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Chapter Text

Chapter 1 - Decisions and Briefing (Note: I do not own My Hero Academia, I wish I was that good of a story teller, but I'm not)

Nezu watched the entry exam tape again, looking for any subtle queues, at first he thought All Might's choice of successor just didn't have the body to handle the quirk, however there were clues that pointed to something more.

"Did he only just receive the quirk?" Nezu wondered, while he could have taken the time to go see this successor, he didn't approve of All Might choosing a Middle School student, while he sympathized with the fact the boy was quirkless, it would have been better to give it to a student already enrolled in heroics. Given the original chance to actually meet the boy, he had turned it down, because he didn't want to take his frustration out on young Midoriya for Toshinori's decision.

"I could continue to avoid the pup," he stated aloud, "but if I don't intervene, the boy could end up with crippling injuries that Recovery Girl can't fix..."

Given that, the Principal of U.A. made his decision and texted Aizawa.
Text: Mr. Aizawa I need you to come to my office for a briefing concerning one of your upcoming students. 

Nezu settled down to pull together a rough dossier concerning one Izuku Midoriya for Aizawa to look through as well as general information regarding a certain travelling quirk. He had just finished printing out a copy when he heard a knock, after a quick glance at the camera feed:

"Come in."

"You wanted to see me, just to inform you, I am already planning on potentially expelling one kid when classes start, so you may want to get the paperwork ready."

"Let me guess, Izuku Midoriya?"

"So you're in agreement?"

"No, however you are correct in the assumption that was the student I was going to talk to you about. What I'm going to discuss with you needs to be kept strictly confidential,"

"Is this some twisted experiment, to mess with someone?"

"No, I really wish it was that simple, and I wished I had stepped in earlier, thankfully I think he hasn't developed any major bad habits yet," Nezu looked at Aizawa in a manner that the Underground hero recognized as sadness and guilt.

"Is he your ward or something?"

"No, it has to do with why All Might is going to be joining the staff. A decision the Symbol of Peace should have made regarding a successor from among one of the hero students. Instead he chose a middle school student, in essence he is the result of a decision the Number One hero made," Nezu paused.

"I'm not following, is he All Might's secret love child or something?" Aizawa sighed, 'It's way too early for this shit,'  he was definitely not going to give the kid special treatment if that was the case, but then maybe he needed to reel himself in, it could be that the boy hadn't been allowed to practice the use of his quirk for his own safety, 'That smiling moron has a lot of enemies, any one of them would go after a child of his.'

"While this involves All Might, this is far more complicated, while I shouldn't be the one to have tell you about this, I fear the 9th Holder could suffer irreparable harm if I do not."

"9th Holder? I don't have time for this, the boy has a strength enhancement quirk that he never practiced, his quirk is listed on the first page of his file."

"It's a transferable power stockpiling quirk," Nezu corrected catching Aizawa's attention, "the strength enhancement entry is a cover, the real name of the quirk is One for All."

"One for All?"

"It is the real name of All Might's quirk, which is now Izuku Midoriya's quirk. It is a power stockpiling quirk that grows and evolves with each successor. All Might is or maybe the more accurate term is 'was' the 8th Holder, Izuku Midoriya's the 9th Holder and if I had to guess the transfer happened at best a week before the entry exam, but the worst case scenario was it was on the same day."

"Shouldn't the kid be in gen ed if he doesn't have the experience to manage it, how is it affecting his existing quirk?"

"Up until receiving One for All, it is my understanding that Izuku Midoriya was quirkless," Nezu remarked, "so that isn't an issue."

"Again, he should be in gen ed," Aizawa remarked tiredly, "I'm teaching pro-heroes, not running a babysitting service."

"Right now what he needs is a quirk councilor, someone who knows how to deal with an individual that has had a sudden evolution in one's quirk, given your experience in the Trigger Incidents, you're the best person. Furthermore, he's a potential target if the one that injured All Might is still alive."

Aizawa really wasn't looking forward to all the headaches this kid was going to potentially cause, "I'm not going to create a Junior All Might."

"I'm not going to ask you to, I'm briefing you to prevent that scenario," Nezu replied, "Toshinori has a tendency not to take his health into consideration, I suspect the pup will need lessons in not overdoing things. You are most likely able to suppress the quirk, you come from a background where you can understand him and potentially relate to him."

Nezu handed him a packet of information, causing Aizawa to look at him resigned. "You realize, I won't treat him differently than the other students."

"I'm counting on it, helping a student get fine control of their quirk is what we are here for, after all, nobody would think twice about you giving him after school lessons. Based on the written portion of the entry exam, it is clear that he's very intelligent, I suspect he will be on a footing that will be at the level of his peers within the first week or so, given the proper instruction," Nezu informed him.

"You're just passing the buck," Aizawa replied tiredly.

"I'm not sure that I should be the one to approach him at this point, if I was it should have been not long after Toshinori chose Midoriya. However, I was upset that a child that young was chosen, I could understand a quirkless individual being chosen, there are numerous reasons that make it understandable." In fact he knew some reasons that Aizawa didn't need to know, if Toshinori Yagi decided to tell Aizawa, that was his business.

"The potential interaction with one's existing quirk," Aizawa agreed glancing through the papers that Nezu had thrown together, "I'm still running him through the same quirk assessment evaluation, but I won't expel him over it. I intend to use that as an opportunity to pull him aside. If it looks like he doesn't have potential I'll expel him."

"Fair enough, just realize he's been quirkless his entire life." Nezu called after cheerfully as Aizawa walked out.

'Damn rat cut into my nap time, shit now I have to read this! All Might you are so dead when I get my hands on you.' After-all even Present Mic and Midnight knew not to mess with him when he was napping.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 Evaluation's Aftermath -- I do not own My Hero Acadamia, though it has fast become one of my favorite Manga's/Animes

Aizawa could see that the kid was more complicated than what he would have guessed if he hadn't been briefed by Nezu. When presented with the potential expulsion, the kid figured out on the fly to limit the damage enough so he could still fight (wrecking a finger instead of his whole arm). 'He actually backtalked me,' the Eraser hero thought, 'timid until everything is on the line and then he does a complete 180.'

"Midoriya, after going to the nurse's office meet me at the Teacher's lounge," Aizawa said tiredly, "we're going to have discussion on how to keep you from breaking bones while using your quirk." He inwardly chuckled as the boy about had a panic attack, and he was well aware that All Might was there, "The rest of you are dismissed."
"So nobody's being expelled?" Mineta asked.

"It was a ruse," Aizawa stated smiling sadisticly and watched the other students walk off.

"All Might I know you are there, though it saves me the trouble to go looking for you..." Aizawa was smirking, 'that dumb oaf has no idea what he's in for.' Regretably he couldn't strangle the 'Symbol of Peace,' but that didn't mean he wasn't sorely tempted.

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Izuku Midoriya walked towards the teacher's lounge his mind balancing on a knife's edge from full blown panic. He'd learned long ago not to trust teachers, often he was the metaphorical whipping boy at school in the past, and his unease around authority figures had been throroughly ingrained into him.

"Hello young Midoriya," a relatively high pitched chipper voice called out behind him, and Midoriya nearly froze in panic. "It's okay, you aren't in trouble," Principal Nedzu stated, "I imagine you have a lot of questions, but for starters you passed the door." The rodent watched the boy flush from embarassment and hurried to the door as the two walked inside.

"First thing is I want to apologize Midoriya, should I call you Midoriya, by Izuku, or Deku?" the Principal watched as the boy tensed up, "Deku actually sounds like good hero name, and a good finger in the eye to bullies at the same time, wouldn't you say?"

