muffled laughter from the lackeys. The greenette shook his head in amusement, before waiting fifteen minutes and climbing down, right on schedule.

As he made his way down the street, the temptation to scale a building in broad daylight grew within him. He loved taking shortcuts with style, and hopping the rooftops to his apartment building would definitely be stylish, but then he'd have to worry about the police and flashy heroes wanting to scold him about doing dangerous things...

He settled for scaling the bridge that he usually walked underneath, climbing up the pole beside it and reaching for the surface, when there was suddenly a metallic clang echoing out from underneath the tunnel.

Curious, as he hadn't seen anything under there before climbing up the bridge, Izuku went back to the edge and leaned over, peering into the tunnel with his ponytail hanging down below him. There he saw a rather disgruntled-looking person made of slime or something- what a quirk to have- climbing up out of the sewers while a manhole cover rolled into the wall and came to a stop. That must've been the source of the noise, then.

Shrugging, the greenette looked down/up and started pulling himself back up on top of the bridge, paying no mind to the slime beneath him until he was suddenly grasped and dragged down into the shadows.

"A medium-sized skin suit is just what I needed... I didn't know that he was going to be here."

Izuku kicked out forcefully, his hands clawing at the nasty-smelling liquid that was covering his lower face, and his focus sharpening as a mixture of panic and adrenaline kicked in. He struggled with everything he had, but it wasn't enough- he couldn't twist himself free from who he now knew to be a villain, and he couldn't use his self-defense lessons on a person who couldn't be grasped. Sludge was pouring down his throat, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"You're a real hero to me, kid."

His attacker winked at him, and he zeroed in on the eye that did so, one curled fist lashing out towards it as he recognized it as a weakness.

The resulting scream echoed through the area, and the greenette slipped down a bit, but was now unable to reach either the villain's face or the ground. He kicked out as hard as he could, trying to leverage himself free now that the man's grip had been disrupted. If he could just touch the ground, just get a tiny bit of traction...

"Have no fear; you are safe... now that I am here, that is!"

The man holding him twisted around, good eye widening at the sight of All Might, and threw forth an arm of slimy sludge. Izuku watched as the number one hero dodged the blow and surged forward, a little bit awestruck by the sheer strength he had, as a single punch blew the villain away from around him.

'The fact that his punches carry enough force to produce shockwaves like this is incredible. They even seem to be directed, which means some part of his quirk might be related to the manipulation of kinetic energy. What if he's built his muscles so much to produce more energy with his movements? An increase of mass would follow with an increase of force-'

Izuku landed on the asphalt, coughing violently to expel what was left of the sludge from his lungs, and the hero brought forth two soda bottles to quickly and forcefully stuff what was left of the the villain inside them. It had been a one hit knockout, and as he was saved by one of his idols, he couldn't help but wish he'd been able to record it.

Once he could breathe again, the greenette whipped out his notebook and began recording his observations, skipping over a few pages for his previous entry to be finished off later.

"Ah, you seem to be moving around alright! Whaddya got there?"

All Might approached, the villain stored semi-loosely in his pockets, and Izuku turned his notebook around to reveal the things he'd been quickly jotting down. A basic sketch- really just a few guidelines that probably wouldn't be clear to anyone but Izuku- had been made in the upper margin, showing the hero's punch and how the shockwave had traveled forward from it. Beneath the sketch was an efficient but messy slew of notes, relating to the event and the details he'd noticed, and the hero looked a bit impressed by what he saw.

"I see you have an eye for detail! Are you planning to be a hero?"

Izuku nodded, and as a thought came to mind, quickly turned to the next page and held out his notebook. "C-Can I get an autograph!?"

The hero laughed, and whipped out a sharpie to sign with. His signature was as loud as he was, bold and taking up two full pages, and Izuku grinned with delight as he saw it. He'd gotten saved by All Might, and then he'd gotten his autograph! That was like, two things off his bucket list in one day. If he was daring, maybe he could even cross a third thing off, and get a little bit of personal encouragement...?

"Well, I've gotta get this guy to the station! Keep working on that notebook of yours- a sharp mind is a valuable asset to a hero!"

Izuku paused for a moment, realizing that All Might was leaving, before scrambling to shove his notebook into his backpack. His pencil clattered to the pavement, and he paid it no attention, pulling his backpack onto his shoulders again and leaping forward as the hero leapt into the air with a cry of, "Thank you for all your support!"

What followed was the most terrifying moment of his life thus far. He began to slip, from where he'd grabbed onto All Might's leg, but the hero noticed him. At first it seemed as though he was going to get dislodged, but then the man ended up grabbing the back of his shirt and holding him more securely, all the way to where they landed safely on a roof together.

The hero then removed him and began to dust himself off, sounding a bit disappointed as he said, "That was very reckless of you, young man," but he couldn't pay any mind to it. This was potentially the only opportunity he'd get, to receive just a tiny bit of support from the hero he idolized the most, and he couldn't let it go. He had to ask. He had to know.

"All Might, I have a question for you!"

The hero turned away, and began walking towards the edge of the roof. "You can ask me it to me over my website. Now, bang on the door for a while and I'm sure someone will let you dow-"

"Can someone who's quirkless still be a hero like you!?"

He wasn't quirkless. He wasn't, and he knew it full well, but it was all that anyone would ever see. Maybe the tests had been done wrong with him, or maybe the files had gotten mixed up, or maybe he was just some freak of nature, but he had a quirk. He had a quirk, but evidence said otherwise, so he had to go along with the evidence. Until he could directly prove otherwise, he had to go along with the idea that he was quirkless, no matter how much he hated it or how much he hated lying to the number one hero.

The number one hero, who had stopped in his tracks, and was listening with his head turned Izuku's way again.

"When I was little, I was diagnosed as quirkless. My entire life, people have told me that I can't be a hero because I'm useless, and I would only get hurt. They said that I wouldn't be able to do anything to help, so it would be better for me to just stay out of the way altogether. I can count the number of people who actually believe in me on one hand, maybe two if you count people I've never met in person, and I need to know. I need to know what you think!"

Izuku took a shaky breath, pushing his emotions back down where they belonged, and ignored the soft hissing sound coming from in front of him. He looked at the ground and wiped his eyes, just in case any tears had managed to escape- he couldn't go crying in front of All Might, after all. The greenette didn't want to get an affirmative out of pity, he wanted the man's genuine opinion.

"All Might, please be honest with me. Do you think that I could be a hero someday, even if all the world sees in me is quirklessness? Do you think that I could be a hero like you, saving people with a fearless smile upon my face?"

He looked up, and met the intense blue gaze of his idol... in a body that was now significantly skinnier and surrounded by the remnants of softly hissing smoke.

The two then stared awkwardly at one another, as though locked in a silent conversation. 'You gonna scream?' one seemed to ask the other, followed by a response of, 'no, but, are you okay?' This exchange went on for several moments, until All Might finally sighed, and took a seat up against the edge of the rooftop.

"Please don't go sharing this online or with your friends or whatever, but... there's plenty of fear behind my smile, kid."

The hero pulled up his now-oversized shirt, and revealed a nasty patchwork of skin and scar tissue, leaving Izuku to stare as he began to speak.

"Five years ago, I got into a battle with a villain strong enough to do this. I defeated him in the end, but regardless of that fact, I was still gravely injured. My stomach was obliterated, and half of my respiratory system was destroyed. My quirk is powerful, even granting me a measure of invulnerability when it's active... taking a hit like this would be a death sentence to someone who is quirkless."

He wasn't saying no, not outright, but...

"If I encourage you to proceed into the field of heroics, and you end up dying because you thought you could withstand an enemy's blows like I can, I'll have essentially sent you to your death. You're smart, kid, but being a hero like me without any power behind your actions? If you were faced with an opponent overwhelmingly stronger than yourself, then all the intelligence in the world couldn't save you."

Izuku smiled sadly, having heard gentle letdowns like this one a good few times before, and nodded once. "Th-Thank you for speaking candidly with me, All Might... I appreciate it..."

The man stood up, his shirt dropping back to where gravity took it, and turned towards the staircase.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. In an ideal world where the heroes always triumphed and the villains were always defeated, I'd be able to give you a different answer. I'm sorry that this isn't that kind of world."

The greenette nodded again, his hands shaking with the emotions he was doing his best not to show, and watched the number one hero go through the roof access door. The man held it open for him to come through as well, but he shook his head, and the door soon closed between them. Another door closing before him, another person who didn't believe that he could be a hero... but that was nothing new.

As a large explosion erupted in the distance, Izuku's hands stopped shaking, and he moved to start climbing down to the street below.

Chapter Text

How long had it been? Thirty seconds at most, right? He could hear sirens and some heroes nearby, talking to the villain now, trying to negotiate and meeting with significant failure. Backdraft was telling the civilians to keep away from the nearby buildings, spraying water at the fires that'd sprung up in the wake of his struggles- the buildings had caught fire that quickly? It had to have been more than thirty seconds, fuck, he could only hold his breath for so long!

Two minutes left; two minutes or less. Bakugou Katsuki couldn't exactly count the seconds as he kept firing off his quirk and trying to twist his body free, occupied with the burning in his chest and the sick, disgusting feel of viscous liquid pressing against his lips. Part of him wondered why it hadn't simply gone up his nose, but maybe it couldn't for whatever reason. Maybe he was fighting hard enough that it couldn't stop to move itself in such intricate ways. The villain was a large one, too; maybe it just had difficulty moving smaller parts of itself in general.

And dammit, the heroes were here! He could hear them, calling out their statuses and advising each other on the best courses of action! They could've started attacking the villain by now- its movements were getting slower, and the liquid ooze it was made of felt thicker, likely due to the fires he'd started- but they were all focused on the collateral damage! They were putting out the fires and evacuating the civilians still in the area, which was really great and all, but he could count at least six heroes on scene by audio alone! They didn't need that many people for one job; they could at least send one person in to fight the villain!

It was a hero's job to take risks for the safety of others, so why were they playing safe in a situation like this?

Why weren't the heroes doing anything to help him?

"Hahaha, your quirk is incredible, kid! Look at all the damage you've caused!"

Flames were everywhere, and two crowds of civilians had gathered on either side of the alleyway, each being protected by the heroes. The new giantess hero from this morning was to his right, using her arms to protect one crowd, while Kamui Woods worked on the other crowd, unable to try saving him because of the fires he'd created. Backdraft was putting out the fires that'd spread to the buildings nearby, and Death Arms was helping evacuate the civilians still in the buildings...

Dammit, shit, fuck! They were all busy, they were being cautious and doing the jobs they knew they could do for certain, because "none of their quirks were suited for the situation." Bullshit! Kamui Woods wouldn't be able to keep hold of the villain, but he'd be able to grasp and pull Katsuki free, if he fucking stopped dancing around the flames like that! Sure, he was made of wood, but wet wood didn't burn so easily! 'Just get Backdraft to fucking soak you for a moment, dumbass!'

How many minutes had it been? Katsuki could feel the urge to breathe rising up within him, and his struggles getting minutely weaker with each passing moment without fresh air. His time was almost up, dammit, why weren't they moving!? Why weren't they trying to save him!? Why weren't they-

"Kacchan!"

...no.

The spiky blonde looked up, an ever-growing fury in his eyes, and met the flickering green-red irises of his rival. There were tears pouring down the other boy's cheeks, and a deep fear pervading the boy's body language, both of which he hadn't seen in months now. Those were supposed to be gone, supposed to have been ditched with that mask of subservience Deku had worn for years, and now it was back? The fuck was this- the fuck was Deku thinking?

'Look at all those people, look at those cameras. He's gonna fuckin' save me, and he's gonna make me look like a weakling while he's at it!'

As the villain holding him sent out an arm of sludge towards his green-haired rival, Katsuki watched him perform a stunning combat roll beneath the attack, and remove his backpack for a counter. The All Might backpack was thus sent flying towards the villain's eyes, where the corner of one particular notebook landed, and caused his captor to screech in pain.

"YOU AGAIN!"

Katsuki gasped in as much air as he possibly could, as the villain's body surged unsteadily around him, and as Deku arrived to start clawing at the sludge around him.

"DEKU! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP IF YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING GIVE IT TO ME LIKE THAT! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HIDING!?"

The villain began to recover, and his rival had the audacity to look confused as he got a grip of the spiky blonde's arm and began to pull.

"STOP FUCKING CRYING, DAMMIT! GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE!"

Before anything else could happen, All Might swooped in to save the day, appearing in a space that had been empty just a moment earlier. Katsuki didn't even see him move, he arrived so quickly, but suddenly his arm and Deku's were being held in the same grasp, and the sludge was flying away from his body from the force of the hero's punch.

"A pro always puts their life on the line!"

'Such power...!'

"Detroit... SMAAASH!"

If All Might hadn't grabbed them, they would've been sent flying away as well.

As a hush began to fall over the street, Katsuki breathed in deep, and glanced around from his new position on the ground. The fires had been extinguished by the punch as well, and in the sky above, the clouds circled. Drops of water and sludge fell to the ground below, and someone's shocked whisper of, "He changed the weather with a single right hook?" broke through the quiet.

The other heroes on scene moved for to collect the sludge puddles in clear trash bags, as All Might held up his fist, and the crowd began to cheer.

Katsuki found himself pulled off to the side with Deku, by the heroes who weren't collecting villain remnants. At first they praised Deku for his actions, but when the spiky blonde viciously informed them that he was quirkless, the praise quickly turned into a scolding. He himself was praised for his valiant resistance and his powerful quirk, but he knew he didn't deserve it, just like they didn't deserve to give it to him.

If he'd been a hero, and this had been a real fight, he would've lost. And these heroes who stood around while he was in danger- Death Arms had tried to free him once, so maybe he was a decent person, but everyone else hadn't even tried. The only satisfaction Katsuki could take from this was that Deku was being chewed out on his word, but even that wasn't worth much.

He'd just lost a battle that Deku had won. The nerd had humiliated him in front of both their worlds, by helping him while his crybaby mask was on. His reputation was going down the drain with every second that passed, his followers were beginning to pull him down from his throne, his pedestal was crumbling beneath his feet...!

There would be no mercy from anyone who saw what happened this day... no mercy for Katsuki, none at all.

"Deku!"

Midoriya Izuku turned around, chewing on his lower lip, the panicked tears from earlier having dried up. He still didn't understand what Kacchan had meant about hiding, but maybe he could get a little bit of insight now? It might help calm him down a little, at least- his chest was tight with the stress of the day overall.

"I hope you're fucking happy with what you've done! All this time, I'd thought you were finally getting serious, but it's more than that, huh!?"

Katsuki's voice echoed down the empty street, the sky turning a brilliant golden orange as the sun began to set, and as the greenette listened to his... rival.

"You've been looking down on me! You, the quirkless, useless Deku, have been looking down on me, the strongest person our shitty school will ever see! I don't know what fucking gave you the balls to do that, but I assure you, you'll regret it."

The malice in the red-eyed boy's voice was so strong that Izuku froze- locked in place in a way that not even Shinsou's father had managed to achieve- and stayed still as Katsuki approached to grasp the collar of his shirt. Smoke rose as the cloth began to burn, and out of the corner of his eye, the green-eyed boy noticed a hint of blood oozing from Katsuki's hand along with the sweat.

"K-Kacchan, your hand-!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Katsuki pulled him around, and pushed him up against the nearby wall, leaning in close enough that their noses were nearly touching. "Before today, before you decided to fucking... do that, I would've been fine with you applying to Yuuei! Shit, I might've even been looking forward to it! But not now, you bastard. You've fucked up, thinking you can look down on me like I'm the pebble beneath your feet."

He stared, eyes wide, as the gears in his mind frantically spun to process what the blonde was saying.

"I never asked to be saved, least of all by you! In fact, you didn't save me- got it!? All Might did all the saving, and you did nothing, like the worthless waste of space you are. So don't you dare fucking look down on me, you shitty fucking nerd!"

Katsuki released him, the blood on his hand smudged up, but no longer oozing now that he wasn't forcing his quirk to be active anymore. The two stared at each other for a moment longer, each breathing heavily from the intensity of it, before a streak of hatred and cruelty flashed across the spiky blonde's eyes.

"You were utterly useless today. And if you ever want a chance to not be that, I have one thing to suggest." The blonde leaned in once more, and whispered into his left ear. "Go take a fucking swan dive off a roof somewhere."

Izuku stopped breathing.

His rival stared at him, a volatile mixture of rage and betrayal in his red eyes, before he blinked and all of it was locked away. Nothing remained but an absolute fury that Izuku feared would burn him to a crisp, but no such thing happened, as Katsuki turned and began to walk away. Soon the spiky blonde was out of sight, but he still couldn't move, locked in place by his final words.

'Go take a fucking swan dive off a roof somewhere.'

Slowly, the greenette slid down the wall to the ground beneath him, his heart filled with confusion and hurt. Hot tears prickled at his eyes, but he blinked rapidly to dispel them, and tried to focus on breathing smoothly again. He had to keep it in, keep it down- he was out in the open for all the world to see, and sobbing like he wanted to right now would not do him any favors.

Still... he didn't get it. He didn't understand- what had he done wrong? How was it possible for someone to hate him so much that they'd say... that to him, and mean it? Would Katsuki really have rather died than be saved by him, just because he thought he was quirkless? He didn't believe that was the case, but it was all he could think of, given the information he currently had.

And what did Katsuki mean, when he said that Deku was looking down on him? Why did he look so betrayed? What had he put his faith into? Izuku didn't understand. He couldn't reconcile this with his point of view. He was missing vital information, and he couldn't put it all together, because he was still missing too many pieces of the puzzle that was Bakugou Katsuki.

...how were the events of today going to alter their dynamic at school?

The greenette shook his head, putting that thought in the 'think about later' box, and continued focusing on calming down. He breathed in for a count of four, held his breath for a count of seven, exhaled for a count of eight, and repeated. At the same time, he ran his fingers across the rough asphalt and brick, grounding himself so as to avoid spiraling into a train of thought that didn't have any brakes.

Standing up, Izuku's breathing pattern settled into something more natural, and his heartbeat slowed to its normal pace. He could do this. He could keep himself together until he got home. All he had to do was keep himself distracted long enough for the feelings to go away.

"I AM HERE!"

Izuku's entire body twitched back up into a standing position in shock, as he choked on the next breath to come down his throat, his heartbeat jacking up again. All Might scaring the shit out of him was one way of keeping distracted, he guessed!?

"W-What are you doing here? Weren't you just surrounded by the press?"

The hero laughed, then began to cough, and then suddenly deflated into his smaller form. Izuku stared at him with concern, distracting himself further with thoughts of why All Might was so sickly thin in this form, and thoughts of how it could maybe be fixed. He'd have to know what the problem was in the first place though, other than the obvious missing stomach, so he'd have to ask the symbol of peace what he was doing to take care of himself...

"Kid. I came here to thank you, and to set the record straight."

All Might wiped his mouth of blood, and spoke seriously, losing the somewhat goofy atmosphere he carried in his hero persona.

"If you hadn't been there earlier today, and if I hadn't heard your story, then I would've gotten dangerously close to not living by my own ideals. I would have gotten too close to being all talk, to flashing fake muscle. Thank you for helping me avoid that."

Chewing on his lower lip, the greenette reached a hand up to mess with one of his piercings, running his thumb over the clear rubber backing that was holding it in place. "It was my fault to begin with, though... I interfered with your work, and wasted your time asking questions when you have better things to do than talk with someone who's at the bottom rung of society."

"And that's just it! Out of all the people on the scene, you were the one who made a difference. You're the one who made me act! Young man, there's something said about every great hero, something they all had in common from the time they were still students. Their bodies moved before they could think! That's what happened to you out there today, isn't it?"

He could see where this was going. Was it really going this way? Had he made the hero change his mind?

"I-I couldn't just let him die, and anyone would've stepped in to save someone who mattered to them..."

The number one hero shook his head, and moved in, resting a hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"On the contrary. I've seen the closest of couples leave each other behind in the midst of chaos, and loving mothers abandon their children in order to save themselves. Not anyone would do as you did. Young man, you can be a hero! You're the one who's most worthy..."

All Might himself was telling him that he could be a hero. It was... something he'd only dreamed of, yet it was happening. It had happened. He had gotten personal encouragement from the number one-

"...of inheriting my power!"

Um. What?

"No need to give me that look, I won't force it on you! It's up to you whether or not you want to inherit my quirk. And I get it, passing down a quirk from person to person should be impossible, but there are quirks out there that can manipulate DNA and change people's biological genders. Keep an open mind, kid!"

Slowly, the greenette nodded, and curbed the instinct to take out his notebook and start compiling data. If this was true, that his quirk could be passed down from one person to another, he probably didn't want it to be in writing anywhere. People would be after him in droves, begging him for his quirk, and whoever he passed his quirk onto would be a target as well-

"Good to know you're quick on the uptake!"

Oh. He was muttering again. And here he thought he'd broken that habit years ago.

"I've been looking for a successor for ages, kid, and I've tagged you as the next in line for my kosei... One For All. It's a sacred torch handed down from generation to generation, power growing every step along the way; brave hearts with the unwavering call to save lives burnishing this might! And you, who rushed in to save that boy despite your lack of power, you were the one who shone the brightest out of anyone else on the scene! I wouldn't mind giving my quirk to you... but hey, it's still your decision. What do you say?"

This was... more than Izuku had expected. It was beyond the scope of what he'd even dared to dream. What should he do? It was an opportunity that would never come again, but he had Fatgum and Hitoshi and his friends on the forum rooting for him. What should he do? What would everyone want him to do?

'No... what do I want to do?'

The greenette took a deep breath, and stood up straight, looking the number one hero in the eyes. He knew what he wanted, and he wasn't going to let it slip him by...!

"I accept, All Might. I accept your offer."

The hero grinned, and Izuku grinned back, emotions churning wildly beneath the surface.

Chapter Text

In order to receive One For All, Izuku had to build up his body more.

Having too little muscle mass when the quirk was transferred to him would result in his limbs exploding off, apparently, and he had no desire to experience that, so of course he appreciated the training plan that All Might had made him. And now, as he looked over what had been devised again, he found himself still surprised by how thorough it was.

Even his sleep had been scheduled- a good seven hours each day- but he didn't need sleep. He'd have to gauge how sore he was after each day of clearing the beach and working out, and think about what he could do in that free time. There was no doubt that this was going to be painful, after all, so he was going to do this as carefully as possible.

"Oh hey, there you are. I was wondering if you were gonna be late again."

Today was Saturday, the day he usually hung out with Hitoshi and had self-defense lessons with him, and his 'day off' going by the training schedule. He'd gotten up, eaten a large breakfast, then set off for the agency. Fatgum had been busy with a new intern lately, but this week they were all supposed to meet each other, so as to give Hitoshi and Izuku a connection to a Yuuei student for their futures. There probably wouldn't be too much self-defense training going on as a result, unless the intern, Suneater, wanted to test their skills or something.

"Psh, as if I'd be late and risk losing the privilege of testing out Fatgum brand quirk assistance food. The costs of my late night snacks have gone down tremendously because of it, and I'm saving up for a new camera."

As Izuku and Hitoshi entered the agency, the receptionist waved to them, and they waved back before heading down the familiar set of hallways to the kitchens.

"Oh yeah, that's why I somehow ended up with more food last week, while you were off whining about the pain of your latest piercing to the mirror."

The greenette stuck out his tongue at the other- revealing the new piercing he'd spoken of- and received a light jab to the side for his impudence. He sent a slightly heavier jab back, and soon the two were pushing up against each other in attempt to knock the other down, as they made their way through the kitchen doors.

"Meet me in the pit after we eat, Hitoshi! I'll show you just how much I was whining!"

Suddenly, the purple-haired teen stepped out of Izuku's grip, and sent him tripping off balance. He rolled back onto his feet and huffed, turning to question why his friend had seen fit to do that, when he saw the intern sitting on a chair in the corner.

The boy's pointed ears were very elf-like, and his costume was pretty fucking dope. Izuku liked the cloak especially, and contemplated adding one to his own costume once he was officially on the hero track... He still had to think up a design for his hero costume in general, actually...

"Ah, I see the two of you have found Suneater! Amajiki-kun, meet my son, Hitoshi, and his friend, Izuku. Hitoshi, Izuku, meet one of my most skilled interns in years, Amajiki Tamaki!"

The intern covered his face with the hood of his cloak, and began mumbling under his breath, visibly shaking a bit. He was so quiet that all the greenette could make out was something about teasing and his quirk being kinda gross, and a feeling of deja vu began to creep over him. Was deja vu the right term? He felt like he'd experienced this before, but that he'd experienced it from Amajiki's side of things, rather than the one he was experiencing now.

Beside him, Hitoshi shook his head in amusement, and nudged Izuku's side. "Looks like you're not the only one who mutters around here."

"Hush, you," Izuku nudged him back with equal force, and stepped away before the purple-haired teen could retaliate, bowing to Amajiki in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Amajiki-senpai! Fatgum has told us a lot about you."

The black-haired boy stopped muttering for a moment, bowing back to him, but he didn't stop shaking. It seemed as though he had some sort of anxiety, which Izuku could definitely sympathize with. What was he anxious about, though...?

He'd have to figure it out through the course of the day, if he didn't just go ahead and ask him straight out.

"So!" An exclamation from Fatgum, along with his hands clapping together once in anticipation, caught the attention of everyone in the room. "Suneater here will be joining the two of you in your taste-testing today, and potentially from here on out. His quirk allows him to manifest the body parts of the animals he eats, ya see, so we're gonna be testing his limitations as well as the usual!"

Izuku and Hitoshi shared a glance, and shrugged simultaneously, before returning their attention to the intern.

"I look forward to the rest of the day," the greenette chirped, smiling at the older teen. "Maybe you can teach us some moves once we get on with our physical training!"

The anxious boy seemed to deflate a little at that comment, as though he'd finally given up on something, as he nodded once.

"Maybe," he whispered, "but I hope not."

"Color me impressed, young Midoriya! You're in better shape than I thought you'd be!"

Izuku huffed in-between steps, dragging a fridge behind him step by step, as All Might sat on top of it. He was kind of surprised himself, as he hadn't expected his strength to be at this level. Sure, he regularly did parkour for over a year and more recently had started taking those self-defense lessons, but those weren't exactly strength or muscle building exercises. They were based upon agility and speed, not brute force. Thus, the fact that he could drag an empty fridge- not too surprising- with the added weight of a two hundred and sixty kilogram All Might behind him- that was the surprising bit- was a pleasant piece of information to himself as well as the number one hero.

"Same hat!"

The hero behind him made a noise of confusion, and Izuku kept dragging the fridge towards the dumpster area, or at least towards the stairs that led to that area.

"What do you mean by 'same hat'? Is this a meme your generation is using?"

Oh. That's why he was confused.

"Actually, it's a pretty- hff- old meme. Not many people know that it's a thing, so it's fun using it in public and finding other people who understand what it means. Kinda like a secret language, y'know? For example, if you know enough memes, then you can communicate through pictures entirely, without the meaning being lost! And communicating like this is pretty great, cuz you're included in something that your people understand and appreciate, and you're having fun with them in this way when you might not be able to have fun with them otherwise!"

The fridge was delivered to the base of the stairs, and the ropes Izuku was using to drag it fell slack, as he took a step back and caught his breath. Glancing behind him, he saw All Might holding his phone out, the camera being aimed in his direction. With a quiet click, a picture of his sweaty face was taken, and the hero snickered at his expression before going on as though that hadn't happened.

"An interesting outlook! I wouldn't have put quite that much thought or emphasis into the existence of memes myself, but I suppose you're right in that they do unify people in a unique way."

The hero leapt off the fridge, and crushed it down flat, before taking it from the bottom of the stairs to the dumpster at the top.

"Now, let's get back to work!"

It was three in the morning, and the greenette's body was still sore from the consistent workout he'd been giving it.

Thankfully, the soreness wasn't as bad as it had been when he'd first started out, but it was still noticeable. It was noticeable wherever he went, in whatever he did, but it was manageable. He wasn't crippled by it anymore, after a good few months of acclimating to it, and he was getting back into the swing of his usual nighttime activities. In fact, he was out on one of said activities at the moment, making a parkour video in the heart of Musutafu City.

"Whoop, there it is!"

He leapt the twelve foot gap between two buildings with a cheer, rolling with the landing to continue carrying his momentum forward, and giggled despite the soreness pervading his bones. The wind brushed against his masked face, snowflakes of the season settling upon his clothes, and he breathed in the crisp air with every breath he took. Soon he'd have to be more careful in his maneuvering, but for now, while the rooftops weren't so icy, he'd enjoy himself as much as he could.

As he kicked himself up the wall of the next building over, scaling the height between the two differently elevated rooftops, he noticed a silhouette in the near distance. Pausing in his tracks, Izuku stared across the rooftop he'd just scaled, at the slim figure perched upon the other side of the building. His sore arms supported his weight as he laid low, keeping only his head and shoulders above the level, as he inspected the mysterious person outlined by the towers of Yuuei High in the distance.

Dark clothes, somewhat raggedy, like they had been worn down for years and had been repaired by hand a few times. Simple black boots, with zippers on the insides and rough soles on the bottoms for keeping traction up. A black and blue-grey utility belt upon the pants, many pouches filled with what he knew would be supplies for almost any situation. A light grey scarf, which he knew very well, as the capture weapon of Eraserhead.

The greenette stared, frozen as a mixture of ice and emotion swirled through him, as he laid eyes upon his Uncle Shouta for the first time in years.

"You should head home now, Aphelion. Your guardian will be worried if you mysteriously end up in police custody when you should have been asleep in bed."

HE KNEW HIM FROM HOLOGRAPHIC?

"U-Um, yes sir!"

Izuku's voice came out muffled from behind his mask, and he began to look down the wall he'd just scaled, before realizing that this was his chance. He obviously didn't want his family to catch wind of his nighttime activities, but this was his chance to reestablish communications between himself and his uncle. His uncles, plural. Uncle Hizashi was also out of touch, and the two were married, so this would be killing two birds with one stone!

"Aizaw- uh, Eraserhead! Can I get your number?"

The underground hero slowly turned his head, and yellow goggles came into view, as he responded with a crisp, "No."

Izuku had clearly fucked up with that name blunder, and was obviously pushing his luck. 'It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything.'

"Okaythanksbye!"

Dropping from his perch like a rock, the greenette scrambled back and sprinted across the rooftops from whence he came. He glanced around every now and then, checking to see if the hero was following him- he was, from a distance, fuck fuck fuck- and tried his best to evade him. He'd gotten lucky getting away from Aunt Nemuri before, because she relied on her quirk just a little too much, but Uncle Shouta didn't have the leisure of that option.

Panicking, Izuku removed and reached into his backpack- the thin black one he used in his nighttime adventures- and pulled a tube of aluminum ductwork he'd salvaged from the beach, looking for a place to hide. Portable hiding spot, all he needed was a semi-industrial section to get to, then he could enact his plan of escape and-

Bingo.

Ducking around a corner, out of sight from where he'd last seen the Erasure Hero, Izuku ran over to a wall and slid that ductwork over himself like it was the hottest new fashion accessory. All he could hope for now was that his uncle wasn't so familiar with the area that he knew what everything looked like just at a passing glance, and that he'd leave quick enough for him to get back home before his mom woke up.

Getting home late/early in an outfit like this would only make her ask questions that he didn't want to answer.

School was... different.

An understatement, but it was difficult to describe just how different it was, when the surface of things appeared to be the same. It was like looking over a small lake that was always calm, not a ripple in sight no matter what season it was, and then dipping a toe in only to discover that it was covered in ice. The ice looked the same as the water itself because the lake was always calm, but touching it revealed that things had definitely changed, to a much colder and harder reality.

Everyone knew that the dynamics between Katsuki and Izuku had changed.

Nobody knew how to react to it.

The student body watched and waited; frozen in the harsh ice that stood between the two forces of personality. Whereas before, the two would avoid direct confrontation with one another, it was now a situation in which they had to be held back from dealing blows. Turmoil and uncertainty spread further each day, people reevaluating their options and changing sides, but nobody stopped them. This was a war zone, after all, and what battles came before had only been the beginning.

Katsuki and Izuku banged their fists against the ice that separated them from one another, screaming provocations and running along the barrier in search of any weaknesses, loud and fearful and angry.

"I'm kinda scared to be in the same room as them, y'know?"

Whispers followed them in the halls, both of them, as they went about their days. Izuku was no longer the sole target of scrutiny... but had he ever been?

"Definitely. It's not like they'll hurt us, but we all know what Bakugou-kun used to get away with..."

There were people who disagreed with how Katsuki had treated him, even before he'd started standing up for himself. Sure, it'd mostly been pity that drove them, but they were there. He had refuge available in the form of the indifferent masses, who wouldn't stand up for him, but they also acted as a deterrent simply by being there. And they were still acting as a deterrent, but they weren't so indifferent anymore.

"And Midoriya-kun, he's never laid a finger on any of us, but..."

He could see now, that they feared him. They feared him, not quite in the same way that they feared Katsuki, but in a close enough manner that it gave him pause. Had he done the right thing?

"...there's just this look in his eyes."

Had he made the right decision, to fight back the way he did? He'd thought that the only option he had was to fight fire with ice, to be the immovable object to Katsuki's unstoppable force. Whereas the spiky blonde was openly aggressive, gnashing his teeth and making a show of his displeasure, Izuku was more subtle and cruel about it. He fought with the underhanded tactics that had been painstakingly taught to him from when he was barely five years old, and he wasn't happy with it.

"Dude, shit, he's looking this way-!"

He'd gotten the results he wanted, but they didn't feel like they were worth it.

"Act natural, idiot! It's almost that time anyways."

The greenette would have to think about this another time. School was almost over, and the daily ritual of bringing him up to the roof had gotten considerably more catastrophic over time. He had to outrun Katsuki on the way up there, so his belongings wouldn't be destroyed, and stay there for a longer time so the blonde wouldn't figure out how he got down each day.

Funny, how he'd originally intended to show them that it didn't work by learning parkour, but now he was pretending it did work for his own safety.

"Deku..."

Before class was officially dismissed, Izuku had shoved his supplies into his backpack as he usually did each day, and flashed a smirk that was aimed more at the class than it was at Katsuki. Showtime had arrived, and he would play his part for the masses, so his continued safety would be assured.

He would play his part until he could figure out how to melt the ice between them, or until the day he died.

@YuueiOfficial >> 12:30pm:

Due to the recent severity of villain attacks and subsequent threats to the safety of those who frequent Musutafu City, we at Yuuei High are happy to announce our long-awaited transition towards becoming a boarding school!

Dormitories, by name of Heights Alliance, have been constructed for students and faculty members to reside in during the school year! For the first year of this transition, it will not be mandatory for those attending to live in the dorms, though it is highly recommended for their safety. Details will be included in student acceptance letters and are available online at our website!

We hope you have a wonderful day, and as always, go beyond...

Plus Ultra!

Chapter Text

Seven months.

It had been seven months, and using some of his nights to clean up the beach in addition to what he did during the day, Izuku had successfully cleared the beach in record time. He stood now upon the clean sand, taking deep breaths of the crisp winter air, with the dumpster behind him fit to burst. His hair- still in an undercut, but long enough be reach his shoulders, thus needing to be tied back to keep out of his face- was damp with the quickly cooling sweat of his efforts. It was almost time for All Might to show up, almost time for him to see how well he'd done...

It was clear from the start that the hero hadn't intended for him to clear the entire beach, given how only a section of it had been detailed in the schedule. If Izuku actually had more friends to hang out with during the day, if Hitoshi wasn't as busy getting ready for the entrance exam as he was, then maybe All Might would've been right in his estimate. But if there was anything that he had in excess, it was free time, and he'd put that free time to exceptionally good use.

Heh, he was even struck with the urge to scream his success to the world; how giddy he was at the thought of surprising the number one hero. But it was still pretty early in the morning, and yelling "yEEAAAAAH" at full volume would most likely just get the cops called on him, so he'd just have to grin like a madman and run across the clear sandy beach as he waited to show off the fruits of his labors.

Leaving his shoes at the stairs, the greenette moved to follow the icy cold water, footsteps splashing as he vented his restless energy. Waiting was always the worst torture for him, he had to be doing something, and why not have a little fun? It wasn't like there were any half-buried sharp objects to worry about anymore- he'd been very careful about those, knowing that kids would be playing on this beach once it was cleared again- so he was all clear!

After a few passes up and down the beach, Izuku noticed the skeletal form of All Might gazing over the clear expanse from the stairs, and made his way over with a grin.

"Holy shit, young Midoriya! I am... speechless! You've truly exceeded my expectations!"

Izuku's voice was filled with equal measures of pride and glee, as he looked up at his mentor and responded cheekily, "Well, I'd sure hope so. It's not easy being this awesome."

The hero laughed, reaching over to ruffle a hand in his hair, and ran his gaze over the clean beach once more.

"I'd planned on giving you One For All when you finished clearing the section detailed in your schedule, but this is... well, plus ultra. I'm actually not sure if your muscles have been built up enough yet, with how early this has been completed, so I have to ask. Midoriya, do you think you're ready to receive my quirk, or would you rather focus on building more muscle first? I can't guarantee how things will go, especially since ten months of working out is a bit of a rush job, let alone seven, but I can arrange top medical care for you in case things go wrong."

The greenette glanced down at himself, mentally comparing his current physique to that which he'd started out with, and pinched a muscle here and there to gauge how it felt. He had indeed made significant improvement- Hitoshi would often comment how it hurt to hit him during their self-defense lessons, with how hard his muscles were- and his abs were quite possibly defined enough to 'grate cheese on' as some might say. Although, that being said, he didn't notice much improvement between how he was now versus how he'd been seven months ago... Muscle building was a slow process.

However, he did start out with a better physique than the average person. Those papers that Fatgum had left for his mom to look over detailed how fit he was, both physically and mentally, and he had already been in roughly the same condition as most first year Heroics students. Now he was beyond that, perhaps at the physical average of second year students. Therefore, while his improvement wasn't that substantial compared to where he'd been seven months ago, it was still pretty noteworthy.

So, the real question here was whether he wanted to play it safe or not...

After a few more moments of consideration, Izuku came to a decision, and looked back up to his mentor. "I'd like to focus primarily on muscle building for another month, and then see where I'm at. The way I see it, one or two months of safer practice with One For All would be more beneficial than three months of cautious, unsteady practice, so that's what I'd like to do."

All Might chuckled, and muttered under his breath about how some of his colleagues would appreciate that sort of rationality, as he ruffled the teen's hair once more.

"Alright then, or should I say, alMight! Your schedule will need some revising, so I'll get on that later today... Ah! I know a good gym in the area, plenty of workout equipment and friendly people, so I'll just grab a membership card for you and include that in the New And Improved Aim To Pass-"

Izuku waved his hands before himself quickly, face turning a bit red as he stammered, "N-No, that's not necessary! I've already got access to workout equipment, but I really appreciate it! Making and revising the workout schedule is already enough!"

The hero laughed loudly, and continued making verbal plans of increasingly generous nature, teasing the greenette into the realm of internal screeching. In the end though, he got what he wanted, and his next month of training was somehow even more vigorous than the previous seven months had been combined.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:37pm:

Catch me dying in the club tonite.

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:38pm:

Same hat. Training has become actual hell lately. It was just annoying before, but with exams coming up, it's been cranked up a few notches.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:39pm:

Hey Soba. I'm still totally down to come smack your trainer, just lemme catch my breath first. I need like, half an hour for my muscles to reach a slightly more solid state than pure jelly.

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:41pm:

In that case, I shall have to pass. You'd have to be in peak condition to smack him and get away with it. Perhaps once things have calmed down for both of us.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:42pm:

Alright. Someday tho. Someday.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:43pm:

y'know, if I was there, you wouldn't have to run after smacking him

we could totally just walk up to his house or smth and then boom

you smack him, I hold him with my quirk, and we raid his fridge.

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:44pm:

It's really not worth that much effort, tbh. I might not like the training that much, but I do need it to achieve my goals. It's a necessary irritant.

[☆☆] ByThePrecursors >> 10:45pm:

now now children, remember to disguise yourselves thoroughly and be on guard for security cameras. Once you are on or even near this person's property, treat every moment as though someone untouchable has a camera aimed in your direction, and is following you wherever you go. You want to make sure that things don't look suspicious in the slightest!

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:46pm:

there seems to be blood in the water.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:47pm:

Raven! Hi!

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:48pm:

salutations.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:49pm:

hey Raven, wanna join us in maybe smacking Soba's trainer and raiding the guy's fridge

you'll probs get some sweet apples in the mix~

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:50pm:

tempting, very tempting indeed. at what general location would this event be taking place?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:51pm:

Oh shit, good question.

[FatherKnowsJackShit is whispering to QuothTheRaven, AlexandriteAphelion, and CatspiracyTheorist...]

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:52pm:

Since you're so determined, I'm in Musutafu City, near Shizuoka Prefecture. We can meet up in a public place, and then I'll show you guys where exactly once we've met in person.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:53pm:

Yooooo, I'm local! Hot singles in your area, what the fuck is up, Kyle?

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:54pm:

my general location is also fairly local, thus it should be fairly easy for me to participate. but aphelion, who is kyle?

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:55pm:

oh you sweet summer child

hey guys, I can't believe Raven hasn't caught on to all the ancient memes we use here yet.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 10:56pm:

I find the lack of decent memes in this generation, disturbing...

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 10:57pm:

Did somebody say, ancient memes?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:58pm:

:0

It's Grandma and Grandpa Cryptid! In the same chat! At the same time!

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:59pm:

what form of sorcery are these ancient memes?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:00pm:

The good sorcery!

Oh, guys, now's our chance! We can ask them questions directly while they're here!

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 11:01pm:

Grandmother and Grandfather Cryptid, are you two married, or dating? If not, have you considered being together before?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:02pm:

KDKSKSK SOBA NO

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 11:02pm:

*wheezes*

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:03pm:

I DIDN'T MEAN THE SHIPPING QUESTIONS

I meant the serious ones!

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 11:04pm:

I'm afraid you are- *puts on sunglasses* -too late.

Also, Soba yes.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 11:05pm:

What an amusing concept.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:06pm:

Okay then, that's a no, let's get back to serious discussion now hahajsjxkskxkd

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 11:07pm:

I can't believe our relationship is being called into question like this

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 11:08pm:

i knew you were together!

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 11:09pm:

Nooo. Soba, I can't believe you've done this.

You even got Dabi to come out of the woodwork...

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 11:10pm:

Try having a little more faith then, Aphelion.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 11:11pm:

what a mad banquet of darkness.

Izuku sneezed into his elbow, the brisk late-morning air swirling around him in visible puffs of breath, as he made his way down the street. He hoped that he wasn't coming down with something, because that would totally suck, considering that he'd just received One For All today.

All Might had called him to the beach earlier that morning, when it was too early for anyone else to be around, and had given him a rather touching speech about how proud he was before presenting him with a hair plucked straight from his head. He was moved by the whole thing, but also mildly disgusted- the hair tasted sour, like it was coated in the amount of hair spray that he imagined Uncle Hizashi used for his hero persona, and he would've honestly maybe preferred drinking the hero's blood to eating his hair. Then again, though it boggled the mind to consider, there was the threat of diseases to worry about. He didn't know where All Might had been for all forty-ish years of his life, after all...

'Nope, it's time to leave that train of thought now. Training, focus on your training.'

Izuku took a deep breath, continuing along his path down the street and towards home, where he'd grab his lunch and suspend himself ever-so-slightly above his seat instead of actually sitting in it. That particular exercise got his core and leg muscles some decent focused activity, for how difficult it was to hold consistently, but it was worth it. If nothing else, he was learning how to mime sitting in an invisible chair, and that would definitely be entertaining someday.

Anyways, once he finished lunch, it'd be back to muscle building, because that was still incredibly important to getting himself acclimated to his new quirk. He didn't want to use it the wrong way and injure himself, so he was taking these first few days with it to just get used to the energy flowing through him, to acclimate to this new state of existence. He'd focus on how it felt physically while he worked out, and then after dinner with more of the invisible chair exercise, he'd try to focus on how it felt mentally via meditating.

Meditation was supposed to be really difficult for teenagers due to how constantly in flux their minds were, along with their general lack of discipline. He couldn't do anything about the being in flux part, but he thought he was disciplined enough to meditate in a passable manner. Learning his body via parkour and self-defense training, sharpening his mind via the psychological training his mother gave him and the regular tests of patience he got at his chaotic school; if he could know and practice so much already, then he was probably well on his way to being able to 'properly' meditate, and thus well on his way towards a quick acclimation to his new quirk.

His new quirk...

It felt a bit weird to refer to it like that, like it was replacing the one he already had, despite how he used his lack of sleep to his advantage every single day. Maybe he'd just gotten so used to not needing to sleep, that it was just another part of his life. But he really did need to name that original quirk of his. Insomnia? Sleeplessness? Semi-self-sustenance? He didn't know. It had waited this long, though, and it could wait a while longer. One For All was more important.

"Tadaima!"

Izuku entered his home, taking off his shoes and replacing them with his house slippers, before continuing deeper into the apartment. There was no response to his greeting, so his mom probably wasn't home- unusual for a Sunday, but whatever, it just meant that he got to cook his own lunch. Those katsudon leftovers in the fridge were all his, score!

Moving forward, the greenette proceeded to act out his plan for the day, all the way up to the meditation attempt after dinner. He was on a tight schedule, only having six weeks to learn how to safely use his new quirk before the Entrance Exam arrived, and he was determined to do his best!

Yuuei High... ready or not, here he comes!

Chapter Text

"Alrighty then, one more shot, and we'll call it a day!"

Izuku nodded to his mentor, and rolled his shoulders, donning the energy of One For All like it was simply another article of clothing. It was like a friend, almost; humming with a pleasant warmth beneath his skin, buzzing with excitement at being used in his body. He was familiar with it now, and after so many weeks of feeling it through and practicing with it, he had enough control to spar with his mentor in relative safety.

Lightning danced around his form, hugging him as he darted forward, making the first move. Nobody else could actually see the excess energy zipping through the air, and while that kind of confused him, it still worked as a good gauge of his power. Brighter lightning meant that he was venting more energy than he was using, and dimmer lightning meant that he was using more energy than he was venting. Ideally, he wanted to get the excess energy down to zero, but he'd be kind of sad to see the lightning go away once he did. Still, efficiency was the name of the game, and he couldn't afford to waste the resources available to him.

The greenette had a little under two more weeks to catch up to the skill levels of his peers, in skills that had been cultivated for a full twelve-ish years of their lives. He also had to figure out how he wanted to share this quirk with his mom, or if he wanted to tell her at all. While their relationship had been improving bit by bit, he had been fairly harsh in his arguments, and had hurt her deeply. There was an underlying tension between them now, and he didn't know if she would lash out if he told her what she'd perceive as another personal failure...

"Focus on the fight, young Midoriya!"

Izuku nodded, and wet his lips, both because they were dry and because he liked the feel of his tongue piercing running behind them. The excess energy buzzed through his piercings in what should be a distracting way, but which instead helped him focus. White noise hissing softly in his ears, he moved forward with a heightened awareness of where his body was located in reference to itself, acting through a series of attacks and defenses as he sparred with the number one hero.

"Yes, that's it!"

Pushing onwards, the greenette briefly considered attacking the hero's weak spot; taking the advice that Grandpa Cryptid had given him back when he'd first mentioned that he was learning to fight. The man had told him to use every one of his opponents' weaknesses to his advantage, and if he couldn't find any, to hunt them down mercilessly. It made sense, especially since finding a villain's weak spots were basically a prerequisite to taking them down, but... it felt wrong to treat All Might like a villain.