"I g-guess sir," Midoriya responded.

"Anyways, I want to apologize for not at least meeting you sooner, when Mr. Yagi, told me about you I was against his selection," he paused watching the boy glance out the ground, "Though not for the reason you believe."

"I don't understand."

"I felt you were too young to be handed such a burden, I wanted a student already in heroics to inherit OfA, I even had a few candidates picked out, when I heard a child with their whole life ahead of them was inheriting it, locking them into something they find out they don't want, I was shall we say rather upset, and I chose not to meet you so I wouldn't take out my frustrations on you."

"O-okay, so why t-talk to me now?"

"Fair question, I figured that based on the entry exam, I no longer had a choice in the matter, you gained OfA the day of the exam didn't you?"

"Yes sir, All Might said we were cutting it close trying to get my body into shape to handle it."

"Well, that's a relief, it means we're not looking at a compatibility issue, and you haven't had a chance to learn bad habits."

The door opened and Aizawa walked in, "Couldn't wait to start without me."

"Just getting my apology out of the way, I was right on when he received it by the way."

"Yeah, I went into my lecture to ream All Might, and got it thrown right back in my face." Aizawa sighed.

"Was it over the your coffee mugs with the 'I hate Dumb Might,' or the..." Nedzu started cheerfully.

"Don't rub it in."

Midoriya started mumbling about if this was a good idea running through several worst case scenarios until Nedzu stated, "Calm down, you're here so you know who in the regular school staff is aware of OfA, minus Recovery Girl of course. That you can rely on as resources."

"And you told Eraserhead, I mean Aizawa-sensei because he was involved in the Trigger Incidents, where the hero student Loud Cloud got killed."

"Who told you that?"

"U-uh no one sir, you seeI'vealreadybeeninterestedinheroesandthatincidentreallystoodout-whereavillain'squirkallowinghimtocontinuously..."

"All Might didn't tell me you were good at analysis," Nedzu jumped in, "If I had known, I could have had at least a year tutoring you!"

"He was trying to get the boy's body to be able to handle the quirk, did you find out how many times he's used the quirk..."

"Twice, once in the exam, and the second time was in your evaluation."

"Okay, less for you to unlearn, from what I observed you are using it wrong, your father had a fire-breathing quirk and your mother has a weak telekinesis quirk."

"Y-yes sir, but I don't understand what that has to do with..."

"You can't focus your quirk like that without negative repercussions, right now it is good if you have to use it in such a manner as an absolute last resort then fine, but it isn't how you should use it normally, now what does the quirk feel like to you?"

"Like a giant lake that seems to continue to grow, it feels almost..."

"Good now as you activate your quirk I want you to visualize a dam, one that is letting just so much power through your body at a time at a constant rate. Try to let the lowest amount of power flow through you."

The teacher and principal watched the boy close his eyes with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as red lines became visible on the boy's face.

"Feel okay so far?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Okay gradually let the flow increase until it starts to feel uncomfortable, don't try to tough it out, I need a baseline of what you can handle easily without strain."

"Y-yes sir."
Green lightning started to arc around the boy becoming more intense as the flow increased until, "I think this is it."

"How much power you using?"

"I'm guessing here but probably 5%.."

"Okay shut down and then go back to that level." Aizawa had him repeat the process 10 times till he was satisfied the boy had a feel of it at least, "Okay head back to the locker room put on a gym uniform and meet me where we did the evaluation this morning. I figure you need a baseline and I can rope Present Mic or Snipe into taking you home," stated Aizawa, 'preferably Snipe because he won't be bugging me constantly about what's going on.'

The boy bowed and took off eagerly, his energy was almost infectious, after he left Aizawa turned and asked Nedzu, "Why are you still here?"

"Well I wanted to inform you I managed to get in touch with someone you can use as a resource, he knew the 7th holder, and was All Might's homeroom teacher at U.A. though he only taught for one year," Nedzu remarked.

"He has my sympathy putting up with Dumb Might."

"Yes, well I figured given the boy's stature, he may do better emulating Gran Torino when it comes to a fighting style," Nedzu eyed Aizawa's look of recognition, "I'm surprised you know him most people have no idea."

"I've seen him in action once," admitted Aizawa, "he's quick, efficient, and like me seems to hate reporters. Did you have any assignments you wanted to give the kid?"

"It can wait till tomorrow, I figured he'll be making enough progress for today, let him build some self-confidence first. I have to say, I think while he has some of the self-destructive behaviors, he's a lot more intelligent than All Might."

"That isn't a high bar," Aizawa retorted, "I better get down to the field."

"Have fun," Nedzu remarked having enough sense not to quip about how All Might had turned the tables on Aizawa earlier. 'Though he is right, Izuku is certainly more intelligent than Toshinori."

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 A New Baseline

Aizawa watched as the boy utterly demolished almost all of his scores from this morning. The ball throwing being one where his score went way down (which was to be expected). 'He's relatively timid on minute and completely reckless the next. He also is wary of authority figures, which is to be expected considering that wack-job Destro's teachings seem to be cropping up more and more in schools. I'm guessing Bakugou went to the same school as him, which means that we may need to let the boy know part of the truth, without letting him know the full truth, no that might not work if the kid says something, he can't lie to save his life...'

"Midoriya." said Aizawa.

"Y-yes sir Mr. Aizawa?" Midoriya asked a little hesitently, but he wasn't nearly as rattled as when he first came to class.

"You and Bakugou went to the same school, right? Tell me about him."

"I-I don't want to get him in troubleafterallheisn'theretodefendhimselfand..."

"Slow down, and I'm not expelling him over things he did in Middle School or Grade School, I normally don't read the files on students for a reason. What you did as little kids, that you all hopefully learned from isn't necessarily who you will be as adults, it would by hypocritical of me to expel him if I hadn't expelled a bunch of other students for their past behavior in middle school."

"Well I  guess you could say, it's complicated. My mother and his were and still are friends, mom used to watch him and his mom used to watch me. We used to be best friends until he got his quirk and I was diagnosed as quirkless then things started to change. He became more and more of a..."

"Bully," Aizawa stated.

"Yes and no, while yeah he did treat me like shit, there were other times he stood up for me thinking I didn't realize it. Some of the other students planned some pretty nasty things, putting spider lilies on my desk was the least of what some of the others would do. He caught one older boy trying to rough me up for money. He, actually set the kid's pants on fire, I heard it was 2nd degree burns, though Kacchan never actually got in trouble for it..."

'Now that is out of left-field,' considered Aizawa, 'So Bakugou while often being a bully had a code of ethics that he lived by, he also couldn't stand Midoriya, but at the same time he was still concerned about the smaller kid's well-being. The hot-head could be an extremely dangerous villain, or could be tempered into one of the best heroes of his generation with guidance. What a headache.'

"I don't think I can keep things hidden from him for very long," Midoriya admitted.

"Let me worry about that, sometimes an effective way to hide the truth is to let only part of it out into the open."

"S-sir?"

"Quirks with a stockpiling nature are uncommon but they aren't exactly rare, its the transferable aspect of OfA that's the secret, not the fact your quirk stores up energy. I'll explain it to him, not you; it may be he'll need to know the full truth eventually, but right now that would satisify him that you weren't mocking him while at same time you won't have to give him the real nature of your quirk," Aizawa stated, "that will at least let him know that for all intents and purposes you were effectively quirkless until recently, but he'll assume it was because you hadn't hit a threshold yet."

Midoriya opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off.

"Kid you are horrible at attempting to deceive other people, and you don't have the experience in misleading people while telling them the exact truth. I don't want your old classmate to keep throwing red flags that someone else could pick up on."

"Yes sir," Izuku breathed a sign of relief then about panicked with Aizawa's next question.

"Does your mother know about your quirk?" Aizawa looked at the kid's face, "Okay we're going to have a discussion with your mother. Midoriya look at me, her not knowing the truth could put her in danger, All Might didn't tell you about the villain that inflicted the injury on him."

"It wouldn't matter sir, I'd still have accepted OfA," Midoriya's eyes took on a look of determination and Aizawa could have sworn he saw the boy's eyes glow briefly.

"Again, right now the fact you have OfA is a secret, and the longer we keep the true nature of your quirk hidden the better."

Aizawa then proceeded to ask him about his observations about his various classmates, and when he finally brought up Mineta, the boy paused.

"I think he's complicated, his behavior on the surface is like a god of lust, but I think it's a mask, one he's had for so long that he's forgotten to how to take it off."

"How so?"

"His eyes don't always match his antics, least what little we saw earlier today. I could be reading too much into him, but his eyes kind of reminded me of myself."

'Okay, so I've got two kids that need counselling for self-esteem issues (one of which also needing to learn how to behave appropriately and the other that doesn't even think of his own personal safety), another kid with daddy issues, and finally a kid with anger management issues.'

"Okay, get back to the locker room get changed, and I'll see about Snipe taking us over to where you live," Aizawa said, "I know you know I tend to work with Present Mic, but Snipe is a lot better at keeping his mouth shut, and when I can't keep an eye on you Snipe can, don't argue, while the progress you made just in a few hours is extraordinary, you're still way behind everyone else, and you're also a potential target. That and Snipe is currently looking for a place to stay after his apartment had a conveinent water leak that flooded the place." Aizawa smirked.

"You didn't..." Izuku looked at him aghast.

"Midnight, she's an extremely sore loser, I warned him not to play cards with her; he cleaned her out and she got revenge..." He smirked as Midoriya's notebook came out making a note about Midnight's temper.

"Okay I guess mom will let him crash at our place for a few until an apartment opens up for him..."

'Jeez how many more people are going to know about OfA...' thought Midoriya with exasperation.

"It isn't common knowledge, but Snipe has been a bodyguard in the past for politicians and Nedzu. He should have his own apartment by the end of the week..."

"Wait I thought I was crashing at your place?" Snipe said having walked up behind them causing Midoriya to about jump out of his skin.

"No way in hell, my only other tennets are my pet cats, and you think I want Midnight flooding my place?"

"We shouldn't have had poker night just after the Mt. Lady interview, seriously she apologized profusely... Okay she apologized two days later. Look I can sleep in my office. I'm not gonna impose on a lady and her kid."

"No, cause I want you to look after the kid, Nedzu will see to you getting an appartment in the vicinity."

"Why?"

"You'll be told later."

"You have a kid that has a hit out on him from the Yakuza or somethin?"

"No, good guess but no."

"I thought you said he doesn't ask questions..."

"You, locker room, get changed now."

"I stopped with the not asking questions after the 'Trigger incident,' never again." 

"Would you stop over-reacting..."

"You managed to get 'Trigger,' blown up."

"You really shouldn't give a pick-up truck a name..."

Midoriya ducked out, cause this was just getting weird, he'd write about Snipe's weird habits later.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 - End of the First Day -- I do not own My Hero Academia, I wish I did though.

Izuku hurried with getting changed in a panic about what his mom would think about him inviting a complete stranger, granted a hero but still, plus the real origins of his quirk; 'why couldn't Midnight have not wrecked...'

"I'm an idiot." the boy voiced aloud finishing getting dressed and walking out of the locker room and saw Aizawa waiting for him.

"Good thing I didn't call my mom, was there a reason for it or..." Izuku looked torn, 'not again, I want to have some people I can trust.'

"It was a logical ruse for your critical thinking, wanting to help others is good, but you should always consider whether or not you are being led on," Aizawa stated, "I used elements of the truth in the story with some misdirections. For instance Midnight is a sore loser, however she didn't wreck Snipe's apartment, she gave Vlad a black eye, though apparently he admitted he deserved it."

"So you used things that were true to give a false picture?"

"Yes, being an underground hero means I often have to deal with the shades of gray, where you often have to weave fictions to infiltrate organizations to bring down villains," Aizawa stated, "I can tell you wouldn't be good at it, you have the mind, but you're too pure hearted, which with the responsibility you carry, that is a good thing."

"So why was Snipe going to be staying at your place?" asked Midoriya as they started walking.

"Cat-sitting, Nemuri said she could watch the little monsters, they all adore her, while they tolerate Snipe, and I need to run a patrol."

"So Snipe..."

"If you decide to tell Snipe about OfA that's your business, I still recommend telling your mother the truth."

"Why did he name his truck..."

"If I remember correctly it was the name of a famous horse owned by Roy Rogers, since he can't actually ride a horse on the streets." Aizawa smirked slightly as Izuku snickered softly.
"Anyways, his place isn't too far from where he currently lives, so dropping you off at home isn't out of his way, and he can just modify the route he takes home."

"Also you meant it, you're not going to expel Kacchan?"

"Not unless he gives me a very good reason to, I'll handle this not you, look I know you're an avid All Might fan, and meddling when you don't have to, however this intervention would be best handled by an authority figure. I can tell just enough of the truth about the nature of your quirk for him to be satisified you weren't holding out on him, while possibly wondering if he was the cause why it took so long for your quirk to manifest."

"I don't want him to feel guilty for what he didn't..."

"He might eventually prove trustworthy enough that he can be told the full truth, at that point I will tell him I ordered you not to tell him the full truth, until I could judge for myself regarding his trustworthiness, and you're too close to the situation to be objective. At the same time, you are not All Might, he had his support network, you need to develop yours from people you find trustworthy."

Midoriya frowned at that comment, "Not sure where to begin on that front..."

"You have a whole year to start building one. Offhand, while I would trust Iida's older brother, but unfortunately not him at present; he's honest but I don't see him keeping a secret until he matures. Yaoyorozu is a strong possibility, I'm hoping Ojiro will be a good candidate given his martial arts training would benefit you immensely, and finally if you're right about Mineta, he would be a good candidate, because it would give him a lifeline out of the self-destructive behavior." Aizawa shrugged and opened the door where the truck was waiting, "anyways that's my first impression of the class. Though I'd say you need to pick people wisely. As it is I'm going to do some digging about Mineta's home life, and if your instincts are right, he may need a place to stay anyways."

"I don't know, if my mom catches him pulling that behavior, she'd kill him. Notliterallykillhimmind..."

"I'm actually counting on it, now you need to get home."

"Thank you sensei for the help, being able to use OfA without breaking bones, even if it's only a little..."

"I did it so you wouldn't fall behind or learn bad habits, that doesn't mean you can neglect your other skills. Your analytical abilities are nearly at the level you'd expect to see from an entry level professional at the very least, that's extremely impressive for someone without an intelligence quirk."

"Could a quirkless person be a hero?"

"Not without a lot of training, and impressive motivation," Aizawa thought for a moment, "At the time All Might found you, I would say it would have been too late, the window was closed."

Izuku frowned and looked at the ground.

"There wouldn't have been the time necessary to get you trained up to the level you needed to be at to compete. While you could handle things remotely, from what I understand you didn't have the natural athleticism. However, if you had been say 9 to 10 years old and found then and received dedicated training, you would have been at the level that I could have seen you making into U.A. in the hero course."