The man was the Symbol of Peace. His heroic spirit was absolute, pushing him to do the right things, and he never stopped. In the eyes of the public, he never faltered either, but Izuku was getting to know the person behind the mask. He knew the hero was still human, no matter how much of a paragon he was, and that just made him all the more impressive.

He didn't want to go for the throat of someone who didn't deserve that sort of treatment, so he wouldn't. He wouldn't relentlessly target the hero's side, he wouldn't punch and kick and claw at the scars that had looked as though they could be reopened at any moment, he wouldn't seek out blood in what was supposed to be ordinary training. Instead, he'd focus on the objective at hand- he'd focus on learning, and on improving, rather than winning.

"Try putting a little more power behind your kicks! And watch your chest- you're telegraphing again!"

At that moment, in the midst of sweat and determination, Izuku focused harder on the fight. He focused on his body, where each of his limbs were in relation to the rest of him, and he held his breathing steady. He focused on Yagi-san, on everything that he knew about the man behind the smile, and how he would think as he sparred with his young successor. He focused on the moment, feeling the delight at being trained by one of his idols that he'd gotten so used to hiding, and smiled crookedly as the two made contact from one fist to the other's chest.

However, the smile disappeared when the greenette realized that he couldn't pull his hand back, and he was thrown off his stride with a brilliant flash of fiery starlight bursting behind his eyes.

Things returned to normal almost instantly, as though the moment had never happened, but it was clear that something had indeed happened. All Might was sweating slightly, and he knew that although the man didn't have the best of health, he didn't usually get to the point of sweating like this until a few hours further along. It was like he'd overexerted himself, almost, but he hadn't done anything... had he?

"Ah, Midoriya-shounen... I don't believe you're quite ready for that technique yet! Please don't attempt to try that again until you've had the related classes in high school."

He stared at the fist that had gotten stuck to the hero's chest, blinking the remainder of stars from his eyes, as his mind raced. What had happened? What had he almost done? He opened his mouth to ask the hero, but one more look at Yagi's face made him close it again, as the man looked almost... haunted by it. Perhaps it was something that One For All could do? No, it would be taught to him in high school. He wasn't supposed to try it again until he'd had those classes... How could he avoid doing something if he didn't know what it was?

Izuku eventually nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the lack of information that he had, but resolved to do some research on the matter later on. With that, the mentor and trainee returned to sparring, with the energetic atmosphere from before having slightly faded.

Ever since he'd encountered his Uncle Shouta on the rooftops near Yuuei, Izuku had taken to avoiding that part of the city during his nighttime adventures, and had instead decided to take it easy. This decision entailed not recording as many skirmishes as he used to, and while he felt a bit guilty about potentially letting his viewers down, he found a considerable measure of happiness in teaching Hitoshi how to parkour. They'd been at this for a couple months now, and with a week left until the Yuuei entrance exam, he was doing rather well for himself.

"Nice ass, thanks for the view!"

The greenette watched his purple-haired friend scale a moderately-sized wall, his movements filled with a casual ease and confidence as though he'd been doing this for years. It hardly matched up with the initial Hitoshi he knew, who relied upon his quirk far more than his own body, and it filled him with a mixed sense of pride and delight at how far he'd come since then. Of course, he couldn't take all the credit, or even most of it- Fatgum was the first to thank, in giving Hitoshi the safe environment he needed, and in giving him the physical training he needed to perform this sort of activity.

"Izu, that's gay," his friend called back down to him, dry amusement in his voice as he pulled out his phone.

"We're both gay, technically!"

Izuku climbed up the wall after him, turning to sit on the edge once he reached the top, and looked over the city.

"Technically, pfft."

It was a rather calm night, a continuation of the trend from the past so many months- it had been pretty calm for a while now, thanks to All Might's presence. That meant fewer fights for him to analyze, but more security in exercising his freedom, and this security was why he'd eventually offered to take Hitoshi out at night. He was willing to face danger himself, but he'd rather keep his friends as safe as possible. More than a little bit 'do as I say and not as I do,' but those that knew about it understood his reasons.

"Hey, check this out. Yavin Central is getting fussed over again."

Hitoshi angled his phone for the greenette to see, and he squinted at the screen, the words being somewhat blurry but still able to be discerned. "Huh, it looks like the Hellions escaped from prison. Hard to believe it's been like a year since then."

"I know, right? A lot's changed."

The purple-haired teen withdrew his phone to continue scrolling through his dash, a plethora of cat pictures barely visible from where Izuku was sitting, as he casually leaned up against him. He didn't make any sort of fuss about it- simply adjusted his position so it'd be more comfortable- and was rewarded with a soft and wistful look from the other.

"Y'know, I never really expected to be saved- I thought I'd just live out my childhood under my bio parents' thumbs. And I had this whole plan to escape, starting with high school. I'd get into Yuuei, get close to some of the hero staff members to find someone I could really trust, and then I'd blow the whistle on their whole operation, and vanish into the world of underground heroics after graduation. Instead, that bastard ended up trying to legitimately kill me, and I met you as a result. It's funny, how things turn out."

Memories of the night they met coasted through Izuku's mind as his friend spoke, those most vibrant being centered around the altercation he'd had with the bastard in question. He'd practically memorized the places in which he'd been hit by that metal pipe, and he still felt a bit of anxiety when remembering his aunt's quirk and how it mysteriously didn't work on him, but it was worth it. It was worth it, because of the sheer hope he'd seen in his friend's eyes, looking at him like he was already the hero he aspired to be.

"Yeah, it is... and I'm glad you don't have to deal with their shit anymore. Toyomitsu-san is good to you, and I can tell how much happier you are now, even if you're still one salty motherfucker."

Hitoshi snorted, and gently punched his living pillow in the side, eliciting a startled laugh from him. He then retaliated, causing the lanky teen to release a stifled giggle, and the mock-threat of "Don't make me put this phone down, Izu..."

Eventually the two settled down, content to enjoy the rest of the night from their perch on top of the world; only leaving when the purple-haired boy started yawning. It was very late, after all, and Hitoshi still needed to sleep, and Izuku needed to get home before his mom woke up. Thus, they called an official end to this night's hangout, and went their separate ways.

The greenette carefully watched his friend from afar, making sure he got home safely, before heading back to his own apartment and sneaking inside.

"Izuku... are you really sure that you want to do this? The entrance exam for Yuuei's hero course is dangerous, and there are alternate methods to get in..."

The day had arrived, and from the very moment his mom had woken up, she'd been fretfully following him around the apartment. She'd taken the day off for him, and in between making breakfast and helping him gather all the things he needed, a multitude of hesitant remarks were fired his way. He didn't know why she was being so verbal about her disapproval now, when since their last discussion she'd been content to give him disapproving stares, but the tension building between them was giving him a few ideas.

"And each of those alternatives carry a heavy dose of uncertainty as to whether they'll actually happen or not. Mom, please."

One probable idea he had was that this was her last chance to talk him out of it, and so she was doing her best to try without outright forbidding him from going. It was obvious that she wanted to- the tightness of her lips and the burning of her gaze indicated her displeasure with great vigor- but doing so would break the fragile trust they still possessed. He could see her calculating, balancing the act with the results, deciding whether losing another relationship was worth keeping that person safe...

She was selfish, though, and he knew it. It made his gut churn unpleasantly, to be in the position where he was using her fear of abandonment to get what he wanted, but this time he wasn't even actively trying to manipulate her. That was just how the situation was- it was where the metaphorical dominoes from before this moment had fallen.

"I hate this, Izuku... I hate that you never found another dream to dream, and I hate that you're quirkless, because you're just going to end up dead at the hands of some terrible villain. You're not helpless- not with everything I've taught you- but you don't have the same power and protection that most others do. When you die in the line of duty, it's going to be given a single touching sob story in the media, before being swept under the rug and forgotten. I didn't want that for you. I wanted you to be better."

Past tense. As she sat before him at the table, she was speaking as though she'd already given up on him. And he knew she was wrong, because not only did he have a quirk, he had two, but she believed in hard evidence. He could try to prove that he had a quirk to her now, if he picked up the couch or the table or something, but the human mind would go to incredible lengths to rationalize things that didn't make sense. He'd need something undeniable... and, well, that's what the entrance exam highlight reel was for.

He was going to do something spectacular during this exam. He didn't know what yet, because he didn't know what opportunities would arise, but he was going to get that concrete proof. Then she'd have to believe him, then she'd know that she'd been wrong for all this time, then she'd be able to worry less because he did have a quirk.

Though, he did wonder...

"Mom, if I told you that I thought I had an invisible quirk before today, what would you have done?"

She paused in the middle of taking a bite, and chewed slowly, mulling it over. When she swallowed and looked back up to him, he saw the answer in her eyes before she even began to speak, and a sad sort of victory passed through him.

"I would have told you that you were imagining things, as you would have been. You have the extra joint in your pinky toe, and it would be more cruel to let you get your hopes up than it would be to stop them from forming in the first place."

Izuku nodded, and murmured a neutral, "I thought so," before focusing his gaze upon his plate and wolfing down the rest of his food.

She wouldn't have taken him to another doctor to get a second opinion. She wouldn't have let him try to show her. His attempts would have been shut down, as he thought they would be, and he was glad that he hadn't tried to talk to her about it before. Stubbornness ran in the family, after all, and an argument like that would have torn them to shreds.

"You don't think that now, do you? You're not planning on taking that exam with false ideas of your own abilities running through your head, right?"

The corners of his lips twisted up in a humorless smile, and he forced his lower eyelids to lift in a display of 'genuine' mirth, as he responded with modulated tones of confidence and amusement in his voice.

"Of course not. I know full well what I'm capable of, and I know how unbelievably stupid it would be to pretend that I have more power than I actually possess. And I would tell you not to worry about that, but that's like asking the water cycle to pretty please stop cycling for a day. Am I right, or am I right?"

He knew what he could do. Now all he had to do was prove it, and maybe then their relationship wouldn't be so strained. Maybe then, once they got past all of this uncertainty and turmoil, they could be a happy family again.

However lucky he may be on a normal day, Izuku was feeling particularly lucky today, due to the fact that he hadn't seen any of his extended family yet. He knew from Aunt Nemuri that Uncle Shouta and Uncle Hizashi worked at Yuuei with her, and it wasn't that he didn't want to see them, but... he kinda didn't want to see them today.

See, he didn't want to worry them. His mom was kind of a lost cause in that regard, but his aunt and uncles probably didn't know what he was up to, meaning that they had no reason to be concerned. And there were thousands of applicants to Yuuei each year, so he had a pretty good chance of his name going unnoticed beneath all the others. As long as he could keep his head down- until the practical portion of the exam, that is- he'd be in the clear.

So far, so good. The written portion of the exam had taken place in the morning for all courses, being followed by an hour's break for lunch and preparation for the practicals, and now he was seated in the auditorium where orientation was meant to take place. The only other person in the room before him had been a tall, stocky boy with dark blue hair and rectangular glasses, and a disapproving stare that had followed his pierced visage all the way to his own seat. Said stare made it clear that that kid was gonna be fun to deal with, and thus he enacted social avoidance plan number four: pretend that he was sleeping.

Izuku pulled on a thin grey sleeping mask, tugged the hood of his black hoodie forward over his hair, and leaned back in his seat for a 'nap'. The mask was so thin that it basically had the same effect as sunglasses- partially blocking out the light, and keeping other people from seeing his eyes, while letting him see normally. This allowed him to analyze his competition while keeping up the facade that he was totally unconscious, and without hesitation, that was exactly what he did.

The blue-haired teen stared at him a few moments more with displeasure, before turning back around and facing forward, as other examinees filed in to take their seats.

Thousands of applicants, thousands of seats... This auditorium was massive, to fit so many people in it, and was another display of Yuuei's opulence. Only thirty six of the people here would get to see its full glory in the Hero Course, not including the recommendation students, and only one hundred and eighty more would get into the other courses.

Bakugou Katsuki stepped over his lounging form to take the assigned seat beside him, not saying a word to the greenette as he did so.

There were, quite honestly, too many people to analyze. Too many interesting people drawing his gaze, too little time to figure out all of their quirks, but enough for him to wish he had a physical notebook on hand. Instead, he had his phone, which he held in his pocket to blindly type everything he saw into a notebook app. Hopefully he wouldn't make too many spelling errors, but that was just a risk he'd have to take, and he could correct it later on.

The lights dimmed, and Present Mic walked out onto the stage, a projector kicking on to display the Yuuei logo on the massive screen behind him.

"Everybody say hey!"

His luck had officially run out, it seemed. Uncle Hizashi was the hero presenting their orientation, and as information was passed out, he found that he'd probably also be the one physically overseeing their practical exams in the battle centers. There were multiple battle centers, all connected to one spot from which the Voice Hero could yell to them all, and thus he was most likely going to be there. Good news though- the man would be too far away to make him out, so he should have the first so many minutes of the practical to himself, meaning that he wouldn't have the opportunity to get worried until he did whatever undeniable display of his quirk that he was gonna do. So yay, temporary anonymity and dramatic reveals!

Izuku cheered himself up with the mental image of dramatically shocked expressions upon his family's faces, and giggled quietly, taking off his sleeping mask to properly look at the information sheets being physically passed out.

"Excuse me! You have only told us about three robot types we're going to be facing, but there are four on these papers! We are exemplary students, and we expect this school to be the best of the best. If this is an error on official Yuuei printed materials, I should expect most of us to be severely disappointed. And you-"

The boy turned, and stared at Izuku with that same disapproving glare he had before, his tone filled with firm chastisement.

"-I can't believe you'd be so disrespectful as to take a nap in the middle of orientation. Don't do that again."

Well, at least he didn't call him out on his piercings.

"Thank you, examinee number 7111! This is no misprint, as there is indeed a fourth type of enemy you'll be facing! This robot is worth zero points- think of it as an obstacle to be avoided!"

The boy sat down, and Izuku quietly pulled his hood a bit further down his face, before getting back to his note-taking on his phone. Why didn't he just read the paper? Well, he kinda couldn't make out anything on it except for his battle center assignment, so he was going to take notes to reinforce the rules and information that Uncle- that Present Mic was giving them.

Four kinds of robots, worth different value points. All he had to do was destroy enough of them to beat the scores of the other thousand or so examinees, without directly interfering with any of them, and he'd be in.

No pressure.

Chapter Text

The examinees had gathered before the gates of their respective battle centers. It was a bright, sunny day, with the only clouds in the sky being a lovely, puffy white. There was no chance of rain, even with the slight chill of a lingering winter, and Izuku was ready to go.

The greenette spotted brunette hair and rosy cheeks ahead of him, belonging to the girl that had saved him from tripping earlier this morning, and began to head over. A friendly face, a potential ally... her quirk was quite impressive, and working together, they'd be able to do impressive things. Unfortunately, before he could reach her, a heavy hand upon his shoulder stopped him.

"Excuse me, but that girl is trying to focus on the upcoming exam. Were you planning to disrupt her concentration in a continuation of your antics during orientation?"

Wait, he knew this guy... Iida Tenya, the little brother of his Uncle Tensei, didn't seem to know who he was. That meant Izuku was at a slight advantage, having seen baby pictures of the boy before his mom had stopped allowing his extended family to hang out, and having heard a few stories since she'd recently gotten back in touch with them. It didn't stop him from being offended, though.

"Actually, I was going to thank her for helping me out earlier, and help her out a bit in return. So if anyone's being disruptive right now, it's you."

That calculated comment made the tall teen's grip loosen, and Izuku ducked out of reach, before continuing on. He heard Iida stammer something behind him, but paid no attention to it, having gotten the girl's attention with a bright smile.

"Uraraka-san, hey! I wanted to talk to you!"

She smiled back at him, and asked a cheerful, "What's up?" before the voice of Present Mic echoed through the battle centers.

"BEGIN!"

Izuku quickly grabbed Uraraka's wrist and pulled her along with him past the rest of the examinees, who were all standing there confused. The two were the first ones into the field, and as they ran onwards, the greenette spoke his thoughts. "I was thinking, maybe we could work together! Our quirks would mesh together pretty nicely, and there is no rule against teamwork- I checked thoroughly!"

Behind them, the Voice Hero praised them for their quick start, and told the other examinees that there was no countdown in heroics. Uraraka herself was becoming slightly out of breath at the pace he was pulling, so he slowed down a little, and listened to her response.

"O-Okay! How would we do it though? I can only hold about three tons of weight before overusing my quirk, and I don't even know what your quirk is outside of general enhancement!"

As two robots zeroed in on them, Izuku released her wrist in order to take down one of them with a powerful crescent kick in demonstration of his ability, and watched her take down the other with a slight grin. She was slower than he was, but of course she would be- her method of taking down robots was relatively indirect whereas his was very much the opposite.

"So, your quirk is a bit slower to destroy than mine is, and physically, I can move faster than you. My plan for us to both get as many points as possible is this: I'll carry you on my back, so your hands and my legs are free. I'll run past robots as fast as possible, taking down the ones directly in my path, while you tag the ones that are off to the sides. We'll leave a path behind us of total robot destruction!"

As Uraraka's robot crashed to the ground, she turned towards Izuku with her cheeks turning a bit more red than they were before. "Are you sure that's appropriate, Midoriya-kun?"

Oh. Wait, no, that's not what he meant. What did he mean? No, uh, what did she think he meant? Fuck.

Izuku's cheeks flushed a little in confused embarrassment, and he waved his hands frantically side to side, shaking his head in denial of any indecent intentions.

"I-It's perfectly fine, I promise! No wandering hands or anything, I'll only be touching your knees and below for a secure grip, and if my word isn't enough, there are camera drones everywhere making sure everything is alright, see!"

He pointed to the drone that had been following since they'd gone through the gates, and she followed his gaze, before approaching and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Alright then. Let's do this!"

With the awkwardness out of the way, Izuku crouched a little to give the shorter brunette an easier climb, and stood up once she was securely in his grip.

Sharing a grin, the two of them faced the robot opponents set out for them, and rushed forward to take them down.

"Thirty-three points!"

The voice of Uraraka from behind him alerted him to her successful destruction of three more robots; two of which were one-pointers and one of which was a two-pointer. He tightened his grip slightly, and her hands returned to his shoulders, keeping her secure as he kicked down a three-pointer and a one-pointer to stay even with her score.

"Thirty-three points!"

With his announcement, the girl let his shoulders go and reached around for more robots, each tap sending a new one into the air to join its brethren. The two of them had been tagging off, so to speak, like this for the entire exam thus far. Izuku wasn't sure whether it was helping or hindering his own score to do so, but he had to return the favor she'd done for him before- she'd kept him from making a complete fool of himself in front of the school, and she'd complimented his looks, and she'd stood up to Katsuki of all people when she saw him getting aggressive! She probably didn't even know what sort of target she'd put on her back because of that, so he owed her, and he was going to pay her back by helping her get as many points as possible.

"Thirty-eight points!"

Izuku glanced around, and saw that all the robots in the area were down, and that the examinees were running off to find more. There were four minutes left in the exam, and as he leapt up carefully between the fire escapes of two adjacent buildings to the rooftops, he kept an eye out for areas with a high saturation of mechanical opponents.

He didn't know for sure how many points would be needed to beat out the others taking the exam, but he felt confident enough in the thirty-eight points Uraraka had gotten to enact phase two of his plan. At the next area he dropped into, the girl giggling at the rollercoaster-like travel he'd been providing her with, he spoke up while taking down the only four one-pointers in the otherwise decently sized group of two and three-pointers around them.

"Uraraka-san, I think we have enough points now to split up and get some more separately! I'm not sure how the exam judges will take us working together the whole time, so it'll be a good idea to show them what we're capable of individually as well, okay?"

He glanced back in time to see the girl nodding, and stopped to let her down once he found an opening in the robots' attacks.

"Alright, because my mobility is greater than yours is currently, I'm gonna head farther away from the gates we came in through and look for robots on the way. You got these guys alright?"

The heavy crunch of metal colliding with asphalt answered his question, and he grinned at the feral light in Uraraka's eyes, before saluting and turning to leave. He left her then, darting up to the rooftops again with a greater and more reckless speed now that he didn't have to worry about anyone's safety but his own, and carried out his plan.

Thirty-nine points, forty-one points, forty-two points.

Most of the robot groups he'd seen before had been taken down by other examinees while he was dropping off Uraraka, but he took down the stragglers and lone wanderers he saw in his path, a wide grin on his face as he punched a three-pointer to pieces just like All Might would have. The power of his Full Cowl was at an estimated five percent of his total, and it filled him with great delight to see strong metals fold beneath what used to be weak and oft-bandaged fingers. He wasn't weak. He wasn't useless. He wasn't Deku- not anymore.

Midoriya Izuku was becoming the person he always wanted to be, and the top of the next pedestal was well within his reach.

"Two minutes remaining, ladies and gentlemen! Two minutes remaining!"

With another solid downwards punch- one fairly reminiscent of All Might's Detroit Smash- the greenette took down another three-pointer, bringing his total up to forty-eight points. An observation drone followed him exclusively at this point, and he cheekily waved to the camera as he moved along, searching for more robots to destroy. His score was coming along nicely, and as he took a deep breath, the smile on his face remained gleeful.

Then, the earth began to shake, and an absolutely massive robot burst up through the ground a few small streets down.

Buildings collapsed around it, and Izuku dodged a few pieces of rubble that had been sent flying his way. One chunk bounced off his leg though, and he winced at the nasty bruise it was undoubtedly going to leave, before he began heading that way. If he'd gotten hit at this distance, there was no telling if any other examinees had gotten hurt as well... and as intimidating as the zero-pointer was, he was just a little bit more scared of missing someone who needed to be saved.

The greenette burst through an alleyway and arrived on the street that the massive zero-pointer was on, hints of disturbed dust and dirt still rolling through the air as he did so. He scanned the area, and noted a few examinees still around, but far enough down the road that they were in no danger. For all intents and purposes, it looked as though he were the one closest to the thing, and thus he had no reason to stick around.

Turning to leave, the lightning of One For All danced around his figure, and then he froze.

'...wasn't this the street I left Uraraka-san on?'

A faint cry for help made its way to his ears, and he turned back towards the 'obstacle' with his heartbeat pounding in his ears, seeing the left foot of the zero-pointer begin its descent towards the half-obscured form of the brunette.

'No...'

Lightning flickered and sparked violently as he surged forth, his legs moving without his command. It was just like it had been with the Sludge Villain- this wasn't an exam anymore, this was life or death, and all thoughts of gathering more points were forgotten. Righteous fury pooled in the back of his mind, directed towards the other examinees that had left her behind, and he saw red.

Five and a half feet from making contact with the ground, the zero-pointer's left foot came to a shuddering halt, and Izuku held the weight of the world upon his shoulders.

"M-Midoriya!"

The greenette was frozen in place, limbs shuddering under the pressure of however much this robot weighed, as he knew that moving an inch would result in losing is grip. He barely breathed as he glanced at Uraraka from the corner of his eye, teeth clenched with the strain of holding this thing off at five percent of his power.

"Uraraka... can you get free?"

She shook her head, and he hissed, the asphalt beginning to crack beneath his feet. Quirk overuse... He couldn't let go to help her without both of them immediately getting crushed, and she couldn't free herself, so they'd have to hope for outside assistance. But with all the other examinees running away, it wasn't likely that anyone would notice their plight... and there were just under two minutes left.

Could he hold this weight for two minutes, or even a minute and a half? What would happen if he failed? He was thinking again now, and he knew that this was only an exam, so it wasn't likely that either of them would die. It didn't feel like this robot was letting up anytime soon though, and if he did suddenly give, would it be able to stop before hitting the ground? While Izuku wasn't the shortest person, he also wasn't tallest person, so there wasn't much distance between the bottom of the zero-pointer's foot and the ground, and-

The earth rumbled softly, and Izuku looked down, his eyes widening from their previous squint as he saw the cracks multiply beneath his feet.

"Midoriya, what's- ack- what's wrong?"

He glanced back to the brunette, and saw the mixture of fear and confusion in her gaze. Her face was pale and sweaty, much like his own probably was, and she kept glancing between the metal above them and his face. The rubble pinning her down also blocked her from seeing the cracks in the ground, meaning she didn't know that his feet could slip out from under him at any moment. Telling her wouldn't fix anything, though, because she couldn't free herself...

Izuku did his best to pull on his smile from before, though the corners wobbled a bit, and opened his mouth to reassure her. However, before he could speak, another voice cut in loudly.

"You two! Tell us how we can help!"

It was Iida Tenya, and coming down the street behind him, a boy with straight black hair that hung down past his chin. They both had to duck to get under the robot's foot, but the black-haired boy did more than that, rushing over to Uraraka and starting to dig away at the rubble with sharp-looking arms.

"I-I can't hold this forever, but if you get her out, I might be able to dive clear!"

Iida nodded firmly, and moved in to help the other boy in getting Uraraka free, the two clearing through the rubble quickly. The speedy teen was arranging it in a very specific manner though, piling it up beneath the zero-pointer's foot, and Izuku's grin became a little more genuine at the strategic placement. The rubble pile might act as a wedge and buy him more time to dive out of the way... not bad.

"Thirty seconds remaining!"

Taking shallow, controlled breaths, Izuku kept his gaze on the growing cracks in the ground. There eventually came the announcement of "she's free," and the three fellow examinees made their way out from under the zero-pointer's foot. Iida remained a few seconds longer to make sure the rubble pile was sturdy, before running clear, and leaving him to make his own escape.

"Fifteen seconds remaining!"

The greenette turned his head, glancing behind him for a clear path, and got ready to jump. A safe distance away, the others watched him, Uraraka being carried due to the injury to her leg. It was now or never. Now or never.

As he pressed into the asphalt to push himself free, the cracks suddenly shattered into a myriad of concrete shards, and his feet slipped out from under him. His heartbeat pounding too loudly for him to hear anything else, adrenaline pumping through his veins, Izuku fell in what seemed like slow motion. The full force of the zero-pointer's foot came down after him, and he instinctively moved his arms up into a defensive position around his head, though he didn't think it would do all that good.

The last things that the greenette saw were the horrified expressions on the faces of his fellow examinees, before metal collided with concrete, and the world was overcome by darkness.

Chapter Text

The teachers were in an uproar.

Snipe was gesturing at the screen wildly, his voice muffled by his mask and being overlapped by several other shouting voices, so nobody could really hear what he was saying. Ectoplasm's face was unchanged, but an aura of volatility surrounded him, broadcasting danger that would terrify any lesser man. Hound Dog howled, caught up in the emotion filling the room, as the two distracted heroes beside him did their best to avoid his erratic movements.

Midnight was pale, her eyes locked on the screen, but she yelled with the best of them about getting Recovery Girl on the scene. Eraserhead was much the same with his hands clenched tightly in shaking fists, but he settled for glaring at the screen rather than shouting, because he knew that his boss at least wouldn't allow death to occur during an event like this. If Present Mic were in the room, he'd have flipped his shit before bursting out the door to run to the battle center on foot, so it was probably a good thing that he was on the tower overlooking all the battle centers and couldn't identify specific people from such distance.

Then there was All Might, staring at Nedzu in a sort of shocked bewilderment, as Vlad King voiced his thoughts on the comment that the manipulate mammal had just made.

"Principal Nedzu, a child just got crushed! Crushed! And all you have to say on the matter is 'what terrible luck'!?"

Sekijirou Kan slammed his fist down on the table as he spoke, his expression screaming rage and disgust even louder than his voice did, as the other teachers spoke over each other with exclamations of shock and dismay and a whole slew of other negative emotions. Other than Nedzu himself, the only teachers who weren't panicking were Cementoss and Power Loader, although the latter was still shouting just as loud as the rest of them.

The mammalian principal calmly walked over to the control board, and pressed a button to the side, causing a loud noise to sound inside the room. Everyone stopped yelling to cover their ears, and he held it a moment longer until he was satisfied that they'd stay silent, his beady eyes glinting in the dim lighting.

"As Maijima was attempting to tell you all, the boy is in no danger. When the zero-pointer's foot makes contact with an examinee, the bottom depresses a little bit more as it gets closer to the ground, leaving open space for said examinee to safely remain until the end of the exam. This punishes the examinee for 'dying,' so to speak; preventing them from gathering additional points, and in some cases docking them points. I say he has 'terrible luck' because he 'died' in front of three other examinees, which means that he has lost enough points to no longer be breaking the record set by All Might himself in his youth."

The teachers slowly settled down from their panic, glancing between him and Maijima with fading negativity, as he explained the situation. All Might's record was just over a hundred points, and the fact that this kid had gotten enough points to surpass that was incredible... it truly was terrible luck.

"I... I apologize, sir. I wasn't aware."

The to-be homeroom teacher of 1-B bowed his head, and Nedzu waved him off, before gesturing to the screens. Recovery Girl was already on scene, and as Power Loader directed the zero-pointer to lift its foot, the greenette was revealed to be perfectly safe. In shock maybe, judging by his pale complexion and shaking hands as he pat himself down, but safe. The other three examinees who had worked with him in the exam got in close, relieved expressions on their faces, and the brunette girl even hugged him. It was fascinating, how affected they were despite only having met each other this very day.

"The boy's score, had ten points for each 'traumatized witness' not been deducted, would have been one hundred and eight in total. He would have been in first place by a margin of twenty-seven points, but now, he is in second place, behind the girl that he actually teamed up with for the first six minutes of the exam. What remarkable potential, wouldn't you agree?"

It was at this moment that Aizawa made his move; a piercing gaze flickering between Nedzu and Sekijirou, as he stepped forward to the table and pointed towards the screen.

"I want him in my class."

The white-furred principal chuckled beneath the protests that Vlad King brought forth, and held up a hand to silence him, as he kept his amused gaze upon the underground hero.

"Should I be concerned about nepotism, Aizawa-kun?"

The man's stony expression didn't change, indicating that the question hadn't surprised him. That was fair- only a few people were aware of the connection between the Fearsome Foursome and the Midoriya family these days, and it went without saying that Nedzu would be one of them.

"No sir. I want him in my class because the last that I was aware- both from his mother and from the records he submitted to participate in the exam- the boy was quirkless before today. It is very likely that he's inexperienced with his quirk, and as such, mine is the one most suited to keep his in check."

He glanced over to the screens, his gaze focusing on the one that had paused on the greenette's shaky smile, before continuing.

"In addition, I also see potential in him. No offense to Sekijirou, but I've seen that potential in him for a long time now, and I would like to argue that I would be a better teacher for him because of it."

The homeroom teacher of 1-B folded his arms, a scowl upon his face as he responded to the homeroom teacher of 1-A. "None taken, but I still have to protest, on the grounds of nepotism that Nedzu brought up. You seem awfully familiar with the boy, and your other students may suffer if you put too much of your focus on him."

Both teachers looked to Nedzu for his verdict, and found the mouse-bear-dog creature to be looking right back at them, a neutral smile upon his face.

"I believe that this year is Aizawa's turn to choose a student first, yes?"

That was all the answer they needed. Midoriya Izuku would be placed in class 1-A, to be taught by Aizawa Shouta, the man who hadn't seen him in roughly ten years.

As Aizawa and Sekijirou went back and forth over the other thirty-nine students who had gotten into the Hero Course, Nedzu observed them with his neutral smile, and the rest of the teachers began the process of cleaning everything up.

The door to the apartment slammed open, and as Izuku turned to see who was there, the arms wrapping tightly around him elicited a surprised shriek from his throat. The owner of said arms didn't seem to notice, as she was also shrieking- Inko came running out of the kitchen with a wok in hand, only to stop in the doorway as she saw what was happening, before sighing and putting the wok away.

"IZUKUUUUU! CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING A QUIIIIIRK! AND TO THINK, ONE SO STRONG AND HEROIC AS THAT~!"

Thus Inko returned to the doorway with an expression of mixed confusion and shock and fury upon her face, though thankfully for his Aunt Nemuri, it was mostly confusion. Now if only she'd stop hugging him and let him go, that'd be great!

"Hold on, why do you think that Izuku has a quirk? It's impossible, Nemuri, he has the extra toe joint."

The woman dropped him to excitedly grip the shoulders of his mom, and Izuku did not waste the opportunity to escape, rushing into his room and quickly locking the door behind him. He leaned against it at the same time, eyes wide, and shuddered slightly at being taken so off guard.

Seriously, his first instinct had been to jab his elbow into her gut, but he'd managed to figure out who she was before the hit landed. What kind of greeting was that? Warning, please. Give him some warning.

"IZUKU? CAN YOU COME BACK OUT HERE?"

He'd really rather not. His possession of a quirk was going to get out eventually, he knew that, and he was planning on using this week to work himself up to it. Really, he shouldn't have forgotten about Aunt Nemuri... oh well.

Stepping over to his desk, Izuku picked up an unencrypted notebook that had carefully falsified information on his 'Body Boosting' quirk- the story he'd chosen to explain the appearance of One For All, mixed in with a great amount of truth to better hide the lies- and left his bedroom. It was time to make his case, and with the backing of an eyewitness that Inko would trust more than him, he had this in the bag.

The greenette sat down in the armchair, whereas Inko and Nemuri sat on the couch together, and gave his notebook to his mother while sharing the information that she'd want the most.

"Yes, I have a quirk, and I'm gonna call it 'Body Boosting'. It seems to be a general enhancement type quirk, increasing my strength and speed and durability. I first thought I might have a quirk when I was twelve, but I didn't have anything concrete to begin proving it until I did those tests with my friend and Toyomitsu-san, and I noticed that my results for endurance testing were well above average. My increased food requirements likely fuel my quirk, explaining why I suddenly began eating so much for no obvious reason, and I only really noticed myself getting stronger while I was cleaning up the beach. I recorded a timeline and my progress in the notebook you're holding, to show you once I had witnesses and more concrete evidence of my quirk."

He exhaled what little bit of air was still in his lungs, rested an elbow on the arm of his chair, and rested his cheek on his fist. There was little more he wanted than to get this conversation over with- he'd been working himself into nervous wrecks at the thought of it for so long now that in the moment, he wasn't actually nervous, but instead exhausted. She'd confirmed to his face that she wouldn't have believed him beforehand, so he'd done everything he could have, and all that was left to do was see this through to the end.

"You've... Okay, first, kindly don't take that sort of exasperated tone with me. And second, give me a moment to process all of this."

Izuku nodded tiredly, watching as Inko flipped through the pages he'd written in, her eyes scanning and absorbing the data with a certain speed and efficiency that only showed themselves when she was getting serious. Aunt Nemuri peeked over her shoulder to also read it, and murmured to his mom about how impressively detailed his notes were, causing a corner of her lips to quirk up. A compliment to him on this was basically a compliment to her as well, considering she was the one who taught him how to organize his thoughts like this in the first place.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, and squinted at the screen, the text being too blurry for him to see clearly. Honestly, it was probably time for him to get a new phone. He'd been having issues with reading the screen on this one for a while, and while he would have to put a little extra effort into making his cash untraceable, he was pretty interested in one of the models that Innovation was selling on HoloGraphic...

Eh, he'd get to it when he got to it. A new phone might be a nice celebration present to himself, depending on how well he did in the entrance exam. Heck, same for Hitoshi. Neither of them knew how they did just yet, but Hitoshi had gotten a good twenty-three points outta those robots, so there was a lot of uncertainty there.

The greenette turned off the screen and pocketed his phone again, glancing up to look at his mother's face. Her own gaze was still focused on the pages of his notebook, but he could see her chewing on her lip- a nervous tick that she stifled so heavily during her working hours that it had no place but to come out at home.

"Izuku... Is this why you asked me what I would've done, if you told me that you had a quirk?"

She sounded a bit worried, and a small, spiteful part of him thought, 'Good, she should be worried.' He didn't say anything about that though, and instead pulled a smile to his face to reassure her; the same smile he'd worn at school when he was still faking his confidence.

"Pretty much, yeah. You're a lawyer through and through, and one of the best ones in Japan. I knew you wouldn't believe me if I didn't get some hard evidence beforehand, because you already had hard evidence to the contrary. It's no big deal."

'Liar.'

Inko continued chewing on her lip, and read the next page with Aunt Nemuri, who seemed to be getting more and more interested as time went on.

"Ooh, Inky, it says here that he crushed a fridge with his bare hands! Izuku, did that hurt you at all?"

As the R-rated hero glanced up to him, he smiled wider and shook his head, doing his best to ignore the attention she was giving him. She hadn't bothered giving him so much attention before, and while it could just be chalked up to excitement, the stories that Soba had told him about his father and grandmother still came to mind. One For All wouldn't be of much use in the courtroom, so he probably didn't have to worry about Inko using him, but now he had to worry about his aunt... maybe his uncles as well.

Fuck, he didn't want to think of them that way. He was probably just being paranoid again; Midnight, Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Ingenium were all well-loved heroes who had no need to use others for their own gain. Meanwhile, Soba's family? He didn't know who they were yet, but he'd bet a great deal of money that they weren't all that popular.

"Not really. My arms did kinda hurt a little afterwards, but I think that's because I overdid it. Oh, and if you want a demonstration, I could pick up the couch with you two on it."

Aunt Nemuri gleefully accepted this offer, and as he made a show of his inherited strength, he wished that the day would be over already.

"Ujiko-sensei, it's so nice to see you again. How is your grandson doing these days?"

Izuku had been taken back to the family doctor, a man who specialized in quirks, for another x-ray of his foot. Too fucking little, too fucking late, but whatever. All this was going to do was either confirm him to be a medical marvel, or hurt his mother's feelings for not bothering to check things twice.

Squinting to read the blurry screen of his phone, he dropped by HoloGraphic to check on how his friends were doing. Hopefully the results would get back quickly and this appointment would be over soon, he was getting bored just sitting around while 'the adults were talking'.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 1:49pm:

Guys, help. I'm bored as fuck. And irritated. And sad.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 1:50pm:

who do I have to murder for making you sad?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 1:51pm:

Nobody. My guardian just took me to the doctor's for a stupid thing with stupid results. Either I'm gonna end up as a fucking lab rat or they're gonna get all sad and shit about being wrong and treating me the way they have all these years. I just want all of this fuss to be over and then to yeet myself out the window in the middle of the night.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 1:52pm:

oof

you know, it's easy to tell when you're having a really bad day, cuz you start swearing more and talking more negatively

if you wanna get away from it all, I'm totally down to kidnap you and keep you over tonight.

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 1:53pm:

I may or may not also be willing to kidnap you and keep you at my house. Perhaps for an extended period of time.

With one guest, my father has already been forced to calm down on the training. With two guests, his hands will be pretty much tied.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 1:54pm:

Heh, thanks. I might actually take one of you up on that offer if these results take any longer to come out. Probably Soba's offer (sorry Catspi), cuz it'll annoy his dad and get him some relaxation at the same time. Maybe I can eat all of his favorite foods while I'm there. Does he have any favorites?

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 1:55pm:

Kuzumochi.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 1:56pm:

really, the guy likes desserts

what a waste of fine taste

eat his ass out of house and home.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 1:57pm:

wtf

don't eat his ass

eat his kuzumochi

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 1:58pm:

kckskxjs Aphelion knows what I mean.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 1:59pm:

I can't believe Catspi wants me to eat the ass of Soba's father.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 2:00pm:

kdkskjsjsixkjwms

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

"Izuku?"

Inko's voice calling his name caught his attention, and he put his phone away, planning to chat with his friends more later. He followed his mom and the doctor into an adjacent room, where the old and new x-rays of his foot were laid out side by side, and a grim sort of satisfaction filled him at the sight of the new one.

"Midoriya-san, I must apologize. The childhood x-ray of your son's foot must have been switched with that of another child- that's the only reason I can think of for this sort of mistake to have been made."

There was no extra toe joint. Of course there wouldn't be- he had a quirk.

"Well. I know how a hectic work environment can be. It was a simple mistake. Are you still being overworked?"

Once again, Izuku tuned out the conversation in favor of chatting with his friends, this time with an expression of stone cold neutrality.

"Fucking Deku, how the fuck did you hold off that robot, huh?"

Izuku's back slammed into the wall, his teeth bared in a grin that was far more feral than it was friendly, as his green eyes stared into the red ones of his most aggressive rival. His hand reached up to grip the wrist of the hand holding him, the lightning that was only visible to his own eyes flickering as he squeezed- not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to get it removed from his shoulder.

"You watched the exam's highlight reel, didn't you Kacchan? Of course you did, you wanted the reassurance that you're better than everyone else. You wanted to know that you crushed all opposition, and most importantly, you wanted to know that you crushed me."

The spiky blonde glared at him, seething with rage, eyes filled with something so dark that it could only be hatred. He had no doubt that said hatred was directed towards him, and after so many years of being pushed into submission- with the continued attempts to do so even after he'd forcibly dragged himself up the social ladder to sit comfortably near the top- he was done. This was it, this was the last straw. He wasn't going to passively take Katsuki's shit anymore, he was going to fucking return it to the sender.

"You fucking-"

Izuku forcefully snapped his fingers using eight percent of his power, causing a tiny shockwave to erupt forth, and causing his hand to sting viciously with the higher percentage than what he could safely use. The shockwave was barely enough to be felt, but so close to the red-eyed teen's face, there was no doubt that a slight breeze would brush against his cheek. Even a little force, just from snapping his fingers? Katsuki would know the significance of that.

"I have a quirk, Kacchan. I even tried telling you about it once, after you told me to fucking kill myself, but you thought I was lying. So, I kept it to myself from then on. I figured that if you wanted to underestimate me so badly, why stop you? You'd be in for a rude awakening someday... and look, here it is! Say goodbye to your dreams of being number one, Kacchan, and get out of my way."

He stepped forward as he said those last few words through clenched teeth, a cold fury turning his veins to ice, as he yearned to strike back at the person who had been beating him down for many years prior. Not physically, no- he wanted to do worse to him. He wanted to scratch away at Katsuki's very soul, like a cat sharpening its claws on the furniture, and he wanted to make it hurt. This confrontation was the final straw, the very last bit of patience he had after these absolutely fucking terrible past few days, and it was this close to burning away.

Some of his fury must have shown in his expression, as Katsuki faltered for a moment and let him by, before stepping after him and growling like he was a fucking dog or something. Whatever- it gave him the opportunity to say his final piece, a warning for the future.

"Once we're both in Yuuei, I won't be taking anymore of your bullshit. If you try to destroy my things again, or if you do anything outside of school sanctioned events that results in me or my friends getting hurt, then I will fucking end your career before it can even get off the ground."

Chapter Text

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:36pm:

Hey guys, I really need to blow off some steam. These past few days have been really shitty, and my childhood friend/bully decided to try putting me in my place again, and I've been really pissed off since. Do you have any suggestions that'll help me get my mood back up to normal?

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:37pm:

have you attempted meditation yet? it often assists me in moments of violent turmoil, and it may help you as well.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:38pm:

I did, but I just couldn't focus. My level of fury rn is like, when you get so worked up that you go back around to calm again, so I'm technically calm right now. It just happens to be a calmness in which I'm plotting the utter annihilation of someone's hopes and dreams. I need something stupid fun to yoink me out of it.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:39pm:

stupid fun, you say

well, you've come to the right place

hey Soba, when can we come over and wreck your dad's shit?

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:40pm:

Well, my good bitch, it's a bit late right now but tomorrow afternoon would be absolutely wonderful.

I would like to officially invite Aphelion, Catspiracy, and Raven to my home, on the condition that they fuck up the day of father dearest.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:41pm:

Yessssss

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:42pm:

the meeting place we discussed?

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:43pm:

Yes. We should meet at 4pm, to account for changing out of school uniforms and travel times.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:44pm:

there is nothing particularly pressing on my schedule for tomorrow. barring unforseen circumstances, you shall see me there.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:45pm:

Thank yooooou, you precious being!

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 10:46pm:

expect to see a couple green and purple fuckers approaching you tomorrow

me and Aphelion will be arriving together, have fun guessing which one of us is which.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 10:47pm:

it shall be difficult to miss me when my figure has donned a cloak.

[☆] FatherKnowsJackShit >> 10:48pm:

Alright, look for someone with a red and white color scheme when you arrive.

You will know it when you see it.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 10:49pm:

Fucking up an asshole's day is just what I need, thank you so much 💚

Todoroki Shouto was nervous.

The emotion wasn't displayed on his face, but it escaped his tight control in the form of subconscious movements, such as the bouncing of his leg and the tapping of his fingers upon the bench. Each time he noticed that he was doing one of these things, he stopped, but they started up again the second that his attention wandered. It would be a solution to put all of his attention towards keeping still and composed, but then he'd be unable to keep a lookout for his... friends.

He wasn't sure if they'd still be his friends once they discovered who he was, or if they'd even believe him about his bastard of a father anymore, so he was trying to prepare himself for the worst.

"Do you think that's him?"

Shouto glanced up, scanning the crowd for colors of green and purple mingling together. The question was addressed to a person other than the speaker, therefore it couldn't be Raven, and therefore he didn't need to look for a cloak at this immediate moment.

"I mean, he said red and white, and that we'd know it when we saw it. That seems pretty unique."

There- to his left, slightly behind him. A curly green undercut fauxhawk tied back in a ponytail, and a wavy purple mane that looked as though its owner had just stuck their head out the window of a moving train in favor of any other styling techniques. Green eyes and purple eyes looking at him, or rather, at his own hair, which was straight and parted precisely where his red and white hair touched.

This was them, Aphelion and Catspiracy. And thanks to that little detail they'd mentioned about Aphelion's eyes being green all that time ago, he knew which one was which.

"Hello. I haven't seen Raven yet, so we're still on the lookout for him, unless he wasn't able to come after all."

Shouto's voice was quieter than he would've liked it to be, and as he noticed his fingers tapping on the bench again, he forcefully stopped them by putting his hands in his pockets. The other two glanced at each other before approaching, and sitting on the bench beside him, while still giving him a bit of space. That was considerate of them.

As Aphelion turned his attention towards the crowd in search of Raven, Catspiracy leaned forward in his seat to look at Shouto's face, and he waited for a comment on the scar. None came, however, and instead the purple-haired teen gave him a relaxed but somewhat devious grin.

"So, Soba, do you know which one of us is which?"

Without hesitation, he gestured to the greenette, and then to the one talking to him.

"He's Aphelion, and you're Catspiracy. Sometime after the two of you first met, you had a discussion about how Aphelion's eyes are like alexandrite gems- green, turning red under a certain lighting. I would have used contacts to give both of you green eyes in order to throw Raven and I off, as neither of us knew what your eyes were like."

Catspiracy blinked, and his grin widened a bit, before he nudged Aphelion's side.

"Hey look, we've got a fucking nerd over here."

Shouto snorted, and responded with an amused, "Bitch, it's not like you're any different."

The green-haired teen smiled at their conversation, but kept his gaze on the crowd, and the three lapsed into a somewhat comfortable silence.

In the midst of watching for someone in a cloak, Shouto snuck a few peeks at the two beside him, wondering how different they were in person compared to how they were online. For one thing, they both seemed more introverted, like he was. They were also surprisingly comfortable being in such close proximity with one another, which definitely supported his fake-romance-to-real-relationship theory about them, but they also weren't that touchy. It was a relaxed atmosphere that they possessed, but something had them a bit nervous at the same time...

He wasn't sure what that thing was, exactly, but he was a bit relieved that he wasn't the only one who was nervous. Maybe they were nervous to see what he and Raven were like, just as much as he was about them? That would make sense, though if it were the case, there would be pretty much nothing but time that could alleviate that anxiety.