"Thank you sir." Izuku bowed and ran over to the truck so he could catch his ride home, it was afterall getting late.
Aizawa watched the truck drive off, 'Now I need to investigate Mineta's family situation and figure out what to say to Explosion boy. I also need to call Dumb Might and go over what his lesson plan is and if there is a team exercise I want to choose the teams... I really need a nap."

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 - Lesson Plans and Introductions -- I do not own My Hero Acadamia, it is owned by Horikoshi

Aizawa wished he could just go get a nap, however looking over All Might's plans for the morning and the class's first combat exercise, he informed Toshinori (since he wasn't in his All Might form at the time), that he would pick the teams thank you very much. He managed to sneak a peak at the Hero Costumes the students were coming in with. Of course Midoriya's managed to get flagged because it wasn't made by the support department, but instead was homemade, so of course he had to sign off on it.

'I get it that his mother probably made it for him, but no, just hell no,' Aizawa shuddered, 'he'll look like a demented comic book rabbit that nobody should take seriously. The core concept is fine, I'll let the support department redesign it after Bakugou trashes it.' It seemed like a mean thing to do to a student that was needing to learn to trust authority figures, but no student of mine is going to look that ridiculous.' The other outfits looked okay as far as he was concerned, though he really didn't care about fashion, just that shade of green was an eyesore.

It was a bit of a gamble having those two face off, but Midoriya had to learn to stand up to Bakugou. Aizawa carefully considered who the partners would be in the match-up and ultimately chose Iida as Bakugou's partner. 'Their personalities will clash, but Iida won't just cave to Bakugou either.' As he considered Midoriya, he grinned as he matched up the other student. 'He's a perfect foil against Iida.'

He sent an e-mail of the chosen pairings off to All Might along with the match-ups. 'Now I can get some sleep.'

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A diminutive old man with a small wooden cane stopped in front of the gates to U.A. just before dawn. "It's been a long time," he muttered, "damn it just when I was going to retire for good." He was one of the few heroes that had survived into their old age, however even he had to admit the Principal had a point in contacting him.

"Hello Gran Torino, or would you prefer Sorahiko?" a chipper voice asks him.

"I normally go by my hero name in public," Torino responds as the two walk inside, "so why involve me in a kid's training, shouldn't Toshinori have it well in hand."

"I'll explain in my office," Nedzu replied, the two walked to an elevator and rode it in silence. It was still a few hours before students were supposed to show up, but Torino supposed that Nedzu likely lived on campus. After Nedzu shut the door to his office, he politely asked if the old hero would like some tea which he accepted.

"So Toshinori got himself a successor but is a total novice when it comes to teaching," Gran Torino summed up the short discussion they had had on the phone the previous afternoon.

"Yes," Nedzu replied handing a file for the man to look through, "meet the 9th Holder of OfA, Izuku Midoriya."

"Originally quirkless, I can see why Toshinori would pick him," he chuckled, "what are your observations of the kid."

"He is exceedingly intelligent, kind-hearted, though he is timid he displays an alarming lack of a sense of self-preservation, he will charge in to try to protect someone with a complete disregard of his own safety," Nedzu commented, "I would also say he shows signs of abuse, through his previous schools."

"Yeah, I can imagine, he's one of the lucky ones too," Gran Torino grimaced, "Japan is currently the worst country in the world to live in if you're born quirkless. The one saving grace is much of the elderly community is quirkless so there are still laws on the books protecting those that are quirkless. I take it you want me to teach him my fighting style is that it?"

"Yes, given his height and build, assuming he doesn't grow much taller, he would benefit more from speed than strength."

"The strength will come I can assure you that, but you're probably right about speed likely being his greatest weapon. You seriously told that hobo about OfA?"

"He is his homeroom teacher..."

"You know about the Dumb Might mugs right."

"Yes."

"And the T-shirts."

"Yes..."

"And the..."

"I get the point, however he was involved in the Trigger Incidents."

"I get it, since the boy would have no idea how to handle a quirk."

"He made quite a bit of progress in one afternoon."

"Does Toshinori know I'm here?"

"No..."

Gran Torino sighed, "When were you going to tell him..." trailing off as there is a knock on the door.

"Come in," calls Nedzu chipperly.

"Okay did I do something, wrong..." Toshinori trailed off his face going pale.

"Staying out of you muscle form for now, huh... You could have called me about the kid, quite frankly he should have gotten the quirk earlier."

"Sorry, I didn't want to hear the same spiel as I did from Mirai..." Toshinori sighed, "So I'm guessing you're going to berate me about my choice of successor too?"

The old man snorted, "I'm not Mirai, seriously why would I do that? I know perfectly well you were also quirkless before receiving One for All. I guess you saw somethin special in him, and I'll leave it at that."

"Really."

"Really, you BONEHEAD, YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME FIRST THING, YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW TO TEACH!!!"

"S-sorry.."

"Well now that that's settled... Nedzu wanted me to train the kid to fight, DON'T ARGUE!" Torino glared as Toshinori closed his mouth again, "He isn't you, but then you weren't Nana either. Each of you had to learn what worked best for you, as will he. Him copying you could get him in a lot of trouble."

"You know I was probably going to see if you would have him follow you for an internship."

"Toshinori, don't worry, I'm not going to undercut you, there are going to be times someone will have to cover for you, for class, it may was well be me. Speaking of which, where the hell is Eraser anyways..." There was another knock.

"Come in."

"Sorry was up late, putting stuff together for Dumb... Oh you're here."

"Seriously, the teams could have been random..."

"No, that'd be a disaster waiting to happen in more ways than one."

"I noticed you put Midoriya up against the bully from his previous school," Nedzu noted. Torino started counting to ten hoping for Eraser's sake there was a logical reason for this.

"He needs to be able to stand up to him," Aizawa retorted, "besides, the two teams would be a near even match."

"That other boy wasn't nearly as impressive as Iida, in that assessment exam of yours," Toshinori commented trying to keep his temper in check, "then again I haven't seen his quirk in action, I went through most of the students' information, I think his behavior though would be a problem."

"That's why I didn't allow for random teams," Aizawa stated with a smirk, "Your protege floated the idea that there is more to the kid than meets the eye. If he's right, then hopefully the behavior issues will start working itself out, otherwise your protege will learn that he can't be so naive."

"So what's this kid's quirk?" Gran Torino asked and after it was explained to him, he started laughing, "Yeah it's going to be an interesting match-up, you realize of course if this kid is even barely competent it's going to favor Midoriya and him in the end."

"So is Sorahiko Torino going to be in class today, or..."

"I'll probably introduce myself to both freshman hero classes in a few days, I want to meet the kid earlier of course, you're getting used to teaching after-all, and given I've been in heroics longer than you, I can give them some safety instructions to keep them alive," Sorahiko answered while giving it some thought, "We can switch off which classes we instruct and can coordinate what we're teaching them. That work for you Toshinori."

"Yeah that sounds great, since I still have to do patrols, All Might still needs to be seen and..."

"Don't overdo it!" Gran Torino snapped, "As it stands your time limit has been decreasing hasn't it... Well with me also trading off classes with you it take some of the pressure off you. If we could trust the students with your deteriorating condition with keeping their mouths shut, but it's too early and it wouldn't stay secret long for sure." The elderly hero sighed in exasperation.