"Hey, you think that's Raven?"

Shouto clenched his fists within his pockets, and scanned the crowd once more, standing up to get a better view. He noticed the other two do the same, and being side by side with them, he noted that Aphelion was a little bit shorter than he was, while Catspiracy was just a centimeter taller than him. It was kind of strange- particularly with Aphelion- as they both had such large personalities on the forum. Larger than his own, and yet, the shared presence of the three was surprisingly small.

They were all familiar with hiding themselves away...

"Oh stars, I can't believe he's actually got a bird head. That's hilarious, I love him."

He followed their gazes towards a figure in a simple black cloak, one who indeed had a bird head. It seemed that he hadn't spotted them yet, and as Shouto pulled his hand from his pocket in preparation to catch his attention, a spike of presence from his left had him glancing over at Aphelion. The green-haired boy was waving at Raven, and then said cloaked teen was approaching, leaving Shouto to put his hand back in his pants pocket.

"Salutations, my friends. What delightful weather we're having today."

The bichromatic-haired teen glanced up, and saw the same overcast sky that had been there since this morning; medium grey clouds that threatened to rain but were taking their sweet time about actually doing so.

"Yeah, it's a bit cold for spring though... I guess you could say this weather is a bit fowl."

The other three conversed a bit after groaning or snickering at Aphelion's pun, and Shouto observed, feeling a bit awkward until he found a moment to speak up.

"Sorry, um.. Are we going to be using our real names, or our usernames?"

They glanced at each other, and Aphelion shrugged, with Catspiracy nodding a moment after.

"The former makes sense, considering that we're all heading into Yuuei. It'd be weirder to not learn each other's names now. I'll start us off." The purple-haired teen tilted his head to the side, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jacket, somewhat mirroring Shouto's position. "I'm Shinsou Hitoshi. Feel free to call me Hitoshi- though not by our real names, I think we've known each other long enough that it's not too weird for you to use my given name."

Shouto nodded along with Raven, and his gaze flicked over to Aphelion, whose presence had died down again. The green-haired teen didn't hesitate in speaking up next, fingers laced before him and thumbs tapping together, a subdued smile on his face.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku, but like Hitoshi, feel free to call me Izuku. I'm really excited to get to know you two in person as well as online, and I hope I don't end up disappointing you."

Midoriya, as in the lawyer his dad still complains about sometimes? The one who used to go after him for civilian damages, before leaving the hero courts a couple years ago? Interesting...

Shouto realized that he was next in the circle, and blinked, before saying quietly, "Todoroki Shouto, but just call me Shouto. It's my house we'll be going to once we're all set here. Just so you know, we have a guest staying over, so please be careful when passing by the room he's in."

With nods of acknowledgement and still zero comments about his relation to Endeavor, the other three moved on to the cloaked teen, and he found a small smile forming on his face.

"Tokoyami Fumikage, at your service. Address me by either name, but know that I may require some time to acclimate to being called Fumikage- I am far more used to being addressed by my family name."

The introductions were out of the way, and it was time for him to lead them to his home. His nervousness was almost completely gone, in the face of the anticipation bubbling up inside him, and his small smile became a little wider. Was getting his friends to fuck up his dad's day little more than petty revenge? Yes. Was it going to be fun as fuck? Also yes.

Shouto's day was about to go from dull to exciting really quick, and he couldn't wait to see the look on the man's face when the kuzumochi he'd just bought yesterday was gone.

"Okay, we've eaten literally everything we can that he likes, and we're taking the leftovers home. We've also rigged his showerhead with neon pink dye, and we've put a nice amount of itching powder in his bed and his civilian clothes. What next?"

The grin on Izuku's face was far wider than it had any right to be, and his eyes sparkled with delight. This was just the sort of thing he needed, and he'd have to properly thank Shouto sometime in the future; maybe with some rare All Might merch from his slowly growing collection.

"Dark Shadow has expressed the desire to throw a lemon at Endeavor. Perhaps multiple lemons, if you have any- we only brought one."

Shouto gave him an expression of mixed amusement and confusion. "You brought a lemon?"

Tokoyami reached into the left pocket of his pants, and indeed, pulled out a lemon. It even looked pretty fresh.

"Wow."

Beside him, Hitoshi began to snicker, as though something amazing had come to his mind. The greenette turned to look at him, giggling a bit even though he didn't know why his friend was so amused, because he knew by the look on his face that it had to be good.

"Okay, okay- the dude hates All Might, right?"

Shouto nodded, and the purple-haired teen snickered again, before explaining himself.

"So, seeing such a fresh lemon made me think of two things. The first thing, is 'All Might'. And the second thing, is 'Boy, wouldn't Endeavor be sour if he found a bunch of All Might merch hidden around his house'."

The three teens stared at Hitoshi in awe, and Tokoyami put away the lemon to slow clap, as Izuku burst out in a fresh round of giggles. No doubt, the man would not be pleased to find merch of his rival in his home. The reaction would already be nothing short of beautiful... but what if it could be made better?

A metaphorical lightbulb lit up over Izuku's head.

"Guys, guys- what if we do that, and then, if he asks how many bits of merch we've hidden, we tell him that there's one more than we actually hid? He'll just- he'll spend forever looking for something that doesn't exist!"

Their bird-headed friend's clapping picked up speed, and Hitoshi wheezed, as Shouto released a tiny giggle of his own.

"We can put posters of All Might behind the picture frames and paintings. We can put All Might action figures on the shelves in various sassy poses. W-We can, we can replace his navy blue Endeavor boxers with navy blue All Might boxers."

"Wait, wait, do we actually wanna touch his boxers tho?"

"Dark Shadow can handle that."

A small affirmative screech came from within Tokoyami's cloak, and the four teens grinned madly at one another, only grinning wider as Shouto pulled out his dad's credit card from his wallet.

"We still have a few hours until he gets home. There's time for a quick shopping trip, and while we're there, we can pick up pretty much anything else we want to, as long as it's cheap. He doesn't notice the cheap transactions because they're at the end of his monthly reports, and he spends enough himself to bury them in more expensive purchases."

As if their faces weren't bright enough, the thought of using the man's own money to prank him simply had them glowing, and the four teens rushed to get up and get outside.

On top of a bunch of All Might merch, the teens had each gotten matching backpacks, in order to carry all the loot they had. They had also gotten a bunch of soda and junk food, and some Bluetooth headsets that would connect to one another when they were close enough, and they may or may not have also purchased matching pajamas. If asked why they got some extra things, the excuse that they were 'high on friendship' would be the first to be given, and there would be none other to follow.

Giggling like a bunch of lunatics, the four teens snuck into the Todoroki house once more, and came across Fuyumi and Natsuo in the sitting room. Izuku noted that Shouto's siblings seemed fairly surprised to see them, but also noted the somewhat pleased expressions they had, upon seeing the taller boy's grinning face.

"What's all this, huh?"

Natsuo was grinning, catching on to the mischievous atmosphere that surrounded them, and Shouto answered in a voice that was giddier than his usual tone.

"We're gonna hide a fuckton of cheap All Might merch around the house. We got so much that we needed these backpacks to hold it all. Wanna help?"

The white-haired man nodded immediately, and told Fuyumi to act as their lookout, as he grabbed Shouto's backpack and rushed off to start hiding merch. "Don't wake our guest!" Fuyumi called after him, before adjusting her glasses and nodding to the four teens still in the room, giving them the encouragement they needed to follow after.

In total, fifty-seven individual pieces of All Might merch were hidden around the house that hour. The last pieces were delivered by Izuku and Dark Shadow to Endeavor's room- the greenette picked the lock and the sentient quirk switched out the boxers, placing Endeavor's boxers in a trash bag to be burned later. Then they were done there, and Izuku closed everything up and locked the door again on his way out, giving Dark Shadow a high-five as they returned to the others.

"Alright, we've got everything. Now, if Endeavor asks, there are approximately fifty-eight pieces of All Might merch hidden throughout the house."

Shouto's older siblings nodded, and the bichromatic-haired teen himself called them out into the kitchen, where the last of the kuzumochi was out on the counter. They'd had enough time to digest their previous meal, and Izuku jokingly lamented how his diet was ruined, as he dug into his plate of the sticky dessert.

Eventually, though, the three teens had to leave. The time of Endeavor's arrival was approaching, and ideally, they wanted to be long gone before he had the chance to see their faces. Getting identified this early would ruin the chances of future prank sessions, after all, even if it would be satisfying to see Dark Shadow throwing a lemon at Endeavor.

Shouto left the house with them, walking all the way back to where they'd met up in Yavin Station, and said farewell to them there. The four teens shared a hug- yay, nobody was flinching!- and went their separate ways home.

It had been an incredible day, and Izuku hoped that they could experience similar days in the future, as he dropped his new stuff next to his bed and flopped down happily.

Chapter Text

@HNAOfficial >> 3:00pm:

Good afternoon, Japan! You know what's coming next- it's time for our second Hero News Linkstorm of the day! See the passion of the Flame Hero as he sits by a bonfire with the familiar doppelganger we all know and love! Wonder at the rumors of organized crime stirring in the shadows! Listen as fans in downtown Musutafu City cheer at another decisive victory for All Might!

Trial By Fire: Pro Hero Endeavor Burning Up In The Presence Of...

Movements In The Shadows: Where No Civilian Has Gone Before

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: There Is Just No Stopping Our...

Keep those notifications on for our third and final Linkstorm of the day at nine tonight!

"Izuku, your letter from Yuuei is here."

The greenette looked up from where he was seated at the table, consuming the last of his dinner. His mother had finished a few minutes beforehand, and had gone to properly look through the mail that she'd brought in earlier this afternoon. That was how it usually went- just another small sequence of events to be inserted amongst the others of their days- and the small difference to today's routine was that she placed a rather thick envelope on the table in front of him.

She wasn't happy. Thick envelopes like that one were promising, in regards to acceptances, but it didn't make her happy. He understood, though. For so long, she had been fighting for the wrong thing, that she didn't know how to feel. He had a new quirk that was amazing for heroics, and she knew it now, but old habits were difficult to kill.

In one more attempt to hold an olive branch out there between them, Izuku opened the envelope at the table rather than in his room, with the intent of showing her that he still wanted to include her in his life.

"Ah, is this thing rolling? Right!"

The bold voice of the number one hero came forth, and the two Midoriyas stared at his projected form, hovering in the air above the table. Was it actually a projection, or was it a hologram? Could it be defined as both? Izuku didn't know for certain.

"I know it's been a while, but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork! My apologies, young man!"

Well. He wasn't too worried about the lack of contact in the past week, as he was fairly sure he got in the upper ranks of both the written and practical exams, but it was nice to know that All Might had just been too busy to call. Honestly, this was kind of why he was trying to get the man to start texting as well as calling, but at the same time it was touching that he placed the importance of Izuku to such a level that he wanted to devote more attention to him than a simple text would allow.

"The truth is, I didn't come to this city just to fight more villains. You're looking at Yuuei's newest faculty member! And now, moving on!"

Beneath her breath, Inko murmured something about mild reassurances of safety, but he couldn't make out anything more than that before the projection continued.

"Midoriya Izuku! You passed the written test with flying colors, and in the practical, you got forty-eight combat points! This already would have been enough to secure you a spot in the heroics department, but the practical exam was not graded on combat alone! You have an incredible quirk now, yes, but it's your actions that inspire others. That's why I am proud to tell you that you got sixty rescue points! Unfortunately, thirty points were deducted from your overall score due to the situation in which you ended the exam, but with an overall score of seventy-eight points, you got in second place for the entrance exam overall!"

Second place... He got in second place, out of the ten thousand or so applicants to the course... This was incredible.

A soft noise to his right drew his attention, and he saw his mother with a hand to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. He couldn't tell exactly what the emotions welling up inside her were, but he believed that he saw a mixture of fear and guilt... and he hoped that was pride instead of anger.

"Welcome, Izuku. You have made it. This is your hero academia."

The projection ended, and Izuku looked away before his mom could catch him staring at her, turning his attention to the papers still in the envelope. There were costume design forms, papers for the option of staying in the campus dorms, a written acceptance letter that was a more formal transcription of the projection, and more. He now had a student ID card that would grant him access to Yuuei grounds, and he had to fill out a paper with his measurements for his uniform to be mailed to him, and apparently he was going to be in class 1-A.

He had a lot to do before April began, and as he excitedly spread out the papers to begin filling the most important ones out first, the greenette failed to notice his mother take three of the sheets and quietly leave the room.

The clock that was hung in the hallway ticked quietly in the silence of the night.

Izuku hadn't been able to sneak out yet due to the fact that his mother was still awake, pacing up and down the apartment with restless energy, mumbling distressed things under her breath that were far too quiet for him to hear through his closed bedroom door. He was mildly concerned, as he thought that he'd heard paper tearing earlier, but he was pretty sure that she wouldn't have torn up his acceptance letter.

It was probably an important court case keeping her up, on top of having to fill out some of his information forms for Yuuei, providing parental approval of what he'd said and asked for. She'd been working her way back into the hero courts ever since he'd had that talk with her- the one where Fatgum and Hitoshi had acted as his witnesses- and it was a complicated process. There was less opposition than expected, especially considering that the number two hero hadn't really liked her being around much, but that was probably a good thing.

Having hero court to focus on would keep her busy, and subsequently, would keep her from worrying too much.

Still, her being up now meant that he couldn't head out and do parkour, or meet up with Hitoshi like he'd wanted to, so he'd have to settle for chatting on HoloGraphic. He did want to hear how his friends had done with getting into their desired schools, so hey, staying inside for one night wasn't all that bad.

Maybe he could get some extra studying in at the same time...

When five-thirty rolled around, Izuku heard his mother make breakfast as she usually did. He listened as he did his research on a new villain, as she ate and put the leftovers in the fridge, and as the clock in the hallway continued to tick. Time passed by surprisingly quickly, routine only being interrupted by his mother approaching and taping something to his door, before she left and he turned to watch her through the window.

Once her shadow had vanished into the horizon, and his room started changing from the night's monochrome grey to the orange and pink of the rising sun, he moved to open his door and squinted to see what she had left him.

'I, the undersigned Midoriya Inko, give my child Midoriya Izuku permission to reside in the dormitories of U.A. High this upcoming year...'

This was... weird.

He hadn't even brought the dorms up yet, and he was kind of expecting to stay at home during his first year, but it did make sense. Travel costs would be saved, food costs would be saved, and he'd get some life lessons in independence and living with unfamiliar people in an ultimately safe environment. Maybe this was her way of acknowledging that he was able to make his own decisions now, her way of supporting him.

A slight smile formed on the greenette's face at that thought, and he felt his mood lift a bit from the slight bog of restriction it'd been in due to his inability to wander the previous night. He was going to go to Yuuei soon, and he'd be on the way to becoming a hero... along with his friends.

Hitoshi, Shouto, and Fumikage were all entering Yuuei High as well. Shouto had gotten in through the recommendation exam, while Hitoshi and Fumikage had gotten in through the regular exam, and all three of them were slated to be in class 1-A with him. He wasn't sure how many points Hitoshi got, as he hadn't shared and he wasn't on the top ten board, but Fumikage had gotten in ninth place. Things were going pretty good for all of them!

'Granted, that's ignoring the fact that I lied to them about my quirk, but hey! I lie to everyone about that, so it's not personal!'

As Izuku ate his breakfast, thoughts of how things were changing ran through his head.

His mother wasn't trying to dissuade him from following his dreams of heroism anymore, now that she knew he had a quirk. She was actually avoiding him more often than not, and it kind of irritated him, but he could still guess the reasons why. Obviously, one of the first things she'd feel would be guilt, and then another thing she'd feel would be frustration with being wrong. She was never one who liked being wrong that much, which is why being a lawyer made such a good career choice for her, and it would explain her withdrawal. It was probably nothing more than her taking a breather, coming to terms with her mistakes and thinking about how to move forward, that made her leave him to do mostly as he pleased.

Aunt Nemuri was ecstatic. He spent a lot of his time holed up in his room in effort to avoid her when their interactions became too much, as he continuously looped around the same circle of thought. She'd re-entered his life a while ago, talking with him and showing him more makeup tricks and making him smile with her stories of her uncles doing ridiculous things, but she'd avoided all talk of heroics until he showed his quirk. It felt like... she didn't have any real interest in supporting him when he was 'quirkless.' It felt like she was only interested in him after he revealed the abilities that One For All gave him.

He'd never have imagined that the first person wanting to use him would be his aunt, and he doubted that was actually the case, but... it felt like that was happening.

Uncle Tensei was still extremely busy, and he'd only been able to visit a couple times when Izuku wasn't in school or otherwise out of the house, so he hadn't interacted with the man enough to know what he thought. It was kind of relieving, in that he'd be able to stay hopeful of the best outcome, until he actually talked to him and either got validation or shut down. He hoped that Tensei would be different from Nemuri, he hoped that the man would treat him the same as he always did, when they finally caught up with each other.

Izuku still hadn't heard from Uncle Shouta or Uncle Hizashi. Either his mom had blocked their numbers, or they were too busy like All Might was, or they just didn't care enough to talk to him before school started. He knew that he was going to be in Shouta's homeroom, and he knew that Hizashi was head of the English department, so he was going to encounter them soon enough... He wasn't sure how he wanted to deal with that.

It was terrible, when he thought about it, but he really didn't trust most people in positions of authority. He trusted his friends on HoloGraphic with his life, but he couldn't even say the same about his own mother, or about the teachers and heroes who had failed to protect him. He could probably count the number of adults he trusted on two hands, when including those on the forum, and only one hand for those not on it. Yagi-sensei, Toyomitsu-san, Uncle Shouta, Uncle Hizashi, Grandpa Cryptid, Grandma Cryptid, Dabi, Whiskey... he trusted those adults, and not one more.

Taking his breakfast dishes to the sink, the greenette ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth, dragging the piercing he had there along in a repetitive motion. It was a less obvious tell that he was trying to cultivate, so that when he was anxious or stressed, fewer people would notice. No more biting his nails or chewing on his lips; just focusing on the texture of metal on flesh, with the added bonus of keeping him from mumbling if he was really far gone.

Izuku left the kitchen, taking the other papers that his mother had signed for him from the table, and returned to his room to look them over and think some more.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:00pm:

Ah, spring is such a lovely time of year, filled with meaning. New beginnings in the cycle, another journey around the sun, birds singing and flower blooming. As the cold recedes, so too does the discomfort in these old bones...

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:01pm:

perfect weather for arson amirite?

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:02pm:

Well, yes, but actually no.

The rainy months approach within the spring, and such downpours from them will dull the fires to ineffectiveness. By a purely logical standpoint, arson is much better suited for the summertime, as well as early to mid autumn. I am somewhat partial to flames in winter, however... such delightful contrast to be found there, such lovely light to shimmer across the snow.

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 3:03pm:

*tourist voice* Excuse me! What happens if it rains?

*tour guide voice* Oho, you gonna get wet.

[☆] FatherKnowsBest >> 3:04pm:

not like I can enjoy the weather without some dumbass getting in my way. I'd rather stay inside and do my own thing than be forced to socialize with random assholes and idiots.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:05pm:

big mood

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 3:06pm:

Tbh, knowing the kinds of people that are out there, same hat.

[☆] LockItInYourPocket >> 3:07pm

Humans in general are disgusting, but they pay well, so whatever.

Anyone need my services in the near future?

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:08pm:

Hmm...

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 3:09pm:

what kinda services are you offering~

[☆] LockItInYourPocket >> 3:10pm:

Transportation of goods from point A to point B primarily, although I am also willing to acquire certain items and commodities from locations that are difficult to get into.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:11pm:

I have no need for such a thing at this time, but if I may redirect you to an acquaintance of mine, I am sure it will be worth your while.

[☆] LockItInYourPocket >> 3:12pm:

I'm interested.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:13pm:

There is a fellow who goes by the name of Giran, with greasy silver hair and an unfortunate smoking habit, who frequents an underground bar known as the Dancing Mistress. If you are able to find him, tell him that Grandfather Cryptid sent you.

[☆] LockItInYourPocket >> 3:14pm:

Will do, Gramps. Thanks for the tip.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 3:15pm:

It is my pleasure.

Chapter Text

Dad. Papa. Father.

Three words referring to the same person, words that Izuku had never spoken in a direct address to that person. He'd never known his father, and beyond asking Inko a few questions when he was little, he'd had no reason to say them. The man had died before he was born, according to his mom, so how could he address someone who wasn't there?

Whispering the words now, they tasted strange. The shapes that his lips and tongue made were unfamiliar to him, with those words having gone unspoken for many, many years now. More than half of his life, he'd never said them, because he'd never had the opportunity to.

Now, he might have the opportunity to, because Inko had lied.

He knew that she'd been dating his aunt and uncles before he was born, and for a little bit afterwards, but the way she spoke of it made it sound as though it were inconsequential. As though it were just a superficial thing, as though they hadn't... as though it didn't matter.

She'd told him that she lied, she'd told him that 'Midoriya Hisashi' was a nonexistent placeholder for his uncles, but she didn't even know for sure which one of them was the father. She also wouldn't tell him why she wasn't sure, which only left him to assume that she'd been having multiple of them at the same time, though the thought of parent sex made him want to immediately pour bleach into his terribly-curious, wretchedly-imaginative mind.

'Please, brain, avoid the mental images and focus on the cold logistics instead.'

Uncle Shouta, Uncle Hizashi, Uncle Tensei. One of them was his biological father, and they had no idea. How was he supposed to take this? How was he supposed to react? What, did she think he'd just walk up to them like, 'Hey, my mom lied about the existence of Midoriya Hisashi, and surprise, one of you three is my actual father!'? He couldn't do that. They didn't know, and they were all very comfortable in their roles as uncles, and it would probably scare them like it scared him.

What if they didn't want him? What if, when they found out, their faces twisted into expressions of disgust and revulsion at the thought of having him as a son? What if they blamed him and punished him for the secrets his mom had kept from them? He was weird, and everyone had believed that he was quirkless until the entrance exam, and their impressions of what he was were more likely to blind them to who he was than not. He didn't want to lose them so soon after getting them back...

So, what should he do? What should he say? Should he bring it up at all, or should he keep this knowledge locked within him, as another secret to be kept to the grave? He didn't know. He didn't know...

After pulling on his outdoor shoes, Izuku took his box of hero merch in hand, and stood up. His fingers rubbed against the simultaneously rough and smooth edges of the box where he held it, in effort to quell his nerves a bit. It was move-in day, and here he was; a quivering wreck from stresses that were completely unrelated to the school itself.

Adjusting his bright yellow All Might backpack with a roll of his shoulders, the one that had been too large for him back in middle school but which now fit him perfectly, the greenette called out a somewhat shaky farewell and made his way out the door. Today he'd be moving the last of his things into the dorms, and the first day of class was in two weeks, so he'd have to focus on that instead of panicking about the identity of his father. Don't panic, written in large, friendly letters on the cover of a book...

Don't panic.

"Oi, Izu. I knew you'd moved in already, but I didn't expect you to have- dude, is that a bunk bed fort?"

The greenette turned to face his purple-haired friend in the doorway, and grinned. Fuck yeah it was, he's got the good shit going on here.

"The mattress that was supposed to be on the bottom bunk is just straight up on the floor in there right now, cuz I didn't actually build the framework for the bottom bunk and left it open to make the fort. Not gonna lie, I'm probably gonna be hanging out there most nights I'm here- I've got fairy lights strung up and everything!"

The amused expression his friend sent him at his clear excitement made his thoughts clear, but Hitoshi came in and poked around the fort area anyways, making himself at home.

"Either help me get my hands on a setup this cool, or expect lots of sleepovers. Like damn, when did you get your degree in interior design? You should have that shit framed."

Izuku was one of the quicker students to move into the dorms, as he'd so learned when he'd been shown in from the gate by the pro hero Snipe, and he'd been just as quick to claim one of the middle rooms on the top floor as his own. The room had been pretty much empty when he moved in, and he'd had to supply his own furniture because the Yuuei-ordered furniture wasn't expected to arrive until the next week, but on the plus side it allowed him to decorate freely on his mother's dime. He deserved a treat after all his hard work getting here, and the costs of furniture were negligible in comparison to the salary his mom had as one of the best lawyers in Japan, so he went ahead and got himself items that were both aesthetically pleasing and durable.

His first purchase was an Ikea bunk bed, for the sole purpose of removing and turning the bottom bunk into a floor-level fort, along with a small staircase that also had drawers and shelves built into it. His new desk was on the opposite side of the room from the bunk bed and the staircase leading to the top bunk, and it was a bit bigger than his old one, with enough room for a full computer setup and a few shelves above it for his analysis notebooks and some merch. Beside the desk was a simple waist-high dresser with a TV facing the bunk bed fort on top, and a game system that FatherKnowsBest had advised him to get when they last spoke, and another set of shelves for him to organize his things on.

Maybe he'd gotten too many shelves. He could see them in five separate locations in the room- staircase, desk, dresser, wall next to the door, wall opposite of the door- but so what if he liked shelves? So what if he enjoyed having a clean, organized living area? Shhh. Ignore the fact that the floor was completely fair game for future piles of dirty clothes to be piled on and for future crumbs to be swept onto from the furniture. Izuku was the pinnacle of cleanliness, how dare it be insinuated otherwise? For shame, for shame!

Anyways, disregarding the maybe or maybe not excessive amount of shelves, the greenette was satisfied with his room of sturdy furniture. It was all made of metal for the durability, with rounded edges and corners literally everywhere because he didn't want to accidentally slice himself open, and had been spray-painted a matte black. He hadn't had the desire to make permanent changes to the dorm room itself just for his own sake, so the walls and ceiling were covered by a bunch of blackish-blue sheets with glow in the dark galaxy print. Also, as he'd mentioned just moments before, fairy lights were strung up on the ceiling and inside his bunk bed fort like stars in the sky.

All in all, his room was pretty fucking great, and he was more than a little pleased with himself for doing so well in designing it.

"Why thank you, I got my degree just recently! My eight-plus years of experience in the Sims made it all the easier to obtain!"

Izuku spoke in a cheerful voice that carried no detectable falsehood to it, and anyone unfamiliar with him would probably seriously consider what he was saying, but Hitoshi knew his sense of humor well. They had similar tastes, after all, so it was no difficult feat for the purple-haired teen to see through the thin veneer and find amusement in what impressions were left behind.

"Nice," he snorted, stretching out slightly on the greenette's floor mattress, and not bothering to fix his shirt when it ended up out of place. "Anyways, when I saw your namecard next to this room on the chart downstairs, I went ahead and scrawled my own name on the card above it. We're neighbors now."

This was a thing that wouldn't have been possible, were it not for Hitoshi successfully getting into the Hero Course. Those classes and nights that Izuku had spent training with his friend were well worth it, as evidenced by the teen's presence...

Once again, Izuku was comforted by the fact that not one, and not two, but all three of his friends had succeeded and were in the same class he was. What were the chances of that happening, really? The odds had been beaten, whatever they were, and Izuku was quite happy about it.

"Awesomesauce. Now I can just knock on the wall between us and keep you up at night without ever having to leave my room."

Hitoshi grinned lazily, and sat up, only to begin nosing about the inside of the fort.

"And now I can find out when the fuck you actually go to sleep. Like seriously, you're on the forum almost every night and you're recording new vids on the nights you're not, yet you're never tired when we meet up. It's a mystery that's been killing me for ages now."

The greenette laughed and shook his head, peering at the other in amusement. His wiry friend poked at one of the shelves inside the fort, purple eyes tracing its outline with a squinted gaze, and Izuku grinned. It was clever of Hitoshi to spot the indents of the secret compartment he'd built that shelf into, but without removing another segment from the side of the bed frame, its secrets would never be revealed.

If any teenager who had the opportunity to put together their own furniture said no to a secret compartment or two, Izuku would pity them greatly.

"Well, you're not gonna find out for some time yet, so I'd give it a rest. Maybe try setting up some cameras of your own around the dorms- I'd love the extra challenge of avoiding them in my mysterious nighttime activities."

Hey, if he was gonna mess around with his friend, he might as well go all out and get a few extra things done simultaneously.

"Oh, it's on now! Good luck keeping your secrets with Catspiracy on the case."

Hitoshi turned to send a smirk in Izuku's direction, the glint of a challenge accepted in his eyes. He was going to have his work cut out for him, he knew already, and dodging his friend's cameras would act as fair training for the future. Yuuei's security was top notch, and if he couldn't manage to evade that of a rather intelligent teenager, then he had no chance of avoiding that of a principal with a High Specs intelligence quirk.

'Well, regarding Yuuei's security... Maybe I can ask a teacher about it under the guise of concern? It can't be a teacher I know well though, so not Uncle Shouta, Uncle Hizashi, or Aunt Nemuri. Snipe, perhaps? I've already met him at the gates, and it wouldn't be out of place for a concerned student to approach the closest teacher with a question...'

As their challenging staredown came to a conclusion, Hitoshi and Izuku nodded in sync, before resuming their hangout in comfortable silence.

It was the middle of the day.

Hitoshi had gone to get groceries with Izuku's food card, joking about the greenette becoming a sugar daddy with how much cash he kept spending on his friends, before taking the slipper-shaped hint to get going already. It was only him then, alone in the dorms, and thus he decided to get a move on with decorating his friend's room.

The purple-haired teen had an interesting color scheme in mind; one that made him think of the mythological realm of Faerie. Deep purple, reflective silver, rich burgundy red... it wasn't what he'd expected from him, but it wasn't unwelcome either. No details had been provided as to the ratios he wanted, though, leaving Izuku to decide just how much purple and red and silver to apply in regards to one another.

After a long while of contemplation, he decided to try something new. He had been given complete creative liberty in his designs, and this was for a friend... therefore, this room was going to look absolutely incredible.

'I'll take inspiration from the graffiti we'd seen together while I was teaching Hitoshi how to parkour... Purple landscape, to set the base. Silver bodies to stand out against the dark walls, with red details to say what mere shapes cannot. All jagged edges and coarse textures, vibrant in the emotion that is seen and felt at once. Splatters of red and silver outside of it all for the finishing touches...'

He first painted the walls and ceiling in that dark purple, and let the first coat dry, pouring out rough sketches of his ideas in one of his notebooks as he waited. The paint dried in a darker shade than it had appeared to be when it was wet, almost appearing to be black in color, but very clearly having a purple tint to it under the daylight. Perhaps he should have tested it on a smaller section of the wall first, but it actually looked pretty cool, so he was content with leaving it as it was.

With the base coat done, Izuku went to his room to grab a piece of white chalk; the kind that would typically be used on light sidewalks and then left behind by small, disappointed children who didn't quite understand its value in art yet. He used this to translate his rough sketches from his notebook pages to the walls, resulting in a lovely sort of garden lattice design. Wrought iron gates and wiry trees, stretching from the floor to the ceiling, branches hanging overhead. It was rough, not a single smooth edge in sight but on the curved tips of eerie silver gates.

He stopped using the silver paint for the moment, and waited out in the hall for it to dry, taking a break from all the fumes. True, the room wasn't that poorly ventilated with the balcony doors open and all, but it was still better to breathe completely clean air than it was to spend prolonged periods of time in an area of mixed composition.

"Wow, you've been busy. Are you waiting out here cuz it's already done?"

Izuku licked his lips, and turned towards his purple-haired friend, who had evidently returned from the shopping trip. That meant that it had already been at least two hours since he'd started, and judging by the angle of the shadows in the hall, perhaps more around five or six. And to think, he still wasn't done...

"Not yet. I'd say I'm about three-fifths done, but the rest of this should go much quicker, as most of my previous time was spent waiting for the larger coats to dry. From here on, I'll be working on smaller shapes and details, and those will each dry by the time I go around the room and get back to them."

Already, he could see the finished product in his mind. When comparing his closest friend to the concepts and ideas of the world's collective imagination, nothing quite stood out like the concept of 'fantasy,' and it was that which he was trying to convey with his paint job. It was rough, and it was dirty, but it was magical. The blood of the ancients would flow through anyone who set foot in that room once he was done with it, and-

"The blood of the ancients?"

Startled by the unexpected sound of Shouto's voice, Izuku snapped out of his mumbling, blinking rapidly as he glanced between the now two friends of his in the hallway.

Hitoshi snickered at his reaction, and took pity on him. "Yeah, I invited Shoutoroki here over for dinner. Figured it'd be nice to show him around... and also to get him to lay claim to one of the rooms in case he wants to actually crash someplace other than his dad's place."

The bichromatic-haired teen nodded, eyeing Izuku with a speculative gleam to his gaze as he silently confirmed Hitoshi's statement.

"Oh," Izuku responded elegantly, with such grace and poise that one would only find it in the mating call of a truly refined hippopotamus. "Okay. I probably won't be done for another hour, though... You don't have to wait for me."

Hitoshi chuckled and shook his head, taking hold of Shouto's arm and starting to pull him back towards the elevator.

"We'll be playing games in the common area, come back down when you're done."

He sent the two a thumbs up, and watched as the elevator doors closed between them, before turning back to the unfinished room and striding in. It would be rude to keep them waiting, so he would finish things up as quick as he possibly could, without sacrificing quality. Honestly, this was the biggest surface area he had ever painted at once, and he definitely did not want to skimp out.

Taking the rich red paint bucket in hand, Izuku stared at the available brushes and the dirty water that had been used to rinse them out, before taking one that was about as wide as three of his fingers. This would paint the thickest lines he needed for this part, and the thinner lines he could paint with either its side or his own fingers. He needed nothing more, nothing more... the details were already coming together nicely.

After another forty-eight minutes of work, with most of his hands and arms and even parts of his lower jaw becoming covered in rich red paint, Izuku moved the center of the room to gaze upon the greater picture.

The world was a rich and dark purple; such a shade that only appeared at the cusp of nighttime. Trees of silver rose up from their dark, red, leaf-covered origins of the ground, outlined by the aforementioned blood of the ancients. Purple streaks representing knots and grooves in the bark traveled up and up along the trees, getting thinner and thinner with every branch, until they finally ended at the red leaves that framed the ceiling. Shadowy wrought iron fencing separated the viewer from these trees, with the gates being painted upon the backs of the doors to the hallways and balconies, keeping them safe from what lay beyond.

Walking gracefully atop the fence, hiding in trees with their tails hanging down, or sneaking across the ground on both sides of the fence, cats of silver and purple made their way around the room. The silver cats had either red or purple eyes, and the purple cats had either red or silver eyes, and all were outlined in red. The very last details that topped it all off were the splatters of silver across the ceiling, simulating a starry sky...

Izuku grinned wide, proud of his work, and packed up the supplies he'd used. Several empty paint cans, a few cans that were still partially filled, and only one can of red paint that had been unopened... such a project had taken more than he'd expected it to, and he was lucky that he didn't need to mix the colors too much for shading, otherwise he would've needed even more. Still, he'd lucked out, and was quite happy with the results.

Now, to see whether or not Hitoshi was just as happy as he was-

His stomach growled, utterly displeased with the lack of food it had gotten since breakfast.

'Well, looks like I'll have to find out what he thinks after we eat dinner. The paint could probably use a little bit more time to dry anyways.'

Humming cheerfully, the greenette made his way downstairs- not using the elevator- and entered the common area. As they'd said they'd be, his friends were playing games together, and it looked like Shouto was utterly destroying Hitoshi in Mario Kart. A small smirk curved up the corners of the bichromatic teen's lips, as he picked up a banana and dropped it at just the right time to knock Hitoshi even further behind.

"Fucking- you better fucking hope I don't get my hands on a blue shell anytime soon, ho."

The two zoomed forth into lap three of three, and attacked one of the corners in an equally opportunistic way, both flying off the track and landing on another part that was considerably further along.

"Ah, I'm so sure that it'll work out for you one of these times. Good luck, bitch."

Shaking his head in amusement, Izuku moved on to one of the bathrooms, and washed as much of the paint from his skin as he possibly could. Parts of his face and neck had gotten smears of red on them, which somewhat confused him, but he figured that maybe it'd happened when he was wiping off sweat. The paint on his hands and arms had obvious reasons for being there, so he didn't question those splotches, simply cleaning them off as efficiently as possible.

Although his skin was still somewhat stained pink and violet and gray after several washings, the greenette decided that he'd done as much as he could for the moment, and dried himself off before heading back out.

"Hey guys, I'm all done! Hitokun, your room just needs a bit more time to dry completely, then it'll be all set for the furniture to be moved back in!"

The two paused the game, and Izuku noted that he'd taken long enough to clean up for them to start another race. However, they didn't seem to care that much, as they turned off the console and made to join him in the kitchen that was too large for three people alone to hang out in.

"We're having cold soba."

Shouto's voice left no room for argument, and as Izuku turned to glance at Hitoshi, the purple-haired teen nodded in agreement. "A bet's a bet."

Neither clarified as to what their bet had been any further, leaving the greenette to wonder, as they moved forward to start making dinner.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba is whispering to QuothTheRaven...]

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 1:06am:

Raven... I think Aphelion is a vampire...

[QuothTheRaven is whispering to NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba...]

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 1:07am:

oh dear. pray tell, what evidence does point towards the truth of this theory?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 1:09am:

Okay, so, I was hanging out with Catspi for most of the day. He invited me over, told me to claim a room in the dorm room chart near his and Aphelion's, and said that Aphelion was decorating his room for him. We went upstairs to check on his progress, and found him standing in the hallway, muttering about 'silver bodies' and 'the blood of the ancients'. He had purple and silver streaks on his clothes, which was very obviously the paint that he was using, and drips of a red substance across his jaw, like he'd tried to wipe it off and failed. That could have also been paint, but it wasn't on his clothes, and there have been other things I've noticed.

He's always online, no matter what hour of the day or night it is. He notices details in his analysis videos that take his viewers three or four replays to even catch a glimpse of. His skin is pale, and his eyes turn red in dim lighting. He feels cold to the touch a lot, and he's never spoken about religion or eaten anything with garlic in front of us. He drinks what he claims is a protein shake out of an opaque water bottle, so the contents can't be seen, and when I opened it to look earlier tonight, it also had red liquid in it and it smelled a bit like rust. I looked around that water bottle completely just to rule out possibilities, and though it's got metal parts, I never saw a speck of rust on it. That 'protein shake' might be blood.

Aphelion is almost certainly a vampire, and I think he's gonna try to turn one of us next.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 1:10am:

...what a fascinating collection of observations. why is it you believe that he will turn one of us rather than catspi?

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 1:11am:

Easy. Catspi is his thrall, or the source of his blood, or both. He's displaying some of the symptoms of vampirism, but he definitely still requires sleep, and he's very warm. I couldn't find any bite marks though, so maybe he's been partially turned, and that's enhanced his natural healing.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 1:12am:

...

we may wish to keep an eye on this for the future. there are no certainties as to how being turned into a creature of the night will affect our prospects of being pro heroes- though the moonlit life is a part of my plans for heroism, you may yet desire a life led in the light of the sun- and it would be best to observe and prepare.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 1:13am:

My father won't notice any of the cheaper purchases I make, so we can stock up on potential wards and repellants. I don't believe Aphelion would forcibly turn us, but blood frenzies might be something we need to look out for, so we'll have the supplies just in case.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 1:14am:

agreed...

blessed be, soba. we will speak again on the morrow.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 1:15am:

See you then.

Chapter Text

There was now just over a week and a half left before classes started.

Izuku had finished off middle school, leaving the people who had tormented him for years behind, sparing a smile only for those few whom he had gotten to know as genuinely good-hearted. He'd wished those allies of his luck in their futures, and had acquired their contact information directly; strands of his ever-growing web, meant to stretch and ensnare even more potential allies. He would keep in contact with them over the upcoming years, and he would help them however he could if they needed help, and he would turn what they saw as an alliance into friendship.

He would have their loyalty, and when he inevitably needed a favor, he would be repaid for his careful attention with interest.

Of course, it sounded rather manipulative when it was put that way, but he did seek more than puppets to string along. If he only wanted underlings, he would've gone for the unsavory and easily blackmailed types... but no, he saw those who were or wanted to be good people, and he wanted to nurture that in them. What better way to do so than to be their friend, than to be an example and to provide helpful advice whenever needed?

It was a kindness that not many people would extend... a kindness that hadn't quite been taught to him by his mother.

Inko still hadn't said or explained anything about her decision to have him live in the dorms, letting him come to his own conclusions about it. That wasn't a bad thing, but it wasn't a good thing either- it meant that he could give himself some peace of mind by rationalizing away without restriction, but it also meant that he didn't know how she really felt. He was missing information, information that could be vital later on, and he wouldn't be able to collect it for some time. By the time he did collect it, it might be too late, and then where would they be?

It was tiring, having to constantly strategize and work around things that he was really too young to have to think about. In fact, it was all he could do not to burst into tears of frustration whenever he thought too much about it. He was just fifteen- he shouldn't be so aware of how fucked up the world was. He should be focusing on things like school and dating, instead of planning world domination in as wide a scope as a teenager actually could, instead of spending his nights roaming the city and the internet for the latest whispers circulating through the underground.

Alas, this time was not one for peace. Izuku's life of a leisurely pace was being left behind, and everything would only get faster from here. He was going to be a hero, he was going to be facing dangers far greater than those of middle school politics, he was going to be forging connections with an incredible number of people. Yuuei High was the place to be, and he was there, and he was going to take every advantage that it would give him.

Midoriya Izuku would chase his dreams down as the endurance hunter he was... slowly and methodically, with a smoldering determination that would long outlast his prey.

Now that middle school was over, and since he had some time to kill while he struggled with the dilemma of either stopping his nighttime activities or sneaking around to continue them, Izuku decided to continue his research on what the fuck had happened during that one training session he'd had with All Might before the entrance exam.

When he'd gotten home that night, distracted by his vision of starfire and the way his hand had stuck fast to the chest of his mentor, he hadn't been able to make himself leave the house to blow off more steam. Instead, he'd thrown himself into furious research, looking up various phrases like they were the symptoms to a disease that only he could cure. 'Seeing stars,' 'stuck to another person,' and 'techniques learned in high school' were the first things he'd searched, and the results given to him were mostly unhelpful...

That is, mostly unhelpful, until he came across the obscure but recent story of a middle school girl who had fused with her crush and had ended up permanently damaging him as a result.

Fusion was what could be considered an open secret, one that Izuku had heard mention of only once or twice in passing, but had never actually seen in practice. It was the joining of two or more people, more intimate than sex, more intimate than living with someone for a lifetime, and it was a practice that had the potential to cause great harm to the participants if done incorrectly. Children were too young to understand the risks, too young to perform the act safely, and so laws had been put in place to prevent them from learning about it until they were of a mature enough mindset to understand fusion in its entirety.

Adults, when around children of middle school age or younger, were not allowed to fuse with one another. If they had already been fused when a child entered the area, then they weren't allowed to unfuse, and they weren't allowed to identify themself as a fusion to said child. Emergencies happened, of course, so there was leniency in such occasions, but otherwise fusion was even more strictly regulated than the usage of quirks.

The story he'd found, where it was hidden in the pages of a news website that required a confirmation of age- 'I am eighteen years of age or older,' box checked off, website unlocked- had detailed the horrors of an accidental fusion between two children.

A young teenage girl had accidentally initiated a fusion with her crush after school, and due to lack of knowledge on what was going on, the boy had fought back in an instinctively terrified attempt to escape. The two had fused, and then immediately fell unstable, at which point they burst apart and broke down. The girl behaved erratically, and resisted the assistance of nearby adults, running away from home and dropping off the radar since. The boy could initially do nothing but laugh, and while he did eventually recover enough to return to school, friends had reported a marked shift in his personality afterwards. He was more aggressive, more manipulative, and... he ended up being sent to a psychiatric hospital when he fatally lashed out at a classmate.

Doctors deduced that the unstable fusion had caused him brain damage, and due to the unintentional violence of the event, there was little hope of the boy's recovery. The girl had been reported missing, and her parents begged their neighbors to keep an eye out for her, wanting the girl to be returned home and given treatment for the problems that she herself may be facing.

So, that was what had almost happened to Izuku. He had almost fused with All Might, and in his ignorance, he could have caused the hero irreparable harm. He could have altered the fabric of the man's very being, simply because he wasn't aware of what was going on... if it hadn't been for the hero's quick thinking and safe shutdown of the fusion, that is.

The more Izuku thought about it, the more he simultaneously understood and didn't understand the safeguards in place to keep children ignorant of this open secret. On one hand, keeping them unaware of the possibility made it less likely for premature fusion to occur at all, as it required a certain amount of intent to go through. On the other hand, keeping them unaware meant that when it did occur, it more often ended in horror stories like this one than not. Was it true that ignorance was bliss in this situation, or was it more harmful than the alternative? He didn't know.

Still, now that he did know what fusion was, he wasn't going to allow himself to remain ignorant any further. He was going to research it thoroughly, if somewhat illegally, and he was going to make sure it didn't take him off guard again. The greenette was going to be prepared for everything fusion entailed, and if it happened again before he'd officially had those high school classes on it, he would know what to do.

Thus, as he sat at his metallic desk with both laptop and notebook open before him, Midoriya Izuku made it his personal mission to learn everything about fusion that the internet was willing to tell him.

"Um, hello?"

Uraraka Ochako had made it. She had been accepted to the Hero Course of Yuuei High, and here she would receive the knowledge and training that she needed to be a hero. She was here... she'd made it...

She couldn't let her parents down.

"Is anyone else here?"

The brunette carried her luggage behind her with her quirk- a small length of rope tying everything together so it wouldn't float away, taken from a construction project of her father's- as she entered the dorm building for class 1-A. While she would have preferred to live with her parents, the daily commute would cost them too much, so here she was. She was moving into the dorms, and her family was going to save money, and she was going to become a hero to give them the carefree lives they deserved.

Honestly, it was amazing how much Yuuei was willing to pay for, in regards to its students. Even college universities didn't pay for the students' food, but here Yuuei was, paying for breakfast and lunch. The same went for room and board, water, electricity; etcetera. It was a deal that was too good to pass up, especially for one so familiar with penny-pinching as she.

Still, she was kind of surprised that nobody else was around. There was only a week left before the school year started, and she would've actually moved in sooner, but she couldn't help but linger around her family just a little while longer. She wasn't the only person moving in, right? Taking residence in the dorms was optional, but she wasn't the only person looking to save money, right?

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't hear you come in! Uraraka-san?"

Ochako looked to the source of the familiar voice, and upon seeing a relatively tall boy with a curly green undercut and gemstone earrings, perked up with delight. That was the boy who had saved her, along with those two others, and he got in! He was here, he got into her class, and he'd moved into the dorms too!

"Mido-kun! It's great to see you here!"

She released her quirk, letting her luggage drop to the floor, and approached him with a distinct goal in mind. He'd helped her out so much during the entrance exam, and then he'd basically gotten crushed for her, and she didn't even get the chance to thank him! Now was her chance to do so, and therefore, without hesitation, she cheerfully lifted her arms and gave him a hug.

"Thank you so much for helping me out back there! I don't think I would've gotten as many combat points as I did if it weren't for you zooming me around the first so many minutes! I got first place overall because of you!"

The brunette felt the boy grow more tense with each moment she remained hugging him, and smiled up at him, letting go and taking a step back. He was almost a full head above her in height, so it was kind of amusing that he'd shied away from her hugging him, but she'd keep it in mind for the future. Although, he'd been fine during the exam, so maybe he was tense for a different reason...

Either way, now that they were classmates, she'd have time to figure it out.