"I wanted to talk to you about anything I need to watch out for concerning how One for All will affect Midoriya," Aizawa spoke up, "We can talk about it while All Might running that class in heroics today while we can watch from the live feeds. I want to catch a certain student before classes regarding behavior in middle school before other students show up."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Nedzu commented re-entering the conversation, "it will give me time to get an ID Badge made for Sorahiko Torino and introduce him to some of the other teachers, since he will be potentially substitute teaching for them in the event of an absence. I believe this concludes our meeting."

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 - Deku vs Kacchan / Grape boy vs Speed boy - I do not own MHA, that privilege belongs to Horikoshi

'What the hell is Sensei thinking,' thought Midoriya as he found out who was on who's team and which teams were versing which. He felt his trust was betrayed, until he went to put on the costume his mom made of him and there was a note pinned to it.

You have to be able to stand up to him. I have given you the tools to win. I expect you to do so.

'I have the tools to win,' Midoriya thought, 'I know even being able to use my quirk outside of a fight, I won't be able to take Kacchan head to head. Tools to win...'

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'Damn it, is the teacher out to kill me or something,' Mineta thought glancing over at his teammate in the locker-room whom found a note pinned to a ridiculous looking costume, he'd kill for his mother to act that way towards him, even if the suit looked ridiculous. He then noticed his partner had a thoughtful look on his face followed by his eyes going wide and staring at him while starting to smile. 

'Okay, I'm not sure what he's smiling about.' He finished getting dressed and followed the others out of the locker room.

"Mineta, what's your quirk?" Midoriya asked quietly as they trailed the other classmates.

"You see these balls on my head, I can make them stick to just about anything except for me, for me they are like a trampalene. Anyways I saw how your quirk destroyed your body..."

"I have somewhat of a handle on it with Mr. Aizawa walking me through things after class yesterday, but I'm not sure I can use it in combat yet."

'Just great,' Mineta thought, 'We're soo screwed.'

"Don't worry, we've got this, Kacchan is going to go after me, you're probably the absolute worst match-up against Iida."

"Well yeah, I don't think his reaction times improve to match how fast he's going," Mineta rolled his eyes, "I'm not stupid, I got through the exam setting traps, and..." The smaller boy noticed that his teammate was actually rather scared, "Look, are you sure you want to face off against Bakugou, I could go at him."

"No, this is something I need to do," Midoriya commented as they entered the room with the rest of the class.

All Might began providing the instructions as to how this would go down.

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Mineta watched in horror, he'd been shoved to one side and Midoriya had taken a blast from Bakugou. Before watching awestruck as Midoriya actually flipped the blond slamming him into the ground.

"Go!"

"Fine be careful."

"DEKU!!! YOU THINK YOU CAN FUCK WITH ME!!!"

Mineta took off still hearing the explosions through the comm in his ear.

'Gotta find that stupid bomb, damn it Midoriya is going to get killed...' He ran up the stairs, The top floor is where they'd put it, of course, if the damn windows weren't boarded up I could have just scaled the building and have gone around that explosive idiot,' he paused hearing what sounded like monologuing (and loudly at that) and followed it to the room Iida was in, trying to get into character. 'Well that saved me some time.' Mineta cringed at how comically stupid Iida's acting was, and pulled some hairballs from his head, quickly setting up a few fallback points. He took a deep breath, then with a ball in each hand resolved to get Iida good and mad.

"Well guess the rotten fruit doesn't fall far from the tree," Mineta scoffed at Iida, "Your father and brother got caught takin bribes now you're going resorting to terrorism." He smirked as Iida blistered with anger, he'd guessed right based on the 'Shame to the Iida name.'

"NOW SEE HERE DON'T INSULT MY BROTHER..." Iida flailed about making his robotic motions with his arms.

Mineta just started throwing hairballs, some sticking to Iida, but most just littered the floor. 'Damn none that are on him are connected to the floor. Though he can't move the bomb either.'

"What are these things?" Iida made a grab at one on his chest only to get a hand stuck, "In the name of Villainy I demand you release me."

Both of them heard an enormous explosion. "Midoriya are you okay?!?!"

Through his comm-link Mineta heard the response, "Yeah, Kacchan just blew up an exterior wall, we're running out of time though."

"Don't worry, I've got trash can man, this is gonna be over soon."

"Hah, you can't get past your own quirk." Iida bragged.

Mineta just snickered, "That's what you think, time for my own special move," he charged in and Iida soon was dealing with a ricocheting purple terror. Iida tried to intercept him from getting to the bomb with a kick but his timing was off due to his hand being stuck throwing him partially off balance. Mineta bounced off the floor and his knee accidentally collided with a place he didn't intend, right between Iida's legs.

The larger boy collapsed as Minata rolled away. "Y-ou... That was low, I'm going to. I can't get up." Iida was in serious pain.

Mineta started hysterically laughing at how his life seemed to flash before his eyes, and how Iida looked at the moment with his face planted in the ground and his butt sticking up in the air, but stopped as he heard Bakugou yelling at Midoriya to use his quirk and stop mocking him. In that instant he took off and pressed his hand on the bomb.

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Both Midoriya and Bakugou were about ready to charge each other, green lightning starting to crackle along Midoriya's arm, Bakugou ready to unleash a second monster blast.

"MINETA HAS RECOVERED THE BOMB, THE HERO TEAM WINNS!!!"

Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief while, he was upset the costume his mother made was seriously damaged, but he'd won. He felt badly about just how floored Bakugou looked.

"Kacchan, I can't use my quirk in a fight yet without hurting myself, badly," Izuku decided to say, "Also your partner had a really bad match-up."

'I lost, to that nerd...' Bakugou shook, 'does that mean in a fight, he'd...'

All Might stepped onto the scene at that moment, "Everyone fails at some point, even me let's go over what happened so you can improve," he boomed.
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"Let's go over who the MVP of this fight is."

"It's a toss-up between Mineta and Iida," Momo stated, "As much as I hate to admit it. They were the only two that got into character. Iida seemed to have got taken out in a way that was purely accidental," she paused as all of the boys in the class grimaced, "However it was clear Mineta actually had a plan going into this."

"Actually, I'm okay with Iida being the MVP," Mineta spoke up, 'Damn I can't believe I'm doing this, this is my chance to be popular with girls... But if Midoriya hadn't...' He took a breath, "Midoriya and I jointly came up with the plan based on his knowledge of Bakugou, he accurately predicted what Iida's teammate would do, and while he kept Bakugou busy, I'd deal with Iida and recover the bomb. Even then Iida nearly hit me, if his aim hadn't been thrown off, I would likely have been in the nurse's office rather than him."

"I think that's an indication that you two are both MVP's of this match, especially since you are able to give your teammate credit when you could have easily claimed all the glory. Miss Yaoyorozu, is correct though I would add the hero team had better teamwork and communication, since the two of you were listening in on each other the entire time. By the way, Midoriya you should get those burns looked at, NOW! Now next up..."

"You were listening to him the entire time, and getting more and more worried..."

"Yeah, we left our comms on so we could listen to each other," Mineta admitted absently deep in thought, not many people would have risked themselves like that for him, 'Midoriya could have been really seriously hurt.' He watched his teammate limp off, probably with a pulled muscle or a bad bruise on his left leg.

Mineta felt a sudden kiss on his forehead. "Thank you."

"Huh? Ochako why?"

"Thank you for looking after him."

'Damn it, Midoriya already has a girl interested in him without even trying, I'm so jealous,' Mineta briefly seethed, shoving those feelings aside because it wasn't fair to Midoriya, "Why? I thought you couldn't stand me." Seriously none of the girls in class could stand him.

"Just don't let it go to your head okay," Ochako replied, "You're a disgusting little perverted toad. But you looked out for him, and you didn't have to."

"Yeah I did, he is my teammate," Mineta finally retorted chuckling, "Don't worry, as far as I'm concerned you're Midoriya's girlfriend, as far as I'm concerned, you're off-limits." He winked mischievously.

Ochako turned beat red, though she thanked her lucky star none of their other classmates seemed to notice save Jiro, but she guessed Jiro wouldn't gossip. 'Well I guess that I at least don't have to worry about Mineta being a perv towards me. I guess that's a positive.' She took off after Yaoyorozu cause it was their match.

"All Might, I think I better get my knee checked out," Mineta spoke up and got permission to head the the nurse's office limping slightly, 'I need to find out Midoriya's secret on how to get girls.' That and he felt it might be best not to see this match so he wouldn't make perverted comments. Considering he'd just been kissed by a girl on the forehead this was the best day of his life.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 - Bakugou's Starting Line / The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship -- I don't own My Hero Academia, it is owned by Horikoshi

Aizawa was waiting on Bakugou as he left the locker room. "We need to talk."

"About what?" the boy asked looking totally defeated.

Aizawa just gestured for the boy to follow. After he was sure nobody was within earshot, "Midoriya hasn't been mocking you. His quirk has a stockpiling component, have you ever heard of the hero Fatgum?"

"Yeah, he's the butterball that endorses all those food products..." Bakugou would have called him something else, but figured it wouldn't be a good idea at the moment.

"Well the fat he builds up allows him to absorb impacts, even explosions, which is the basis on how a stockpiling quirk works," Aizawa explained, "Now the less energy one has stored the weaker the quirk. Now near as I can tell Midoriya's quirk stockpiles energy fueled by emotions, there is also a threshold he had to reach to overcome a block on accessing the power, it's uncommon but happens in stockpiling quirks. You following so far..."

"Okay, so Deku's quirk hadn't reached this threshold and he appeared to be quirkless up until recently," sighed Bakugou, "This would also mean that you likely told him he wasn't to use his quirk in combat yet, which would make me trying to force him to use it out-of-line."

"While I didn't instruct him explicitly to do that, I did imply it," Aizawa answered, "He's made incredible progress in a short time span, but my big concern is that he isn't quite ready to use it in combat, given another day or two I think he could. Right now, I feel he'll get too caught up in the moment and go over his limit, which would leave him helpless in the field. When he used it in the entrance exam, for example he broke both legs and an arm and another student had catch him before he fell to his death. You however, have over 11 years experience, his level of experience is far shorter, like that of a toddler in comparison."

"You're not telling me the whole truth are you," Bakugou stated, the look in his eyes making it quite clear that he knew he wasn't being given the complete picture, "Quirks don't show up that late."

"Midoriya warned me that you'd catch on," Aizawa sighed, "What I told you about Midoriya's inability to access his quirk, that was true. Don't badger Midoriya about this, I gave him explicit instruction not to talk about it." Bakugou opened his mouth to protest but Aizawa cut him off, "You're not ready to know the full story this isn't just for his safety, but yours as well, just know that Midoriya is in real danger if the wrong people were to know."

"So you're recruiting people that can keep their mouth shut to keep an eye on Deku," Bakugou smiled catching on, "Just like that nerd to be a trouble magnet. I'm guessing the people that would be after him are villains right? Why not Icy-hot?"

"Maybe eventually, I'll decide if he should be in the know, right now Midoriya isn't experienced enough to judge the character of people, and frankly, I think Todoroki isn't ready, you're at least ready to be let part of the way in. I'm surprised to say Mineta is the other student that I'm seriously looking at as part of a support network for Midoriya, though I haven't decided, however he doesn't have the firepower, he can stall, but he can't go toe to toe against the threats I'm talking about."

"Yeah despite what that walking grape said, four-eyes got his ass handed to him," Bakugou considered for a moment, "Okay I'm in, but I expect to know what's really going on soon, so I know what I'm facing." Bakugou started walking towards the classroom, his confidence restored, that the teacher recognized his power, 'I just underestimated the nerd, that and my teammate was a moron.' Unnoticed by Bakugou, a few moments later Gran Torino walked up to Aizawa.

"I really hope you know what you are doing," the elderly hero commented, "that kid's a real hot-head."

"It's a calculated risk, he's known Midoriya all his life, before he became his bully they were close friends," Aizawa sighed, "if he isn't brought into this he'll throw up too many red flags. Also Midoriya begged me not to expel him."

"I'd agree with the boy, it would be too early to do something that drastic," Gran Torino chuckled, "You played to that kid's ego, because he was at a low point after losing. You set him up to lose didn't you."

Aizawa just smirked.

"You know you're a real jerk you know that," Gran Torino looked indignant, "You could have put them on the same team and pulled that kid aside and let him know about Midoriya's lack of experience beforehand. That you felt he was good enough with the kid's observational skills to take out both of their opponents. You wanted to bruise his ego..."

"He needed to learn he isn't perfect."

Mineta felt groggy after being kissed by Recovery Girl, "Thank you." Mineta said knowing better than to tick off a healer.

"I suppose I have you to thank for Midoriya not coming in with multiple broken bones, and for laying out that Iida boy," Recovery Girl commented, "I'm surprised you could walk here given the damage you did to your knee."

"Yeah that was kinda accidental," Mineta grimaced, "So how's Midoriya?"

"He'll get better but you need some sleep."

'Yeah sleep sounds good, I'm kinda worn out from that class exercise,' Mineta drifted off to sleep.

"You shouldn't indulge him like that, if that other boy hadn't managed to..."

"I know, I was concerned when Eraser announced his idea for teams and who would verse who. To be frank, I'm still rather upset Nedzu spilled the beans about Midoriya..."

"It was a good thing he did! Honestly, you should have had someone..."

"Don't you think I tried? I contacted Mirai first thing, since I thought he could help, but he just rejected young Midoriya without even bothering to meet him, and I can't go around spreading the word about One for All..."

'...That voice sounds familiar,' Mineta came awake and out of the corner of his eye he saw a stick-like man in an over-sized, All Might costume the same one from the class earlier, the voice was familiar, though not as booming as in class...

"Of course Mr. Natural Born..."

"All Might!" Mineta gasped out in surprise sitting up, before going pale realizing he'd been hearing things he shouldn't, "oops..."

"Oh great, I thought you said he was asleep and wouldn't wake up for three hours," Toshinori face palmed, "Well so much for secrecy..."

"I'm a light sleeper... I'm guessing this is why you became a teacher," Mineta whispered trying to steer the conversation away from himself, as to why he was a light sleeper, while his mind was going a mile a minute, 'Are we gonna lose the Number One Hero, and what's this have to do with Midoriya. Damn it I haven't even got to be popular with girls and the world's going to hell...'

"Approximately six years ago, I fought a villain that seriously injured me, and limits how long I can use my powers," Toshinori admitted, "My time limit has been decreasing and has really gone down of late. I only have 2 to 3 hours a day."

"Okay, who else knows and what does this have to do with Midoriya, what is 'One for All'?" Mineta was trying to keep from shaking in a full blown panic, 'And this was going to be the best day of my life. Damn it! I knew it was too good to be true.'

"One for All is the real name of All Might's and Midoriya's quirk," Recovery Girl answered causing Toshinori to face palm a second time, "What Toshinori? Really you're horrible at actually lying, I swear, and given what all the boy has heard already..."