"Ah, yeah... I had to repay you for catching me out by the gates, you know? It would've been completely bad luck if I'd eaten dirt before the exam even started."

He grinned back at her, and she noticed that his grin was a little crooked. Actually, now that she was looking him over, she noticed a lot of things that she hadn't before... but she could think about that later. They were classmates, and they were both living in the dorms from the beginning of the year, so she had the opportunity to get to know him before anyone else did!

"It was no trouble! Also, just call me Uraraka or something, no need to be overly formal. We've already become friends through the chaos and excitement of the exam!"

Friendship: claimed. McFucking fight her in the Denny's parking lot if there's an issue with that.

"Okay. Well, I just made lunch, and I forgot that Hitoshi was gonna be out today, so I made a bit extra. Do you want some?"

The brunette perked up even more than she had before, her grin widening, as she contemplated the offering of food. Homemade, potentially delicious, free food being offered to her by the boy that saved her in the entrance exam. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that he was being smooth on purpose, but he was pretty obviously off-kilter from her unexpected presence. Therefore, it was a genuine offer without ulterior motives, and that was something she could get behind!

Plus she really loved getting free food from people.

"Hell yeah, sign me the fuck up! Lemme just find a room and drop my stuff off!"

A hand gestured towards the dorm room assignment board between the elevator and the stairs, and Uraraka cheerfully lifted her luggage with her quirk again, making her way to the chart with the removable and replaceable cards. The rooms seemed to be separated by gender, with guys on the left side and girls on the right side, and so far, the only rooms that'd been claimed were three guys' rooms on the fifth floor. She'd definitely love a view like that, but she also wanted a balcony above her own to hang decorations from, so the fourth floor would probably work best for her. The corner rooms were bound to have extra windows too, meaning that there'd be more natural light and more view to enjoy, so the top right room of the fourth floor it was!

Taking out that card, writing her name on it, and sliding it back into place, Uraraka happily claimed the room of her desires. Giddy thoughts of having a fancy room like this to herself passed through her head, and once again, she marveled at just how much money Yuuei was spending on its students. It truly was amazing, the perks that simply being in a hero school would bring, and she could only imagine what sorts of perks would come with being a full-fledged hero.

Uraraka Ochako was going to be a hero, and with all the money and perks she gained from it, she was going to give her parents the carefree lives that they deserved.

Chapter Text

The first day of school had arrived, and Shinsou Hitoshi was feeling a bit apprehensive about it.

It was the second week of April, a new step forward in a school for wannabe heroes, and he'd gotten into the Hero Course. He was literally closer to his dreams than he'd ever been before, and heck, he was even in the same class as three of his closest friends. There was little chance that they'd judge him for his quirk, especially after knowing him so long, and he even had Izuku's immediate acceptance to reassure him. But that was it- it was only Izu's acceptance, because he hadn't shared his quirk with anybody else.

Shouto and Fumikage. It was clear to any outsider that they were all friends, maybe even close friends, but even then they had their secrets. Shouto never explicitly said what his quirk was, content to let them come to their own conclusions from what they saw, and while Fumikage had shared Dark Shadow with them, it was clear that he'd omitted certain details. All four of them were uncomfortable with their quirks in some way, and they didn't want to discuss it much, but they wouldn't be able to hide them any longer.

It was the first day of school, after all. The first day in the Hero Course, where quirks were one of the most important things to be considered. Incredibly good luck and the ceremonial orientation might keep them from having to use them the first day, but there was little chance that they wouldn't then use them the second day. Either way, their 'secrets' would be out within the first week, and thus the social dynamics for the rest of the year would be determined.

Maybe he was allowing his anxiety to get the better of him, though. There was the chance that he'd be accepted with open arms, by virtue of which course he was in, if not by his quirk. His quirk didn't... well, it did matter, but perhaps it wouldn't be as large of a determining factor as he feared it would be. And even then, even if it was that unsettling to the others, he'd still have Izuku by his side. Izuku was his best friend, and he wouldn't abandon him. Not for this.

So, he should try to relax a little. There would always be one person at his side, one person watching his back, even if the rest of the world so chose to shun him.

Shinsou Hitoshi was not alone, and so long as Izuku stayed by his side, then he never would be.

It was the first day of school, and Izuku was... well, surprisingly, he was feeling pretty neutral about it.

By no means did he lack emotion, but rather, quite the opposite. He was so filled with so many conflicting hopes and fears that they all sort of cancelled each other out, allowing him to remain in a sort of calmed state. Not relaxed or carefree, but... calm. Patient. As though he'd been frozen beneath the surface of a winter lake and was staring up at the people above him, observing their movements and the spiralling art they made with their skates, waiting for someone to see him and break in to pull him out.

He knew that this calm wouldn't last for long, though. Bakugou Katsuki had a little under a forty-four percent chance of being in his homeroom, and therefore, in his class for the rest of the year. Then there were the facts that Uncle Shouta was his homeroom teacher, Uncle Hizashi was his English teacher, and Aunt Nemuri was his Art History teacher. Aunt Nemuri wasn't much of a problem, because he'd already gotten used to her being back in his life, but the other two...

Izuku knew that one of them could be his biological father. He also knew that Uncle Shouta wasn't on good terms with his mother, and that Uncle Hizashi had probably been contacted, but hadn't reached out in return. He didn't want to think that they hated him by association, because he knew that was really unlikely, but he couldn't help but doubt.

What if Shouta had actually recognized him on that rooftop as Midoriya Izuku rather than AlexandriteAphelion, but didn't want to talk with him? What if Hizashi had been swayed from his neutral stance by his husband, and had chosen to keep the Midoriyas at the distance they'd put themselves at? It wouldn't be irrational. It wouldn't be undeserved.

But, on the other hand, what if they had simply been busy? What if they were happy to see him, happy to talk with him, but had only been unable to due to Inko? She was the middle ground that linked them, after all, so it wouldn't be difficult for her to... deny them access, or to pretend that she was doing all she could, when really she just didn't want to deal with hosting people she didn't like.

It was very possible for her to have lied about things, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, so he tried to stop going down that train of thought.

"Izuku, Uraraka-kun, you guys ready?"

The sound of his insomniac friend's voice caught the greenette's attention, and he licked his lips, before calling back down the hall to the common area.

"Yeah, just getting my protein shake for the road!"

An affirmative noise confirmed that Hitoshi had heard him, and soon the light footsteps of Uraraka passed the kitchen by, as she made her way to the door.

"Ready Shinsou-kun, Mido-kun!"

Now that he was the one holding them back, Izuku sped himself up a bit with just three percent of One For All, using this as an opportunity to practice his control. His latest quirk-training endeavor had been trying to separate the enhanced speed from the enhanced strength, so as to move about rapidly without having to worry about too much collateral damage, but it had been more difficult than he thought it'd be. The speed and strength were much too intertwined to be separated, and therefore, he was now using every opportunity to practice controlling his strength while keeping up his speed.

Something odd that he'd noticed while trying to separate certain aspects of One For All, though, was how it seemed to improve his visual perception. The world was so much clearer after he activated it in his eyes and head, but after he stopped, a headache would form, and his vision would temporarily get worse than it already was... he'd have to ask Yagi-san if One For All had ever positively or negatively affected a user's vision before.

"Alright, let's go!"

The greenette finished getting the snacks he needed to keep himself going throughout the day, and made his way to the doors, just barely remembering to turn off One For All once he'd gotten there. His backpack- the one he'd gotten during the Endeavor-paid shopping spree, primarily black but with red and yellow accents- rested heavy on his shoulders, once again just slightly too big for him. He had room to grow into this one as he had the last one, and as the year went on, he hoped to see himself living up to the expectations that his friends and his mentor had for him.

Midoriya Izuku was ready for the day to come, and no matter what happened, he would stay determined.

The three early dorm residents of class 1-A, having the advantage of living on campus, had a bit of extra time on their hands that would have otherwise been taken up by the morning commute from home to school. This extra time could have been used to get ready and arrive early, to be The Exemplary Students Of Yuuei High™, eager to find their seats and eager to learn. However, was that actually the case?

Psh, of course not, everyone knows that 'extra time to get ready' means 'extra time to procrastinate getting ready!'

They arrived together, to the sight of most of their classroom being full. Thirteen people had arrived before them, and as Izuku glanced towards the teacher's desk, he found the space to be empty but for a seating chart on the front. Most of them should already know where their seats were from the acceptance letters they'd received, but perhaps this was a silent reminder, just in case someone had been too caught up in the excitement to gather all the little details together.

That was nice. It did little to stifle the anxiety that Izuku felt at the thought of talking with his uncle for the first time in forever- he didn't count the rooftop encounter as a discussion, both because it has been so brief and because he'd been there as Aphelion rather than Izuku- but it was nice.

"Hey there, who might you be?"

The greenette glanced over at the person addressing them, a golden-blonde boy with a warm grin and a black zig-zag in his hair, and noted that his gaze was evenly shifting between all three of them. At his words, the others in the classroom briefly turned their attention towards the newcomers, Fumikage sending them a nod of acknowledgement from the back.

Izuku hung back as his brunette friend bounced forward, and shared an amused glance with Hitoshi as he did the same.

"I'm Uraraka Ochako, and my friends here are Midoriya Izuku and Shinsou Hitoshi! It's nice to meet you!"

She beamed, and the two boys shared another amused glance at her introducing them, before Izuku shrugged and waved.

"Yep, Midoriya here. How about you?"

The golden blonde introduced himself as Kaminari Denki, and from there, the students in the classroom proceeded to get to know each other.

Izuku found his seat by the window, and internally chuckled at the thought of being the 'crazy intelligent' stereotype of anime protagonist, as those kinds of protagonists often got window seats. Meanwhile, the average-Joe protagonists were typically seated in the centers of their classrooms, and the particularly dumb protagonists were usually seated in the back. It wasn't a foolproof guide, but it was still entertaining to consider... and no, he wasn't an anime otaku, shush. His primary love was for quirks and heroes, not for one of the few forms of entertainment that managed to keep his interest longer than ten minutes at a time.

Death Note was amazing. He needed more seasons, dammit. He needed to know who exactly that Shinigami at the end was.

"-and then Mido-kun just dropped out of sight! The robot straight up stepped on him, it was terrifying to watch!"

The greenette glanced over at the people talking about him, and upon meeting the displeased gaze of Fumikage, realized that he never actually told his closer friends about his near-death experience. He grinned sheepishly, and waved a little, before sweeping his gaze over the room to see what sorts of details he could pick up from his classmates. A few more had arrived since he'd gotten settled, after all, and he wanted to make use of his head start.

The fancy blonde sitting by the door looked particularly fabulous, but also kind of lonely. He was sitting alone, at least, staring off into the distance at something the rest of them couldn't see. There was a faint bulge beneath his shirt, hidden mostly by his jacket, but still somewhat visible at this distance. His quirk likely had something to do with his stomach, then, and that was interesting.

An active girl with bright pink skin drew Izuku's attention next, and his immediate guess was that her quirk was a mutant quirk. However, there was the possibility that she'd inherited the phenotype from her parents, while her quirk itself was different. A lot of people were like that, what with most quirks being of the emitter type, so it wasn't the most accurate to guess someone's quirk by their appearance.

Next, there was another girl with what appeared to be mutant qualities, in that her face and slouched posture made it seem as though she were an aquatic creature of some sort. It was mostly her mouth though, and the really long tongue that zipped out and snapped back in, that confirmed what kind of quirk she had. People with mutant qualities, but emitter quirks, couldn't actually control their mutations. This girl just had, and therefore, her quirk was a mutant quirk.

Oh, and she was staring at him. Smile and wave, boys, smile and wave. And on to the next student!

Huh. It was Iida. Now that Uncle Tensei was in semi-regular contact with his mother again, would Tenya know who he was, or would he have remained ignorant? It wouldn't hurt Izuku's feelings too much if Tensei hadn't shared anything about him... it would hurt a little, but it wouldn't hurt too much. He knew how important Tenya was to him, after all, and he couldn't dislike the man for favoring his own family over his ex-girlfriend's family.

It was so weird to think of Inko as anyone's girlfriend.

The door slid open before the greenette could continue his surveillance, and speaking of uncles, there was Uncle Shouta. He was laying down in the ugliest yellow sleeping bag that Izuku had ever seen, although knowing him, it would serve whatever purposes the man had for it. Jelly pouch storage, perhaps, judging by the red pouch currently in his grasp. Temperature regulation, maybe, since it wouldn't be comfortable year-round if there weren't such a feature. Though maybe that was a bit much, an unnecessary feature, since the bag could just be ditched once it got too hot for comfort.

Before his uncle-slash-potential-father could notice his staring, or at least call him out on it, Izuku averted his gaze to the top of the open doorway. Why was that door so tall, anyways? It was kind of weird. There weren't any people who were naturally that tall unless they were actively using a quirk, at least as far as he knew, so maybe it was tall for a reason other than quirks? He didn't know.

"Who's that in the doorway?"

The black-haired boy with large elbows, seated directly beside Izuku, pointed out the existence of Aizawa Shouta to the rest of the class. As they turned to observe the newcomer, Izuku's own gaze moved past him to the spiky blonde that was still in the hallway, staring right back at him.

Katsuki was in his class. The seat in front of him, the seat in front of Izuku and behind Hitoshi, was the last one empty. That was where he was going to sit...

The greenette held eye contact, remembering the promise he'd made the blonde about not taking anymore of his shit, and deliberately removed all emotion from his gaze. He wanted to make it clear that he wasn't going to waste even a moment's worth of amusement or irritation on him. The very moment that he fucked up, the moment that he tried to pull the same shit he pulled back in middle school, Izuku would keep his promise to end his career before it started.

"It took you all eleven seconds to quiet down and pay attention. That's irrational... in that time, a villain could have slaughtered half of you."

The students were silent; so much so that if a pin dropped, then it would be heard loud and clear across the room. Katsuki was startlingly quiet as he made his way to his desk, but the greenette ignored that for the moment, his gaze returning to follow his uncle's movements as the man spoke.

"Change into these uniforms and meet me in the field that's visible out the window to your left. You have ten minutes to do so."

Twenty gym uniforms, folded neatly and stored in plastic bags, were retrieved from Shouta's hideous yellow sleeping bag and placed on top of the seating chart paper.

"If you're not there in time, then you can go straight home, because you'll be expelled."

The man left his sleeping bag beneath the desk, and made his way out of the room without a single glance back.

"Your time starts now."

Chapter Text

"If you really want to make the big leagues, then you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies."

Standing in the field with the rest of the class, Izuku resisted the urge to chew a hole into his lip, and instead brought a hand up to thumb the rubber back of his earring. Hitoshi stood to his right, with Shouto and Fumikage nearby, and Uraraka was positioned to his left. He was surrounded by allies, and yet...

"Here at Yuuei, we're not tethered to traditions."

All these people within arm's reach, just a touch away, couldn't distract him from the fact that Uncle Shouta hadn't so much as said a word to him directly. The man was most likely avoiding any signs of favoritism, being as logical as he usually was about things, but it still made him nervous. There was nothing he could do, though, but ride it out. He had to just try to relax, and deal with the quirk assessment test that he'd sprung onto them.

"That means I get to run my class however I see fit."

Taking a deep breath, Izuku accidentally caught his tired Uncle's gaze, and awkwardly brought his hand down from his ear without breaking eye contact.

"The lot of you made it here in nine minutes. By the end of the semester, we'll have you down to five minutes, assuming you're still here by then."

The man made another casual remark towards his lack of hesitation to expel his students, and stared at the class for several seconds, before continuing to speak.

"Anyways, you're all here for a quirk assessment test. Uraraka Ochako, you got first place in the entrance exam, correct? Step forward and stand in this circle."

The cheerful brunette did so, a determined expression upon her face at the threatening words and aura of their teacher. Said man tossed a modified softball of some sort to her, and asked a question in the same deadpan he'd been talking in all morning. "How far could you pitch in middle school?"

"I'm not sure, I think about forty-three meters?"

Uncle Shouta nodded, and gestured to the ball, pulling out his phone. "Alright. Throw the ball as far as you can, and remember that this is a quirk assessment test. All of you are free to use your quirks during these tests. Anything goes as long as you stay in the circle."

"We can use our quirks freely?! Only at Yuuei!"

"Oh man, I'm so pumped!"

"This is gonna be fun!"

An excited exclamation from several students came out at this, a pink-haired girl's voice being the most so. Unfortunately, with each remark, their teacher just looked more and more annoyed. Izuku got the feeling that he didn't agree with the upbeat sentiment, and recalled what he said about people leaving if they were only here to play at being a hero...

"Fun, huh?"

Shouta's voice carried a dangerous undertone to it, and the class instinctively shut up, listening to him with varying expressions of 'Oh shit, we fucked up.'

"Well, since you haven't yet gotten it though your heads that this isn't a game, let's pretend that it is. Whoever gets in last place during this quirk assessment will be immediately expelled; no retakes, and no refunds."

His glare was aimed at everyone present, emphasizing that he was being serious about this, before he returned to a neutral expression and looked at Uraraka.

"Throw the ball, kid. We don't have all day."

The determined brunette nodded, and turned to face the end of the field, rearing back to throw. With the class now silent, cowed by their teacher's threat, her soft grunt of effort was heard as she launched the ball up with all of her might.

Twenty-two gazes followed the ball's trajectory into the horizon, and a mischievous smile made its home upon Uraraka's face, as his uncle's phone cried out, "Infinity!" The class broke out into wary and awed whispers, causing her grin to widen, and their teacher gestured for her to return to her classmates.

"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country's still trying to pretend that all men are created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational."

Shouta's face darkened, and he continued speaking, never breaking the deadpan tone he'd had with them this whole time.

"You lot have three years to become heroes, and in order to do so, you need to know your baseline abilities. You need to know where you're starting from, so you can see how and where you need to improve. That's why we're skipping orientation, and that's why you're taking these eight tests today instead of tomorrow."

From the middle, Tenya raised his hand and called out, "Sir, what eight tests will we be taking?!"

"Fifty meter dash. Grip strength. Standing long jump. Repeated side steps. Softball pitch. Distance run. Sit-ups. Seated toe-touch. The student who gets last place overall will be judged as having zero potential, and will be expelled immediately. Show me that it's no mistake you're here... Let the games begin."

"Aizawa-sensei?"

Hitoshi watched as the man's gaze broke away from the form of his best friend, and turned to settle upon him instead, a piercing look that seemed as though it could read his very soul.

"Yes?"

Like, talk about intimidating. It was almost enough to make him back down, and that was pretty impressive, given the kinds of staredowns he'd had with his sperm donor in the past.

"This is a quirk assessment test, correct? We can use our quirks however we want to, as long as we get the tests done?"

The teacher nodded, and Hitoshi nodded in return, squaring his shoulders as he went back to his position beside Izuku. The greenette had just finished his fifty-meter dash with the impressive time of two-point-zero-six seconds, and as the next names were called out- Shinsou Hitoshi and Kaminari Denki- he knew that he had to make a move quickly.

He could use his quirk however he wanted to, as long as he got his tests done. His quirk gave him control over others, and so, he would have others do the tests for him. However, as he wasn't sure it would be counted if he wasn't there with them, he needed someone who was strong enough to carry him through them. He also didn't want to scare any of his classmates off by brainwashing them without permission, so he'd have to ask one of them before doing anything, and the only real option that he had was obvious.

"Hey Izuku, mind if I borrow you for my tests?"

Those closest to them, specifically their mutual friends and a few random, curious classmates, watched them with interest. They hadn't seen Hitoshi's quirk yet, and they knew that Izuku's was impressive due to the entrance exam and the dash he'd just performed, so of course they'd be interested in seeing what he meant by 'borrowing' him.

The greenette gave him a small, knowing smile, and leaned in to whisper, "Make sure your commands specify my actions as 'safe', because I don't have too much control over my own strength yet."

He nodded, and mentally reaching out to the vibrating strings of call and response that connected them, took control over his friend's body. The blank expression that fell over his face and posture caused a few murmurs to spread through the small crowd, and as their teacher called for him to hurry up, he steeled himself for the negativity that was soon to come.

"Izuku, carry me over to the starting line, and when the signal to start goes off, carry me over the finish line as fast as safely possible."

His temporary friend-slave picked him up bridal style, and did as he commanded, standing ready for future orders. One of their classmates, a really short girl with four purple spheres on either side of her head, spoke up with a noticeable amount of fear and... something else in her voice.

"H-Holy shit, he just took control of that guy! Sensei, is that allowed?"

The teacher stared at them for a few moments, an unreadable expression upon his face, and nodded. "This is a quirk assessment test, and he is using his quirk to get the tests done. I see no reason why it shouldn't be."

The signal went off, and before Kaminari could make it even ten meters forward, the two friends were already across the finish line. Hitoshi's time was roughly the same as the greenette's, if a few milliseconds slower.

"Oh wow... Wait, so because his quirk lets him take control over other people, he's allowed to have other people take the tests for him? That's so unfair! Plus, it's super scary! What if we don't wanna do the tests for him and he just forces us to?"

Remaining silent, the purple-haired teen relinquished his control, and Izuku casually set him down before turning towards the short girl with an almost feral gleam to his irises. His friend was ready to defend him, ready to rip their classmate into itty bitty shreds- verbally at least- but he gripped his forearm and slightly shook his head. It wasn't worth the trouble... he'd been prepared for this to happen.

However, while Izuku stood down at his wordless request, their friends weren't quite so merciful.

"What if you face a villain that can do the same thing he can? Would you rather get the experience now, in a safe location with a fellow hero student, or would you rather be blindsided by it in the future when you could very well perish?"

Shouto verbally kicked the girl's argument down, being straight and to the point. It was the first time he'd spoken to any of his classmates all day, excluding the friends he already knew, so it made a few of them pay more attention.

"O-Okay, that's fair, but it's still scary! Is there any way to like, opt out of having specific quirks used against you? I'd rather not be mind controlled or whatever by this dude, even if he is hot."

Hitoshi took a deep breath, and mentally began to count down from ten. He felt his fingers twitch in the motion to clench into fists, but forcibly relaxed them, drawing back his shoulders for good measure. He was fine. He'd expected this. He'd prepared for this. Being called hot wasn't exactly expected, especially by someone who seemed to fear him or at least his quirk, but that was a thing that he could deal with.

"Say the word, and I'll punt her into the sun."

The purple-haired teen choked on a laugh, glancing down at the face of his closest friend, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He noticed Kaminari staring at them from the side, but ignored him in favor of looking at their teacher, who was staring at the short kid like one would stare at an egg that had landed on the floor and splattered into the rough shape of a middle finger.

"Mineta Michiru, using one's quirk is an undeniably important part of being a hero, especially when they're still learning about it. As such, I will not restrict the usage of a student's quirk simply because you are uncomfortable about it. If there is legitimate trauma or something along those lines related to similar quirks, then I can see about lessening the amount of interaction you have with him until you can safely adjust, but otherwise... get over it."

The grape-haired teen mumbled an acknowledgement, and took the message for what it was, silently grimacing at the ground. There were a few seconds of silence as Aizawa scanned over each and every student present, before the man nodded to himself, and gestured to the field.

"Alright then, now we're just wasting time. Shinsou, Midoriya, Kaminari- clear the field."

Hitoshi and Izuku returned to stand beside their classmates, surrounded mostly by allies. Mineta made a point of taking a single step away from him, but said nothing, simply watching him with a conflicted gaze. However, not many other people moved... that was kind of surprising, and maybe a little uplifting? They didn't look ecstatic to be near him, but it was better than outright shunning him, so that was cool. Maybe everyone except for the short kid would try to keep an open mind about him, due to the fact that he was, indeed, a Hero Course student.

"Tokoyami Fumikage and Satou Rikidou- get in position."

With that, the tests resumed, and the day continued on.

"Hey, what's the deal with blonde and furious over there? He's been glaring at you practically the whole day."

At the question from his closest friend, Izuku sighed quietly, and swiveled to lean up against him as though he were a wall. The slightly taller teen accepted it with mild amusement, as he usually did, and continued watching the others finish up the last test.

"That's Kacchan. I've talked about him on Holo a few times- he's the one I needed that fake dating thing for."

Beside them, Shouto whispered, "I still say that you two are gonna actually end up together someday," and Hitoshi snickered at the same time that Izuku groaned.

"You shush, it's legit been over a year. If we haven't gotten together yet, then there's a strong probability that we won't end up doing so."

The bichromatic-haired teen mimed zipping his lips, and Fumikage shook his head in amusement beside them, sticking out as the shortest of the bunch by a decent measure.

"Anyways, Kacchan and I have pretty much been at war with each other since primary school, and there's a... mutual animosity between us, as a result. He's been surprisingly mellow today, honestly. I expected him to start yelling at me the second we locked eyes in the classroom, but he's been holding himself back. Either he's actually managed to calm down in the time we haven't seen each other, or he just knows that once he starts, he won't be able to stop. It's probably the latter, which means he'll snap eventually, and I recommend you guys stay outside a fifteen meter radius of me when that happens."

Beside him, Hitoshi frowned slightly, and the group failed to notice the girl with uneven bangs and elongated earlobes trying very hard not to pay attention to them.

"He was one of your bullies, right? Aren't you tired of him getting away with it all?"

They also failed to notice the observant eyes of the tallest student in the class upon them, as Izuku made to reassure his friends.

"I mean... every time I tried to get him in trouble in the past, the teachers either wouldn't believe me or wouldn't do anything about it, and it only ended up backfiring on me. And although this is a different school, and although the teachers here are probably different, I... I don't want to try to ruin his chances unless he really, truly fucks up. Think about it. What's a kid with an explosive temper and an equally explosive quirk gonna do if he doesn't become a hero?"

Fumikage tilted his head slightly to the side, and his tone was even as he next spoke. "You're concerned that he may become a villain, if he gets expelled from this place."

Izuku nodded, and upon reaching a hand up to start chewing on his fingernails, caught himself and instead ran that hand through his hair. He knew that Katsuki needed to atone for what he'd done, at the very least apologize, but he also knew that the world was an unforgiving place. If the spiky blonde was denied his dream, there were few places elsewhere that would accept his volatile nature, except for the Imperial Guard. And that was assuming that he got noticed by them in the first place, and assuming that they could control him... He was far more likely to become a villain or a vigilante, fixated on revenge against Izuku, the one target who had always been there to attack.

"The stories of all villains start somewhere, whether we acknowledge them or not. And I did tell him that I wouldn't stand for the usual treatment anymore, shortly before we left middle school, so maybe that's why he's been holding back. There's a possibility that he took me seriously, because he's actually very intelligent behind all that aggression, and he knows that the teachers here are less likely to put up with his bullshit. So right now, he's probably playing it safe, and it's not likely that he'll target me when it's not allowed."

His friends didn't seem too happy about the way he was looking at things, but after a bit more conversation, he managed to convince them that he had things under control. He wasn't going to let Katsuki walk all over him like he did in his primary and early middle school years, and he was genuinely going to stand up for himself, but he wanted to at least give the spiky blonde a chance before blowing the whistle on him. The world was an unfair place, and salvation just wasn't for everyone, but he wanted Katsuki to have a chance at it.

Just one more chance, for the sake of him, and for the sakes of the people that he may kill if he didn't succeed in becoming a hero.

Chapter Text

"Alright then, there's one more test to complete before I give you the results."

The class had just finished up with their previous exercise, the ball-throwing one, and had gotten to relax for a few minutes before their teacher led them past a mysterious yellow blur- 'Yagi-sensei, why are you watching us?'- to one of the battle grounds in which they'd fought during the entrance exam. It was an urban setting, filled with warehouses and industrial work, and even a few mock construction sites. From his discussions with Uraraka in the dorms, Izuku knew that she'd probably do quite well in this place.

"This test is less of a physical one and more of a mental one. How well can you read your opponents? How far ahead can you predict their movements? What advantages do you have over them, and what advantages do they have over you? Your critical thinking and problem solving will be tested here, in a practical manner, so form four groups of five and be quick about it."

Izuku, obviously, immediately teamed up with the friends he already knew quite well. His mind raced at what possible exercises they could be doing, and the makeup of his team, and what kind of skillset they'd want their final team member to have. This test was one on prediction and reading the opponent, so maybe they'd be doing something like capture the flag? Prediction to figure out where the opponents would attack from, reading to figure out where they'd hide their own flag? That was just the first idea he had too, this exercise could be any number of things, but it would probably be safest to grab someone with the ability to track enemies.

As two people approached the group of four, one with uneven violet bangs and the other with a mask covering his mouth, the greenette saw them share an unreadable glance before they both spoke at the same time.

"I want join your team-" "Can I join your team?"

The four friends looked at each other, before three gazes settled on Izuku. They knew him- only most likely, as Shouto could definitely give him a run for his money- to be the best strategist among them, and there could only be one more person on their team, so they would let him choose the better option. No doubt, Hitoshi had told them of the plans he'd hashed out in front of him, otherwise they probably wouldn't have been so quick to step back and nudge him forward.

"Well, we can only take one of you..."

Izuku considered the options, his gaze flicking intently between one Jirou Kyouka and one Shouji Mezou. A sensory quirk would be preferred, so as to track their opponents, and the boy had displayed strength more than anything else during the tests thus far. Therefore, the girl would be the better option... if Izuku didn't remember seeing an array of arms on one of the rooftops during the entrance exam. Having enhanced strength as well as sensory abilities would be an asset, better than sensory abilities alone, so Shouji was the obvious choice.

"Shouji-san, right? You were in battle center B during the exam. I remember seeing you on the rooftops a few times."

The masked teen nodded, and Izuku nodded back, before turning to Jirou.

"Sorry, Jirou-san. I'd have no issue being on your team in future exercises, though."

The girl shrugged, not seeming too put out by the denial, and walked off with a wave to find another group. This left the greenette's group of five ready and waiting by the side, under the watchful gaze of his Uncle Shouta.

Soon, everyone was in a group, and the man spoke up to explain the exercise they were about to undergo.

"In this test, each team will go into the battle center and do their best to hide. You can stay in the shadows forever if you like, but hiding the whole time will be a detriment to your teammates, as your teams will also have the task of locating and tagging out enemy team members using colored paint. Wear goggles to protect your eyes or don't, I don't care. Points will be given with each successful tag, and these points will count towards your overall test scores. Now, each team, come forward and grab supplies from one of these boxes."

Aizawa gestured towards the boxes along the inside wall of the battle ground, each being a different color, and Izuku shared a glance with his team. The five made their way over to the black box, and found supplies such as the aforementioned goggles, some cans of spray paint, a few paint grenades, and even a few paintball guns. Useful things, very useful... Shouji and Izuku were short range fighters, and when Hitoshi couldn't use his quirk because the enemy knew about it, so was he.

The greenette took a semi-automatic paintball gun, because he wanted the freedom to fire quickly, without the severe ammo loss that would come with a full automatic. That was the theory, anyways, as he'd never actually held or used a gun before. He also took two paint grenades, just in case, and two cans of spray paint for short range tagging.

Glancing over, he saw Fumikage grab three cans of spray paint and one paint grenade, while Shouto grabbed a pistol and a fully automatic paintball gun, and Hitoshi grabbed two pistols and one can of spray paint and two paint grenades. They knew their strengths and weaknesses fairly well, what with the discussions they'd had in the past, so Shouji was the only one who wasn't positive on what to choose.

"I recommend a rifle and two pistols for your guns, four paint grenades, and two cans of spray paint. You having six arms means that you should theoretically be able to aim and fire more weapons at once, having two arms free at all times for sensory purposes. You should probably stick close to Todoroki or Tokoyami during the exercise though, because your size will probably make it difficult to hide, and they can create shields to block incoming attacks with either ice or shadow."

The taller teen nodded, and took the supplies that had been advised to him, along with a pair of goggles. He also grabbed the four other pairs that were in the box, and held them out to the rest of the team, quietly saying, "It might limit our fields of vision slightly, but it would be better to be safe, right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Hitoshi accepted the goggles offered to him, and the other three soon followed, sliding them on and adjusting the straps as needed.

As the four teams finished getting ready, Aizawa watched them all closely, his expression completely unreadable. His gaze paused on the few students who chose to not wear the goggles, and it paused on the supplies that each of them had chosen, before he sighed quietly. Honestly, the class looked like they were training to be soldiers rather than heroes, and the purpose of this test was to be stealthy. Izuku could understand the frustration, but he was pretty sure that his team could be well armed and stealthy at the same time, all except for Shouji and maybe Shouto.

"Alright, if you're all ready now, scatter across the battle ground and listen for the buzzer. When the buzzer goes off, the test will begin, and you'll have fifteen minutes to tag as many enemies as possible. Try to be as subtle as possible, and do your best to predict the locations in which your opponents may be lurking..."

He stopped speaking, and the entire class waited for a moment longer, before scattering to the four corners of the map. Izuku and his team chose one of the corners closest to the entrance of the battle center, under the logic that the others wouldn't expect them to hide somewhere that everyone had already seen to an extent, and took to the rooftops for the advantage it would provide.

After talking strategy for a few more minutes, the buzzer went off, and the test began.

Aizawa Shouta, staring at the students who were pretty much all covered in paint by the time the exercise was over, felt the urge to sigh.

This exercise hadn't technically been part of the quirk assessment test that the other students would have to partake in, but he'd been wanting to try something like this for a while- a test that would allow the students to display their intelligence and creativity as well as their physical strengths. It had gone fairly well, all things considered, but his nephew had been shot in the eye near the end, after his goggles had been destroyed.

On top of that, he'd failed to consider that the students would fire at him by mistake, as they failed to check who he was before tagging him. To be fair, he was going through the battle grounds fairly quickly, so only the sharpest of their reflexes would have been able to hit him. They wouldn't have had time to identify him, so he had to go easy on them for the mistake, and in the future he'd have to alter this exercise so as to penalize friendly fire. That would make them pause, make them stop to identify who they were flinging paint at before they did so, and he'd hopefully avoid getting more paint stains on his costume then.

"The red team has the most points, at fifty-seven successful hits. In second place is the black team, with forty-two hits. Third place is the blue team with thirty-six hits, and in last is the white team with twenty-two hits. Your overall scores have been adjusted to reflect these results..."

He pulled out a remote and paused, saying one last comment before pressing the button. "By the way, none of you are getting expelled. That was just a rational deception to make sure you did your best."

The results went up, and as his friend's little brother tried to chastise him for misleading them, he watched the rest of the class look over their results.

Izuku was in fourth place out of twenty, having displayed incredible control over a quirk that he wasn't supposed to be used to. Shouta hadn't needed to use Erasure even once to help him control it, and considering that the first he knew of the boy's quirk was the entrance exam, he'd expected something quite different. He'd even brought along extra eye drops in preparation of the amount of times he'd have to stop him from losing it, and yet they'd gone unused.

He'd be impressed, if there wasn't a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind, whispering that his nephew had known what his quirk was for a long time now.

There were questions had to be asked, answers that had to be found. He'd parted from Inko on relatively bad terms, true, but they were still friends. He'd still take a bullet for her any day, just as he would for Hizashi or Tensei or Nemuri, and so he couldn't understand what was going through her head. After everything they'd been through, after everything they'd shared, why had she cut herself off so thoroughly? She'd tried to explain it as protecting Izuku from the influence of heroics, but considering the state of their society, there had to be something more at play.

Avoiding hero propaganda was pretty much impossible, so there had to be something about him and the others that kept her from talking with them, something else about Izuku... perhaps it was the same something that made All Might observe him so closely.

Regardless, he wouldn't know anything as long as he continued hesitating, and Hizashi would be cross with him if he let this opportunity slide by. His nephew had already been to Recovery Girl to get his eye healed, and the class was ready to leave for the day, and all they truly had left to do was grab their syllabi from him. Therefore, now was his opportunity to reach out, and to get back in touch with the boy he'd honestly missed for the past eight-ish years.

"Everyone, come grab a class syllabus and head home- I'm sure you're eager for some rest. Those of you who are currently staying in the dorms, or have signed permission slips to stay in the dorms, remain here."

His nephew was one of those staying in the dorms, which somewhat surprised him when he'd first heard about it, but which was now an opportunity for him. He did have something to say to everyone in the dorms, so once that little announcement was done, he could go ahead and take Izuku for a walk afterwards. He'd be able to talk to him, able to reconnect, able to... alright, hold up, he needed to stop internally monologuing and get on with things.

'Irrational.'

There were nine students standing before him once the rest of the class had left, the nine students who had parental permission to reside in the dorms. He had to make his announcement, and then things could unfold as they would.

"Just so you are aware, there is a curfew for those of you staying in the dorms. If you're not in your dorm building by eleven thirty in the evening, it will be assumed that you are staying elsewhere for the night, as the school campus needs to be locked up for security reasons at that time. If you do end up locked out after curfew, here's my number."

He passed out nine slips of paper with the number of his fourth phone to the students.

"Call it and I'll see about getting you in. In addition, I'm residing here on campus, so if any of you require my presence, you can generally find me either somewhere in the main building or in the teacher's dorms. Again, call me if you need something, but make sure you don't spam me with trivial messages. I'm a busy man, and I'd like to avoid being distracted on the job as much as possible. Understood?"

The nine students nodded, and Shouta took a moment to observe them closer, in attempt to determine who would be the most likely to message him first.

Izuku was a likely candidate, if he wanted to reconnect as badly as he did, but he'd discovered subtle hints of anxiety in him throughout the day. There might be a delay, especially with the conversation he was going to be having with him after this... He'd have to be patient there.

The exhausted-looking Shinsou seemed like the type to joke around, but he was also relatively calm, and had displayed rationality when it was needed. He wouldn't be likely to bother him unless it was an emergency, so he'd have to judge how quickly he was going to get in trouble when comparing with the others.

Uraraka was determined to be independent, and yet she also seemed to rely on others more than she knew, judging by how she'd trailed behind her fellow dorm residents throughout the day. She might message him a few times for less serious things, but if he consistently reminded her about the range of her own capabilities, then she'd be a responsible one.

His friend's brother Tenya surprised him a bit, in that he had permission to stay in the dorms, but he was still choosing to stay at home for now. It was true that he was quite attached to Tensei, but he was also eager to prove himself, so Shouta had thought that he'd try being independent as soon as possible. Perhaps his attachment to Tensei ran deeper than he'd thought it had... he'd have to keep an eye on that. Still, Tenya was quite the responsible one, so there probably wasn't any need to worry about trivial messages coming from him.

Todoroki was another surprise, for the same reason as Tenya. He had gotten his father's permission to stay in the dorms, and had even claimed a room already, but he hadn't stayed in there for a single night. Unfortunately, he didn't know the boy well enough to figure out why this was the case... so he'd have to judge what he'd seen during the exercises. Based on his calm and logical behavior in the heat of battle, he probably wouldn't be much trouble, though Shouta's instincts were telling him that he had the potential to be more... emotional at times.

Then there was Kouda, who had been delayed in his move to the dorms by the pets he had at home. Yuuei would allow them, but they couldn't quite house the zoo that he'd described in the general list of things he'd be bringing with him, so he'd been having difficulty with choosing which pets to take and which to leave. The boy was a soft one, but understanding and determined, so he probably wouldn't message him unless he had questions about the move in process.

The procrastinating Kaminari seemed to be chatty, so there was the chance that he'd text him over minor things, but he did seem to need help in the academic department. If all else failed and the boy kept sending him jokes or memes or whatever, then he could assign him extra homework as a punishment and method of improvement. Taming and putting that hyperactive energy to constructive use would be one of his goals for the first year, and if he had any trouble in doing so, then he could ask Hizashi for help.

Jirou, who would be bringing her luggage into the dorms once he dismissed her, seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. She'd called out her teammates in the final exercise when they'd started messing up, and before then had tried to join his nephew's team, so clearly she was one of the smarter students in this batch of hero students. Her generally quiet but sassy nature indicated that she would be one of the students who only contacted him in an emergency, but she may mistake what counts as an emergency and what doesn't, so he'd have to keep an ear out for that.

Lastly, Shouji seemed as though he wouldn't be much trouble, given that he'd only seen polite behavior from him. A gentle giant, like Kouda was, and a minimalist if his request for Yuuei to remove the furniture from his chosen room was anything to go by. He'd probably be unlikely to contact Shouta unless there was an emergency, unless there was more to him than met the eye... hmm.

So, the students most likely to message him first were Kouda, Kaminari, and Uraraka, followed by Shinsou. Izuku would likely contact him anytime before or between or after those four, so he couldn't definitively place him anywhere. Then Todoroki, Jirou, Tenya, and Shouji would be the logical ones, and would only call him when necessary. Not a bad setup for the first year that dorms were in place, but there was still plenty of room for him to be wrong, and that was why he'd purchased that fourth phone for the sole purpose of communicating with his students.

...he liked his privacy, okay? And it would be a hassle to change his private number again, after he'd only just gotten used it it.

"Alright, you're all dismissed. Except for Midoriya- you'll be coming with me in a few minutes."

Shouta watched as Izuku's fingers twitched, and as Shinsou moved in close to whisper to him. The two seemed to be friends, seemed to have been friends for a while now, as they were both more comfortable with each other than most other students in the class. He'd have to keep a close eye on them, as a note on his nephew's file had stated that he'd unknowingly initiated a fusion with someone in the past, and fusion was a bit too advanced of a technique to be performed without education beforehand...

Eventually, the eight other students left, and it was just him and Izuku alone on the field. They observed each other in silence, as the moments passed by, before the black-haired hero moved in and gave his nephew the hug he'd been wanting to give him since he'd seen him on the screens of the entrance exam.

"It's been a long time. I've missed you."

He felt the stiffness in his nephew's form, felt the body language of inner turmoil, and showed mercy by releasing him sooner than he would have liked to. The boy looked as though confused tears were on the way, and fondly remembering the waterworks of the Midoriya family, Shouta pulled a tissue from one of his belt pouches and held it out to him.

"I apologize for my distant behavior during class time, but I can't exactly give you special attention while still being fair and impartial with the rest of my students, so it's a necessary distance. Now, let's go. I want to know how your life has been since we've been out of the picture."

The underground hero walked with a deliberate slowness towards the corner of the school building, giving the still-watching All Might time to escape before a certain student noticed his presence, and resolved to question the man about it later. For now, he was going to spend some quality time with Izuku, and he wasn't going to let himself be distracted from it by idle curiosities and unproven suspicions.

Reaching the corner and seeing the area empty, Aizawa Shouta turned back to the teen that was still standing in the field, and inclined his head towards their destination with a slight smile.

Chapter Text

When Izuku had gotten back to the dorms, a feeling of relieved happiness putting a spring in his step, Jirou had slid into the common room with a suitcase and some information that brought him back to the ground.

The violet-haired teen had overheard Recovery Girl talking with someone about the paintball shot to the eye that he'd taken, and upon listening in further, had overheard her suspicions that he had issues with his eyesight in general. Minor issues, at the moment, but undiagnosed- he'd need to have his medical file updated sooner rather than later.

"She's planning to call you to her office to get you checked out sometime soon," Jirou had said, fingers tapping the handle of her suitcase. "I figured you'd want a heads up for something like this, so consider this an advance notice."

The greenette thanked her, and decided to head directly to the woman's office before she could call him or Inko about it. It would be better to control the situation himself rather than allow unknown variables to run loose, and from his meeting with the youthful heroine earlier that day, she was definitely an unknown variable.

Speaking with Recovery Girl, and having his eyesight tested, Izuku discovered that he had what was called presbyopia.

Presbyopia was, essentially, the gradual hardening of the eyes' lenses as they aged, resulting in one's difficulty in seeing things that are close to their face. It was the reason that so many middle-aged and older people needed reading glasses, and quite frankly, Izuku was supposed to be way too young to have it. And yet, at the current rate of progression, Recovery Girl believed that he would be fully unable to discern distinct details within a meter of himself by the end of the year.

What the actual fuck.

The obvious cause to blame would be his quirk. That is, the one he was born with, rather than the one he'd been given. Izuku had always possessed better night vision than the others around him, and he knew that it was linked to the way his eyes would flash red in certain types of lighting, so it only made sense that this was the cause of his slowly worsening vision. Not to mention how his vision blurred noticeably after he focused One For All in his gaze... the acquired quirk was supposed to increase the strength of its holders' quirks as well as their bodies, so it could only be making the side effects worse as well.

So, Izuku was in a bit of a bind. The rate at which his vision declined would only increase the more he strained his eyes, leading him to lose his near-sight faster than he would if he took care of himself. Corrective lenses were a necessity, in either glasses or contacts form, and he needed to get them sooner rather than later. He needed to somehow tell his mother that he needed glasses, without giving her a reason to blame Yuuei for it.

How could he pull that off? Lying was the obvious answer, lying about how he'd discovered his vision issue, but he wasn't a huge fan of the practice. If he really wanted to, he could just figure everything out himself, buy glasses or contacts online and handle it that way. But then his medical records wouldn't reflect that, and if he got injured badly enough that Recovery Girl needed to check them again, she'd know and would definitely snitch to his mother about it. So he had to make up another story so as to keep Inko in the dark, just as he did with One For All.

'Well, the best lies are always rooted in truth. Supposedly, theoretically, my vision has been gradually worsening since my second year of middle school. Ever since I started staying awake and wandering in the nighttime, I've been straining my eyes, so I have to have displayed some symptoms of my worsening vision in front of Mom. She'd definitely notice something like that, but she probably wanted to ignore it while I was still "quirkless," because another "condition" on top of the one I already had would've stung quite viciously. If I tell her that my vision has been going to shit since the time it likely began doing so, then I won't be lying, and it won't hurt as much because she knows that I'm not actually quirkless.'

Honestly, he was starting to get tired of walking on eggshells around Inko, but enough thinking always did eventually provide him with a solution. At least he could actually reason with her, and he wasn't stuck with a gung-ho asshole like Shouto and his father were.

"Yo, Izu! Kouda needs some help down here! Mind lending a hand?"

At the call upstairs from his closest friend, the greenette contemplated buying a fake hand for the sole purpose of throwing at people when they asked for a hand, and climbed out of his bunk bed fort. He could head home after dinnertime, tell his mom about his eyesight then. He could tag along with Aunt Nemuri, cuz she often visited around that time herself, so she had no reason to refuse his company. He could deal with his personal problems later, and help a classmate with their own problems now.

Heading downstairs, Izuku briefly wondered why the walls of the dorm building were thin enough for him to hear yelling from at least two floors down, and set about helping one gentle giant move his pets safely into the room he'd claimed on the third floor.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:30pm:

Welp. Apparently I need glasses, and I had no idea until today. Note to self: when faced with someone who may or may not need corrective lenses, shoot them in the eye with a paintball gun, so they go get themself checked out and subsequently get medical figures on the job.

Btw, thanks to a wonderful classmate of mine for the heads up. Thanks to them I managed to avoid a phone call going out to my guardian.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 8:31pm:

classmate whomst?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:32pm:

The one across the hall, to the right. I kinda want to ask them if they have a HoloGraphic account- seems like these sorts of discussion would be interesting to them, at least, if my first impressions of them aren't completely skewed.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 8:33pm:

Don't you kind of need your guardian to get glasses or contacts?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:34pm:

Well, yes, but actually no. If they knew that I discovered my vision problems by getting shot in the eye, they'd blame the party that was supposed to be watching out for my safety, and probably sue their asses to Hell and back. So I don't need my guardian to find out about said visual problems from a third party, but I do kind of need to lie about how I discovered it.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 8:35pm:

Good luck with that.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:36pm:

Roll for Deception.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:37pm:

...I'm sorry, but what is that referencing?

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 8:38pm:

Holy shit OG I can't believe these kids don't know what Dungeons & Dragons is

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:39pm:

With every new generation that comes into being, the population of this world strays further from the light.

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 8:40pm:

hey now don't lump me in with him so quickly

I have no idea what that is either, but I can find out

teach me, o wise senseis of the ancient arts.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:41pm:

Betrayal? In front of my salad? I can't believe you've done this.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 8:42pm:

Consider me interested in whatever is being referenced.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:43pm:

I suppose their ability to learn does make up for their initial lack of taste. Change, my friend. What are your feelings on a superficial alliance between us, formed with the goal of educating these youngsters in the ways of Dungeons and Dragons?

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 8:44pm:

Sign me the fuck up

It's practically a crime to be as much of nerds as they are without knowing what DnD is

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:45pm:

In that case, I shall entrust you with the duties of gathering the players their supplies, whilst I acquire the two of us a location in which to create and broadcast the playing field from.

Children, if you are interested in playing a game with your Grandparents Cryptid, do let us know. Don't be shy, now.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:46pm:

Quality time with the grandparents? I am in. Let's go, what do I have to do to play?

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 8:47pm:

if anyone shows up with my face and says that I'm not interested in this, shoot them instantly, they're an evil doppelganger come to ruin the fun

tho I want to watch at first, so I don't make a complete idiot of myself.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 8:48pm:

What Catspi said.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 8:49pm:

i have no idea what's going on

but if it's open season to play games with grammy and gramps

sign me the fuck up

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:50pm:

Alright, that is two confirmed players and two potential players noted thus far. If any of you have IRL friends that may be interested in joining, do feel free to bring them to my attention- it is possible for them to participate via sharing your devices.

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 8:51pm:

The rulebooks have been dropped >:D

[☆] CatspiracyTheorist >> 8:52pm:

holy shit, that's a lot of pages

that's a lot of books

we might need like, a few weeks to get through them all.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:53pm:

Bet I can read them all cover to cover in less than half a week.

[☆☆☆] CantChangeMyMind >> 8:54pm:

We'll have to have you roll for intelligence to see how well you recall everything when you're done, lol

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 8:55pm

I don't know what that means yet, but I will, and I will do fantastic when I do.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 8:56pm:

We shall see how the dice land...

Telling his mom about his need for glasses had been easier than he'd thought it would be, but still somewhat stressful. Inko had visibly teared up for a moment, asking him whether he was nearsighted or farsighted, and had laughed a little when he said that he was essentially farsighted.

Hizashi was farsighted. It was another piece of evidence that pointed towards him being Izuku's father, but with Izuku's vision issues coming from his quirk rather than birth, it was also a piece of evidence towards Shouta being his father. Then there were the blackish-blueish roots to his hair and his general body shape that pointed towards Tensei... Honestly, there were just too many indicators all around, he needed to buy some paternity testing kits or something. Were those available to the general public?

Anyways, it seemed that Inko was in a good mood, as she'd immediately pulled him to the computer to start looking up information on various brands and appearances of glasses and contacts. After some further discussion with her and some excited commentary from Aunt Nemuri, he'd decided to get both- contacts could be better for when he was on the field, but they probably wouldn't be comfortable for him to wear all the time, so he wanted to have the option to switch out whenever necessary.

Aunt Nemuri took over when it came to the shape and style of the glasses, having a good deal of experience with glasses herself, due to the fact that she needed them. She had multiple pairs of glasses though, in different styles for both her civilian and hero personas, and Izuku had to admit that it would be a nice added protection to do the same. As a result, the greenette had one pair of glasses with sharp rectangular frames (similar to Tenya's glasses), and one pair of rounded triangular glasses (similar to Hizashi and Nemuri's hero costume glasses). They were to be delivered in two to four weeks.

Izuku had a surprising amount of fun, honestly. He'd forgotten how nice it could be to talk fashion with Aunt Nemuri, as before this day, he'd been focusing more on the fact that she was using it as a consolation prize. That behavior had caused him to forget how much he liked it, but now that the general atmosphere of 'sorry you can't be a hero, try this instead' was gone, he could let his guard down and enjoy it again.

Aunt Nemuri wasn't a bad person, even if he did feel that she put his mother over him sometimes. She cared for the both of them, and he was probably being a bit unfair to her, all things considered. Maybe he should try to hang out with her more... patch up the holes in their relationship...

When the day was over and Izuku returned to Yuuei, it was with a smile on his face, and a newfound openness in his heart.

Chapter Text

"I AM HERE, COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

Izuku stifled a snicker at the dramatic entrance of his mentor, watching as the man strutted into the classroom with deliberately exaggerated movements. The class broke out into excited murmurs around him, everyone sitting up straighter and focusing on the number one hero before them. Previous experience with the man told him that this Foundational Heroics class was either going to be amazing or it was going to be a bit of a flop.

Don't get him wrong, Yagi-san was a decent teacher one-on-one... but he was definitely new to teaching in general.

"I can't believe it's really All Might!"

Kaminari exclaimed what many of them were thinking, and Izuku fought the urge to smirk, having known that the man was going to be a teacher since he'd gotten his acceptance letter. This was why he loved gathering information so much, why he loved befriending and talking to people and learning as much about them as he possibly could- he got the heads up on practically everything that could come his way.

This was also, perhaps, one of the things that he truly understood best about his mother.

"He really is a teacher, everyone! This year is gonna be totally awesome!" Kirishima clenched his fist before his chest, eyes wide with delight despite also knowing about this beforehand, and Tsuyu-chan spoke up beside him.

"Is that his Silver Age costume?"

Ojirou nodded from his seat, a grin on his face. "It's so retro, I'm getting goosebumps!"

"Welcome to the most important class at Yuuei High! Think of it as Hero-ing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight in the name of good!"

As the hero spoke, Izuku suddenly realized that All Might was speaking like a shounen anime protagonist, and snorted unattractively. Nobody really noticed, thank goodness, otherwise they may have thought he was being disrespectful... but honestly, it was hilarious. It was an ingrained part of his hero persona, like he had started out beside other mere mortals and had worked his way up to being a larger-than-life figure, and he really kind of did.

Yagi-san had been quirkless before receiving One For All from his own sensei.

"Let's get into it! Today's lesson, we'll pull no punches!" All Might whipped out a fancy card with the word 'BATTLE' printed across it, and if possible, the class perked up even more. Katsuki, seated directly in front of Izuku, began to laugh in an almost disturbing manner, while a few nearby classmates stared at him in concern.

"Combat training for all! And remember, one of the keys to being a hero is looking good!" Their blonde teacher pointed to the wall, clicking a tiny remote in his hand, and shelves with numbered suitcases began to slide free from the wall. "These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started! Get yourselves suited up, and meet me at Training Ground Beta!"

"YES, SIR!"

Designs based upon their quirk registration forms, and the requests they'd sent in before school started...

Izuku's costume request form had gone missing before he'd even moved into the dorms, and while it had escaped his notice for a while, Shouto and Fumikage had brought it to his attention when they were designing their own costumes. He'd searched everywhere for it, and when he couldn't find it, he'd reluctantly called home to see if his mom had seen it anywhere.

She had. The same night she'd signed the permission sheet for living in the dorms, she'd taken the costume sheet and had designed a costume for him. It was something that kind of irritated him, as he'd been looking forward to designing his own costume, but he'd just have to live with whatever she'd created for him. Hopefully it wouldn't completely embarrass him, and if it really wasn't his style, he could just change it later on.

It wasn't that bad, thankfully.

The class gathered together in the middle of the road, just inside the training ground, and waited there for everyone to arrive. Katsuki, Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, and Tsuyu-chan were the first five through the gate, followed soon by Shouji and Uraraka, and then everyone else trickled through at their own pace. The number one hero, the Symbol of Peace stood before them, and watched them arrive with his trademark smile.

As Izuku waited for the last stragglers, he focused in on his own costume again, feeling a strange mixture of both uncomfortable and appreciative within it.

Starting from the piece of his costume that he had to put on first, the base was quite simple. It was a greenish-black jumpsuit, loose in the sleeves and leggings like Uncle Shouta's was, and with an almost unnoticeable upwards flare in the style of Uncle Hizashi's collar. The fabric was comfortable, but sturdy- it would likely stand up well to abuse.

Next, he had a grey chestplate and matching boots that were heavily influenced by the style of Uncle Tensei's costume. The greenette really wasn't a fan of the chestplate specifically, so that would probably be one of the first things he changed, but it was at least practical. It offered protection whilst still being flexible- the two bands of the armor piece around his stomach made it so he could twist and bend and turn all around without being too restricted, and the sections around his shoulders and upper back were also quite moveable- so he almost had the same freedom of movement that someone in only a jumpsuit would have. And as for the boots, they went up high enough to provide protection to his knees, so his entire torso and lower legs were armored in the Ingenium style.

The final pieces of his costume were minor ones. The first was a pair of fingerless gloves, black and red in the style of Uncle Hizashi's, covering his palms and providing a little extra padding to his forearms. There were inserts over the knuckles, which would make his punches deal more damage, so he appreciated that. Then there was a red belt and a golden buckle, both of which could reference either Uncle Hizashi or Aunt Nemuri's costumes, but he knew that they were for Aunt Nemuri. She'd probably been helping Inko design the whole thing from the start, otherwise Shouta and Hizashi would've had much less representation, and he'd probably look like a Midnight-slash-Ingenium fusion or something.

Overall, the costume was unfamiliar to him; he'd never worn one before, and the materials felt odd against his skin. Alas, there was no way of saying how durable or protective it would be, until he got to test it out in some capacity. Hopefully today's battle training would be sufficient in doing so.

"They say that the clothes make the pros, ladies and gentlemen, and behold, you are the proof! Take this to heart; now you are all heroes in training! So let's get started, you bunch of zygotes!"

All Might, standing in front of the class, nodded once to himself and began leading the way down the street. They all heard him laugh with delight as he did so, and the excitement of the class ramped up even further, if that was even possible. It was an actual, physical class with the number one hero, the Symbol of Peace, and they had first dibs.

Eventually, as Izuku walked alongside his three older friends and some of his newer ones, the class was brought to a halt outside of a building. A table with two boxes was set up in front of it; one with the word 'Lots' written on it, and another with the word 'Versus' scrawled across the painted cardboard. The Symbol of Peace stood next to the table and faced the class, his fists on his hips and his smile shining brilliantly in the sun.

"Most of the villain fights you see on television occur outside! However, statistically speaking, encounters with the most evil and dastardly of villains take place indoors! Just think about it! Back-room deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs! Intelligent criminals know to remain hidden in the shadows, where the odds are in their favor!"

All Might picked up the Lots box, and rapidly shook it up, continuing to speak while doing so.

"For this exercise, all of you will be split up into teams of two, and pitted against each other as good guys and bad guys! The villain teams are in charge of defending a nuclear bomb within their secret base, and the hero teams must either disable the bombs or take down the villains to win! Each group will take twenty minutes total to run through this exercise- five minutes prep time for the villains, and fifteen minutes for the heroes to act!"

Tsuyu-chan spoke up then, staring at the box All Might was still vigorously shaking. How had it not crumbled to bits yet? Nobody knew. "Without basic training first? All Might, isn't this a bit advanced for us? We're only just starting out."

"An excellent question, young Asui! In my experience, the best training is what you get on the battlefield! But remember, you're not just punching robots now- you're facing up against actual people! All of you have your own levels of experience in various aspects of life, but as for heroics, this is your starting line! You're all newbies, and therefore, you'll all be learning together!"

All Might finally stopped shaking the box as he spoke, and Izuku peered at it, trying to see if it'd taken any damage. Surprisingly, it seemed undamaged. Maybe it had been reinforced with the foresight of someone who knew what sort of treatment it would get.

"Sir, how will it be decided who wins and who loses?"

"How much can we beat up the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about getting expelled like Aizawa-sensei threatened yesterday?"

"Does that box mean you're splitting us up based on chance? Wouldn't it be better to organize us based on comparative skill?"

"Isn't this cape crazy?"

Under the deluge of questions, All Might seemed to wilt, as he was unable to answer them all.

"Now now everyone, I can't understand you if you're talking all at once! My quirk isn't super hearing!" Quickly stuffing his hand into the box, the number one hero began pulling out two name slips at a time, clipping them to the table so the wind wouldn't blow them away. "Time's limited everyone, and we'll choose teams by drawing lots! Listen up, and find your partners as I call out your names!"

"Isn't there a better way-"

"Team A will be Uraraka Ochako and Midoriya Izuku!"

And thus, Iida was shut down, without a single ounce of mercy.

"Team B is Todoroki Shouto and Shouji Mezou! Team C is Yaoyorozu Momo and Mineta Michiru! Team D is Tenya Iida and Bakugou Katsuki! Team E is Aoyama Yuuga and Ashido Mina! Team F is Satou Rikidou and Kouda Kouji! Team G is Kaminari Denki and Jirou Kyouka!"

Between his other classmates getting together, Izuku slid over to stand a bit closer beside his brunette friend, and smiled in her direction. She grinned back, and whispered, "Let's kick ass, Mido-kun!" He nodded in agreement, a mischievous gleam to his eyes as he contemplated the strategies that could be used against them by the opposing teams being formed.

"Team H will be Tokoyami Fumikage and Asui Tsuyu! Team I will be Ojirou Mashirao and Shinsou Hitoshi! And lastly, team J will be Kirishima Eijirou and Sero Hanta! Everyone get with your partners quickly now, and follow me! Time is short!"

The class did so quickly, babbling with their friends and partners as anticipatory energy surged through them, and soon they found themselves in an observation room overlooking the chosen battleground. Screens lined the wall, and in the dim lighting, Izuku knew that his eyes had shifted red.

Slowly, he turned his face towards the gaze that had been burning holes into his back for the past half-hour, and matched Katsuki's red irises with the red of his own.

Chapter Text

"FIRST UP, TEAM A AS THE HEROES, AND TEAM D AS THE VILLAINS!"

The burning gaze on Izuku's back grew hotter, and he frowned to himself, running his tongue piercing along the roof of his mouth to prevent his immediate urge to start mumbling. When it seemed as though he wasn't immediately going to move, Uraraka took hold of his wrist and began leading him out of the observation room, the footsteps of Katsuki and Tenya following behind them.

This was going to be... well, the first word that came to mind was 'catastrophic.' An exercise where violence was permitted and openly expected, with two people who didn't care much for each other on opposite teams, one of them being particularly volatile already? He wouldn't be surprised if the building collapsed from the trial that was about to occur. How could he minimize the damage done to his two newer friends?

The opposing teams broke off at the entrance of the building, the 'villains' immediately going inside for their head start.

"Mido-kun, do you have a plan?"

The greenette peered over at his partner, looking down to meet the shorter girl's gaze, and nodded. It was a rough plan, one of many rough plans that flipped around and collided and reformed with the others in his mind, but it was a plan.

"Considering our abilities versus those of our opponents, I was thinking that we split up from the start. Katsuki will start gunning for me the instant we enter, so he won't care if you're not with me, and you'll only have to deal with Iida-kun. While I keep Katsuki occupied and try to capture him, you can float yourself outside the building, and peer into the windows to try and find the bomb quickly. If that doesn't work, you can keep going up to the roof and start scanning through from there. With this plan, either you locate the bomb and tag it within minutes of us starting, or we meet up in the middle and take down Iida-kun together."

Izuku watched as Uraraka bit her lip, and considered one of his backup plans, before continuing.

"If you can't keep yourself in the air long enough to look through every window, you can also go straight to the roof and start making your way downwards through the building. I know this plan is putting a lot on you, and I don't want you to burn out or anything. Oh, and by the way- try to keep close to rooms that do have windows, because if the battle between Katsuki and I is as destructive as I think it'll be, the building might end up collapsing."

The brunette stared at him for a few moments, long enough for him to start getting concerned, before she exhaled and brought her fists up in a fighting position. Her eyes glowed with determination, and the two 'heroes' grinned at each other, filled with anticipation for what was to come.

"I'll do my best, Mido-kun! Good luck with Bakugou!"

She nodded sharply, and he nodded in return, before All Might's voice declared that the heroes could enter the building.

"Same here Ura-kun, and good luck with Iida!"

Thus, the two went their separate ways, Uraraka floating up to the roof and Izuku walking around the building to sneak in a window on the ground floor.

Izuku had gotten to the second floor, communications whispered between himself and Uraraka, when Katsuki rounded the corner and burst towards him in one streamlined movement. He just managed to dodge out of the way, activating One For All at three percent, and he stared firmly through the smoke as it began to clear.

A hole now adorned the wall where he once stood, and beneath the metal plates and padding that had previously covered it, the framework of the building itself was visible.

Katsuki straightened up, staring back at him with irises that had shrunk to near-pinpricks, but he appeared to be calm otherwise... if it weren't for the trembling of his hands, his clenched fists clad in hot gloves and grenade-shaped bracers.

"Come on, Deku. Don't dodge."

A swift movement followed by an explosion sent the blonde flying towards him, and Izuku chose to dodge backwards again, a second explosion chasing after him. This spiteful action was rewarded with the furious twitch of his opponent's eyebrow, and two more explosions in a different attack, which he dodged again.

The greenette said nothing to Katsuki, knowing that if he started speaking to him, then he might not be able to stop.

Two more explosions; then three, then four, then two. Izuku dodged them all, and after making sure he had a firm grasp upon his own power, he finally surged forward to attack. If one of their observing classmates had blinked at that moment, then they would've missed his journey from one side of the hall to the other, and their eyes would have re-opened to the sight of Katsuki flying back-first into the wall. This attack was just strong enough to knock the wind out of the blonde, and as he fell down to an unsteady stance upon his feet, the wall was revealed to be slightly dented inwards.

Katsuki surged forth again the moment that he caught his breath, and as he went in for his usual right hook, Izuku grabbed that arm and put some of Fatgum's self-defense training to good use.

"Mido-kun, is everything okay? You've been quiet for about a minute now."

The greenette blinked as his partner's voice came through the communicator, and realized that he had started to get tunnel vision for his opponent, whose chest was shaking as he pushed himself up without having fully caught his breath again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've run into Katsuki, so you can relax a little, but keep an eye out."

As the blonde glared up at him and surged forth with growing determination, Izuku simultaneously pulled out his roll of capture tape, and the fighting began anew.

Somehow, despite the tension of the moment, he was actually starting to relax. With One For All and the training he'd done, he was no longer at a physical disadvantage, and was actually at a slight advantage. In just a single moment, he could choose to push himself up to five percent or even up to seven percent, and it would surpass the current strength of Bakugou Katsuki. It was almost... unfair.

Izuku immediately boosted himself to five percent, and started hitting Katsuki both harder and faster, observing the teen's reactions with a neutral expression upon his face.

He had never truly been on this side of the beating before. Sure, he had certain people wrapped around his fingers when it came to certain things, and he was a master of finding ways to get what he wanted, but he'd never had the opportunity to resort to physical means of doing so. The closest he had come was that day back in middle school, when he'd given Katsuki a small nibble of his power with a snap of his fingers... he could truly understand the appeal, now.

A burning hand connected with Izuku's stomach, attacking the flexible links that granted him freedom of movement despite the chestplate, and the smell of melting plastic met his nostrils. With a spark of disbelief, the greenette dodged the next attack in order to look down at his costume, wondering if it was an incompetent support company or his mother that had made the error of giving him poor heat protection. On the bright side, the chestplate wasn't too damaged though, so he would remain unharmed as long as he didn't take too many hits.

"Mido-kun, I found Iida and the bomb. They're on the third floor, right in the middle of the building. No windows."

The greenette moved in time with an angry blonde's movements, ignoring the frustrated cursing and furious yelling that was directed towards him, in favor of wrapping one end of his capture tape around his left fist. With a kick from his right leg, he managed to send Katsuki all the way down a new open hallway beside them, and took a certain stance that he'd only seen in blurry videos and ancient memories.

"Right. I'll come help you in just a moment. How much time is left on the clock?"

Greenish-red eyes remained locked upon ruby, and as a response of "eight minutes" was returned by Uraraka, Izuku finally tuned back in to what Katsuki was saying.

"If these things were made properly, I'll be able to set off an explosion far larger than one I could safely make on my own. All this time, they've been storing my sweat, and now this one's ready to blow."

A gauntlet was aimed towards him, and without hesitation, Izuku jumped down the adjacent hallway to leave his opponent's line of fire. If that support item could deal more damage than one of the blonde's normal explosions, then with the materials that his costume was made of, he stood little chance of coming out unscathed. It would be wiser to retreat, then ambush the other around a corner, just as he'd originally intended to do to him.

Turning, the greenette sprinted through the hallways, making sure that his footsteps were loud enough to be heard and followed. As he moved, he could hear the blonde giving chase, and made his way to a dead end room he recalled from the building schematics. There he could ambush the other, and hopefully, he would capture him quickly.

"Shitty Deku, quit running away! You're not a fucking coward, so don't fucking act like it!"

Izuku entered the room, and after discovering that there were no alternate hiding spots available, partially opened a window to make it appear as though he'd gone outside to re-enter from another area. Then, he quietly rushed back to slide behind the door, and waited for his opponent to catch up. Once Katsuki came in, he'd close the door to eliminate immediate escape, as the window would be too small for him to quickly climb through with his gauntlets on. Once the room was sealed, he'd go all out to take his opponent down quickly, and the capture tape wrapped around his left fist would be wrapped around the blonde's body-

The door suddenly slammed all the way open, and the greenette found himself brutally colliding with the wall, stars blocking out his vision as he held his unprotected head and swore beneath his breath. With how hard his head had been hit, it was like a flashbang had gone off- his vision was fucked and he could barely hear the furious voice of his opponent.

'Note to self: don't hide behind doors in the future.'

Slowly, the situation filtered through his brain, and he looked up just in time to see a fireball of an explosion begin surging his way.

"-HE WON'T DIE IF HE DODGES!"

The warning words of Bakugou Katsuki echoed through the room, through the communicators in their ears; overtaking All Might's worried voice in volume. Panic rose within Izuku with such strength that it took his breath away, and as One For All surged throughout his form, it felt as though the world slowed down. He could see each individual lick of flame in painful clarity, and through the muffled discord in his mind, he was able to identify the small hint of self-doubt present in Katsuki's gaze.

If he didn't dodge this attack, then he'd be severely damaged, and Katsuki would be forced to realize that he wasn't a hero just because he had a powerful quirk.

If he didn't dodge this attack, then he'd be in pain unlike any he'd felt before, and he would likely receive permanent damage that would interfere with him for the rest of his life.

'I have no choice.'

In a world that had slowed to the point that he could distinctly feel the temperature rising around him, Izuku pushed off the wall and dove for the window that he had opened earlier, a damaging thirteen percent of One For All bruising his limbs as he did so. The heat from the blast chased after him, and he imagined this explosion leaving a scar amongst all the other starburst scars that were already upon his body, wondering what shape it would take on his back as his head passed through the open window frame. He could smell the plastic in his chestplate burning, and he once again wondered who had decided that it should be made of such a shitty material composition.

Then he was out, and he was falling towards the pavement four meters below, and the world sped up once more as his parkour experience had him rolling safely back onto his feet.

"Young Bakugou, if you use that attack again, your team will instantly lose the exercise! Is that understood?"

The greenette didn't hear the blonde's response, as his heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he was able to exhale again. This opportunity was used to take a few deep breaths, and to check himself over with burning eyeballs for any serious injuries, the ruined chestplate being partially pulled off in the process. He was lucky that it had still managed to protect him despite its composition, and he was lucky that he hadn't gone over thirteen percent of his total power, otherwise he may have been burned and/or broken a limb or two.

"Mido-kun, what happened!? Are you okay!?"

The voice of his partner drew him back into the exercise, and Izuku thus pushed himself away from the spot in which he'd landed, leaving the half-melted chestplate to be retrieved after everything was over.

"I-I'm alright, don't worry. A good deal of my costume is wrecked though- my chestplate is melted, and part of it fused to the back of my jumpsuit- so I guess I have the opportunity to design a new one now!"

He tried to distract her with a cheerful disposition, blabbing out one of the more optimistic thoughts swimming through the pool of negativity in his mind, as he made his way around and back into the building. As explosions sounded behind him, indicating that Katsuki had followed him out the window, the greenette pushed himself up to a careful seven percent and made his way upstairs. His original plan had been formed with emotion blinding him, as he was beginning to see, and it would just be better to end the exercise as quickly as possible. No more hesitation- he was just going to finish it.

"Okay, that's good to hear! And um, just so you know, Iida spotted me. He's cleared the room so I can't use my quirk on anything here, and right now he's taking the villain role pretty seriously... If you can help me out, that'd be great, but I know you probably still have to deal with Bakugou first."

Hearing explosions from the floor beneath his, the greenette grit his teeth and continued on to the next staircase, taking it up to the third floor where the bomb was located. A thin trail of warm liquid slid down his cheek, and he wiped it away with his costume sleeve, figuring that it didn't matter if he got the ruined part of his costume even dirtier than it already was.

"Don't worry, I'm on the staircase to the third floor right now. Katsuki is on the first floor right now, and if we're quick about it, we'll be able to get the bomb before he catches up to me. The second I come through the door, I'll immediately try to take down Iida, and you go for the bomb. Alright?"

A quiet affirmative sounded, and as he made his way through the third floor, the echoes of Tenya's voice began to reach him. He was... monologuing? Is that what Ura-kun meant by 'taking the villain role pretty seriously'? Amazing. If he wasn't so stressed out by the whole not-quite-but-close-to-attempted-murder thing that had just occurred, he'd probably appreciate it more.

A pair of explosions sounded from the hallway that the staircase was in, and as Izuku burst into the room where the bomb was located, things happened quickly once more.

As he said he would, the greenette immediately went to tackle Tenya, and managed to move just fast enough to catch him off guard and do so. Uraraka was also taken by surprise by his sudden arrival, and instinctively paused to watch him for a moment, before she remembered her role and darted for the weapon. Then, as her hand made contact and All Might called out the victory of the heroes, Katsuki finally reached the room and immediately began cussing up a storm at his loss.

The first battle trial was over, and after going to Recovery Girl's office to be healed, Izuku returned to the observation room with a small basket of supplemental quirk-nutrition bars in his possession. Though he missed the second trial, he was sure to pay close attention to the ones that followed, and new notes were taken on his phone between bites. Approximately one bar was thrown at Katsuki in a moment of spite, but of Izuku's group of friends, nobody confessed to being the one to do so.

Given that it was a lemon flavored supplement bar, theories could be made that Dark Shadow was the one responsible for this act, but no proof was available to confirm that this was so.

Chapter Text

"Dude, I can't believe you jumped over Shouto's initial ice attack. The sheer level of badassery there is worthy of envy."

The group of seven- that is, Izuku, Hitoshi, Shouto, Fumikage, Uraraka, Jirou, and Kouda- made their way to the dorms after class was dismissed, still filled with restless energy from the battle trials that had just concluded. Shouto and Fumikage would have to leave in an hour or two, as they were still staying with their families for now, but it was pretty much routine for them to hang out before doing so now. A week was long enough to form a routine, right?

"Thank you, thank you. But remember, I couldn't free Ojirou, and Shouto already knows how my quirk works thanks to the assessment test on the first day. I'm planning on becoming an underground hero to hopefully avoid people knowing what my quirk is, but I need to figure out how to get them to respond anyways. Y'know, without being a complete dick by resorting to insults and personal attacks."

At this point, Jirou spoke up from where she was walking beside Uraraka, as she had been since they'd gotten changed and left the building.

"Well, why not try to make them laugh instead? Laughing counts as a verbal response, right?"

The fact that the violet-haired girl hadn't shied away or avoided Hitoshi after finding out what his quirk was meant a lot to him, as Izuku knew thanks to some rather feels-y conversations. She wasn't a part of their close-knit, trusted friend group, and she didn't know him from a hole in the wall, yet she'd accepted him. It was hope-inspiring act, that others in the future would also accept him, without letting their prejudices and ignorance blind them.

"Y'know... that might actually work. I'd have to figure out what people find funny before I can make them laugh, but it could work. Izu, got any suggestions?"

This was the point where most people would immediately recommend that Hitoshi try to catch the attention of Ms. Joke, but the greenette was not most people. He knew that Ms. Joke wasn't actually all that funny, and that people were only laughing so much because of her quirk, so it really didn't make much sense to go to her for a wide variety of true humor. A better choice would be someone with great charisma, someone who was in touch with the people and who could understand them from just a single sentence spoken... he knew just the person.

"Well, first off, I recommend that you use puns for now. Whether a person loves them and laughs or hates them and groans, you're getting a response either way."

Snickers and groans of sheer anticipation came from those around them, and Hitoshi began to grin a bit, before Izuku continued.

"And secondly, I know a guy. I could introduce you later on today actually, once Shouto and Fumikage head home, cuz I was planning on dropping by anyways. Aunt Nemuri told me that Uncle Hizashi has been getting pouty about me not talking to him much outside of class, so I really do have to suck it up and get that confrontation over with."

The greenette hadn't told anyone that he was wondering which of his 'uncles' could be his father, and he hadn't even told anyone outside of his immediate friend group that his extended family was the Fearsome Foursome of Yuuei High, so it was news to all of them in some manner that there had to be a 'confrontation' at all.

This was a problem of his, honestly. He kept most things to himself, and when he finally deemed them unnecessary to keep secret anymore, he dropped them almost immediately afterwards. Of course, that in itself was only a minor problem most of the time, but he had a greater problem in how he decided that they could be shared.

When Izuku dropped secrecy about something that had previously been kept to himself, it was generally after he'd come to a decision on what to do about that situation, so nobody could really help him find another way or stop him. Indeed, this was how the Midoriya family stubbornness had expressed itself in him. He would do his damnedest to take the world upon his shoulders, and whether he initially failed or succeeded, he would push himself onwards to a slow and painful victory.

"...alright, I guess I'll tag along. Anyways, going back to the battle trials, your costume got wrecked. I can't believe All Might didn't stop the fight when Baka-hoe tried to megablast you the first time, let alone let him actually do so later on! Like, you'd have gotten glass cuts all over if you hadn't opened that window beforehand, and he only forbids him from using the attack again after he does it once? What the fuck was with that?"

The group of seven entered the dorms, with Kouda breaking away first to check on his pets, as Hitoshi began to slip into a rant.

"You could've died, dude, or at least gotten permanently damaged. It's no wonder most spotlight heroes are so careless these days if this is what they're being taught! At least the underground heroes actually have functioning heads on their shoulders. They know that they're still human, while heroics students are being taught that they're invincible fucks who will always triumph while the villains they face will always fall! Grandpa Cryptid was totally right."

Izuku sighed and nodded in agreement, as Shouto and Fumikage each made a beeline for the kitchen, and returned with cold soba and apples. He and Hitoshi had started stocking snack-sized servings of their favorite foods, for the occasions that they'd hang out after class or just drop by in general, so those two had their own little corner of the kitchen to enjoy.

"Who's Grandpa Cryptid?"

Uraraka's questioning voice reminded the four friends of the forum that not everyone present knew of HoloGraphic, and as such, not everyone present would know who Grandpa Cryptid was.

While it wasn't exactly taboo or against the rules to talk about other members with people who weren't on the forum, it also wasn't exactly done that often. It was like... a secret section of the universe, where normal society couldn't persecute them, or shun them because they were different. As such, it was awkward at the very least to share it with people on the outside, unless the person learning about it could be trusted with their safe haven.

The brunette... hadn't yet been judged trustworthy. She had promise, but it was still only the beginning of the year- they needed more time to determine whether or not they could rely on her, and so, for now, HoloGraphic would be kept to themselves.

Taking this silent message in from the three around him, Shouto answered in a fantastically neutral tone, one that belied no emotion behind it. "He's an old man we know who likes to talk with us and give us advice sometimes. We call him Grandfather Cryptid because his manner of speech and advice can be pretty cryptic sometimes, like a fortune teller or something. He likes the nickname, or at the very least, finds it entertaining."

Fumikage nodded, enjoying his bite of apple, and swallowed before semi-subtly redirecting the conversation back to where it had originally been going.

"Indeed, the road of an underground hero is one that I may walk someday, but I feel as though it would be a better use of my abilities to help the spotlight heroes improve. I have the power to walk amongst their ranks, and the wisdom of the underworld guides me- I may yet be able to assist humanity in greater measure from the light than from the shadows."

With that said, the conversation was back on track, and the six present discussed their futures in heroics. Fumikage and Shouto were both intending to be spotlight heroes, obviously, whereas Hitoshi and Izuku were planning to be underground heroes. Uraraka, having only known about spotlight heroes up until this discussion, showed interest in learning about the distinction between the two kinds of heroes. Lastly, Jirou, who had some knowledge of both kinds of heroes, wasn't sure which one she wanted to be.

Izuku, Hitoshi, Shouto, and Fumikage all had reasons for wanting to change the world they lived in. They walked the path of heroism together, in hopes that they could gain enough power to improve things, with a plan to attack the wrongful parts of their society from multiple directions. From the light, from the darkness, and from the grey areas in between... they were determined to make a difference.

Someday, though. Today was too early, but someday, they could make the world a better place.

"Hatsume, no! Don't put that in the- oh fuck. I'm doomed. We're doomed! We're all doomed!"

Sharing a glance with Hitoshi, Izuku briefly reconsidered his decision to take his new costume design straight to the support department, as the sound of a distressed Power Loader made its way through the sturdy workshop doors and into the hallway. Surely, it wasn't a good sign for a teacher to be this concerned about something, even if they didn't know what that thing was. Maybe Izuku could postpone this particular errand until later...

"We're all-! Wait, Hatsume, what did you do. It's not exploding. Why isn't it exploding."

On second thought, maybe it was actually safe to enter, so long as they quickly made an exit afterwards.

"Oh, I modified it to be able to withstand higher temperatures! I needed to test my thermal spray on something, and this is the baby I determined to need it the most!"

Taking a deep breath, Izuku knocked loudly on the door, and some of the bangs and clangs of machinery inside the workshop stopped. After a moment of waiting, the door slid open, and Power Loader stood there with a curious pink-haired girl not far behind him.

"Hey, what can I do for ya? Hero Course, right?"

The greenette noticed the girl perk up a bit as he nodded, and brought forth his new costume design papers, as Hitoshi stepped back and leaned against the wall to wait.

"Yeah, I kinda really don't like the design that was previously submitted, and since my costume was destroyed earlier today during our first battle exercise, I figured that now would be a good time to redesign it. I hope it's not any trouble."

The ginger-haired teacher accepted the offered papers and looked them over, humming as he did so, most of his face hidden behind his helmet.

"Not at all, you chose the right time to change things up. Got some good improvements here too- protective gear, better materials requested, more support to your joints. Very practical. It's like your previous costume design was submitted by a completely different person."

Behind the support hero, the pink-haired girl seemed to be reading his papers from a distance, and was becoming visibly excited. Izuku noticed this, and briefly wondered if she was the 'Hatsume' that Power Loader had been talking to earlier, as he responded diplomatically to the man's statement.

"Yeah, my mom submitted the last design. She's pretty great, but she's not the first person I'd go to regarding craftsmanship and design. Her strengths lie elsewhere."

As though this were the cue she had been waiting for, the support student girl struck, her yellow eyes targeting his own like crosshairs on a sniper scope. Huh, maybe that was her quir-

"You! You're the kid that held up the zero-pointer to help save that floaty girl! Maijima-sensei showed us the clip of you getting stomped on to show us how the containment mechanism in the robot's foot worked!"

The teacher groaned, and started to turn to face her, but she kept going before he could say anything.

"Us Support students are going to be authorized to work on the costumes of the Hero Course students once we finish up our first study unit and submit our reports, and I want to be in charge of your costume! Composition, materials, equipment, designs! Your costume is going to be assigned one of us anyways, but I wanna call dibs! Gimme first dibs, please!"

Well, at least she said please.

"I dunno," Izuku began, entering a more strategic state of mind. "I'd have to see some of your work before I'd know if I'm getting the best quality stuff."

At these words, it was as though a predator had possessed the Hatsume before him, with gleaming eyes and a mischievous grin showing all of her teeth. She reached into her pocket, and he observed as she sent a message to someone... then, his own phone vibrated.

It was his new phone, the one he'd gotten from a supplier on HoloGraphic before he knew that he needed glasses, so he actually had two phones with him. This one was the one he used for his more incognito activities, while his normal one was the one with all the contacts and superficial public things, so it shouldn't have this girl's number saved to it. In fact, it was really only set to vibrate when he got a notification from HoloGraphic messages being sent to him specifically...

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[InnovationAtItsFinest is whispering to AlexandriteAphelion...]

[☆] InnovationAtItsFinest >> 4:32pm:

Hatsume Mei, at your service!

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

Izuku couldn't help it. His business-oriented demeanor broke for a second, and he started giggling quietly, glancing back at the amused Hitoshi just in time to see him start teasingly edging away. He then turned back to Hatsume, and after putting his phone- the phone that she had made- back into his pocket, did his best to return to a more serious mindset.

"Well, that's definitely a strong resume. I clearly have no better options available to me at this time!"

He clapped his hands together, grinning back at the predator that sought to make him her prey, and noted the support hero glancing between them with a growing aura of fear.

"Hatsume Mei, I am Midoriya Izuku, and I hereby give you first dibs on my costume! Power Loader has my measurements and design guidelines, and you have my contact information already, so feel free to message me if you want or need anything! Also, I'm staying in the 1-A dorms on campus, so you can probably find me there if I'm not responding to messages, or if you just want to hang out! I look forward to working with you."

The two students spit on their right hands at the same time, and clasped them together for a firm American handshake, manic energy surrounding them. They thus sealed the deal with a nod of mutual respect, and Mei finished the conversation with one of her favorite memes, causing Power Loader to emit even more fear.

"Finally, a worthy ally- our partnership will be legendary!"

Chapter Text

The news that All Might had become a faculty member of Yuuei High had taken the nation widely by surprise. There were no obvious reasons why he'd choose to do so, when his career as a hero was still running as strong, even if he had been making fewer appearances over the past few years. The quiet rumors of his weakening were unknown to the majority of the populace, so of course they wanted to know... why would he become a teacher?

Naturally, the media swarmed the school in search of a story. Everyone wanted to get their hands on All Might, and if taking a few students 'hostage' under the cameras was going to get him to show up, then that was what they'd do. It was really a blessing that they couldn't get onto school property due to the Yuuei Barrier. Once past the perimeter, students and teachers and everyone who had a pass could breathe a sigh of relief, and go about their day undisturbed.

Izuku was relieved that he didn't have to deal with them due to his staying in the dorms, and shared this notion with his best friend as they entered the classroom, preparing for the day to begin.

"Decent work on yesterday's combat training, everyone. I saw the video feeds, and went over each of your teams' results. If you have any urgent questions about it that need answering, feel free to come to me after class."

Uncle Shouta was as apathetic as ever, seeming a little more tired than usual due to the media staking out the school for at least two days straight, but was not unkind.

"Bakugou. You've got a lot of talent, so don't waste it on throwing temper tantrums. You're here to become a hero. Act like it."

The spiky blonde grunted in acknowledgement, and continued to stare out the window, pretending that he didn't care.

"Now, let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future..."

He paused to let his students stew in their teenage hormone-boosted stress emotions.

"...you all need to pick a class representative."

Anyone who said that Aizawa Shouta couldn't be as dramatic as Yamada Hizashi was a filthy liar.

Kirishima jumped up, grinning at everyone around him in excitement. "Pick me guys, I wanna be class rep!"

"I'll take it," Kaminari commented surprisingly calmly from his seat, followed by Jirou speaking with dry confidence, "Yeah, you're gonna need me for this job."

Everyone in the class shouted out their desire to be the class president, one after the other after the other, but Izuku remained calm and quiet. Even as Katsuki waved his hand and shouted out how he'd be the best for the role, the greenette simply observed the rest of his classmates, trying to see who would be the most responsible about this.

In a normal school, being on the student council would just mean extra work, though the power it provided was enough to make it tempting for Izuku to try for once or twice in middle school. The difference here was that taking the role in Yuuei would be a display of one's leadership skills in a credible manner, one that could be referenced in the future and would be looked upon as something noteworthy. It was a way to get noticed by hero agencies, and acted as proof that the student who took this role could lead a team like a pro.

If Izuku had been interested in an ordinary class presidency role, then he was definitely interested in this one, but there was one thing holding him back... well, three to five things, to be exact.

"Everyone, silence, please!"

Tenya's voice rang out throughout the room, and the noise went quiet after a few moments, everyone looking at him to hear what he had to say.

"The primary duty of the class representative is to lead the rest of the class. That's not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom! Therefore, the most logical way to decide who should be the class representative is to put it to a vote! The student who is the most trusted will invariably win! It's the best way, right sir!?"

The blue-haired boy turned to their teacher, as did most of the class, and watched as the man zipped himself up in his yellow sleeping bag and flopped over. "As long as it's decided by the end of class, you can do what you want. Just don't disturb my nap."

"That settles it then! Now, does anybody have a box or a hat we can put the votes in?"

As Tenya took charge of the classroom swiftly and absolutely, Izuku mulled over the idea of a vote, and almost immediately noticed a flaw in the method he was suggesting. Like this, everyone would likely end up voting for themselves... including him. Vote counts would probably reach three at maximum for one person, given the classroom of twenty people and most being interested in holding the position themselves. However, he didn't want to get up and hurt the other boy's feelings by tearing at the flaws in his idea, so he would wait and see how things turned out instead.

Twenty index cards, procured from the desk of Iida Tenya, were passed out for everyone to write a name on. A small ballot box, courtesy of Yaoyorozu Momo, rested on the table at the front of the room for everyone to drop their cards in once they were done voting. The greenette glanced at his friends for a moment, considering whether or not they'd do well at the job and whether or not they truly wanted it in the first place.

Shouto wasn't the type to sit around doing paperwork, and while he himself wasn't all that excited about it, the benefits and the results well made up for the cost of effort in his eyes. Fumikage... he'd definitely be a fair leader, but the stress of the position might wear him down, and he already had enough on his plate. And while Hitoshi could make a good leader, he was aiming for a career as an underground hero.

Uraraka was nice, but no. She didn't seem to take things seriously enough, and while that could only be because nothing serious had occurred yet, he wasn't sure. And because he wasn't sure, that was a no. As for Tenya, he was just a bit too serious... honestly, Izuku had almost been intimidated by him the first times they spoke to one another, and that was saying something. The blue-haired boy needed to relax a little.

Therefore, the greenette voted for himself. And when the votes were counted and he saw that a few of his friends had none, he felt a brief pang of guilt, before he pulled on a confident smile and shared a look with Yaoyorozu. The black-haired teen was intelligent, very much so, and her analyses during the various battle trials had given him a decent amount of information to think about. So, even if he couldn't have a vice-rep that was one of his friends, he was definitely pleased to have such a smart person on his side.

The only downside to her academic intelligence was the fact that most things being taught in schools were propagandized in some way, so she'd have absorbed a great deal of society's bullshit. Then again, her quirk revolved around science more than history or social studies or hero informatics, and it was quite impossible to make factual, always-relevant, worldwide information like basic science into a single country's 'heroic' achievement. So maybe, she wouldn't be too far gone.

"It'll be a pleasure working alongside you," Izuku said, casually wording the sentence to imply that he saw her as an equal rather than a subordinate.

"Likewise," the taller female responded, a bright grin upon her face. She seemed quite happy to have received the role she did, although there was a faint glint of something in her eyes... she probably wanted to do better.

The two teens bowed, and after receiving the information packets they needed to start their duties, returned to their seats by the windows to begin reading.

Izuku's lunch table was almost always full.

It was a drastic change from middle school, where he'd initially been forced to find a seat amongst a potentially hostile crowd, or outside the building where nobody would knock over his tray. Even after forcing his way up to the top of the social ladder, he'd only eaten with other students to maintain his position and forge connections that could potentially be useful in the future, so there wasn't any true experience of happiness or contentment there. But here, at Yuuei, he was seated with his friends.

Hitoshi sat directly to his right, always beside him. Shouto was seated across from him, and Fumikage took up a position across from Hitoshi; the four friends from HoloGraphic forming a square in the left-center of the table. Around them, classmates slowly gathered together, either at their table or at the adjacent ones.

Most often, Shouji sat beside Fumikage, and Jirou sat beside Hitoshi. On Jirou's other side was Mina, and across from Mina was Kouda, and next to Kouda was Sero, and across from Sero was Kaminari. Sometimes Sero and Kaminari were nudged off the very end of the table due to how much space was being taken up on the other side, and if that was the case, then they'd usually leave with Mina to join Katsuki and Kirishima at the next table over.

Katsuki and Izuku sat facing in opposite directions by silent, mutual agreement. If each had to stare at the other's face while they were eating, then the tension between them would rise to outright annoying levels throughout the entire break, so after the first day they had taken to having their backs turned to each other.

Going down the opposite direction, on the side of Izuku opposite to Hitoshi, Uraraka would often sit beside him. Then Tenya would sit across from Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu would sit next to Tenya, and then Tsuyu would sit across from Yaoyorozu. There would be a few empty seats for their other classmates and other students to sit at if they needed, but if not, then the entire table spread out a bit and enjoyed the extra space.

However, there seemed to be a new dynamic forming that somewhat rearranged that side of the table, since the greenette had forged an alliance with the pink-haired Hatsume Mei. If Mei got to the cafeteria before Uraraka did, then she'd sit beside Izuku, and Uraraka would silently gun for Tenya's usual seat, pushing him and Yaoyorozu down a seat each. With the presence of Hatsume would come a few students from either the Support or Management courses, and Tsuyu would move to sit either at the edge of the table next to Yaoyorozu, or at the seat that was emptied by Mina's absence.

'It's all very interesting to see,' the greenette thought, mulling over the social dynamics that were being formed between his classmates and the other course students that occasionally mixed in with them. 'Not to mention, with some Support and Management students coming to sit with us, we're all making valuable connections early on. Support students in charge of our costumes and equipment, Management students in charge of our agencies and public resources... Forging that relatively public alliance with Mei-kun is definitely not looking like a mistake.'

Today was a day in which Mei had beaten Uraraka to the table, so it was a blend of students from various departments. Tsuyu had chosen to stay beside Yaoyorozu, so Mei's friend from Management had taken the empty seat beside Jirou, as the other side of the table was full. And at the moment, there were two separate discussions going on, with one being on each side of the table. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Fumikage was talking with Shouji, Kouda, Jirou, and the mirror-haired Management student about the economical monopoly that was being formed by the Imperial Family, his voice hushed so as to avoid drawing undue attention from the tables of students around them, while Hitoshi and Shouto piped in every now and then. Shouto would occasionally shoot suspicious glances at Izuku's water bottle- 'I wonder what that's about-' and then return to the conspiracy theories on the right side of the table.

Tenya was currently educating Uraraka, Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu, Mei, and a scared-looking Support student on the existence of legacy students and what it meant to be one, thanks to Uraraka pointing out that he spoke like a rich person, and the conversation subsequently developing from there. The blue-haired teen still didn't recognize him as his brother's unofficial nephew/son/whatever, which honestly made sense, as he himself hadn't recognized Tenya until he'd seen his quirk's mutation exposed. It would be more difficult for the other to recognize him anyways, given that Tensei had likely introduced him to Tenya as a fluffy quirkless child, and Izuku very obviously had a quirk and was most definitely not a fluffy child.