"Okay that means two possibilities either Midoriya is your kid, or given the name of the quirk... It can be passed from one person to another," Mineta whispered while thinking, 'Holy crap! What did I just stumble into? This is huge, and downright dangerous if this got out, somebody kill me now!'

Recovery Girl started chuckling and Toshinori glared at her, "You're enjoying this."

"Maybe, when you get as old as I am, you'll understand."

"Okay so is he the 2nd or 3rd..."

"He's the 9th."

"This big bad villain..."

"As far as I know he's dead," Toshinori assured him.

"Well that's a relief, look I won't tell anyone, not even my parents, which is assuming they're even around and not doing their own thing," the look in Mineta's eyes wasn't one that should be seen on a child at that moment, "Anyways, what was Midoriya's quirk before..."

"I was quirkless," Midoriya answered hesitantly, he'd woken up in the midst of all of this and was still groggy but his adrenaline was kicking in as he was getting ready to panic.

"And you still managed to hold your own against that Bakugou, without using a quirk."

"I couldn't..."

"That's not the point! It makes perfect sense now, so many things weren't adding up, though I kept that on back burner due to classes, but you didn't neglect your quirk, you didn't have one to begin with," Mineta noticed Midoriya was flinching, "Izuku, I don't think any other member of the class could have fought Bakugou like that except maybe Ojiro. You were incredible." He was taking a real risk in calling Midoriya by his first name, it was usually considered rude outside of family members and close friends, but he hoped the taller boy would take it as though he wasn't being rejected.

"I-I was?"

Mineta nodded, "You managed to hold Bakugou off long enough for me to take down Iida, when you learn how to use your quirk, you'll be terrifying to fight."

"Y-you think so."

"Sure," Mineta shrugged, "don't worry, I won't spill your secret, not even to your girlfriend."

"M-my m-my what?!?!?!" Midoriya's face turned beat red while Mineta started cracking up laughing.

"Ochako has the hots for you."

"W-W-WHAT?!?!?"

Iida started moaning groggily and All Might hurriedly returned to his muscle form, "What is with that racket some people are trying to sleep?"
Mineta just laughed harder.

"And they say laughter is the best medicine, if you three are awake, I'm sending you on to class..." She trailed off as Iida immediately passed out again and started snoring. Midoriya and Mineta looked at each other and could barely keep from cracking up. Recovery Girl then sent the two to the locker room to get changed out of their costumes and get back to class.

In the locker room as the two boys hurriedly got changed.

"Man my mom's suit is ruined..."

"Hate to say this, but Bakugou did you a favor."

"W-what?!?!"

"The colors were all wrong, it was the wrong shade of green and there are other things that need to be changed..." Mineta commented absently.

"Okay, what about that thing that looks like a diaper..."

"...That was not part of the original design that I submitted, it was supposed to be a yellow belt I could attach things to. My outfit was supposed to be purple and yellow. Specifically the base color should have been purple, the cape, belt, gloves, and boots was to be yellow," Mineta sighed, "my mom does a lot of fashion design though she can't stand to so much look at me, I kinda picked up quite a bit. So I think you have a really cool mom, but she doesn't know much about fashion design. Give me some credit, I think someone in the support department added it for a lark. Though I'm starting to like it cause it certainly protects my assets, unlike Iida's costume."

"Okay then..."

"So who else knows about your quirk?"

"I know Aizawa-sensei and Principal Nedzu, know. I think Kacchan will figure it out a lot of people underestimate how smart he is, but right now you're the only student that knows, as far as I know. I haven't even told my mom."

"Why not?"

"All Might told me to keep it secret..."

"So don't tell anyone else, got it, no problem."

"Look, I'm really sorry you got caught up in all of this."

"Don't worry about it," Mineta cut him off, "I don't have many friends, and I don't think any of them would stick their neck out for me like you did not even my parents to be honest. Don't worry, I've got your back, I swear on my Playboy Magazine collection."

'Besides, thanks to you I actually got kissed by a girl,' Mineta thought grinning, "Izuku, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Huh, I thought you were into girls?" Midoriya looked flummoxed.

"It's a quote from Casablanca, only I inserted your name instead of 'Louis,' it was a movie from back in 1942," Mineta looked at Midoriya's face and started cracking up, "it's not a porno flick. It's considered a classic, there are a lot of famous quotes from that movie."

'Well that was rather dark and weird, about his parents not caring,' thought Midoriya as they finished changing and hurried to class.

"Izuku, you know about how my quirk works, well its' effectiveness is based on how I feel." Mineta suddenly spoke up as they walked back to class

"I kinda guessed that."

"You did? Well I want you to promise me something, when I start going out of bounds, can you pull me to the side and stop me... from creeping everyone out."

"No problem, I guessed you're dealing with being depressed, and the perverted streak had to do with you trying to make sure your quirk works..." Midoriya replied, "Were you treated like I was in school?"

"Probably, I wasn't entirely alone, but unlike your mom, my mom isn't exactly there for me..."

"Okay, I promise I'll try to keep your antics in check," Midoriya promised as they reached the door, "You see, I don't have many friends either."

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 - The Jet Hero Gran Torino / A Startling Revelation

Aizawa was there waiting on them when they opened the door to the classroom, the other students were conspiciously absent. There was another small figure with a cane also in the room.

"Mineta," Aizawa said calmly, "You and I need to talk, then I need to talk with your mother." Inside however Aizawa was seething about now having to go meet each student's parents just to maintain the illusion he wasn't singling out certain students.

"SirI'msorrydon'tblameMinetaitisn'thisfaultand..."

"Kid don't worry about it," the elderly man whom had gone unnoticed by Midoriya earlier, "He isn't in trouble, Recovery Girl just decided to screw with people's plans for amusement, because Aizawa annoyed her last week... Anyways, you're with me, we're going to start getting you practicing a fighting style, normally I'd let you experiment, but you need to hit the ground running and given your All Might fanboy attitude, you're likely to try to copy him..."

"Sir, I'm not sure what you're talking about, my quirk is..."

"One for All," the elderly man stated nonchalantly as Aizawa and Mineta were about to leave the room and Mineta gasped.

"Everyone here in this room already knew about it," the man stated, "well I didn't find out about you until I get this phone call from Nedzu, but I've known about the quirk for over half of my life..."

"Were you like the 7th holder?"

"No, I was friends with the 7th holder, I suppose I should introduce myself, my name is Gran Torino, and I already know you are Izuku Midoriya, now come on let's get going."

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Before he knew it Midoriya had been ushered back to the training area to the same building (that looked rebuilt in just a few hours).

"Guess that's one reason to have Cementoss as a teacher," Torino commented absently.

"Sir shouldn't All Might be...Iknowhistimelimitandallbutitishisquirk..."

"A real chatterbox aren't you." SMACK!! Izuku yelped has he got whacked over the head with the cane as the old man hovered briefly in mid air.

"Lesson 1, the instant it was passed to you, it became your quirk not All Might's, while it's true you two are linked through the quirk and it's still transferring to you, it is still your quirk."

"So I'm taking away his powers..."

"No, his injury is the culprit, if he were in better health the sharing would be more balanced, still favoring you mind you, but it would be more stable and the decrease would be more gradual. If Toshinori wasn't a damn workaholic he'd probably be managing 6 hours, not 2 to 3 hours, even if he gave you the quirk half a year ago and not just 2 weeks ago..."

"But still wouldn't he..."

"I trained All Might, and I can tell you, that you are not All Might," he smirked slightly as Midoriya flinched, "and that isn't a bad thing. Toshinori made a mistake when he called Mirai first instead of reaching out to me. You would have had a few months under your belt. You figure out a name for accessing your quirk?"