"-and so, with the purpose of protecting the family members of active heroes, the legacy system was formed! Ingenium is my elder brother, and that alone would make me a legacy student, but heroism runs back many generations in the Iida family! It was in part thanks to us that the system was successful, as well as several affluent Yuuei graduates, and as a result, children of heroes can attend this school in greater safety than they would be able to most others!"

Paying a bit more attention to the legacy discussion than the corporate nightmare discussion, the greenette ran his tongue piercing over the roof of his mouth, and contemplated.

'Given the fact that I am, biologically at least, the son of either Shouta, Hizashi, or Tensei, I should be registered as a legacy student. However, literally nobody knows that except for me and my mom, so I currently have the same level of anonymity as a regular student. A few of the Management students do know of me because of my mom's career, but that level of reputation is honestly just the same as most of theirs, so it doesn't make as much difference as being related to a hero does. Sad as that is. There are a lot of people just as valuable as heroes out there who get so much less recognition than they deserve.'

It felt weird to refer to his potential dads as uncles, since he knew that one of them was actually his dad but not which one, so he'd taken to mentally referring to them by their given names without any honorifics attached. He'd probably never refer to them as such to their faces, but in his head, nobody would know.

"Ooh, what kinds of extra protection do you get? Are there a bunch of stuffy restrictions that you have to deal with? This might be the first time we've seen you smile!"

It would be good for him to learn as much about legacy students as he could, so that he knew what to expect in case he ever did figure out which of his uncles was his dad. As such, Izuku began to lean more towards the left side of the table... when an alarm began to ring over the cafeteria.

"There has been a level three security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly."

All around them, students stood up and looked around in panic; some of them running straight for the exits and others staying where they were in confusion. Mostly, it was the first year students staying in place, as they weren't familiar with the evacuation procedures yet.

"What's a level three security breach!?"

Tenya's voice broke through the chaos, and Izuku, climbing up onto his seat to get a better view of the eatery, took it upon himself to answer. He'd learned a bit more than what the student handbook said from Aunt Nemuri during her visits, so he knew a certain number of details that other students wouldn't; this being one of them.

"It means that someone is intruding on school grounds. They want us outside so they know who's safe and so they can figure out where the trespasser is, if they haven't already done so."

As students rushed for the exits, the first years catching on and scattering, the greenette held a few of his friends behind so they wouldn't get caught up in the crowd. Uraraka, Jirou, and Tsuyu were the first three he prioritized, because they were on the shorter side of the class, and they'd be at greater risk of being hurt in a panicking crowd. Tenya and Yaoyorozu noticed his caution and moved carefully as well, while Shouto and Hitoshi used their height advantage to help Izuku protect their shorter classmates, and Fumikage brought out Dark Shadow to do the same for himself and the girl from Management. Mei and the now-panicking Support student she'd brought with her had gone for one of the exits on the opposite side of the eatery, and seeing that it was getting less traffic, it seemed to have been an alright idea.

"We should wait for the other students to go ahead first, that way we won't have anyone pushing us from behind! The alarm would've gone off the second that the intruder got in, so we have a few moments to spare before they'd get here! Just in case, keep an eye out for anyone not wearing the school uniform!"

The greenette's heartbeat pounded in his chest, faster due to all the sudden excitement and the adrenaline running through him, but he kept his expression as calm as he possibly could. He was the class representative, after all, and he had to make sure everyone was safe. As with heroism, this included their minds as well as their bodies... it didn't matter if he hadn't been expecting to take on the responsibilities of this role just a few hours after being elected into it.

"Yaoyorozu-san, as you make your way outdoors, I want you to gather everyone in our class to one area! I'll make sure that I'm the last one out, so we'll know if anyone went missing during the rush when I arrive!"

The black-haired girl nodded and made her way out of the cafeteria, and as students in the adjacent halls yelled and screamed about being pushed and falling, Izuku frowned. They wouldn't be able to help anyone who was in trouble in the crowd, as long as they remained panicked, so he needed to find a way to calm them down...

Looking at his classmates- rather, those who were still at the table with him- he saw that Shouji and Kouda had both stayed behind. This meant that of the original twelve students sitting there, there were still eight left, and he knew that at least seven of them would be useful in some way. It wasn't like they could mount a rescue operation or anything, but there were enough of them to potentially make a difference. It would have to do.

"Shouji-kun," he began, looking to him because he knew that Kouda wasn't much of a talker. "I might need your assistance in calming everyone down. Does making multiple mouths with your quirk and speaking with them all at once increase your volume?"

The taller boy shrugged, and Izuku nodded back, before looking to Uraraka and pointing at the window a bunch of students were currently being crowded against but weren't looking out of.

"Ura-kun, I need you to make Shouji float over there so he can see outside! The press has been hounding us about All Might for days now, and if they've gotten impatient enough, they might've broken in! Shouji, I need you to let people know as loudly as possible if that's the case! If it's not, or if you're not loud enough to get through to everyone, then come back to us here and we'll focus on keeping everyone safe as we head outside!"

He should've had Yaoyorozu make a megaphone before she left, but it was too late for that, so now they had to make do with what they had on hand. Shouji would be loud enough to broadcast over a shrieking crowd, right? Six hands, seven mouths, seven copies of the same voice yelling the same thing at once? It should work. And if it didn't, then they already knew that they had to go outside, so they could do so with the taller and stronger members of the class making sure that the shorter and weaker members didn't get crushed in the panicking crowd.

As the floating Shouji reached the window, looking a bit like an octopus with his arms spread out, the greenette waited for his next move. A single nod was sent his way, and as six mouths formed on the limbs of his tallest classmate, he breathed a sigh of relief about his suspicion being right.

"EVERYONE, PLEASE CALM DOWN! WE'RE NOT IN ANY DANGER! IT'S ONLY THE PRESS!"

The octopus-like teen's overlapping voice broke through the chaos, and as the message was received, people began to look out the windows for themselves. One by one, just as quickly as they'd reacted to move for the exits, they began to quiet down and realize what they'd been doing. Nobody shrieked or screamed anymore, and a calmer evacuation began, the students who were previously being trampled being helped back up to their feet and out of the building.

With most of the danger having passed, Izuku's group made their way out of the cafeteria, and joined their classmates outside. True to his word, the greenette was the last one out- on the way, he'd found a rather heavily trampled Mineta in one of the corners of a hallway, and had stopped to pick up the unconscious girl. A trip to Recovery Girl's office would be in order after this...

Soon, the presence of the police got the various reporters and cameramen to back off, and peace was restored. The students returned to the cafeteria for an extended lunch period, and the day ran a little longer than usual, but everyone was able to get home safely.

Izuku, along with the other students currently staying in the dorms, decided to eat all of the ice cream in the freezer instead of an actual dinner, as a reward for a job well done.

Chapter Text

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered]

[TheOGMusketeer is whispering to AlexandriteAphelion...]

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 4:30am:

AlexandriteAphelion. It is out of a respect for your potential, and the desire to preserve a unique mind such as your own, that I must insist you not attend class today. There are pieces in play that even you are not aware of, for all the digging that you have done, and you will perish if you face them blindly. Remain at home, or remain in the dormitory building on the school campus... but do not accompany your classmates today.

[AlexandriteAphelion is whispering to TheOGMusketeer...]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 4:48am:

I don't understand. Why are you telling me not to attend class? How do you know what school I go to?

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 5:00am:

The hero academy, Yuuei High, will be attacked en masse later today. If you attend your classes, then you will die. I would like to avoid that outcome if possible, but if you choose to disregard my warning, then I will be unable to help you.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 5:02am:

...is there any information you can give me that will keep my classmates alive? Anything I can tell my teachers that will help?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 5:27am:

Please, can you give me any more information on the attack? There are others from HoloGraphic in my class. Can you give me more information if only to protect them?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 5:52am:

Grandpa Cryptid?

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 6:15am:

I'm sorry, but if you won't tell me how to keep my friends safe, then I'll have to accompany them myself. Thank you for the warning. Please take care of yourself.

Kouda Kouji was a morning person.

He loved the sunrise, and the way that the dewdrops on the grass shone in the early morning light. He loved the stirring of the wildlife in the area, and the energy that came to him as he awoke to see it all. He loved the crisp air of nighttime shifting into daytime, and the rather hilarious sound of birds trying to see who can scream about their problems the loudest.

Yes, that's really what the birds were doing. Mornings were the unanimously agreed-upon time in bird culture to get all of their worst screaming out of the way, that way any screaming that occurred later on in the day was confirmed as serious and absolutely necessary. More casual discussions about food and humans and babies occurred throughout the rest of the day, with the occasional flirting and verbal smackdown. So, while the sounds were beautiful when he wasn't using his quirk, they were only hilarious when he was.

"HEY, GET THE FUCK OFFA MY BRANCH!"

Shaking his head, the selectively mute teen made his way off the balcony of his room, and entered the hallway of the third floor.

As a morning person, Kouda got up bright and early. And as such, he was often the first one out of his room in the dorms, going to retrieve some food for his pets and then returning to stay with them for the various levels of socialization they need. Then he'd get ready for his classes, and then he'd go downstairs to meet with the others in the kitchen for his own breakfast, though he was often still the first person there. Occasionally, however, Midoriya Izuku would already be there, staring out the window with a protein shake in hand.

Today, the recently-appointed representative of class 1-A was in the kitchen before him, but he wasn't looking out the window. His protein shake rested on the counter, and he himself rested on the floor, mumbling incoherent syllables and tapping the tiles beneath him to a quick and erratic beat. As Kouda entered, greenish-red eyes glanced up to look at him, before their owner returned to staring at the kitchen island as though it held the secrets of the universe.

Kouda frowned slightly, and silently checked if the greenette was experiencing an attack of some sort, because that seemed to be the most likely explanation for what he was seeing here.

Panic attacks were the go-to definition of an attack for most people, but a little known detail was that they were intense to the point of being obvious to any onlookers, and were often accompanied by overwhelming fear. Midoriya didn't seem like he was particularly affected- no, that wasn't the right phrasing... he didn't seem like he was experiencing anything so intense as the typical panic attack would be. That was right.

However, there was another kind of attack that was often confused for panic attacks, known as anxiety attacks. Whereas panic attacks came on suddenly and were deeply intense, anxiety attacks were calmer, and came on to the victim over a longer period of time. In addition, there were a few things that differentiated anxiety attacks from panic attacks- anxiety attacks were sometimes accompanied by restlessness, and panic attacks were sometimes accompanied by detachment.

By these criteria, Kouda could tell that his class representative was having an anxiety attack, and not a panic attack. Midoriya had acknowledged his presence when he'd entered the room, thus proving that there was not much detachment from the world around him present, and he was displaying restlessness in his mumbling and tapping. The attack seemed to be a moderate one, as it had slightly interfered with his usual behavior, but he wasn't falling into what could become a panic attack.

Now then... he'd figured out what was wrong, so how could he help?

The mountain of a teen wasn't sure if Midoriya would take well to being mothered, as he'd seemed to be a very independent individual during their classes, especially during the battle trial. He'd taken on one of the more powerful members of the class himself, protecting Uraraka by keeping her out of the crossfire, while not being very obvious about it. The only reason Kouda knew that protection was on his mind was because of the boy's body language...

Being silent for most of his life had given Kouda the opportunity to hear the things that weren't spoken so often as they were shown.

Still, he couldn't just stand around and do nothing. He understood quite well how terrible it was to have any sort of attack in front of another person, and while it didn't seem to bother the greenette much right now, odds were that it would later on if he didn't do anything to help. Plus, he was training to be a hero- and what kind of hero would he be if he left a hurting classmate to suffer?

Chewing on the inside of his cheek nervously, Kouda moved forward, and slowly reached out a hand to rest on Midoriya's shoulder.

The other teen looked up at him again, still tapping, but paused his mumbling to ask a quick, "What?" of him. It wasn't in a rude tone, but it wasn't in the brightest tone either, and he seemed to realize that himself as an apologetic look passed across his face.

"What's wrong," the mountainous teen whispered and signed at the same time, having learned that the greenette didn't understand sign language during class the other day, "and is there anything I can do to help?"

Midoriya's eyes remained locked on his hands, and Kouda was briefly surprised by the other teen mimicking the signs, before a response came and answered his questions.

"You're a good person," the greenette said quietly. "I might as well tell you."

Kouda made sure to listen carefully, as the boy before him sighed and began to speak.

"I just got some bad news from an acquaintance of mine. Something is going to happen here at the school later on, and I need to tell the teachers about it if I have any chance of helping, but telling them might just end up hurting things as well. Usually in cases like this one I'd keep the information to myself and try to handle it on my own, but this is... it's too serious to risk. So, I've been trying to run through all the possible ways to share what I know without them thinking that I'm just paranoid or that I'm a villain or something."

He nodded, and the greenette continued, fingers tapping a bit slower than before.

"I could go to one of the teachers who knew me before Yuuei and would trust me, but then I'd probably have to explain how I got my information, and I can't do that unless I want to lose something extremely important to me. I could instead hide my identity and leave an anonymous note on the door of the teacher's lounge, but then they might not take it seriously, and think it's just a student pranking them or something. And I could also talk to them face to face, adding credibility to my information if only by my willingness to staple my identity to it, but then they might think that I'm a villain and expel me because of the information that I know. If I had more of a warning than just a day, I could've done something like email one of them from an anonymous but credible source location, and none of those risks would've been a problem..."

Kouda frowned, understanding the options that Midoriya had come to, and the dilemmas that came with them. It sounded like some pretty serious stuff was going on, and if it was happening at Yuuei, it could potentially end up with their classmates getting hurt. However, if the price of telling came with potentially being branded as a villain and expelled, without a guarantee of it even helping... well, even the most selfless people would hesitate at that risk.

Seeing his class representative steel himself, as though a decision had been made and he was going off to fight in a war, the quiet teen squeezed the other's shoulder in order to recapture his attention.

"My quirk lets me talk with animals," Kouda began, an alternate option coming to mind as he spoke the first things coming to mind. "You could tell an animal... or you could tell me... and I could tell the teachers for you..."

Midoriya looked at him as though someone had never offered to do something like this for him before, as though it were insane for someone to do so, which made it clear that he thought this was more serious than he was saying. But now Kouda was determined, because it was something he could do that had so much less risk to him than it did to the greenette, because nobody really knew what animals could communicate besides him. Nobody tracked each and every part of the wildlife, so nobody could know what he did or didn't hear from them.

"You... Kouda-san, we just met, like, half a week ago. Why do you trust me? Why are you willing to act as my messenger?"

He posed good questions. Logical questions, ones that Kouda would've been asking himself, if it weren't for the fact that he felt like he had a grasp on the other's personality. Sure, he wasn't one of the people who had voted to have Midoriya as class representative, but he wasn't displeased by the outcome. It was obvious that he cared, betrayed by his body language and his own words...

Shouji and Jirou hadn't been the only ones to have overheard his conversation about Bakugou during the quirk assessment test.

"You're a good person," Kouda said, throwing the other teen's words back at him, "and there's basically no risk for me to tell them. Nobody here but me can understand animals, so nobody knows what they might or might not have said to me. I don't like lying, but humans are technically animals, so if you tell me the information then I won't be lying when I tell the teachers that an animal told me about it."

The greenette stared at him for a few minutes more, his face twitching in a variety of emotions that were suppressed too quickly for him to read, before he seemed to settle on great relief.

"Okay," he said, pushing himself up off of the kitchen floor, leaving Kouda to follow suit. "I'm... I'll trust you on this. Do you want to write it down on paper so you don't have to fumble through signing it to them or risk forgetting anything, or are you confident that you can go without?"

"I'd like to write it down, please."

With that, what had originally begun as helping a new friend out of an anxiety attack turned out to be delivering a risky message for said friend, some time before the day had properly begun. But Kouda was a morning person, and he got up bright and early every day, so he was easily filled with the energy and determination to do so.

'I've gotten slower.'

Yagi Toshinori soared through the air on his way to work, to the school that his successor was attending, to the students that he'd be teaching later on. His yellow pinstriped suit flapped in the breeze behind him, looser than his hero costume, reminding him that he couldn't take too many detours. He had to leave that family to be saved by the heroes already present, and he had to only intervene with crimes that had none at hand. No matter how much he wanted to take things on as he used to, he had to rely on other heroes to pick up his slack now, so he could put his energy to use for the next generation.

It was waning quite quickly, after all. He was weaker now than he'd been in months, weaker than he'd been in years, weaker than he'd been in decades.

'Ever since I gave Izuku-shounen One For All, my powers have been weakening, and the time that I can spend in this form has been dwindling. I have to pick and choose which battles I fight, because I can no longer successfully fight them all. I can no longer carry the troubles of the world on my shoulders...'

A fist landed on the hood of a car, and the hero showed his smile to the bystanders, before leaping off into the heavens once more. He was wearing a suit, not his costume, and he oh-so-very wished that it wasn't the case.

'After my power has completely run dry, what will I become? What will I be, if I am not a hero, saving the world with a smile on my face? What chaos will I be leaving behind, for Izuku and my colleagues to handle, when the people realize that their Symbol of Peace is dead?'

The media had already caught onto his steadily decreasing presence in the public eye. His job as a teacher at Yuuei was a cover for it, and it had originally been how he was going to scout out his next successor. Favors with the principal had been exchanged many times throughout the years, and he was finally going down, with his debts fully cleared. Everything was in place. Everyone in the know was prepared.

All Might was going to retire soon, and then the world would scream.

Chapter Text

"For today's Hero Basic Training, it's turned into a class with four instructors. You'll have me, All Might, and two more pro heroes watching you."

Izuku glanced across the classroom to Kouda, and the bigger teen sent him a discreet thumbs up. Normally their afternoon hero classes only had one teacher to watch them, but this one has four, so it was clear that telling them about the attack had made a difference. However, there was the possibility that they were already going to do something like this because of the press breaking in, so there was no way of knowing for certain...

"Today, our focus is going to be rescue training. You'll learn how to locate, treat, and transport injured civilians in a variety of natural and unnatural disasters. You can decide whether you want to wear your costumes or not this time, because there are probably costumes amongst yours that will hinder your abilities..."

As his uncle pressed a button on a remote and the costume shelves emerged from the wall, the rest of the class surged for them excitedly, while the greenette stayed seated. His costume had been destroyed by Katsuki during the battle trial, so he was going to be wearing his gym uniform instead. The only things left in his costume case were his accessories, like his gloves and utility belt and joint compression sleeves, so he could wait to grab it until everyone else had grabbed their own cases.

"Oh, and the training will be taking place in an off-campus facility, so we're taking a bus. Make sure you're prepared, and meet me in the parking lot when you're ready."

With that, Aizawa Shouta left the room, and let the students do their own thing. He was still playing it cool around Izuku during class, as he'd said he would, but he knew that the man had an eye on him. As such, he very carefully didn't react to the news that the training would occur in an off-campus facility, instead gazing at the costume shelves as though he were merely waiting for his classmates to clear out.

Grandpa Cryptid had told him that he would be safe if he stayed at home or in the dorms. The dorms weren't exactly close to the main building, but they were definitely on the school campus, behind the barrier that had been partially destroyed the day before. He'd gotten the message early in the morning, so whatever happened, it was likely that the old man was going to be involved somehow. He had inside information. He had to be involved. But the greenette didn't know whether it was an actively villainous involvement or an unfortunate bystander's involvement, so he had to be careful, and he had to avoid alienating the man after this.

Running his tongue piercing over the roof of his mouth, Izuku got up and retrieved his costume case- the last one left on the shelf- and moved to join his friends with a fearful sort of determination fuelling him.

"Everyone, please find a seat on the bus once you're ready! We don't want to hold things up!"

Izuku, in his gym uniform and most of the accessories from his costume, held up a gloved hand to wave his classmates over. They weren't exactly the quickest to move, but eventually they got on board, and the class was on its way.

"Mido-kun, why are you in your gym uniform when everyone else is in their costumes?"

Sitting in the open front area of the bus, with most of his close friends having chosen to stay in the quieter back of the bus, Izuku reflexively glanced down at what he was wearing at the question from Uraraka.

The joint compression sleeves on his elbows and knees would allow him to use One For All to a greater extent, lessening the damage it would cause in those places if he were to go over his current limit of eight percent. His fingerless gloves with extra padding and some metal-like plastic ridges on the knuckles would allow him to hit his opponents harder, but if anyone asked, he'd only worn them because he didn't want to scrape up his palms. The pouches on his utility belt had some extra supplies in them, brought from the dorms, so as to be extra prepared for what might happen today.

The attack had to be occurring off-campus, where they were going right this minute. He had to keep an eye out for everyone... even though his friends were on board to help him do so, he had to watch all of them, so he could react quickly when something was revealed to be amiss.

"Ah, my costume was destroyed, remember? The chestplate melted right to the back of my jumpsuit. Apparently it was made more for withstanding physical blows than high-temperature ones."

He made sure to grin, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms behind his head, taking a position of open body language to give off the impression that he was completely confident and relaxed.

"I forgot about that! That battle exercise was pretty crazy. I'm glad you didn't get too hurt!"

Ah, yes, because having damaged his eyes by overusing his quirk wasn't 'too hurt'. Granted, Uraraka didn't really know that, so he couldn't hold it against her, but the word had spread throughout the class a bit...

The people who did know gave her a certain look as she spoke, however, and then glanced back to Izuku, as the conversation shifted gears.

"I say whatever comes to mind," Tsuyu spoke up from her seat to his left, turning to face him more prominently. "Midoriya, your quirk is like All Might's. Your strength and speed are boosted like his, although he doesn't bruise and damage his eyes like you do. What's up with that?"

The greenette blinked, not expecting someone to say something like that to his face, and tried to keep his emotions hidden as he responded with as casual of a tone as he could muster.

"That side effect was kind of a new thing for me, so I'm not totally sure why it happened. Probably quirk overuse? And as for my quirk being like All Might's, I can't say what that's about either. My mom told me that my dad died before I was born."

The chatter in the bus around them went silent, and Tsuyu stared at him for a few moments. It was probably not a good idea to be so blunt about the death of one's own father, but it wasn't like the man actually existed, and all of the potential candidates for being Izuku's real father were alive and well. But the most important thing here was that he was telling the truth- Inko had indeed told him that- because he didn't yet know how strong the hearing of his sensory classmates was.

One's heartbeat gave them away when they were lying, and he didn't want to risk getting caught in any sort of lies about his quirk or parentage. Not until he'd figured things out, at least.

"Dude," Kaminari began, before falling silent. The look of awkwardness on his face made it clear that he didn't know how to proceed...

Maybe Izuku shouldn't have used that as his excuse.

"Ah, don't worry about it," he said, cracking his neck to release the tension there. "The rest of my family more than made up for the absence of a father figure. Besides, you can't miss something that you never knew, right?"

The bus remained silent, and then Kirishima saved his ass, swooping in with a smile that was too bright for his Goth heart to handle.

"Ayyy, I never had a dad either! I have two moms instead, and they're both awesome! Go lesbians!"

A few people looked surprised at that, and the conversation picked up again, people either asking questions or sharing details about their own parental figures. Izuku learned that Tenya's mom had glasses like he did, and that Uraraka had gotten the chocolate coloring of her hair from her own mom, and that Aoyama's family had originally lived in France before moving to Japan. Then Hitoshi made the mistake of mentioning that he'd been adopted by a pro hero, and many interested parties jumped on that train of thought, asking him who it was and what they were like off duty and other questions pertaining to life as the child of a hero.

"Wait, but you're not registered as a legacy student! Shinsou-kun, I must insist that you remedy this as soon as possible! Your safety could be at risk-!"

Tenya caught on to a detail that the greenette had missed, and turning to face his closest friend, Izuku raised a single eyebrow as high as it would possibly go.

"What- no- it's fine, I'm already going by a different last name than his to avoid people making connections. If I registered as a legacy student now, they'd wonder who I was related to, and it would only draw more attention."

As the conversation rolled on, Hitoshi and Tenya going back and forth on their points of view, the greenette noticed his uncle stand up at the front of the bus. Black eyes scanned the students, and seemed to hesitate before him for a moment, before passing over him and continuing down to the back of the bus.

"We're here," the man said, his voice loud enough to be heard over the dull roar of student chatter. "Stop messing around."

The bus slowed to a stop, and feeling the stressful anticipation of a villain attack potentially occurring during this exercise return, Izuku double checked his things to make sure that he was ready. He was going to protect them all, if that was possible, and he hoped that having three extra teachers would be enough to keep them safe.

Inside the facility that was known as the USJ, the two heroes that had previously gone unidentified were revealed to be Thirteen and Midnight. All Might was nowhere to be seen, and judging by the news he'd read this morning, it was possible that the man had used up his time for the day. This... well, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.

As much as he disliked her for trying to kill his dream when he was younger, Izuku understood that Aunt Nemuri had done so with the goal of keeping him safe. She was doing her job, both as a hero and as a concerned family member. He knew that, and he still loved her, and he was starting to reconnect with her. Therefore, it upset him a bit that he now had two family members on the line instead of one, assuming that Grandpa Cryptid had been telling him the truth this morning.

Glancing around the open area nervously, the greenette shifted a few steps away from the excitedly vibrating Uraraka, and closer to the friends of his that knew of what might be occurring.

"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, etcetera. This is a training ground that I made with different types of accidents and disasters in mind. It's called the 'Unforseen Simulation Joint,' or 'USJ' for short!"

The gender-neutral space hero introduced the class to their creation, and everyone glanced about, suitably excited for the rescue training that was about to occur. Uncle Shouta made his way over to the other two heroes present, and Izuku tried to ignore the pit that was forming in his stomach, taking controlled breaths beside Kouda. Everything had been fine thus far, and if things did go wrong, then he couldn't be uselessly panicking about it.

Katsuki's gaze burned steadily on his back, as it had been for the past few days, not helping him relax in the slightest.

"Let's see... Before we begin, let me say one thing... er, two things... or three, or four..."

The greenette scanned every part of the facility that he could see, trying his best to make it look casual, as the space hero spoke to his class.

"Everyone, I am sure that you are aware of my quirk, Black Hole. With it, I can suck up anything and turn it into dust."

Uraraka piped in then, seeming absolutely delighted to be in the presence of this hero. "You've used it to rescue people from disasters, removing harmful debris and other dangerous things around them!"

"Yes, but it is a power that can easily kill. Some of you have quirks like that, right? In this superhuman society, personal quirks have been registered and stringently regulated, so that doesn't seem to be a problem at first glance. However, please do not forget that there are many quirks that can kill with one wrong step. With Aizawa's assessment test, you found out the current potential of your individuality, and with All Might's versus-style combat training, I believe you experienced the danger of using those powers against others. This class is a fresh start."

As Thirteen spoke, the atmosphere around the class grew serious, those present either realizing or reaffirming the knowledge of how dangerous quirks could be. Izuku stopped peering around to really look at the space hero, having heard a somewhat somber note of experience to their voice... with a quirk like Black Hole, it would be easy to kill someone, and it even came with an untraceable body disposal. If they had so chosen, Thirteen could have been quite the deadly villain, but they were instead a case of the good in humanity shining through.

Or perhaps, they were a case of luck. Maybe they were an example of stubbornness, and determination. Their quirk was what many people would refer to as villainous, due to the fact that it could only destroy, but they had become a hero despite it. Hitoshi would do well to take notes.

"You shall learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives. You do not have powers so you can harm others. I hope you leave here with the understanding that you have powers in order to help others... That is all. Thank you for listening."

Well, it looked like Katsuki should take notes too! If only someone had given him that speech when he was just five years old and already turning into a bully, then things might have turned out very differently than they actually had.

The class applauded Thirteen's speech, the greenette being no exception, and then Aunt Nemuri stepped forward to smack a riding crop across her hand.

"Alright boys and girls, first up-!"

A crackling sound interrupted her, and the lights around the perimeter of the facility dimmed to nothingness. The fountain in the center plaza sputtered off and on a few times, and a clump of something purple began to form... Izuku felt his face drain of blood, as he stared into the darkness, and his fears were confirmed.

"Gather together and don't move! Thirteen, Midnight, protect the students!"

It was happening.

The attack was actually happening.

"Wait, is this like the entrance exam where the lesson's already started?"

Kirishima took a step forward to squint at the plaza, and Shouta's voice could only be described as snappy, with how swift and precisely it came.

"Don't move- those are villains."

Grandpa Cryptid had warned him.

Chapter Text

"The only real heroes I see here are Eraserhead, Midnight, and Thirteen... how perplexing. According to the schedule we retrieved from Yuuei, All Might should be here instead of Midnight."

As the blackish-purple mist drew itself into the rough shape of a man and began to speak with a voice that echoed all the way to the entrance, Midoriya Izuku frantically scanned the environment, trying to count how many villains were in the area. His hands shook as the adrenaline of the situation rushed through him, and his heart pounded to a faster beat.

Could Shouji and Jirou hear it? Could they hear the heartbeats of the entire class speeding up? They could hear whispered conversations in a moderately loud environment, at the very least, judging by their behavior during the day of the quirk assessment test. He almost hoped that they couldn't hear the heartbeats of those around them, because it would be terrible to know that your classmates were terrified, while also knowing that there was little you could do about it.

"So, you scumbags used the press as a distraction to sneak into campus."

Eraserhead spoke with the villains, and Izuku glanced between the two parties, slowly forcing his mindset into a calmer state. Uncle Shouta was teaching them that attachments on the job were unhelpful to the situation, and Uncle Shouta was one of the few adults he actually trusted, so he had to heed his words at least once. He had to calm down, and think rationally, and hope that this wasn't going to go as poorly as his fight with Hitoshi's sperm donor went.

From behind him, Yaoyorozu whispered a question to one of the other teachers present. "Thirteen-sensei, why aren't the alarms going off?"

"That's a good question... I'm not sure."

That's right- this facility was a part of Yuuei, and as such, it was supposed to have intruder alarms ringing. It could only be that the villains had blocked or destroyed or disabled them somehow...

The greenette glanced over as Shouto spoke up quietly, and took a slow and careful step towards him, putting himself closer to the middle of the grouped-together class.

"Is the entire school under attack, or is it just us? Either way, it means that one of those villains must have a quirk that's masking their presence here." Shouto's voice was calm, despite the situation, and Izuku mentally commended him for that. "They carefully chose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught. They're fools for trespassing here, but they've thought this out. So whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind... but what is it?"

Eraserhead's goggles hid his gaze as he spoke to the heroes and the students behind him.

"Thirteen, get the students out of here, and alert the main campus. Midnight, focus on staying close to the students, help Thirteen with any combat that arises. And Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school. If they've got something to interfere with the alarm systems, they've probably got something to interfere with our regular communications as well."

The man stepped forward, and the pit in the greenette's stomach grew, as he realized the current intent his uncle possessed.

"Sh-Eraserhead, you can't fight them on your own. Even if you could nullify all of their quirks, your fighting style isn't suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights; that's not gonna help with a group... W-Wouldn't it be better to send Midnight down there and have her knock them all out?"

He tried to offer his aunt as the more logical alternative it was, as much as he disliked himself for doing so, but his uncle was quick to shut it down.

"Her quirk takes time to spread, and if she's overwhelmed before it has the chance to do so, it would be as though we sent her down as a sacrifice. That would've been a good plan in a different situation, though. So, Midoriya, keep your classmates safe. Midnight, Thirteen... I'll leave it to you."

Eraserhead leapt down from the steps, flying towards the approaching crowd of villains at high speed, and Izuku took a deep breath as he turned around. His uncle had given him the obligation to focus on his classmates, and as soon as they were out, then the teachers could follow.

"There is no escape for you."

The villain who was made of mist flowed into existence before them, between the students and the exit, and several things happened at once. Izuku's friends had been prepared for this attack- he'd warned them about it and they had taken it seriously- so the villain appearing before them was targeted the very instant he showed up.

A line of ice cast forth through the gathered students, careful to avoid them, while aiming directly at the lower body of the mist.

Dark Shadow surged forth, a screech emanating from its throat, and two clawed hands slashed towards the villain's head and torso.

Hitoshi opened his mouth, in preparation to speak.

And then the villain evaded each and every attack thrown at him.

"It is rude to attack someone who is introducing themself, heroes in training, but I suppose I can give you a pass just this once... We are the League of Villains."

One For All hummed throughout Izuku's body, bolts of green lightning dancing upon his skin and hissing in his ears, as he prepared to move. Beside him, his purple-haired friend spoke up... if he could successfully brainwash the villain, then everyone could escape quickly and safely.

"Why are you here? What do you want from us?"

The villain looked at Hitoshi, and greenette held his breath, waiting for the response to occur... but then the purple mist turned its yellow gaze upon someone else in the class.

"I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath? I believe he was to be here today, and yet I see no sign of him."

He knew what Hitoshi's quirk was, and he knew it well. He was avoiding it by not speaking to him directly. Did the villains know all of their quirks, or only a certain number of them, or what? Was Hitoshi an exception due to his scumbag of a sperm donor, or was he an example of the rule? This wasn't good.

"In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."

From the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Katsuki and Kirishima tense up as though to move, and his currently tight hold over his emotions briefly wavered.

"DIIIIEEEE!"

Together, moving as one, his rival and his classmate rushed towards the villain and into Thirteen's line of fire. They moved their hands forward to attack the villain, and together, they vanished into the mist... neither came out on the other side.

The greenette's hands shook violently at what those two had done, and as the villain expanded its body outwards once more, moved at the same time as the teachers. He shoved Tenya and Uraraka out of the way of the mist overwhelming them, as Midnight- with impressive strength- did the same for Shouji and Satou. Shouto reflexively leapt away on his own, a hand pulling Hitoshi behind him, and Thirteen aimed Black Hole to try and divert some of the mist that was already taking some of the students away. For all their efforts, however, it wasn't enough...

"BEGONE!"

As he moved to push Fumikage and Kouda to safety, Izuku felt the blackish-purple mist swirl around him, and then the world was filled with static and darkness.

Mineta Michiru was absolutely justified to be terrified in this situation.

She didn't care what anyone thought, because not only her, but everyone in their class were still just kids. They'd barely graduated middle school the month before, and they'd only had one real combat exercise so far, and now they were up against too many villains for her to count. Dozens in the plaza, dozens in the facility, maybe over a HUNDRED!

'A HUNDRED VILLAINS. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE UP AGAINST!? WHY THE HECK AREN'T YOU SCARED TOO!?'

The grape-haired teen, staring at the large-B-cup or small-C-cup sized Asui, couldn't understand how she was just standing on the deck of the boat without any emotion on her face. It was like she wasn't even affected by all of this, like she didn't see the many villains gathering around them in the water, like this entire situation wasn't a problem to her at all! Was it the cold-blooded nature of her quirk taking effect, or was her personality just that detached? Michiru didn't know, but it was terrifying her even more, and she had no idea how to deal with all of this!

"Mineta-kun, calm down. We're actually not in that much danger."

Excuse her, did she just tell her to calm down? HOW WERE THEY NOT IN THAT MUCH DANGER???

"Look, you're very short and light, I'm a humanoid frog with more than enough strength to carry you, and we're surrounded by water. Compared to our classmates, we got off pretty easy. So I'd appreciate it if you stopped crying so loudly, kero."

At first the words didn't quite make sense, through the haze of fear beginning to cloud her mind, but then she caught them. She understood what the other was saying almost immediately afterwards, and a burst of angry stress rushed through her, as her tears began to slow.

"IF YOU CAN SAVE US, THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE IT ALREADY!?"

The green-haired girl stared at her, emotionless face seeming to cast a shadow of icy darkness over her, despite her body not moving even an inch.

"Consider it punishment for groping me while we were still in the water, kero. I understand that you're stressed and looking for some form of comfort here, but if you touch my boobs again while I'm carrying you out of here, then I'm gonna tell Aizawa-sensei how you've been staring at our classmates."

Feeling a mixture of emotions that could best be described as horrified indignation, Michiru realized that Asui Tsuyu was perhaps even more terrifying than the villains trying to kill them, and shakily agreed not to feel her up while they were still in danger anymore.

Izuku was falling.

He'd never been so high up in the air before, and it would be an incredible sensation, were it not for the fact that his class was in the middle of being attacked. As it was, he was fortunate that he wasn't so high up as to reach terminal velocity before landing on the soaked concrete of a rainy, windy environment, or else he might have gotten greater injuries than what could only be a broken arm.

A broken arm that really, really fucking hurt, despite all the experiences he'd had with pain thus far in his life.

"Hey guys, our first victim is here! Haha, he looks like a total runt!"

The raspy voice of a rather excited villain met the greenette's ears, and he turned, gazing into pale yellow eyes that were surrounded by jagged edges and a wavering form. Due to the fact that the colors of the villain and the environment were rather washed out, he was able to recognize that this zone of the USJ was pretty dark, and his lips thinned as he considered how well any of his classmates would do fighting alone in such an environment...

He had to find out if anyone else had been transported here with him.

"Aw, but it looks like he's already been broken. Come on sweetie, did you break your arm in the fall, or did you fight back like a naughty boy?"

First, though... he had to take down these villains around him. He didn't know what their quirks were or how well they could fight, and they had far greater numbers than he did, so he had to be careful about it too. Disadvantage rested heavily on his shoulders, like a cape that had been caught and was being used to drag him down, but he had to stay standing. He had to fight, like Fatgum and All Might had taught him to, like the heroes he'd analyzed had fought before him...

Wait, hold up.

Failing to grace either villain with an answer, the sleepless teen pulled the power of One For All to the surface, and leapt away so quickly that only the most observant of beings would be able to see his movement. The dark and stormy environment helped him hide just as well as it had helped them, and soon they lost sight of him, giving him the time he needed to pull a roll of capture tape from his belt and wind it around his broken arm in a makeshift sling. Once that was done, he tied everything off and tested the range of movement he had with this broken arm, gritting his teeth to keep silent all the while.

Okay, now he could fight.

With a calm that he only possessed thanks to years of psychological training and analyzing hero skirmishes, Izuku forced most of the remaining fear from this situation far away, knowing that it would only be so useful to him. Fear sharpened the senses, as he knew quite well, but if he let it overwhelm him, then it would become a hindrance he couldn't deal with. Therefore, he made sure to only let a trickle of it pass through his senses, using it to keep focused on the fist he'd just smashed into the face of the nearest villain.

"AAAGHH! THIS BRAT JUST FUCKING BROKE MY NOSE!"

Following the advice that Grandpa Cryptid had given him so long ago, the greenette sought out and targeted the weaknesses of these villains relentlessly, going for the generic weak spots of every human body when he couldn't immediately find any. Nose, jaw, throat, gut, genitals, kidneys, instep, and more- the villains screeched with pain and fury as he darted in and out of range, striking quickly and retreating before they could return the favor.

One For All made him faster and stronger, and his body had already been trained for agility and speed before he'd received it, so this was the fighting style that he was currently most suited for. Maybe someday he'd change it to be more like All Might's, especially considering that he was thinking of being a spotlight hero instead of an underground one, but for now he'd stick to the gritty hit-and-run style that he was most familiar with.

"RUN AWAAAAAY! IT'S A MONSTEEEER!"

Well, that scream didn't come from any of the villains he'd taken down.

"Dark Shadow, attack!"

'Oh thank fuck, Fumikage's here. Those villains really messed up by putting him in what's probably the darkest zone of the USJ.'

Adrenaline rushing through his body, dulling the pain that was in his left arm, Izuku followed the sound of terrified villains to locate his friend. Nearby the bird-headed teen was Kouda, and as the greenette approached, he saw a rather beautiful strategy playing out. Kouda would act as the bait, and then Fumikage would send forth the powerful Dark Shadow, overwhelming any villains foolish enough to fall for the trap in just one or two blows. It was a great plan, if a slow one, and it kept both of them out of immediate combat range.

"Fumikage, Kouda! Nice to see you're holding up alright!"

Announcing his presence, the sleepless teen kept an eye out for any more villains to be added to the trail he'd already taken down, and reunited with two of the people he'd told about the warning he'd received. They were alright, almost completely unharmed when compared to him, not safe but not particularly endangered either. The versatile offense and defense that Dark Shadow could provide had been an invaluable boon...

With relief seeping through his mind as the rain had seeped through his clothes, Izuku mentally checked two of his friends and classmates off of his imaginary list of 'people to save,' and joined them on their path to the zone's exit.

More than half of the class was gone.

Izuku, Fumikage, Kaminari, Kouda, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Asui, Ojirou, Aoyama, Kirishima, Bakugou, Mineta. All of them were gone, having been taken away by the villain of the mist, scattered across the facility with little chance of returning safely. They were all in danger, each and every one, and there was no telling whether or not any of them would return to them alive.

Hitoshi, Shouto, Iida, Uraraka, Ashido, Shouji, Sero, Satou. They were all that remained by entrance, the only students with any hope of escaping, the only ones who could go and get help from the school campus. Iida had just gotten through the doors, with the teamwork of everyone else making that possible, but now they had to worry about keeping themselves alive long enough to do the same.

Thirteen was injured, and although the mist villain had left them behind after his failure to keep any of them from escaping, there was already a new threat approaching them. Midnight was their only official defense, and she couldn't use her quirk unless she wanted to take them down with the villains, so she couldn't do much else but stand between them and the two pairs of footsteps climbing up the stairs.

"My, my, look at all of these precious children... so young and innocent!"

An unfamiliar voice called up to them, and the students present stood ready for a fight behind Midnight, as two figures reached the top. They were a man and a woman, the former with a flintstone body and matchstick hair, and the latter with arms that dripped a sweet-smelling liquid.

Shinsou Hitoshi didn't recognize the woman's voice, but he recognized their appearance... from one certain video that had been recorded the day that his father had almost killed him.

"The Match Made In Hell... also known as the Hellions. These are the villains responsible for the attack on Yavin Station last year, and they've caused a ton more damage elsewhere."

At the sound of his voice, telling his classmates what he knew, the well-dressed couple seemed to visibly perk up and preen. They weren't attacking, so he took the opportunity to continue, hoping that he could pass off the most important information he knew to his present classmates.

"Neither of their quirks have anything to do with fire directly, and individually they're quite weak, but together they discovered that they had a bit of chemistry. The woman douses their targets with the oil generated by her quirk, and the man sets them on fire by plucking one of the many matches from his hair, friction setting it alight. It's a deadly and destructive combination, but if we can separate them or even just take out the woman, then their quirks will essentially be rendered useless."

All they had to deal with were these two pyromaniacs, and then he and his classmates would be free to go. Those elsewhere in the facility would make their ways to the exit as they defeated the thugs in their general vicinities... All that those present had to do was make sure that the way was clear for them.

"Isn't that just adorable, dear? We have ourselves a little fanboy, right here in this training facility!"

The woman twirled in place, a bright and cheery grin upon her face, and sweet-smelling oil splashed about in a small circle around her. It didn't have nearly enough distance to hit anyone in the class, but it still caused a few of them to step back, now that they knew how the villains operated.

"Ah, but he's missing some information, you know. Do you think it would be fair to fault him for that?"

The man grinned wickedly, eyes locked on his significant other with a soft gaze that didn't match the rest of his expression. He seemed to lean towards her, as though she were a source of gravity to him, and she leaned towards him in the same way.

"No, no, I believe not! They haven't shown anyone the rest of our abilities, claiming that the footage was corrupted! What filthy liars, they are! And to think, they believe that they're protecting them!"

As the two villains seemed far more interested in chatting than fighting, the present members of class 1-A shared looks of confusion, but never let their guards down. It could just be a trick to make them relax, after all, and none of them wanted to get doused and burned to a crisp... but as long as they were talking, it gave the heroes at the school more time to arrive, so none of them were eager to attack and start the battle either.

"Should we show them what we can really do, my little honeytrap? We haven't been together in so long... I'm feeling a little distant..."

Hearing the grey-skinned man's words, the woman gasped in exaggerated horror, smacking oil-covered hands against her rosy cheeks.

"Oh my love, that just won't do! We must remedy this at once!"

Midnight's eyes widened behind her red glasses, and she threw a hand back, urgency ringing in her voice as she reached for one of her small belt pouches.

"Someone separate them now! Todoroki-!"

The stoic teen's ice surged forward, but the brunette villainess moved quite a bit faster than she spoke, and she leapt into the man's arms with a wicked smile.

"You'll regret that, Midnight," she smirked, as something strange began visibly happening to her body. "Nobody tries to separate the Hellions and lives to tell the tale!"

The class watched in horrified fascination as the villain couple seemed to melt, their skin becoming marbled surfaces of blue and grey and pink, as though the two had been shoved into a blender and dumped back out into a human-shaped mold. It was a fast transition, matchstick hair turning into brunette hair with frosted tips, villain costumes combining as well, and then it was done. In under ten seconds, the two villains had become one, and everyone except for Thirteen and Midnight was confused.

"Shinsou, you didn't say either of them had a quirk like that..."

Staring at the two that had become one, the purple-haired teen shook his head at Satou's comment, and took a rather concerned step backwards. "That's because they don't. I don't know what that is, I... Thirteen?"

The combined villain laughed, and then proceeded to... hug themself? Okay, the two alone had been pretty weird throughout this whole thing, and it was beginning to freak him out even more now that they were... together.

"That's not a quirk, children... That is called fusion, and it's something that you're not supposed to learn about until you're both physically and mentally mature enough to safely perform it yourselves... There are laws in place to protect you from things like this, but I suppose that when you are a villain, nothing is off limits."

At the sheer distaste in the space hero's weakened voice, Hitoshi and those around him seemed to reach the conclusion that it would be a good idea to save their questions for later, as they each made visible effort to focus. Instead of two villains to take down, now they only had to take down one villain... that shouldn't be too difficult, right?

"Fear not children, I don't hold your lack of knowledge against you! The law forbids adult figures from fusing in front of you children, or even just telling you about it, so it's truly no surprise! I'll just have to give you a little lesson in the basics myself, if I want you to comprehend my full GLORY~!"

Clapping their hands together, sparks and then flames appeared from the point of friction, and the villain's arms were set ablaze. With a wild grin, the androgynous figure aimed a palm towards Midnight and the students behind her, and one final cry preceded their attack.

"ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE COMBINED QUIRK MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR LOVE, FLAMETHROWER!"

The wide-eyed Hitoshi moved to pull his friend out of the way, as their classmates cried out in surprise and fear, and a jet of liquid fire burst towards them at high speeds.

Chapter Text

"It was hard to see when you were jumping around, but I found your tell..."

The light-blue-haired villain spoke in a raspy voice, locked in a grapple with Aizawa Shouta, so softly that it was difficult for Izuku to hear. Yet hear he did, from his hiding place in the bushes, having pointed his friends and classmates to the exit before making his way to the central plaza.

His uncle's hair dropped, and the greenette's hands shook, before he clenched his undamaged fist and took a deep breath.

" ...it's your hair. Don't push yourself too far now; you might just fall apart."

The pro hero and lead villain broke apart, the former being attacked and subsequently taking down more lackeys of the latter. His arm dangled uselessly by his side, blood oozing from his partially disintegrated elbow, and he panted for breath. From his position on the sidelines, Izuku wondered whether he should have sent his friends away or not, before pursing his lips and thinking, 'It's too late to be considering that now.'

After escaping the Downpour Zone with Fumikage and Kouda, the group of three had come across Tsuyu and Mineta, and he'd mentally crossed those two off the list as well. Due to the fact that Mineta was terrified, it hadn't been difficult to convince her to return to the entrance of the facility and help their classmates up there, as it so close to freedom that they'd be able to leave right after they finished off the villains up there. Kouda had seemed inclined to agree, being of a more pacifistic nature, but Fumikage and Tsuyu had needed an extra push to let him go forth on his own.

"I'm the class rep, guys. I refuse to leave without knowing that everyone else has gotten to safety before me. And before you say anything, that includes you too... Now get to the exit. I'll rejoin you when I know that everyone's up there with you."

That was what he said, and it was true, to an extent. As the class representative, he had given himself the moral duty of putting his classmates before himself, and so he was going to make sure that they were all on their way to safety before he himself would follow after. However, he did have another reason for striking out on his own... he had to check on Uncle Shouta. If all the villains were at the same skill level as those in the Downpour Zone, he didn't have to worry about them nearly as much as he did his uncle, so he could afford to take a quick stop by the plaza in the middle of the USJ.

So, here he was. The greenette lurked in the bushes close to the back, past the Flood Zone and closer to the Conflagration Zone, where he was planning to stop by after he made sure his uncle was okay. If that plan could be carried out, then that would be wonderful, but that wasn't in compliance with the first rule of combat.

"By the way, hero, I am not the final boss... Noumu. Play."

'No plan survives contact with the enemy.'

Before Izuku could even take the first step, the hulking purple creature beside Shigaraki Tomura surged forth, open hand reaching for his uncle's torso. One For All had to be pushed into his birth quirk for him to even track the thing, and it was a sickening realization to have that this 'Noumu' was faster than he himself was, perhaps even just as fast as All Might. There was no way to reach the thing before Shouta's chest was to the pavement, his black-sleeved and partially-disintegrated arm held back behind him in a sickening display of brutality, snapped in multiple places like a sheet of glass under a bowling ball.

"What do you think of him, Eraserhead? He's the bioengineered Anti-Symbol of Peace."

In the back of his mind, a brief thought declared him grateful that he couldn't dream, for otherwise he would most definitely have nightmares of this display.

Aizawa Shouta released a pained noise, something that sounded like it wanted to be a scream, but that was being forcibly kept quiet so as to avoid... well, most likely, attracting the attention of his students. It was already too late for Izuku, though, as he could see and hear everything quite clearly. He was right there beside them, hiding in the bushes where he was safe, frantically racing through the options available to him.

Fighting would result in death. Fleeing would result in death. Continuing to wait would result in death.

'What can I do?'

He had to move, he had to do something to save him.

'It hasn't even been a week yet.'

He couldn't just let this happen, not when he could... it was borderline suicidal, but if it worked...

"Shigaraki Tomura."

The mist villain folded out into existence beside the lead villain, who responded to the name spoken. Okay, information time. The leader's name was Shigaraki Tomura.

"Kurogiri. Did you kill Thirteen and Midnight?"

The mist villain's name, or alias, was Kurogiri. He was most likely present because he'd succeeded in his goal of scattering the students away from the entrance, and had killed his aunt and Thirteen, or he was present because he'd failed to do so. Judging by the orange firelight coming from the area, failure was the more likely option...

"The rescue hero is out of commission, and the other one is falling beneath the power of the Hellions. However, there were some students I was unable to disperse, and one of them got outside of the facility."

Shigaraki went silent, and the Noumu stopped exerting force upon Shouta. From his hiding place in the bushes, Izuku watched carefully as the villain began to scratch at the parts of his neck not hidden by his accessories, ignoring the pain in his eyes and arm.

"Kurogiri, if you weren't our way out of here... rrrgh, I'd tear apart every last atom in your body...!"

Blood slowly pooled on the concrete beneath his uncle's pinned body, and the greenette's face twitched, his calm exterior threatening to show the mixture of fear and fury boiling within him. He wished that he'd been able to land better in the Downpour Zone, so that his left arm wasn't broken. He wished that he'd gone to the teachers himself, instead of hiding behind Kouda like a coward, so that he could've impressed the importance of the situation on them better. He wished that these villains before him weren't so overpowered, so that he could jump in and take them down quickly, saving his family and his classmates.

He wished that he wasn't hesitating just because he didn't know if his idea would work or not.

"There's no way to win if a bunch of pros show up. It'll be game over, back to the title screen! And I was so looking forward to finishing this today... Dammit, let's go home."

Lifting his head slightly, hope and determination burning in the back of his throat, Izuku glanced between the injured Shouta and the agitated villain. Maybe he didn't have to go out there. Maybe the villains would leave without killing anyone. If the universe were kind to him only once in his life, he wouldn't mind it being now.

"Oh, but before we leave, let's make sure that the Symbol of Peace is broken... Let's wreck his pride."

Izuku blinked, and suddenly Shigaraki was there, right hand outstretched and approaching his face. His eyes burned, and his usage of One For All jumped up to an unstable ten percent, pushing his currently safe limit of eight percent as he dodged to the side opposite of the hand coming towards him. At the same time, he noticed his uncle's hair rising once more, eyes locked on the villain that was threatening his safety.

...how long had he known that he was there? How long had he known that Izuku was watching?

"You really are so cool, Eraserhead... as for you, brat, it's not nice to listen in on other people's conversations."

The greenette came to a stop out in the open, with Shigaraki to his left and Kurogiri to his right, standing between him and the Noumu that was pinning his uncle down. It was too late to go back for help now, and he didn't stand a chance of succeeding if he tried to grab Shouta and get out, and he couldn't abandon the man either. The only option he had left was to carry out his plan... his foolish, idiotic, shot-in-the-dark plan.

"Well, it's not nice to attack the acquaintances of Grandpa Cryptid either, so I'd say we're about even."

Name-dropping. That was his plan, the best plan that he could think of under this sort of pressure, and hopefully it would buy enough time for the heroes to arrive. Someone had escaped, so the clock was already ticking, and the odds were good that these villains knew who he was talking about. If Grandpa Cryptid knew enough to associate with them, then they probably knew enough to recognize the nickname and its source, but it was still a blind shot.

None of the villains moved, and the tension in the air grew, as Izuku ignored the sudden sharp gaze of his uncle upon him.

"Interesting... a special NPC appears halfway through the time trial. Are you a gift? Does he want you to be mine?"

Shigaraki took a curious step towards him, and he did his best to keep a calm demeanor, hoping that he could bluff his way out of this situation. His mother had trained him well in the arts of manipulation, both of himself and of others, so he at least had a chance of succeeding. Hopefully, his bullshitting wouldn't blow up in his face.

"I suppose you'll find out later when you get back to base. However, you failed your mission here, so why should you get any rewards?"

Internally, Izuku screamed, freaking out about the fact that he was referring to himself as a 'reward' to an actual villain.

"Ahh... I find that rather displeasing, brat. It's not my fault that All Might didn't show up as scheduled. I should at least get a consolation prize, don't you think?"

'OH FUCK. OH SHIT. SHIT FUCK.'

"It's not my decision to make," the greenette spoke a little bit faster, his body tensing up and his mind racing as the villain grew closer to him. "You'll have to take it up with him after you get out of here. You don't want to get caught, do you?"

As if that last sentence was some sort of trigger, Shigaraki surged forth to attack him again, and he felt his heart pound far too quickly in his chest as the world slowed down and grew clear once more. The man's face was contorted with rage as he attacked, and Izuku pushed himself to defend against the incoming blows, his broken arm hindering his ability to redirect incoming grabs and forcing him to dodge away when that side of him was being targeted.

"STUPID BRAT, DO YOU THINK I'M SO DUMB THAT I WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE A LIAR!? IF YOU WERE ON OUR SIDE, YOU'D KNOW WHAT WE REALLY CALL HIM, AND YOU'D HAVE ADDRESSED HIM AS SUCH!"

The dry-skinned villain moved fast, and the only reasons that he hadn't been hit yet were the training he'd received and the power of One For All pushing him onwards. If it weren't for the fact that he'd seen Shigaraki's quirk in effect, he would've thought that he had some sort of speed quirk. Instead, he was just naturally this fast, too fast for the greenette to do anything but put his entire focus into dodging him.

Red liquid dribbled slowly down beneath his burning eyes, and his rapid movements splattered it across the pavement, the adrenaline in his system ramping up to the point that he could barely feel the pain anymore. The world was sharp, stunningly crisp in its clarity, and Izuku could see almost everything occur as it unfolded.

"It's fine now!"

Although he hadn't noticed it before, at some point, the fighting at the entrance had stopped. The orange light was dim, and a dust cloud was smothering what was left, indicating that something of great force had occurred up there. As he moved through his slow motion world, he just barely caught glimpse of the white and yellow blur that was All Might approaching from the staircase, a grimace on the face that usually bore a smile. The hero was moving so quickly that even he couldn't clearly make him out, with both One For All and his original quirk... it was incredible.

"I AM HERE!"

As several lesser villains and the bonus addition of the Noumu were sent flying, Shigaraki stopped attacking the greenette for just an instant, and that was long enough for the Symbol of Peace to transport both him and Shouta a safe distance away. Blood splattered onto the shirt of the hero, his and his uncle's both, and the two were safe.

But All Might wasn't.

"Young Midoriya, go to the entrance. I'm leaving Aizawa-kun to you."

The man had solved two incidents in forty minutes on his way to the school that morning, as Izuku had read on the news. He had to be low on time, if not completely out of it, and straining himself would permanently shorten his time for the future. This was going from one bad situation to another, only slightly improved bad situation, and he didn't know how he could save them both...

The pained groan of Aizawa Shouta reached his ears, and greenette's breath hitched, as he moved to the black-clad man. He was being stupid, hesitating like this- the first thing he had to do was get the man to the entrance, as All Might had ordered, so that he could get medical help as soon as possible. His left arm was broken, though. How could he carry him without exacerbating either of their injuries?

Izuku looked down at the closed eyes of an injured man who may be his father, and a small amount of blood dribbled onto the man's costume, as he had yet to stop using One For All to boost his vision. His mind ran through many possible courses of action to take, and the potential consequences of each one...

Taking a deep breath, he moved to carefully lift Shouta onto his right shoulder in a fireman's carry, knowing that it was probably one of the safest options available. His right arm and hand held the man steady as he stood up to his full height and dashed forward, being extra careful of their injured arms. There was no way of knowing whether any ribs had been broken during the initial smash into the concrete, but his face had been damaged extensively as well, so he could only try to move fast enough that neither the man's face nor arms made contact with his back.

Hopefully this wouldn't fuck him up more than he had been already.

Past dozens of unconscious villains and up the stairs, the damaged and distressed Izuku carried Shouta to the rest of his gathered classmates, while All Might fought the battle below. Those present gasped at the sight of him, at the makeshift sling he'd made for himself and at the blood flowing down his face, at the hero he was carrying and at the fact that said hero literally been beaten into unconsciousness. He knew that the two of them looked like shit, and because he had a responsibility to each and every one of them here, the greenette forced a smile on his face that only Hitoshi and maybe Shouto would be able to discern was fake.

"I'm not too badly injured guys, but Aizawa-sensei really needs medical attention. The blood is just a side effect from my quirk, and head wounds always bleed more than they have a right to, so please try not to worry too much."

Aunt Nemuri, injured herself, moved quickly to help him get Shouta into a better position on the ground. In the plaza behind him, shockwaves were produced by the sheer force of the number one hero's blows, and the trees and bushes between the two points were disturbed by the force. A brilliant flash of lightning came from across the USJ around the same time, and he wondered if Kaminari was going to be okay after that, as four of his friends began crowding around him.

Hitoshi was safe. Shouto was safe. Fumikage was safe. Uraraka was safe. The rest of his class was... mostly safe. Shouta and Aunt Nemuri and Thirteen were injured, but help was on the horizon. The only person who he knew- with absolute certainty- wasn't safe was All Might. Yagi-san, Yagi-sensei.

The Symbol of Peace was in danger, and he was the only one who knew about it.

"Here, wipe your face off. Your bloody visage is in the midst of frightening our classmates."

Izuku accepted the black handkerchief that Fumikage offered him, and paused, before handing it back unused. The shorter bird-headed teen looked at him curiously, and he grinned wider than before, wild eyes locking with Hitoshi's for just a moment before he tore them away and turned around again.

"Let's save it for later, actually. I've discovered something interesting about my quirk over these past few days. By focusing the power of Body Boosting in my head, my ability to notice and process the details around me is increased greatly. The side effect is that my eyes start bleeding when I use it too much, so even if I did wipe myself off now, I'd only continue to get blood everywhere."

As his purple-haired friend jerked forward, catching on to what he was about to do, the greenette jumped back out of reach just in time.

"I still have to make sure everyone's safe, so don't wait up for me, alright? Cya outside!"

With that, Izuku turned around just in time to see the Noumu go flying past them through the roof of the facility, and paused out of shock. It was this pause which allowed his closest friend to grab him by the arm- the uninjured one, thankfully- in attempt to hold him back, furious whispers following with, "Oh no you don't, you have absolutely no reason to go back down there! The heroes are on the way and I know that you're gonna do something reckless-!"

The greenette was also seized by Shouto, ice attaching his feet to the ground, and he grimaced. There was nothing he could say to make them let him go, and he didn't want to risk hurting them in the process of brute-forcing himself out of the situation, so he had to think of something else. He had to use the other tools available to him... the other people...

"Midnight and Thirteen, I know what's going on with All Might."

That was vague enough that they would understand while nobody else listening would, and it would get their attention on him immediately. He had no time to waste conversing- stalling was a tactic for before, now it was the time for action.

"May I have permission to return to the plaza, with the goal of making sure that my classmates down there get back here safely, so that he isn't being held back?"

He was the only one who could make a difference, if such a thing was needed, and so he had to at least be there to do so. Plus if Katsuki and Kirishima slipped up at all and ended up being taken hostage, then they would end up becoming a great hindrance to All Might rather than a potential help, so that was a good enough reason to use as his primary excuse for going down there. He didn't like revealing the information he possessed, but maybe this would help him get to his goals quicker... he had to be there.

"Shinsou, Todoroki, let him go. Midoriya, you'll retrieve your classmates and then you'll bring them straight back here, understood?"

Surprisingly, it was Midnight who gave him permission first, and he sent a grateful glance to her. Some of those present argued with her decision, Shouji pointing out his broken arm as a reason why to send someone else, but he didn't give her time to change her mind.

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder, One For All allowing him to break free from both the ice and the grip that Hitoshi had on him. "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

Ignoring the cries of concern from his friends, and knowing that he was in for quite a tongue-lashing once everything was said and done, Izuku set off for the plaza with all of the determination that he could possibly muster inside him.

"This is all wrong... you filthy cheaters... Ohhh, if Noumu were here, he'd crush you to a pulp without hesitation!"

The attack had gone completely wrong, and Shigaraki Tomura was pissed.

He'd had a carefully laid out plan, and he'd gotten approval from Sensei on it, as well as information. Sure, there had been a few kinks to be worked out, but in the end those didn't matter. No, what mattered was that All Might had been late to his own murder, and before that, the green-haired brat had tried to use his Sensei against him. Who did these idiots think they were?

"And yet, he's not. Surrender now, or be taken in by force."

Oh, how he loathed All Might, ruining his plan, getting rid of Noumu as though he were nothing. Then standing there, a mockery of everything Sensei had told him, a living contradiction to the information that he'd received about his supposed weakening. All Might wasn't weakened at all... Sensei had lied to him...

'...but if that were the case, then why isn't All Might already moving to take us down?'

Shigaraki took a harder look, scratching that itch that so seemed to plague him in times of distress. The Symbol of Peace was standing tall, hands on his hip, posing like he'd already won. And yet, the cannon fodder behind him had been taken down immediately upon his arrival, so why would he ask them to surrender instead of just taking them down the same way? Noumu had caused the number one hero to bleed heavily, so heavily that blood now stained both his shirt and his pants, before he'd managed to escape his grasp. The Symbol was bleeding... his invulnerability hack had been bypassed.

'Whether he's been weakening like Sensei said or not, he's still weak right now. He's at the weakest I've ever seen him...'

Perhaps the game wasn't quite over yet... perhaps this was the continue that he'd been looking for, rather than that ridiculous pause that had occurred before the brat stepped in. That pause had only been his own doubt holding him back, he was sure of it now! This was his continue, this was his chance!

"I'll give you once last warning! Surrender now, or be taken in by force!"

The student of villainy grinned wide behind Father, and darted towards the weakened Symbol of Peace. If he landed this blow, then All Might would fall, and the rest of this idiotic society would destabilize in his wake. Collective faith in heroes would be shaken thoroughly, allowing new ideas and the beginnings of a new way of thinking to break through. Everything as they knew it would crumble beneath the palms of his hands, if he managed to land this blow, and then a new world could be built upon its dust!

"HEY, FUCK OFF!"

An absolute fury returned to the forefront of his mind as the green-haired brat from before entered his line of sight, a large chunk of concrete sailing towards him from the boy's fist. He didn't stop moving towards his goal, though, as a warp gate opened between his body and the concrete chunk to undoubtedly redirect it back towards the sender. After he killed All Might, he'd kill the brat. After he killed the brat, he'd kill all of the brat's friends. Even if it took forever, even if he got sent to prison and had to be rescued by his Sensei, all of these hero course brats would be destroy-

"AGH!"

Shigaraki leapt backwards, away from his goal, clutching his bleeding hand. A bullet hole made itself known as the reason why it was bleeding, and in the moments after, he was sent to the hard ground below with two more shots. At the top of the stairs, he saw the rest of the hero staff of Yuuei waiting, and a scream from the Voice Hero sent his rising minions back to unconsciousness.

He'd been so close. If he'd moved just a second sooner, if All Might had arrived when he was supposed to...

"Get us home, Kurogiri."

Blackish-purple mist closed in around him, and broken on the concrete as he was, he still lifted his head to take one last glance at the hero facility being left behind. Color faded beyond the fog, with blue and green eyes of matching intensity turning into black; the last things he saw being the irises of All Might and the brat. As Shigaraki landed on the wooden floor of the bar, the memory was burned into his mind...

Unable to move properly, the red-eyed villain vowed that he would destroy those 'heroic' gazes, one way or another.

Chapter Text

When a fusion is formed between a healthy person and a wounded or otherwise ill person, the injuries and sickness do not disappear.

Rather, they lessen in severity, to a point of equilibrium. The severity of one's ailments are lessened as though the original party had spent days or weeks or months healing in a single instant, the vitality of the healthy party filling in the missing pieces. A rough cough turns into a runny nose. Fresh purple bruises fade to old green and yellow. Cuts and scrapes scab over instantly. Cut tendons tentatively reconnect with one another.

Bones that had been snapped to pieces meld together as though they had only experienced a partial fracture or two.

A good way of telling what damage the participants of the fusion will each take upon separating, assuming that the malcondition of the injured party is being split equally between them, would be looking at the damage that the complete fusion itself possesses. Fusion was a major asset to the medical industry because of this, and hospitals were, indeed, the location in which the most fusions were recorded to occur each year. In a quiet survey that popped up once every few years or so, people had shared how often they fused and where those fusions occurred, with hospitals and private property being the first and second most common places in which to fuse respectively.

This came as little surprise to those aware of the open secret, honestly- nobody wanted to be outed as the reason that a child learned of fusion and ended up horribly twisted as a result. The bodies and minds of children were not mature enough to fuse safely, their rapidly developing features providing an inherent instability to whatever fusions they created, and it was thus determined that it would be better to remove the temptation altogether than it would be to try telling them 'no, because you'll hurt yourself'. However, as with every law that was passed, there were people who disagreed with it.

Hizashi's parents had taught him of fusion when he was ten years old, the very instant that they knew he could understand the various potential consequences of fusion and how serious it was to form one. They'd introduced him to the subject carefully and safely, impressing upon him the importance of remaining calm and being attentive of the other parties involved, and so on. It was illegal for them to have taught him about fusion so early, but knowledge couldn't be taken back once it had been given, and that was that... until Yuuei.

As for Shouta, his introduction to fusion had been a bit different. He'd been eight years old when he first saw fusion in action, his caretakers at the time being 'not so tolerant of the law' in general, and they didn't bother to explain it to him when he'd seen it. He'd been forced to find the information he needed in library books, borrowed when the adult librarian wasn't looking because he wasn't allowed to check them out, and from there he educated himself. By the time he was eleven years old, he'd learned more about fusion than most adults knew, and that was that... until Yuuei.

The two teens had first met in the battle center of their entrance exam, and when the zero-pointer knocked down the building that they were in, they made physical contact with one another and light flashed behind their eyes. Hizashi had seen sunlight, a warm yellow glow that encompassed the world, as he felt himself fall away from the sky above him. Shouta had seen burning metal, red-hot and shifting more orange the further upwards he looked, as he felt himself rise from the earth beneath his feet. They had touched with the mutual goal of saving one another, and when they opened their shared eyes, they instinctively knew that they had succeeded.

Aiyama Shouzashi, written with the kanji for 'together,' 'mountain,' and 'neutralize,' along with two hiragana characters from Hizashi's given name.

The fusion had known who he was just moments after he'd come into being; after he realized that he was alone when there should have been another warm body beside him, after he looked down and his hair fell in front of his face in black and yellow streaks. He felt the concern of Hizashi inside him, and he felt the instinct to bristle at the thought of someone being worried for Shouta when they were in danger themself. These emotions were his, and yet they were not. Everything he was and everything he felt was more complicated than it had ever been before, and yet it all felt as simple as breathing, as though he... belonged.

Shouzashi had gone on to finish the entrance exam for his two halves, physically fighting the robots, because he didn't know what his quirk was and he knew not to try figuring it out in the middle of such a chaotic environment. Then the staff had come to immediately whisk him away, a much younger Recovery Girl teaching him about fusion as though he didn't already understand what it was, though he didn't bother correcting that misconception. It was decided that the points he gained as a fusion would be given to both of the examinees that had created him, and then he was taught how to safely separate himself.

Part of him hated the thought of separating, but the other part pointed out that Shouta and Hizashi barely knew each other. He didn't know who the desire to stay together had come from, and he didn't know who had erred on the side of caution, but then he was on his way out. The last thing he thought as he faded away was but a simple wish, and over the course of the years since then, that wish had been fulfilled many times over.

'Don't let me disappear.'

Now, as he had been many times since then, he was back again. His arms throbbed with such pain that he was tempted to find a nurse to ask for more painkillers, and his eyeballs felt really weird, hurting if he moved them too quickly. Pressure was on them, very light but noticeable pressure, and not at all the sharp stabbing sensation that Hizashi had been anxiously imagining.

This was good. It meant that the two of them would get off with lighter injuries than expected, once he received the all-clear to separate and distribute the damage evenly between them. He felt relief that things had turned out so well, and irritation that there has been any risk otherwise, and the love that almost always filled his entire being. Originally, there had been no particular love to his existence, but now it was such a staple of his self that he could barely remember who he had been without it.

"Excuse me, do you know what room Aizawa Shouta is in? He's my uncle and I haven't heard much about his condition since last night, so I wanted to come in and see him."

The love in his heart swelled, at the sound of his nephew's voice asking the front desk about him, along with the slight tension that always came with being a fusion around the innocent.

"I'm sorry, but underage visitors are not allowed to see him at this time. Do you have an older family member you would like to see him for you, or would you prefer to wait until he's cleared to be seen?"

Shouzashi, balancing his tray of hospital food on his lap, leaned a little closer to see those conversing through the doorway. He hadn't heard from Inko in a while, and honestly, he kind of missed her even if she had pissed him off a bit the last time they spoke. Now that Izuku was in the hero course and on his way to becoming a hero, he hoped that they could get in touch again, since her previous excuse was now invalid.

"I'll wait, I guess. Can you tell me as soon as he's cleared to be seen?"

The gaze of the receptionist flicked over towards him, and Izuku's head started to turn to follow, before she spoke up again and regained the boy's attention.

"Sure thing, just take a seat anywhere nearby and try to keep the volume down. The cafeteria is directly to my right if you need any food while you wait, and the restrooms are down the hall to my right if you need to use them."

As the greenette turned his way again, Shouzashi ducked back around the corner and resumed eating, moving carefully with his arms being injured the way they were. He couldn't rush, or risk making his injuries any worse than they currently were, because injuries gained by a fusion didn't just disappear when the individuals separated. This was a rather delicate situation, and he was lucky that his two halves would be able to heal as well as they would, so he couldn't be careless and fuck things up for them.

He could not hug the child, even if he wanted to. That would have to wait for when Nedzu finalized the dates on when the fusion class was being moved forward to, most likely sometime after the Sports Festival, thanks to the 'Hellions' introducing his class to the concept far earlier than they should have been. If all had gone as planned, then his students would have started learning about fusion in their second year, but of course most plans fail to survive contact with the enemy. Therefore, the class was being moved forward, and hopefully nobody would try to fuse on their own before then.

"Excuse me, what kind of tea is that?"

Shouzashi glanced up at vibrant green eyes that had a reddish tint to them, and kept his cool, turning the can so that Izuku could read it. "Cheap black vending machine tea with an absurd amount of sugar added to it. I wouldn't recommend it. It tastes like shit, even after my attempts to save it."

He watched his nephew nod thoughtfully, and noticed a certain gleam appear in his eyes as he looked up at him, one that made him feel almost as though he'd been physically struck. It was a look of calculation that Shouzashi and his two halves had all seen Inko wear a time or two, the kind that said 'I'm on to you,' when she was about to take her information and run with it. However she'd been raising the boy, she'd done a good job of passing her more scary traits on to him, despite the nostalgia that the look had induced.

"Most of my liquid intake is currently in the form of protein shakes, because I need to build and keep a high muscle mass for my quirk, but tea is my personal favorite. Smoother black teas specifically, but I recently came across a barista in the CatTea Cafe that has a quirk for making people the caffeinated beverages of their dreams. Her quirk made me a tea that tasted like coffee, somehow, and she was absolutely horrified by it. I strongly recommend you go there sometime if you're looking for good tea, or coffee, or whatever. Anyways, sorry to bother you, and thanks for answering my question!"

As Izuku left him with a smile, the fusion briefly wondered if he made small talk with every random stranger he spoke to, before disposing of his now-empty tray and returning to the lobby. After all, he was supposed to be a random stranger, considering that his nephew had never seen him before. However, he did look pretty much how a fusion of Shouta and Hizashi would be expected to, and his current injuries were the same as Shouta's had been, and Izuku had seen Shouta lying on the-

'Stop! Stop. Don't go there.'

The fusion pursed his lips in discomfort, as he made his way through the halls that led back to his- Shouta's- room. He didn't want to deal with the self-loathing that Shouta was feeling for his failure to adequately protect his students, and he didn't want to focus on the concern and hopeful reassurance that Hizashi was projecting in response. It didn't matter that the children had gotten off far better than they could have, what mattered was that he still failed, they still got hurt under his watch. He did try his best, but he should have found a way to do better, he should have-!

'I was not there. I was not present when the attack occurred. Shouta and Hizashi were in different locations at the time, therefore I had no way of contributing to the protection of the students. Eraserhead is not a one trick pony, but all the same, his fighting style is not meant for gladiator free-for-alls. He did the best that he could, so stop thinking about it, and stop beating yourself up for it.'

Arriving at his room, Shouzashi paused outside the door to take a few deep, calming breaths, and cleared his mind. The thoughts and emotions that belonged to his two halves were sorted out, organized in his headspace as efficiently as Shouta liked it to be and as sensibly as Hizashi liked it to be. He had no fault to bear, and he was fine. He was stable. He would not even begin to risk unfusing before the doctors were ready to treat them.

"Ah, Aiyama-san, you're just in time! Please, if there is nothing else you have to do at this time, lie down on the cot and we can begin!"

Konsetsu-sensei, the head doctor in charge of Shouta's treatment, smiled at him. It was time to get the show on the road, and he was ready.

Placing his can of tea on the table by the door, the fusion laid down on the two adjacent cots that were there to carry Shouta and Hizashi respectively, and closed his eyes to fade away.

[HoloGraphic: Where the Gruesome Secrets of the Universe are Uncovered],

[☆] ThisisOnlyDABeginning >> 7:29pm:

ngl the medical industry is bullshit

fun new topic for your teenaged sleepover games

never have i ever seen a cure for a truly serious disease

[TheOGMusketeer is whispering to AlexandriteAphelion...]

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 7:30pm:

I must admit, Aphelion, that I am rather disappointed in you.

As though it meant nothing, as though you didn't care about whatever effort I exerted and whatever risk may have been posed to my person, you failed to heed my warning. Then, you demanded additional information, as if what I gave you hadn't been enough. The world is a dangerous place, Aphelion. The lives of sinners and saints alike are at risk each and every day.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 7:31pm:

oh shit waddup grampy's here

hey gramptyd

you got any opinions on the current state of the pharmaceutical industry

[AlexandriteAphelion is whispering to TheOGMusketeer...]

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 7:32pm:

I'm sorry. I felt like I didn't have a choice, but I still shouldn't have been so impulsive. I forgot that I might have been putting you in danger by asking you for more info, and it didn't occur to me until later on. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me.

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 7:33pm:

perhaps it would behoove us to find a way into the industry- informants, networking contacts, etcetera. if we know ourselves but remain ignorant as to the workings of our foes, then we may succeed only in half of our endeavors.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 7:35pm:

Knowledge is a valuable commodity. Once given, it cannot be retrieved, but by permanently damaging means. I hope you learn this lesson, learn from your mistakes, and improve yourself as a result of them.

It is as I said before. You possess a unique mind, in this day and age, that I wish to see preserved. I cannot protect you from the League Of Villains, but you can find safety for you and yours in the future. Learn from this event, and plan for the next one.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 7:35pm:

that's fair

but where are we gonna find a trustworthy doctor or scientist that won't lead us around by our noses

every medical professional that i've come into contact with has been in the pocket of someone else

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 7:36pm:

Right. I know what I did wrong, for the most part at least, so I can work on that. I need to be more aware of what's going on in other people's lives, and I can't expect them to not suffer any consequences from my actions.

Again, I'm really sorry I put you in that situation. Thank you for being so understanding.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 7:36pm:

Clearly, the workaround that would be to insert one of our own number into theirs.

If anybody on the forum is planning to become a doctor or to work with medicine otherwise, then we have a potentially trusted party right there. And I only say 'potentially' because of the general anonymity of HoloGraphic as a whole.

[☆☆☆] TheOGMusketeer >> 7:37pm:

You are welcome, Aphelion. Now then, shall we rejoin the rest of the group's discussion on the pharmaceutical industry's desire to keep much-needed cures from being used by the public?

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 7:38pm:

ah, but that is a solution which would take years to unfold, perhaps even decades. what we want to see is change in our lifetime, and although your idea may be helpful for future generations, we should have additional plans in motion around it. quicker plans, more aggressive plans. patience is a virtue but for when it becomes an unwillingness to move forward.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 7:38pm:

Heck yeah, I wanna see if we can bang out some sort of counter-strategy for that!

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 7:39pm:

Maybe we could use other industries against the pharmaceutical companies to leverage them into making actual cures rather than temporary measures that only treat the symptoms? Healing quirks are a fairly reliable cure method, but due to their ridiculously high demand, they cost way too much for the general population to afford. Studying the manner in which healing quirks function might help too, if we can find man-made means to replicate them.

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 7:40pm:

that might work

but then how would we use the other industries as leverage

how would we get leverage over the industries we're using to leverage the pharmaceutical industry

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 7:41pm:

...that is a good question.

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 7:42pm:

To be honest, our only option might be to make long term plans. Every way I think about it, we're going to be middle-aged before we can even begin making a change, because it takes so long for people to become aware of things and start caring about them. Plus, it takes so long to get into relevant positions, and it's nearly impossible to find unbiased parties already in said positions. I'm pretty sure that's just how it is for the world in general.

[☆] AlexandriteAphelion >> 7:43pm:

There has to be a way around it though! We're just not thinking big enough, or maybe we're not thinking small enough. By what means can we influence a society that possesses different views from us, without taking decades on end to accomplish? Maybe we can disguise our ideas to look like it would be one of theirs, so we get support in greater numbers?

[☆] ThisIsOnlyDABeginning >> 7:44pm:

and how exactly do you think we can do that

[☆] NotBitchLasagnaButBitchSoba >> 7:45pm:

We use our weaknesses to our advantage. They're already manipulating us with propaganda that looks like it would be our own, and they expect us to act a certain way because they think they understand us. They think they know everything, really, and if we play off of that...

[☆] QuothTheRaven >> 7:46pm:

...then we may yet succeed before the deaths of our elders. how and where do we begin?

Chapter Text

It was Friday, and classes were back on schedule.

As such, the residents of the dorms made a point of arriving to class earlier than usual, burning with questions for their homeroom teacher or whichever substitute came in to replace him for the day. A new world had opened up before them, and everyone who didn't already know about it was chomping at the bit to find out more about this open secret that had been kept from them their whole lives.

In class, the second that Aizawa Shouta entered the room, everyone turned in unison to start asking away. A brief pause followed, as the moderately bandaged and blindfolded man moved in despite the injuries he had sustained thus far, appearing to be in much better health than he had been when leaving the USJ. Did Recovery Girl see him? Was it possible to heal from those wounds so quickly without her? Nobody knew for certain, but their respect for the underground hero instantly went up a bit.

Izuku was the only one of them who had gone to the hospital to visit, and in addition, was the only one of them to see Aiyama Shouzashi. He knew that Hizashi had been uninjured, and his research on fusions had mentioned medical usage in emergencies, so if Hizashi came into teach English with similar injuries on him, then he'd know for certain that they had split the damage.

"Sensei, are you sure you should be here? Aren't you still... I don't know, hurting?"

The concerned voice of Uraraka broke the silence, followed by a whisper of "wow, what a pro," from Kaminari, as the man made his way to the podium and turned to face the class, his arms in slings and his eyes somewhat shielded by bandages.

"My wellbeing is irrelevant," Shouta responded, and Izuku promptly squinted at him with displeasure. "What's important is that your fight isn't over yet. The Yuuei Sports Festival is going to start soon."

Kirishima practically jumped out of his seat in excitement, and yelled, "Let's go kick some ass!" before Kaminari silenced him by smooshing one of the boy's cheeks with his hand.

"Is it really such a good idea to hold the Sports Festival so soon after the villains snuck inside? Besides that, what was with that villain couple that fought everyone by the entrance? What's fusion and why does everyone seem to know about it but us?"

Hitoshi, leaning back in his seat a bit, nodded at Jirou's words. The class waited with bated breath, curious stares all leveled upon their teacher, as some of the questions they'd been wondering about were about to be answered. None of them missed the tired sigh that escaped the man's bandaged jaw, but none of them retracted the inquiry or tried to change the subject, unwilling to let this big of a thing go.

"In summary, fusion is the combination of two or more people, and is something that everyone in the world is capable of doing. The reason why you don't know about it is primarily because children and younger teens are regarded as not physically or mentally mature enough to perform the act themselves, and as such, are protected by the public censors and the incentivized laws in place to keep them from learning about it until they can safely do so. In Yuuei, students are slated to learn about this technique in their second year of schooling, but due to the fact that your class has been introduced to the concept a little sooner than we would have appreciated, that particular lesson will be moved forward to later on this year... after the Sports Festival."

Izuku leaned back in his seat as his friend had, the wavy ends of his undercut ponytail touching Mineta's desk, and kept quiet on what he knew about fusion. If he spoke up now, then his classmates would be mobbing him for information at the soonest opportunity, and he was hoping to relax a bit after all he'd experienced in the last so many days.

"Okay, when will that class be? How soon after the Sports Festival?"

Tenya posed the obvious follow-up questions, and as he finished speaking, Ojirou added, "What happens when immature people fuse? It can't be that bad, can it?"

The greenette closed his eyes, memories of the various fusion horror stories he'd heard flashing through his mind, as Shouta spoke to the class firmly.

"Fusion is a very complicated and delicate process, regarding the complete combination of the participants' bodies, minds, and souls. Should the process go wrong, what do you think could happen?" He paused, and gave them a moment to think, before continuing. "If you're imagining things like permanent alterations to someone's personality, along with potential insanity, illness, and death, then you're on the right track. So, in case any of you were planning to attempt fusing with someone before taking the relevant classes... don't. Being expelled and blacklisted from heroics altogether would be a mercy compared to the consequences of a fusion gone wrong."

The students went silent, grave solemnity permeating the room as they began to understand the weight of the situation. If fusion really was such a dangerous practice, then it would be better for everyone to learn about it in a safe environment together, despite the curiosity they felt on the matter. Hopefully they wouldn't forget about the warning they'd received, but if they did, then Izuku supposed that he'd have to remind them of it before they did anything foolish.

"Anyways, getting back to the Sports Festival, the administration decided that carrying on with the event per normal is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and that the school is safer than ever. Plus, they're beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at Yuuei, and it's not something we can cancel because of a few villains."

With that, the conversation was shifted back on track, and the thoughts of the students slowly moved from fusion to the event that would have a large impact on their future.

"Hey, Uraraka?"

It was time for lunch, and as Izuku made his way down the hall with his friends, thoughts of the future passed through his mind. He knew what kind of hero he wanted to be, and he knew why he wanted to be one, as well as why his HoloGraphic friends wanted to be heroes. His newer friends, however, were a different story.

"Yeah, Mido-kun?"

While he could guess away at their intentions and piece together their puzzles over time, he wanted to know what kind of people they were straight from their own mouths. What their dreams were, how they saw themselves, what they thought and felt about the things he considered important. Uraraka had been particularly fired up when class ended, and he'd never seen her like that before, so he wanted to know what was going on in her head.

"What made you want to attend Yuuei? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm curious. Why do you want to be a pro hero?"

The group made their way down the hall, past the students from the other courses, as they moved for Lunch Rush's Eatery.

"Well, if we're cutting to the chase... it's for the money. I'm sorry if it sounds greedy, I know you have more admirable motivations! It's just, my family owns a construction company, but business hasn't been that good lately, so I'm gonna become a pro. I'm gonna sign on with a popular agency and get the money to support them, so they can live carefree and happy lives. I hope you don't think less of me."

The brunette looked away from them, displaying a nervousness that was slightly uncharacteristic of her, as she was one of the more laid back students there. As Iida moved forward to reassure her, Izuku tilted his head to the side, and shared a glance with the others around them.

Izuku, Hitoshi, Shouto, and Fumikage were quite familiar with stories of people down on their luck. HoloGraphic was a safe haven for the outcasts of society, and they were lucky that their living situations were as good as they were, compared to others on the forum. Many tragic tales had been shared of how the heroes failed to save the lives of loved ones, of how jobs were denied due to one's quirk being unsuited for them, of how such heavy discrimination and lack of understanding had driven people to break the law in order to survive. Uraraka could have been one of them, but she was lucky to have a quirk like hers, and the creativity to use it for heroism.

She was lucky that her parents had guided her to a better career, rather than enabling her noble desire to help them the way she'd wanted to, and using her for the benefit of their company.

"Ah, young Midoriya is here!"

Izuku blinked, seeing his mentor lean around the corner of a hallway connected to the one they were in, and ignored the curious glances of his friends upon him.

"Hey, All Might-sensei. Why are you here?"

The greenette could physically feel the conspiracy theories forming behind him, as the number one hero held up a small bento box wrapped in light blue and white cloth.

"LUNCH! Would you like to eat with me?"

Judging by the choked whisper of the brunette beside him, apparently that was adorable. As Izuku glanced back at his friends to see what they thought, he received nods and shooing motions, and a suspicious gaze from Shouto that told of... interesting conversations to come.

"Uh, sure... Cya later, guys."

Thus, the pierced teen left his classmates to eat lunch with the number one hero, equal amounts of curiosity and apprehension running through him.

All Might's time was down to just an hour and a half, thanks to the USJ.

Every time he pushed himself beyond his limits, his time as a hero was shortened. He'd pushed himself twice for Izuku already- once against the Sludge Villain, dropping his time from five hours to three hours, and then again versus the Noumu- and the greenette couldn't help but wonder if it was his fault because of that. It had been Yagi's decision, ultimately, but he knew all too well how someone's decisions could be influenced. What would happen if he indirectly caused All Might to fall?

"Ah... I was hoping you wouldn't lose any time, because you took down two criminals on your way to work that day, but it seemed like you'd still have enough time for class. I'm sorry."

The hero chuckled, flecks of blood escaping his mouth to land in a yellow handkerchief, and Izuku stared at him with mild confusion. First off, why was he laughing? And second, why was he using a yellow handkerchief instead of a red or black one that would hide the blood better?

"Haha, apologizing for something that wasn't your fault? We really are alike! Don't worry Midoriya, it was my own doing."

He pursed his lips, briefly continuing down the train of thought that contemplated what an All Might on puppet strings would look like, before dismissing those thoughts. Yagi-sensei was the number one hero, and there was a great deal of intelligence hidden away behind his flashy strength- he wasn't at risk of being easily manipulated anytime soon.

"Anyways, I brought you here to talk about the Sports Festival. You have good control over One For All, but you haven't hit its full power yet. I was wondering if you had any questions about it, and what your plan for your continued growth is."

The teen took a sip of the tea that was sitting on the table in front of him, noting that it was a somewhat salty green tea, rather than the smooth and sweet black tea he preferred.

"Okay, I do have a few questions that I haven't gotten around to asking yet. I think the most relevant ones right now have to do with how you and past users have wielded One For All. You mentioned that it came naturally to you, but that it was different for every user, and I was hoping you could tell me about how the past wielders used it."

The skinny form of the number one hero leaned forward, grasping his own cup of green tea and taking a sip, as a hesitant and almost kind of sad expression crossed his face. It seemed that Izuku had touched on something he didn't like to talk about... but apparently that wasn't going to stop him from answering.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get to learn much about the past wielders from my own mentor, so I'm not sure how much I can help you. She... well, she died when I was around your age, fighting a great evil. But I remember that she didn't take naturally to the quirk like I did, and that she struggled with it for about two or three years before getting proper hold of it, because she'd always marvel about my clumsiness and tendency to accidentally break things without getting even a scratch. One of her theories about my natural taking to it was because I was quirkless before receiving One For All, so I was basically a blank slate waiting to be written on, but I guess you're living evidence to the contrary."

His mentor died... that was something Izuku didn't know. And the compatibility of One For All with quirkless people, a power for the weak... but Izuku had a quirk, so he was actually evidence supporting her theory.

"Ah, about that, Yagi-sensei..."

Curious blue eyes fixed upon his form, and he frowned slightly, looking into the teacup in his hands. He hadn't told the hero about his possession of a quirk, nor about the thorough testing that his mother had put him through after finding out about his quirk from Aunt Nemuri, but he knew that it would be better if he did so now that if he let it float around unchecked. If All Might found out that he'd been withholding his possession of a quirk, then the initial rapport built around Izuku being a brave quirkless boy would be discredited, and the trust between them would suffer. It would still be discredited now, but at least this way, he had some control over the situation.

"I... My mom was always certain that I never had a quirk, after I got an x-ray showing that I had the extra toe joint commonly associated with quirklessness. She wasn't cruel to me about it, but she started treating me like I was a lot more fragile than I was, and she didn't like me talking about heroes or quirks in general. So when the highlight reel came out and Aunt Nemuri came by to congratulate me, it came as a real surprise to her, and she took me to the family doctor to get a new x-ray done..."

The hero sitting across from him was silent, listening patiently to what he had to say.

"I couldn't really avoid it, because she's a lawyer and she needs hard evidence to believe something contrary to her own beliefs, but it turns out that I don't really have the extra toe joint. The x-ray that was taken when I was a kid belonged to someone else- there was a mix-up somehow- so I apparently could have a quirk. My mom then had me tested for an active quirk factor, and of course I have one now, but what I'm focusing on the most is that I didn't have the extra toe joint. So I'm not actually quirkless, my birth quirk is just... invisible. I'm sorry if that hurts you in any way."

Izuku took another sip of his tea, keeping his eyes averted. He'd never explicitly said that he was quirkless to the hero in the past, using phrases like 'I was diagnosed as quirkless' rather than 'I am quirkless,' just as he had since he'd first discovered what his quirk was. He didn't like lying, and he wasn't quirkless, so he stopped directly claiming that he was. Greyspeak was how he got around when he needed to lie for some reason- never telling direct lies and manipulating the truth to his advantage, as though he were a member of the Fey.

"Huh... so my mentor's theory might be correct after all..."

Yagi-sensei didn't sound upset with him; something that was both surprising and unsurprising. It was surprising because he'd been keeping secrets that he should have shared a long time ago, and he expected a negative reaction because of that, but it was unsurprising because he'd carefully calculated this moment as the one in which he'd be able to share his possession of a quirk without much backlash. He felt relieved, as though he'd just dodged a train that had been barreling his direction, but also a bit stressed, as though he'd done so by lying down in the middle of the tracks themselves to watch it barrel over him just centimeters away from the tip of his nose.

"Say, do you know what your birth quirk might be? The signs of it probably would've heightened after you got One For All, so if anything noticeably changed around then, those changes probably have to do with it. You might want to figure it out sooner rather than later, so you can create a suitable cover story regarding the combination of One For All and your original quirk."

Now, the greenette was faced with another dilemma. Should he fully disclose what he knew his quirk could do, and risk being asked how he'd found that out? Or should he proceed with caution, only detailing the things that could be extrapolated from an outside perspective? His quirk was odd, in that it removed his need for sleep and also gave him enhanced night vision for some reason, maybe other enhanced senses too, and he still really needed to figure out a name for it...

"Um, I have a few ideas," Izuku said, eyebrows furrowed. "I know that it has something to do with my eyes and brain, or at least, it's centered in that area. Whenever I actively use One For All in my head, I can most easily describe it by saying that my 'processing power' picks up, like I'm a computer that just got an upgraded graphics card and CPU. I notice more details around me, and it's as if time slows down, allowing me to think and move more efficiently in the time allotted to me. That's how I escaped through the window during the battle trial- maximizing the efficiency of my movements. And, um, it became pretty obvious in the USJ that it makes my eyes bleed if I use it too much, and my vision was kinda fucked after all that ended because I couldn't really stop using it, but eventually the blurriness went away and I could see as I normally do again. I do need glasses though, and some are going to arrive for me in a week or two."

The hero hummed thoughtfully, sipping his tea, and the greenette glanced up in time to meet his gaze. When he went to turn away again though, the blonde before him abruptly sat up straight, and reached over to bring his face back into the light.

"Your eyes briefly shift red when the lighting changes. It's not really noticeable if someone isn't looking right at them when it happens, but I just saw it. If that means what I think it does, then you can probably see better in the dark than most other humans can."

Yagi-sensei was a truly intelligent man, and as he nodded, Izuku once again reaffirmed his assessment that anyone trying to manipulate the hero would have a difficult time of it.

"Try to see if it has anything to do with the nighttime. Your quirk might have something to do with darkness, or maybe you have the traits of a nocturnal animal of some kind. Do some research into the quirks on both sides of your family to see if any of them have similar effects going on, and if you want to go outside after curfew to test something out, just call me and I'll come out to help."

A small smile formed upon the greenette's face at his mentor's offer, and as he gave the man another nod accompanied by verbal gratitude, the bell for the end of lunch went off. Their discussion was over, and it was time for him to get back to class.

Yagi-sensei waved to him as he got up, and made his way out the door to return to his classroom, leaving his half-empty cup of green tea behind.

Chapter Text

"Wh-What's going on?"

A rather startled Uraraka stepped back from the doorway, seeing the large and intimidating crowd of people waiting in the hallway for them, and Izuku's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. He'd been wondering if something like this was going to happen, if his class was going to be scrutinized due to their encounter with villains at some point, and it seemed that the Sports Festival provided an excuse for the other students to do so. Everyone wanted to see the class that survived the villain attack, and everyone wanted to get a feel for the competition... he should consider doing some reconnaissance himself, really.

Stepping forward to stand in the doorway, the greenette positioned himself between his classmates and the crowd outside, and smiled.

"Hello, I'm Midoriya Izuku, the representative for class 1-A. What can I do for you today?"

Behind him, the heavy footsteps of an irritated Katsuki moved forward, and the blonde stepped around Izuku before entering the throng. He was silent, and radiated an aura of murderous intent, glaring at the people in his way until they got the hint and he could leave. Izuku briefly considered this course of action, wondering why it felt like something was missing, but dismissed that thought in favor of paying attention to the girl that was speaking to them.

"I came here to see what the famous class A is like, but if all of you are as grumpy as that guy over there, I think I'll have fun crushing you in the festival!"

The greenette did his best to keep his gaze on the girl's face, which was difficult, considering that her body was invisible. The only parts of her that were visible belonged to the school uniform, and a cursory glance at the shoulders of said uniform told him that she was from the General Education course... interesting. She must not have made the cut, what with that quirk that didn't seem combative at all.

"Don't worry, he's been like that his whole life. Believe me when I tell you that most of us are pretty chill. Is there anything else you wanted to say?"

Izuku kept the smile on his face, and kept his eyes focused on where he thought the eyes of the invisible girl were, scanning the other students around them with his peripheral vision.

"Yeah! I'm Hagakure Tooru, and my class is gunning for yours, because Yuuei is giving us the opportunity to get into the Hero Course depending on how well we do in the Sports Festival! And depending on how badly you do, you just might get kicked down to our level, so you better watch your backs! We're coming for your seats!"

It took a great deal of his willpower to keep the near-instinctive 'your toes, hand them over' response inside his head, but he succeeded, as whispers broke out in the classroom behind them.

"Alright. Thank you for the warning, Hagakure-san. We'll be sure to bring our best to the stadium- it would be rude to do anything less after receiving a challenge like that."

The invisible girl laughed with glee, and turned away to leave, seemingly satisfied with what had just occurred. Some of the students crowding the hallway followed after her- likely her classmates and also those who had seen all they needed to see- and Izuku kept his smile up as he opened his mouth to ask the crowd if there was anything else. However, before the words could come out, someone shouted from near the doorway of the next class over.

"Hey, I'm from class B next door! I heard you fought against villains, so I came to hear 'bout it from you, but don't get too full of yourselves! If you bark too much, it'll be embarrassing for you during the real fight!"

Izuku's smile turned into a proper grin, and he briefly turned to look over his classmates, before turning back to the grey-haired boy yelling at them.

"I like your spirit," he yelled back, intent upon murdering everyone who spoke to him in this moment with kindness. "If you think you can keep up with us, then by all means, go ahead! I look forward to competing with you all in the Festival!"

Behind him, Kaminari wondered aloud if he was making enemies or making friends here, and his grin widened a bit. 'Both. Both is good.'

"Same to you! Get ready for class B to kick your asses or die trying!"

With that, the grey-haired teen turned and made his way back through the crowd, seemingly forgetting his original goal of asking them about the villain attack. Oh well, it wasn't like they really wanted to talk about it anyways. They'd barely had time to recover from such a dangerous event- heck, Izuku's arm was still bandaged, even though it wasn't still broken- and he didn't want them to experience any outside stress before they'd experienced a mental break. Yuuei was doing pretty good with distracting them, at least.

As the crowd in the hallway began to disperse, a familiar mirror-haired student approached the greenette, deep blue eyes above a peaceful smile. It was Hatsume's friend- the one from the Management Course- who'd been sitting with them during the press break in. What was her name again... Tsukami Kyouei? He wasn't as familiar with students outside of his class as he should be, honestly.

"Midoriya-kun, Mei and I require your presence at the next moment of convenience for you. It has to do with your costume, along with a few other things."

A few of the kids still in the hallway shot dirty looks in their direction, but Izuku could tell that they were more for Tsukami than himself... Wow, he was glad that he was in the Hero Course. If his mom hadn't told or shown him how competitive the business students could be, then he probably would've been intimidated, and that would've dealt a certain amount of damage to his reputation.

"Ah, thanks for the heads up," the greenette responded, stepping aside to let his classmates pass by now that the threat was over. "I'm currently residing in the dorms, so I can meet up with you two pretty much anytime after classes let out, unless prior training has been scheduled. Sports Festival and all, can't let myself get complacent. How does... meeting in an hour sound? I'll be free then."

The girl nodded, a warped reflection of their surroundings and of Izuku himself shifting in her hair, her serene smile remaining unchanged as she caught the gazes of his friends behind him.

"Thank you, I'll be off to let Mei know. See you in the Studio."

With that, the girl turned, and walked away with a pep in her step. The last of the students in the hallway followed, and thus class 1-A was left to its own devices, an atmosphere of lingering anticipation in the air.

Everyone had already been energized by the end of the school day, yet now, it seemed that they were even moreso. Tenya made it pretty clear as to why, with his approving tone of voice, a strong hand proudly squeezing Izuku's shoulder.

"Midoriya-kun, you handled that situation quite well! I must admit, I wouldn't have known how to step forward as approachably as you did- I commend you for your calm demeanor in the face of literal dozens of future opponents!"

The greenette smiled awkwardly, unused to being praised for his actions so loudly, and rubbed the back of his neck in a habit he'd picked up from Hitoshi at some point.

"Ah, really... Making enemies out of the entire school wouldn't be doing a good job of taking care of you all, now would it? I may look like a delinquent, with my piercings and all, but I know how important reputation can be... and this is a school for networking, so it's better to have positive relationships with as many people as possible, y'know?"

Hitoshi was prompt to drape himself over Izuku's shoulders, forcing him to either support his friend's weight or end up on the floor, and Uraraka snickered at the scene.

"Looks like we've got a fucking nerd over here, don't we? Nerd."

Off to the side, Mineta observed the greenette with an expression of appraisal, and he glanced down to meet the short girl's gaze. This made her nod to herself, and when she opened her mouth to speak, he ended up turning a bit red at what she had to say.

"The protective delinquent. I'd personally say that it's close cousin of the bad-boy-with-a-soft-side trope, often ending up accompanied by said trope. Talk about attractive."

Was... Was Mineta flirting with him? Why?

"Ladies, you can't deny that you'd tap that if you had the opportunity. Big, strong, fierce, sexy... and do my eyes deceive me? Is that a blush?"

Izuku instantly took a more secure hold over his stronger emotions, wrangling them down until his confused blush faded. He tried to stay polite even as Tenya began berating the grape-haired girl for being lewd again, but he couldn't help being a bit abrupt about his desire to leave. He had no idea how to deal with Mineta flirting with him, and maybe if he ignored it now, it would go away long enough for him to think clearly about it later.

"No, it wasn't. Goodbye everyone, safe travels."

He thus turned to go, and those who lived in the dorms followed behind, Hitoshi snickering away from where he hung off of his shoulders.

Alone, Izuku made his way briskly through the halls of the Support wing, towards the workshop studio that he was meeting Hatsume and Tsukami in.

The windows open in the hallway let the scent of spring flow through the air, although there was a slight zing of metal and oil accompanying it, due to the location he was in. This was where students worked with their hands, and if Izuku hadn't been in the Hero Course, then he would have been equally tempted by both the Support Course and the Management Course. He had no real experience tinkering and inventing things, and he was already rather familiar with how the business students functioned, but he was still curious about what he could create...

Maybe if the moved-up fusion class was being taught to all of the first years, and if Hatsume was open to the idea, he'd be able to find out. For now though, he had to make sure he was on time- he didn't really know Tsukami that well yet, and his mom had warned him about how important impressions were, even if they were second or third or fourth impressions. This was especially true with Management students, as they could determine a hero's worth in the future, and so it was doubly important to stay on their good sides.

Knocking on the door to the studio, the greenette checked the clock on his phone quickly, and stepped in as the door was opened right on time.

"Hey guys. Tsukami-san told me that you wanted to talk with me?"

Clad in protective workshop gear, and seated on a counter beside a rather familiar costume case, Hatsume Mei had something of a pout on her face.

"You're lucky that Kyouei-chan wants to get on your good side," the pink-haired girl muttered, as the door to the studio was closed behind him. "Anyways, I was telling her about the deal we had, and she pointed out that I may have been getting a bit more out of it than you are. Normally she'd congratulate me for something like that, but given that you're a Hero Course student, she wants us to have a more equal agreement... aaaaand she wants in."

Izuku blinked, and pursed his lips, glancing over to the other person in the room. It was true that Hatsume was getting a bit more out of the deal than he was, but he trusted her from their interactions on HoloGraphic, and he knew how well of an inventor she was. He was getting some of the best that he could in his current situation, right? Was he missing some information?

The mirror-haired girl nodded, her posture clean as she moved to stand beside the bench Hatsume was sitting on, movements a bit too bouncy to be called graceful.

"Indeed. You seem to have some skill in the art of the trade already, having had the intelligence to request a resume of sorts along with some other details, but in the grand scheme of things you're not quite up to scratch. Most of us in the Hive- that is, the Management Course- have been training to be businesspeople since we were infants, and if you fell short to a- rather admittedly advanced- Support Course student, then you would be quite likely to come out on with the shorter end of the stick when dealing with one of us."

Tilting his head to the side, the greenette was tempted to fold his arms, but kept his body in a more open pose. She was being clever, flattering him somewhat with her opening sentence, and comfortably introducing him to a problem that he might not have been aware of. Her language was open, and she'd left off at a point that encouraged questions from him... she'd be reading into his responses, just as he was reading into hers.

"Okay, thank you for letting me know. I understand that you want in on the deal that Hatsume and I made a few days ago, and you've indirectly stated why it would be a good idea for me to agree. Before I do that though, I have to ask- how do you plan to make said deal as equally beneficial as possible, and what do you gain from doing so?"

Networking... one of the primary goals for all students of Yuuei, no matter the department they were in. One's future could be greatly improved or made a living hell depending on what sorts of connections they made, so like he'd told his friends and classmates earlier, it would be better to make sure that as many of those connections as possible were positive.

The blue-eyed girl smiled at his response, reaching into the messenger bag on her hip, and retrieved a surprisingly thick grey binder with a flourish.

"I'm glad you asked," she said, flipping through the pages and offering the binder to him once she'd settled on the one she was looking for. "Here you'll find the outline of a modified version of your previous deal with Mei, along with a comprehensive list of the various benefits that each of us receive from partaking in it. The three of us can hash out the details now, and in future sessions as needed, until we come to an agreement that all of us are satisfied with. Look it over and tell us what you think."

Still seated on the workbench beside them, Hatsume kicked her legs back and forth, and chimed in, "Kyouei already went through this with me, and under my name, you'll see a list of what I will and won't compromise on. Bullet point circles that are filled in are for the things that I won't compromise on, and bullet point circles that are empty are the ones that I will. You'll be able to do the same, so we're all on even ground!"

Izuku accepted the binder offered to him with a polite nod, and set about scanning the relevant pages, as well as a few previous ones for an improved idea of what sort of person he was dealing with. Hatsume was quite familiar from HoloGraphic, but he had little idea as to who Tsukami Kyouei was, so he wanted to make sure that he wasn't being taken advantage of. Trust was something earned, after all.

"Tsukami-san, it says here that you want to be our sole manager, and that you don't want us to make deals with any other Management students without your permission and/or presence. Does that include former or graduated Management students, or only the current ones? And in the benefits section, you stated that you're going to be providing us with the resources that we may need, without clarification as to what kind of resources those are. Are they industrial resources? Economical ones? What kind of resources will you be providing, and how will you be acquiring them?"

The Management student opened her mouth to respond, and reddish-green eyes focused upon her, dissecting her expressions and body language as she spoke. He was going to make sure that this was a deal he wanted, to make sure that he wasn't being taken advantage of, now that a serious player had entered the game. Caution was necessary, and he couldn't afford to slip up. Maybe he should see about getting expedited shipping on those contacts he'd ordered, especially if he was going to be regularly dealing with someone on his level- he couldn't afford to miss any details.

If all went well, this could be a considerable step he took towards his long-term future... he wanted to get the absolute best out of it that he could.

Chapter Text

"Okay... Switch?"

Spots of sweat darkened the mats on the floor, as the four friends from HoloGraphic trained for the Sports Festival. Izuku and Hitoshi were at roughly the same level in hand-to-hand combat, less skilled than Shouto but more skilled than Fumikage, but they knew a few techniques that Shouto didn't, so it was a learning experience for all. In order to make sure they learned as much as possible, they'd started swapping partners here and there, and now it was time to decide whether they wanted to swap again or if they wanted to move on to a different activity.

At the one-word question posed by Izuku, Fumikage shook his head, and spoke up.

"My body feels as though it's going to melt into a puddle of lactic acid. As such, I believe I shall sit out now, so as to recover some stamina."

His friends nodded in understanding, and Izuku specifically perked up a bit, jogging over to their bags on the sidelines and digging through his own with purpose. The bird-headed teen observed this curiously, and soon was rewarded with the sight of a couple loose sheets of paper in the greenette's hands, each covered in handwriting on both sides.

His friend approached him, as he made his way over to the bleachers, and held out the papers.

"Maybe while your body is tired out from physical exertion, you could try training with Dark Shadow. I started writing down my ideas since the day of the quirk assessment test, and here's some pages I wrote for you- it includes some physical exercises, but mainly, its focus is on quirk training."

Fumikage accepted the sheets of paper, and peered over what had been written, blinking when he saw the section on weaknesses.

"You have a keen eye," he murmured. "Not many people notice the aversion to light that Dark Shadow has. When did it become apparent to you?"

The greenette glanced over at Hitoshi and Shouto, who had begun another quick spar while Izuku talked with him, and smiled crookedly.

"It was during the battle trials. You specifically only activated your quirk when you had already stepped into the shadows of the building, and in the room with the weapon, you experienced difficulties with the wide-open windows. Dark Shadow noticeably shrank once you'd entered the light, and appeared to display fewer offensive techniques. It took a little bit more observation during other classes, but the- um- the USJ made it clear."

That last sentence was spoken with a noticeable drop in volume, as though the reminder of the USJ Incident carried weight... and it did.

Fumikage nodded, and looked over the sheet once again, as his friend turned back to the others still sparring.

"Anyways, try some of those things out, and let me know how they work for you... Oh! And once you commit everything to memory or get through the list, I recommend you burn those papers. No sense in having some of your greatest strengths and weaknesses floating around in meatspace where an opponent or a villain can come across it, after all."

The bird-headed teen nodded slowly, and Izuku returned to their mutual friends on the mats, leaving Fumikage to look over the sheet of what was apparently considered 'basic' analysis to his friend.

The clock was ticking.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

In the silence of the night, the only sounds that remained were those of the rustling trees, and the soft ticking of his ancient analog wristwatch. The latter was a replacement for the gentle constant that he had gotten used to from the wall clock outside his bedroom door at home, as ever since moving into the dorms, he'd found it difficult to concentrate without the steady beat mixed into the white noise of his existence. That wall clock had apparently been one of the few things that Inko had left of her parents, it being a gift from her father specifically, so it was something he'd always had in the background noise of the place he called home.

Now that he had been living in the Heights Alliance dormitories for several weeks, he knew quite well that he considered it a home away from home, and thus the little differences between the two locations were beginning to get to him.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

It was a clear Saturday evening, and Izuku had failed to leave the campus before curfew, having gotten caught up in a rather intense game of Monopoly with Hitoshi, Uraraka, and Shouji. He'd glanced at the clock after dinner, and then he'd focused on the game again, and then he'd glanced at the clock again to see that it was already midnight. His window of opportunity to slip out and roam the city had closed, and there was no way he could bypass the new and improved security around Yuuei, even if he might've had a chance at doing so before. Therefore, he was forced to stay in the dorms with his classmates... where he was trapped, and restless, with little room to vent his energy until the following morning.

One of the few cameras that Hitoshi had jokingly set up to try and catch him sleeping was well-placed enough that he couldn't leave his room without being seen, and he couldn't take them out because that would honestly be a dick move, so he'd chosen to climb up to the roof of the building via his balcony. A dangerous course of action, for certain, but any fear of heights he may have had were squashed out years before. He couldn't be afraid of falling when he prowled the city rooftops he had unofficially claimed as his territory, and he couldn't be afraid of getting hurt when he reached out to catch the next handhold or foothold on his journey through the air. The high ground was his chosen terrain, and he belonged to it as much as it belonged to him.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

It was a shame though, how the lights around the heart of the city dimmed out those of the stars above him. Yuuei was at the center of it all, spotlights fixed upon the interconnected skyscrapers that made up the main building, glass shimmering like an artificial moon in the night. If there had been clouds, then the reflected spotlights would have also brightened the condensation a bit. Thus, even on a clear night such as this one, there was little hope of seeing the stars.

Approaching the corner of the building that was above Uraraka's room, Izuku stepped onto the ledge and crouched down, his forearms resting on his knees as he perched above the rest of the world. If he couldn't see the stars in the sky, then he would gaze upon the stars on the ground- the lights of the city that he called home. On his wrist, the clock kept ticking, as he observed some few people awake at this hour come and go. It was quiet, and peaceful... if only he had the ability to roam freely to and from the campus, then this might be one of the most perfect moments of his life.

Or maybe not, depending on who was coming up behind him. The footsteps were soft enough that he might believe them to belong to one of his classmates, but the rhythm was relatively unfamiliar. Odds were likely that it was one of the lighter teachers come to check on him, but as it was Saturday evening, it couldn't be Shouta. Eraserhead patrolled most often on the weekends, which made sense now given that he was a teacher, so who on the staff weighed about the same as he did?

"Hey there, Izu-kun! I've gotta say, I thought that brooding on the corners of high rooftops was Shouta's thing. When did you pick up the habit?"

Of course... it was Hizashi.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The greenette smiled slightly, just a corner of his mouth lifting, as he turned to look at the face of his maybe-father-maybe- uncle. The man was dressed in civilian clothes, and had his hair half tied up in a bun and half hanging loose, the blue light of the moon reflecting off of electric green eyes. In this sort of lighting, Izuku knew that his own eyes would be appearing mostly red, so he kept his expression mellow to soften the initial sight of them.

"A couple years ago, maybe. Don't tell Mom, but I got locked up on the roof of my school a while ago, and had such an experience climbing down that I decided to try it more often."

A nonspecific length of time, and a vague description of what the experience had entailed, with hints of positive connotations. He didn't want to get Katsuki in trouble after so much time had passed, and honestly, he wasn't that sore about getting his tailbone hurt climbing down. The event had led to him improving himself, and if he hadn't wanted to do so, then Hitoshi would probably be dead. It was this glance from hindsight that made him believe the butterfly effect to be a fascinating thing.

The Voice Hero chuckled a bit, and sat down beside him, with his back facing the open air. "It was an accident, I hope?"

Izuku's smile widened a bit, as he realized that the man was checking after his well-being, even after so much time had passed.

"For the most part, yeah." His falling on the way down had been an accident, anyways. "How about Shouta? When did he pick up the habit?"

Hizashi pat the ledge to his right, and the greenette easily climbed down from his perch, taking a seat beside him.

"It was during our high school years, I'd say. He'd taken a brief internship during our second year with this really old underground hero, a previous member of the Underground Liaison Branch, which basically acts as the connection between underground and aboveground heroics. I remember him being so happy about it, even if he tried his best not to show it, and he stayed in touch with that old geezer even beyond graduation. One training exercise I saw him perched on one of the rooftops in one of the mock-city battle centers, and when I asked him about where he'd picked that up from, he just recited some wisdom from his mentor and went on to win the exercise. That was about the time he started strategizing more with logic than emotion, too, leaving me to be the emotional one!"

The hero leaned in with a grin on his face, as he added, "and don't tell anyone I ratted him out, but secretly, he's the emotional one and I'm the logical one. You'd be surprised by just how many times we've messed with our colleagues along those lines- one time, we pretended to have gotten hit by a quirk that switched our personalities, and oh boy, the chaos we wrought was beautiful."

Izuku snickered at the mental images this story conjured, and bounced a leg to vent some of his restless energy, as the clock continued ticking.

"I'll have to keep that prank in mind for the future," he said, already beginning to plot how he and Hitoshi or Shouto could pull it off. He would consider Fumikage as well, but in all honesty, he probably wouldn't be able to keep up the speech pattern of the bird-headed teen for that long. Plus it would be funnier to see a cheerful Hitoshi bouncing around, or an exceptionally inquisitive Shouto flitting from person to person with various questions that needed answering. Ooh, it might even benefit Shouto some then, because he was always eager to theorize but he wasn't the best at gathering information...

Plans for later, though. Right now, he ought to focus on the person he was talking to, as he didn't want Hizashi to think that he was ignoring him or anything.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The greenette looked around, and as he opened his mouth to continue the conversation, a certain train of thought came trailing through his mind. He'd done his best to ignore it thus far, but he'd seen the fusion of Hizashi and Shouta in the hospital, and his classmates had seen the fusion of the Hellions in the USJ. Thanks to his research, there wasn't much he didn't know about the negative aspects of the technique, but he still wanted to know more. Everything he knew had come from second-hand accounts, and he wanted to learn more about it from someone who fused often...

"..."

...but he didn't know how to put his questions into words. Everything he thought of was unsatisfactory, like if he said something, then it would be offensive or it would cause him trouble in the future. He wanted to let Hizashi know that he'd seen his fusion, and that he'd once almost fused with All Might accidentally, but he didn't know if it would do him any good at this time. It felt like it was too soon for him to speak, like he didn't know the man well enough, like saying something now would ruin something in the future.

The silence of the nighttime seemed to agree, remaining unbroken for as long as he dithered, until the breeze made the nearby trees rustle once more.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"Anyways, I'm guessing that you're here cuz I'm on the roof after curfew, right? I'm sorry, I didn't know there were cameras or sensors up here. Did you get woken up by an alert? You were probably sleeping before now, you've got your radio show in the morning to take care of."

Izuku copped out, feeling a bit like a coward as he did so, and his leg bounced a little bit higher in his restless state.

"Nah," the hero responded, watching him with a relaxed pose. "Sleep is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold! I was actually taking a break from my paperwork and noticed you were up here, so I decided to join you. Oh, and don't worry, the alerts won't go off unless you leave the building properly. You're not breaking curfew so long as you don't leave the dorm building assigned to your class... buuuuut you should probably get to sleep soon. You're still growing, after all!"

The greenette grinned at the ancient meme, something in the back of his mind pointing out that few people outside of HoloGraphic would know that one, as he stood up. Particles of dust from the ledge were brushed off of his pants, and as Hizashi stood up to do the same, he took one step towards the side of the building where his balcony was before stopping again.

Feeling his cheeks warm a bit at the thought that came to mind, he reached for his phone- the nearly indestructible one he had purchased from Innovation- from Hatsume- a few weeks back. "Can we... Can I take a picture with you?"

He'd taken a picture of Aiyama Shouzashi in the hospital, but that hadn't been a selfie. It hadn't even been taken with their permission, it had been a stalkerish photo taken from the vending machines, on a mere theory he'd had. If they hadn't been the fusion of two potential father figures, he obviously would have deleted the stranger's face from his gallery, but it had been. Asking one of them to their face for a picture was a more difficult thing, yet while candid photos were great and all, he really wanted some with them being... happy to participate.

Hizashi blinked at him in the moonlight, a bemused smile crossing his face. "It's a bit dark out for a cell phone camera, isn't it? Not that I'm saying no, but don't we need more light?"

Izuku's grin faltered a bit, but he knew the nighttime ordinarily hid such minor movements, so he knew it wouldn't be noticed.

"Nah, you're right. Maybe tomorrow then."

With that, he continued moving forward, until he was standing by the edge of the rooftop where his balcony was located.

"It was fun talking with you," he said, as he peered over the edge and moved until he was directly above his balcony, "and thanks for the specification on what's considered breaking curfew. I'll try not to abuse the obvious loopholes too much!"

An amused chuckle sounded behind him, followed by footsteps on the concrete, and Izuku glanced back with a mischievous grin. "By the way, don't scream at what I'm about to do. I've gotta avoid the camera Hitoshi set up outside my room, and I'd argue that climbing up here from my balcony is more difficult than climbing back down, so I'm all good!"

Before the man could react, he vaulted over the edge of the rooftop, turning around so he was facing Hizashi before he was even out of sight. Concerned sputtering came from above him as he thus fell towards the earth below, but his balcony was more than sturdy enough to withstand his weight. The dorms were pretty much brand new, after all, and Yuuei was well familiar with the shenanigans of overpowered teenagers.

"IZUKU, PLEASE DON'T DO THAT IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN. I MIGHT HAVE A HEART ATTACK."

With a sheepish grin, the teen glanced up at the simultaneously concerned and entertained face of Yamada Hizashi, and waved up to the man.

"I'll keep that in mind, but no promises! I hope you get some good sleep before you head into the station later this morning!"

The two family members thus bid each other goodnight, and went their separate ways, Hizashi back to the main building and Izuku back into his room. Doors were closed and locks were turned, and in the absence of the breeze, the silence returned once more. Midoriya Izuku climbed into his bed-fort-thing and took out his phone for conversations on the forum, and did his best to ignore the restless energy in his bones, until he could vent it in the gym that dorm residents had access to outside of school hours.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clock was ticking, and someday in the future, he would face what it was counting down to.

Chapter Text

"The Yuuei Sports Festival is something that pro heroes- no, the whole country- is watching closely. A big event! The next All Might... the fledgling Symbol of Peace... Midoriya Izuku. I want you to tell the world, 'I AM HERE!'"

All four courses of Yuuei High would be coming together to fight through preliminary games of varying types, and the students who made it would face off in the final event, the tournament. Izuku knew that he had to prepare for anything, that he had to train like his life depended on it, because he was aiming to be a spotlight hero. He didn't need to sleep, so honestly, he was perfect for the job. A hero who could be constantly active, a cloak of protection over the people at all times of the day and night...

"This is more for me than it is for you, though, and it's your life. It's your career. I won't force you to approach it the way I would, so it's up to you!"

He couldn't forget where he'd started, and he couldn't lose sight of where he was going. Tomorrow, when the Sports Festival arrived, he would be ready. The cameras would catch him in his full glory, filled with pride to be where he was and filled with ambition to go even farther, and filled with the determination to be the best hero that he could be.

Midoriya Izuku wasn't sure if he was going to be a symbol of peace, as All Might wanted him to be, but he would be a symbol all the same.

"Yaoyorozu-san... Have you ever wondered what would happen if you made a noodle with your quirk, swallowed one end of it, and continued creating and eating the noodle at the same time? Do you know what that would be called?"

Izuku's normally composed vice rep choked on her water, and several of their classmates gave the greenette a very weird look, likely wondering just what the fuck was going on in his head to make him say that. They were in the waiting room, and the festival was about to start, like... what? Was this how he exhibited his nerves?

No, no it wasn't. The thought just popped into his head, and he had to ask. He might not get an answer, but he still had to get it out there, because otherwise, it would've completely distracted him.

"I... can't say that I know. Perhaps I'll... find out later...?"

With a heavy sigh of disappointment, Hitoshi approached him, and casually smacked the back of his head.

"Bad Izuku. No giving people quirk crises right before they have to use their quirks."

He rubbed his head indignantly, and turned to give his friend a piece of his quirk-query-filled mind, but never got the chance to. Shouto had approached him, with an expression of intense seriousness on his face that had the rest of their classmates looking on curiously, and also had Mineta slowly stepping back to partially hide behind Tsuyu.

"Midoriya. You're the one to beat, aren't you?"

The use of Izuku's family name was a red flag for everyone in the room, a sign of something being wrong- even Fumikage took another look to reassess the bichromatic-haired teen. It was undeniable that he and the greenette were close friends, even if he wasn't as close to him as Hitoshi was, so a deliberately distant approach like this was out of the blue. What was the reason behind this sudden change in demeanor? They didn't know, but whatever it was, concern was already welling up inside him because of it.

"Our classmates look to you for help, and you have proven yourself a worthy leader, taking charge in situations of crisis and handling them at a professional level. Bakugou is at the top of the class right now, other than Yaoyorozu and myself, but you're even more powerful than he is... and All Might has his eye on you."

A few of their classmates drew closer to listen in, and Shouto briefly glanced at them from the corner of his eye, as Izuku tilted his head to the side.

"I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're my friend. In fact, for that very reason, I'll be going after you with everything I've got. Mark my words, Midoriya Izuku. Today, in this Sports Festival, I will defeat you. Consider this my personal declaration of war."

...yes, something was definitely wrong.

Shouto had been quiet all morning, but he hadn't been aggressive in any way, until now. He wasn't the kind of person to lash out senselessly either, so there was a definite reason as to why he was doing so now. Pushing himself into a corner, isolating himself from his allies... it was somewhat... familiar...

"Hey, isn't that a bit much? I get that you two are the strongest in the class, but it's the Sports Festival. Can't you lighten up a little?"

Jirou spoke up from the center of the waiting room, and Shouto's cold gaze shifted to look her over, as a flat line was formed with his lips.

"As much as networking is an important aspect of Yuuei, this festival is still a competition. We're not playing around here. I suggest you take things more seriously if you want to get to the finals."

Before Jirou could do anything but blink in response, the door to the waiting room opened, and a clone of Ectoplasm called for them to line up in the order of their seat numbers. The class was quick to do so in some places, and sluggish in others, everyone reacting to the current freezing atmosphere in different ways. Izuku, Hitoshi, and Fumikage were some of the sluggish ones, sharing a concerned glance before they were in place.

Something had happened to seriously piss Shouto off, and judging by that unfortunately familiar distance in his eyes, whatever it was most likely had something to do with his father.

"...and lastly, the Business Course classes I, J, and K! Ladies and gentlemen, all of these wonderful students will be participating in the first event, but before that, we need to hear the class pledge! From Heroics class 1-A, it's Uraraka Ochako, the student representative for the first years!"

The brunette took a deep breath as the cheering of the crowd washed over her, and as the disgruntled comments from the other departments targeted prickly spines at her back. Student representatives, only ever from the Hero Course, only ever one of the people with flashy, powerful quirks... they were unhappy, and she knew that it was unfair, but she wasn't responsible for the way the system worked.

She wasn't the one to blame, but with her speech, maybe she could redirect their ire towards the people that actually were.

"You've got this, Ura-kun!"

The cries of encouragement from her fellow dorm residents boosted her courage, and it was with a bright smile that she walked up to the miniature stage that Midnight-sensei was on, steel wrappings around her spirit making her footsteps steady and sure. She was Uraraka Ochako, a girl with the dream of giving her family a carefree life, a girl with the life experiences to know how incredibly difficult that was going to be. She was Uraraka Ochako, and she would not back down.

It was now, or never.

"Everyone, before I make my pledges for this festival, I'd like to say a few things. I'd like to address the irritation of my fellow first years, and I'd like to address your expectations."

The cheering of the crowd quieted down, as a mixture of confusion and intrigue spread throughout the people; this unusual opening breaking the mold of past festivals.

"All of you have come here year after year to watch the students of the Hero Course grow into the figures who will protect your future. You've come here to see the flashy effects of our quirks, and to see the blood and sweat of your future defenders, and to see the immense pressure of this career turn us lumps of coal into diamonds. That and more is what you're here to see, but you're being a little unfair, aren't you?"

Someone booed, yelled for her to get on with it, and her smile turned sharper as she scanned the crowd to make eye contact with the person responsible.

"You're forgetting about all the other heroes at this school, outside of the Heroics Department. Future doctors, healing the sick, saving the lives of the people who cannot save themselves. Future lawyers, upholding the law, sending criminals behind bars and letting the innocent go free despite how little public recognition they receive for it. Future laborers, laying down the literal foundations for our cities and homes, building our shelters and making our lives as comfortable as they can be. You've forgotten how important these people are, because all you can see is the attention-grabbing shine of the profession called heroism, so let this be a reminder to you..."

She caught the gaze of the man who had booed her, and determination coursed throughout her body, as she took the microphone in hand to bring it closer to herself.

"Us students of the Hero Course are not the only heroes on this field. Keep that in mind as you watch the events of this Sports Festival. And as you leave the stadium at the end of the day, try not to forget what you've learned here."

The crowd was quiet, an almost eerie hush filling the stadium, as the words of the student representative washed over them. Even her fellow students were quiet, and as some of them looked up at her or over at her classmates, she noticed that their animosity towards her class had lessened. She and her classmates were not the right targets to direct their ire towards, no...

The correct target would be the rest of the world.

"And now, the athlete's oath. On behalf of the first years of Yuuei High, I pledge that we will do our best in the upcoming events of the Sports Festival. I pledge that we will exceed your expectations, and that we won't hold ourselves back for your viewing pleasure. I pledge that each and every one of us will prove to you why we are Yuuei students, and that we will truly go beyond..."

Uraraka thrust her fist into the air, and as the energy of her classmates swelled before her, cried out the end of their school motto with all of the determination that she could muster.

"PLUS ULTRA!"

As Midnight declared the first event of the Sports Festival to be an Obstacle Course Race, the students gathered at the starting line, staring down the tunnel that would be their first obstacle.

Shinsou Hitoshi stood beside his friends, in a position that made it appear as though he would be running alongside them, as the red lights over the tunnel kept them in place. Once those lights turned green, the entire student body would rush forward... well, almost the entire student body.

"Izuku, do you have any idea what happened with Shouto earlier?"

This was a bit of a dirty move on his part, but it would benefit them both if it succeeded, enough so that the act would be forgiven later on. Izuku still had trouble regulating his strength, didn't he? With Hitoshi in control, he could get the two of them to the finish line without either of them taking any damage, pushing his friend's abilities to their limits.

It all depended on whether or not the greenette would answer.

"Maybe, but I'd rather not talk about it here. Later, during lunch maybe, if we've got the time."

With a feral grin as the lights turned green, the purple-haired teen took control over his closest friend, and watched the rest of the students rush forward. He was quick to get them out of the way of the others, making sure that nobody could jostle the greenette out of his mental grasp, and soon the initial rush was over. The tunnel turned into a bottleneck reminiscent of the hallways during the intruding press panic, and movement forward was slow... but the massive screens inside the stadium showed everything that was occurring in fantastic quality.

"Sorry Izu, but I'll make things a bit more fair by having you cross the finish line ahead of me. Just relax, and trust in me."

Thus, the teen and his current mindslave stood calmly behind the chaos, observing the screens above them. They watched as Shouto froze the majority of those in the tunnel to the ground, including half of their classmates- apparently they were underestimating the power of that move, thanks to Hitoshi dodging it during the battle trials on the first week of school. Unfortunate for them, really. Who knew if they'd be able to break free and catch up in time to still beat out most of the other classes?

"Alright, I think we've waited long enough. Don't wanna give our friends or Baka-hoe too much of a lead, after all. Now, like we did during the quirk assessment test Aizawa-sensei gave us..."

When they were the only two left in the field, Shinsou Hitoshi whispered into Izuku's captive ear, shelling out the cleverly-worded commands that would take them to victory.

Chapter Text

"What an incredible display, Eraserhead! The students were really fired up by Uraraka's speech, and boy are they showing it!"

The voice of Present Mic sounded from the speakers beyond the screen, the students participating in the Sports Festival being displayed in vibrant colors that lit up the room. Artificial firelight gave the bar a warm atmosphere, but in the face of the cold fury coming from one of its residents, said warmth was noticeably absent.

A man behind the counter, clad in the semi-formal bartending uniform that he preferred, wiped down a glass with the same amount of grace as he typically displayed.

"I really hate that brat... A stupid NPC like him should've never gotten in our way... Using one of Sensei's names like that, he should've never been with the heroes in the first place..."

A photo of Midoriya Izuku was on the counter already, but the gaze of Shigaraki Tomura was locked on the screen, as he scratched idly at his neck. The greenette had carried a purple-haired classmate of his across the finish line, before seeming to snap out of a trance of some sort, at which point he dropped the other teen and stuck out his tongue at him. A glint of metal in the midst of pink flesh made it clear that said tongue was pierced, and for a moment, Tomura imagined grabbing that tongue between his fingers and watching it turn to dust. The brat would never speak again if he didn't have a tongue, and that would be wonderful...

"We have the first two across the finish line, everyone, and more are coming through the gates one after the other! It's an interesting mix for certain- I think a Support Course student beat a full third of the Heroics Department! Those left are mostly from class 1-B, right?"

The light-blue-haired man continued watching the greenette, hatred in his eyes as the boy rolled around in the winner's circle with his friend... but in his mind, the cogs and gears were turning. Sensei hadn't said how the boy knew him, and he wasn't trying to help him out- the League of Villains was Tomura's project, not anyone else's. It was a 'learning experience' for him, his first steps out into the greater underworld, and he had to figure things out on his own. Where did he go wrong in the USJ? What could he have done better? What did he learn from these mistakes?

'Oh, I've learned quite a bit.'

The most important thing, to Tomura, was that the brat shouldn't be on the side of the heroes. If he knew that particular nickname of Sensei's, then he should also be aware of the flaws in this society, because he could have only learned it from HoloGraphic. He should be trying to change things, trying to fight the unfair ways of the world, not joining the very figures that upheld such terrible values. What did he think he could do, change things from the inside? Not the fuck alone, he couldn't.

"Uh oh, looks like our first place student from the Obstacle Course Race is having trouble finding partners for the Cavalry Battle! Not even his friends are sticking by him, how utterly cold! You know what they say, it's lonely at the top!"

Maybe... just maybe... Tomura could use the boy to his advantage.

"The fifteen minutes of prep time are up, ladies and gentlemen, and the Cavalry Battle is about to begin! Eraserhead, what are your thoughts on the teams that the students have settled on?"

Cars zoomed down the street, busy people moving from place to place and kicking up a breeze, behind the small crowd of viewers gathered around an electronics store with functioning televisions in the window. Nobody paid much mind to the others in the crowd, gazes locked on the screens showing the Yuuei Sports Festival, as they imagined themselves to be seated in the stadium alongside the hundreds of thousands of people there.

"Well, they're interesting to say the least. We've got a few teams that are decently balanced, as we usually get, but I wouldn't have expected some of those students to get along well. Then we've got a few people teaming up with others outside of their own class, and along those lines, we've got a real wild card with the team of Hagakure Tooru."

On one side of the crowd, a tall figure in a black leather jacket and pants too short for his legs stood by, his focus flicking between the screens and the world around him. If it weren't for the blonde girl at the other end of the crowd doing the same thing, it would have been easily said that he was the most observant amongst them, but alas his attention span was evenly matched.

"Y'know, I think this is the first time since we've started working here that there's been a team up between all four departments of Yuuei High! From General Education, we have the rider of the team, Hagakure Tooru! Then we've got Midoriya Izuku from the Heroics Department, Hatsume Mei from the Support Course, and Tsukami Kyouei from the Management Course! But really, since when do the Business students participate in the second and third events? Don't they usually do their own thing in the stands at this time?"

The two observant viewers locked eyes across the crowd, and the double-bun girl smirked at the black-haired boy, before seeming to vanish. With a flash of frustration, the boy moved to follow her, leaving the small sidewalk crowd behind.

"Aaand they're off! As though they're sharks sensing blood in the water, every team on the field immediately targets the seemingly weak Team Hagakure, and- WAIT, WHAT!? ERASER, AM I SEEING THIS RIGHT? DID THEY ACTUALLY JUST THROW THEIR HEADBAND AT THEIR OPPONENTS!? THE SHARKS HAVE GONE INTO A FRENZYYY!"

Present Mic's voice followed the boy and the girl down the nearest alleyway, and quickly faded into the sounds of the city around them, as a chase that had been going on for several weeks continued on.

"Their strategy is sound. Between the four of them, the only one with any sort of combat quirk is Midoriya, which is why he seems to be the front horse. With his Body Boosting quirk, he can essentially carry the entire team on his back for ease of mobility, and those boots from Hatsume only seem to be making things easier for him. Having Hagakure as the rider prevents the other teams from knowing exactly where her hands or arms are, meaning that their ability to defend against her attacks is drastically lowered. This team setup has the best chance of victory by playing offense, and they can't do that if they're stuck defending the ten million points from the start, so it's logical that they'd drop the top headband as soon as possible."

In one of the underbelly's many dens, specifically in one known as the Dancing Mistress, two men well-versed in showmanship were gambling hard. The Sports Festival played on one of the screens above them, and their silver-haired dealer slid five cards their way, giving them new hands upon which to bet. So far, they had been evenly matched, which seemed to be quite the irritant to them both.

"Meanwhile, Team Todoroki has laid claim to the ten million points, and is fending off the attacks of all those around them! Look at all the power and versatility at their disposal- they're a perfectly balanced team for offense, defense, AND mobility! As expected when some of the best students from class 1-A join forces!"

Each behind masks, each clad in gloves and in respectable clothing, the two men watched the other for hints as to their opposing hands. Secretly, Giran had rigged the draw to give them equally useless hands this time, out of sheer boredom and a desire for better entertainment than what he'd been given thus far. Behind him, his latest and favorite runner yet was lounging in one of the booths, eyeing the gentlemen at his table with thinly-veiled amusement.

"And with only six minutes left, it looks like Team Monoma has drawn the ire of Bakugou Katsuki! It's like watching a train wreck, everyone! Please, avert your eyes if you can!"

Slowly, deliberately, a stack of chips was slid forward to join the pot at the center of the table. The magician known as Mr. Compress stared at his near-doppelganger, likely daring the other man to match his bluff, and then likely frowning behind his mask as his competitor did so. Giran didn't know how these two had met each other, but two drama-inclined villains like them would only get along swimmingly or absolutely loathe each other, and it was incredibly amusing to see their interactions due to the fact that they were of the latter inclination.

"Opting for the usage of overwhelming power rather than continuing to strategically exhaust his teammates, Todoroki Shouto has created a dome of ice around his team. Assuming that he can keep it up, this would be a logical move..."

The more traditionally theatric Mr. Image watched as Mr. Compress raised the bet, and matched his opponent equally once more. At this point, their silver-haired dealer laid down another card between them, and observed as they continued their competitive game of poker.

"Just three minutes left, and the current leaderboards are fascinating! Team Bakugou has laid claim to ALL the headbands belonging to class 1-B, putting them in a comfortable second place, and is now gunning for the ten million! Their ambition knows no bounds! How will Team Todoroki withstand this brutal assault!?"

Honestly, the lack of banter between the dramatic criminals before him was making this whole thing more boring than it usually was. Maybe he should switch out with Haruka, and do his job of gathering information in a more active manner, rather than just standing at this table and listening to the conversations occurring around him. She was a thief and a smuggler, after all, and neither of those duties could measure up to the mastery he was known for.

"Looks like class 1-B isn't taking the loss of their headbands easily! They seem to be rallying together to specifically target class 1-A students, though only Teams Tetsutetsu and Rin are willing to tangle with Team Bakugou again! Will they be rewarded for their efforts, or will Team Bakugou manage to successfully fight offense and defense at the same time!?"

Waving to the woman behind him, Giran excused himself from the table, and proceeded to mingle with the other patrons of the Dancing Mistress.

"Heeeeyyyyy, Enji. Enji. Yo son ain't using his fire. Betcha wish you could change that, don't ya?"

The scowl of the number two hero deepened, and he folded his arms, eyes locked on the dome of ice that his masterpiece of a son had created.

"Chain, it's illegal to use your quirk in public without a proper license."

A nearly-identical version of Endeavor hopped up onto the railing, kicking his muscular legs above the ground like a child would, and grinned at the person he was imitating. The obvious differences between the two were their choices in attire- Enji was in his hero costume, whilst the doppelganger was wearing some sick sunglasses, a halter top, jeans, and high heeled boots- and if one looked beyond these most noticeable details, they'd see that 'Chain' didn't have any of his facial hair on fire.

"Well yeah, duh. But I'm still gonna tease you because I don't like how you handled things this morning. You really fucked up, dude."

Todoroki Enji's face grew darker as he stared at the field, refusing to look at the doppelganger that was disgracing his form. Honestly, taking care of them was a favor, and he deserved better treatment than this for doing so.

"Oh really, what gave it away? It couldn't have been the fact that oh, I don't know, Shouto is back on his kick of utterly loathing my guts?"

None of the civilians around them seemed to be paying any attention, which would seem odd in a normal situation, but this was a situation with Chain in it. He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow the copycat could do ridiculous things like this, and he didn't even know what their quirk was. His current theory was on a perception-altering quirk, though, because how the fuck else could he explain what bullshit they pulled on a daily basis?

"Wow, I'm detecting a certain measure of hostility here. I am hurt, I am wounded, blah blah blah. Anyways, yeah, that is what gave it away! Now why don't you tell me why you slipped up when things were going so well?"

The hero's scowl deepened, and he stared out onto the field, his arms folded as they usually were when he had nothing else to do with them.

"You're not my therapist, no matter how insufferably nosy you may be. Kindly fuck off."

Chain tilted his head, the grin on his face remaining unchanged; practically a paradox in and of itself with how chaotic the copycat could be.

"You don't even have a therapist, dude. And before you say it, no, your son's therapist doesn't count. Neither does your wife's therapist."

Enji glanced around at the nearby civilians, slowly so as to not draw excess attention, and showed no sign of the relief he felt at nobody listening to their conversation. He didn't need a therapist... he didn't begrudge other people who needed one, but he was the number two hero, and he'd both experienced and handled plenty of things on the field himself. Nor could he afford the reputation drop, should the news get out that he had one, because this country was one of taking responsibility. He was responsible for taking care of himself, and he couldn't afford to show weakness in having a therapist for himself.

"I will literally pay you ten thousand yen to change the subject."

Chain gasped dramatically, and hopped down from his perch on the railing, standing just a couple inches taller than the real deal.

"Endeavor, using an ancient meme that was only recently re-introduced to this generation? When did you get unbanned from HoloGraphic?"

Sending an unamused glance to his doppelganger, the Flame Hero responded curtly, "You already know. You were literally there when it happened. Hell, you were probably the one who did it. I still don't know your username, so for all I know, you're one of the mysterious admins."

At least the subject was being changed.

"It's aaalllll oveeerrrrrr! In first place, we have Team Todoroki, with their incredibly balanced gameplay leading them to victory! In second place, we've got Team Bakugou, with most of the headbands they took from class 1-B! In third, it's Team Hagakure, a fascinating offensive team-up with so few offensive skills! And last, in fourth, Team Shinsou with only two people in it have collected just enough headbands to edge out the tied Teams Tetsutetsu and Jirou! Midnight, take it away!"

Standing above the field, Enji watched as his son approached the green-haired teen who had gotten first place in the Obstacle Course Race, and listened to Midnight as she spoke to me students.

"We're gonna need two more people from the teams who tied for fifth place, soooooo, let's go with the riders! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Jirou Kyouka, congratulations! You're moving on to the final event! Now, we'll be taking a quick break for lunch, and then we'll have some fun games set up for those of you who aren't proceeding! Enjoy the intermission, everyone!"

The crowd of civilians and heroes around Endeavor began to get up and move around, but he remained still, observing as his son walked into one of the tunnels leading away from the stadium cafeteria with the greenette boy by his side. Following after were two more students- the temperamental blonde and the purple-haired girl with the earlobe mutation- and with a thoughtful hum, the number two hero finally turned back to the copycat that was waiting for his attention.

"Bold of you to assume that I'm an admin," his doppelganger smirked. "I could be one of the moderators, too, or maybe just a really good hacker. Or maybe I used my quirk to get you unbanned, or maybe I'm just a friend of someone who can. The possibilities are endless, you know."

Enji rolled his eyes, and stalked off towards a concessions stand, going to get some lunch with Chain following along behind him.