"I didn't give it much thought, since its going over my entire body like a cloak and cowl, maybe 'Full Cowling?'"

"That works, names often help you visualize let me see you activate your quirk, to the level you're comfortable with."

"Here it goes, 'Full Cowling...' Midoriya focused as the green lightning began dancing over his body.

"You see kid, you aren't the same as Toshinori, and your quirk isn't the same either."

"What do you mean?" Midoriya asked as the lightning faded.

"The quirk evolves with each user. Toshinori gets ridiculous muscles like some crazed body builder and you get green lightning. I guess things tend to be more of a wild card when the holder is born quirkless," he grinned as Midoriya's eyes went wide, "So Toshinori didn't tell you, it's why I wasn't surprised he chose someone like you. Anyways, while you both get enhancements to strength and speed, it the quirk certainly looks different, and while the strength will come eventually as your body gets used to it... I'm thinking speed will be your best weapon." The elderly hero straightened and dropped his cane and began jetting all over the place bouncing off walls the ceiling, the floor... He was so fast that Midoriya couldn't even follow him.

"You see," Torino casually commented while flashing by, "what I'm doing." The voice came from another direction. Then Gran Torino put on the brakes and tapped Izuku on the shoulder while hovering in mid-air. "Go get a gym uniform, hot shot," the masked hero grinned. Izuku's eyes lit up and he took on an eager grin of his own.

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Aizawa was fuming, he'd taken Mineta home, only to have Mineta pack up his things, he couldn't believe what he'd just uncovered. Mineta's mom had been using him, stealing sketches the boy had made and passing them off as her work for the fashion industry. 'Seriously, Nemuri is going to flip, I recognize some of the designs as stuff she's worn while she's undercover, and the supposed designer was stealing from her own son.' He knew that she probably was still designing a good chunk of her own work, but her son deserved proper credit for the work he did.

"Sensei?" Mineta asked carrying a suitcase and backpack, while following the Eraser hero, "Where are we going?"

"You're staying at my place overnight," Aizawa replied, 'Nemuri is already on her way to ream Mineta's mother, and he really shouldn't be present when shit goes down.'

"I don't get it, why would you?"

"She was stealing from you," Aizawa replied evenly, "that was your work, not hers."

"Nobody would look at the stuff a creepy perv would design, she'd get me those magazines as rewards for designing stuff."

Aizawa's hair went up as his quirk activated briefly, "Mineta, we're going to set up counseling sessions with Hound Dog for you, while some of your behavior is just teenage hormones, a lot of that could be conditioning and then she used that to emotionally blackmail you."

"But..."

"Don't worry, if the truth came out it will only boomerang on her, especially since upon my discovery of all this I'm taking steps to fix this, and you are still a minor, when did this start..."

"Well she started using some of my artwork when I was 8, along with it were some Sports Illustrated Magazines as rewards, I didn't start getting Playboy Magazines until I was like 12..."

"Did she ever?" Aizawa asked fearing the worst.

"Hell no!" Mineta was starting to get furious with his mother as Aizawa pointed out what should have been obvious, but he wasn't going to let her get accused of that when she hadn't done.

Aizawa nodded, 'Well that's a relief.' he thought.

"Why Hound Dog?" Mineta asked.

"He's not just the school councilor, he's also a licensed psychiatrist who specializes in child and adolescent psychology..." They arrived at a semi-rundown looking apartment complex, at least at first glance, "Let me get one thing straight, you are to tell no one where I live, got it?"

He opened the door only to find Hizashi there feeding the cats...

"What are you doing here?"

"Nemuri called me, why did you haul this little listener over to your place? Seriously, she said you sounded super pissed."

Aizawa pulled out the sketchbook that he'd taken from the home, and opened the page he had bookmarked, "Recognize this?" He asked handing it to Present Mic.

"Yeah... Isn't that one of those outfits in Nemuri's wardrobe... It was designed by some high priced fashion designer..."

"No, the designer is standing in this apartment right now," Aizawa pointed to Mineta who started to get really uneasy.

"Seriously, WAIT YOU MEAN..." Aizawa activated his quirk as Hizashi kept talking, "to tell me that..."

"His own mother was stealing his work."

"It's no big deal...nobody would want..." said Mineta not wanting all the attention, it was one thing when it was just Aizawa, but with it spreading like this.

"She was also the one that led him into his perverted behavior," Aizawa calmly stated, though inwardly seething, "then blackmailed him over it, coupled with his low self-esteem and Mineta has been stuck in a self-destructive loop for years."

The Voice Hero opened his mouth, then closed it, then finally said, "Yeah I can see why you're ticked. Okay, I'll call Nedzu about this, let the 'Rat God' deal with this, you're too angry, he's going to need a place to stay though after tonight though, otherwise crazy rumors will start flying, remember last time."

Aizawa grimaced remembering when Hizashi stayed over for a week because he'd been laid up in bed, the crazy rumors that started flying. "Tomorrow, I'm going to see if a fellow classmate and his family will take him in."

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Gran Torino stood outside the door to the Midoriya's apartment with Izuku.

"Sir, you really didn't have to..."

"No, I think I did," Torino replied as the door opened, "Oh hello, Mrs. Midoriya, I take it your son hasn't talked to you about his quirk yet..."

Chapter Text

Chapter 9 - Briefing a Mother

Izuku sat hesitently at the kitchen table that Gran Torino and his mother were sitting at.

"Okay what's this about his quirk," Inko asked, "Izuku, I know you've been keeping something from me, because quirks don't appear that late..."

"I suppose I should be the one to get this rolling," Gran Torino sighed, "Don't blame your son, Toshinori... I mean All Might made him promise to keep it a secret."

"Okay I'm listening," Inko looked more and more worried, "was he exposed to something in that sludge villain attack?"

"Which sludge villain attack, the news only covered the 2nd?" Torino answered chuckling, "In any case, he discovered by chance that All Might's time is coming to an end, approximately 6 years ago he fought an extremely powerful villain and was badly injured, his health has been deteriorating ever since. You with me so far?"

Inko nodded, "Okay I can get how this can be distressing to Izuku, he idolizes All Might, if you look at his room..."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Gran Torino chuckled, "Now after the events of the second attack Toshinori tracked down your son and changed an answer he gave earlier, but he also offered your son, his quirk."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You see Toshinori like your son was born quirkless, though he was physically strong enough even without a quirk to pass as having a mild super-strength quirk," he chuckles as her eyes went wide, "The quirk's called 'One for All' it is a transferable power stockpiling quirk that grows stronger with each transfer. Toshinori was the 8th holder, and your son is the 9th."

"So all those broken bones..."

"Are partially because your son's body hasn't gotten used to it yet, partially because he was thrown into situations he wasn't ready for, a good portion is because Mirai... you'd know him as Sir Nighteye can sometimes be a pig-headed ass, part of it that your son tries to copy All Might too much."

Izuku cringed with the last comment.

"Kid it's true, while it is good you share his ideals, the quirk evolves with each new holder, you already have the potential strength that is significantly higher than All Might in his prime, your body just hasn't caught up."

"All Might put me through a training program to try to build myself up so my limbs wouldn't explode..."

Inko just gasped at that.

"This is why I'm angrier at Mirai than Toshinori, you see Mirai would have been perfect at customizing your early training and you would have gotten the quirk earlier and he would have explained how to throttle back the power, so you wouldn't have that nightmare scenario..." Torino explained watching Inko calm down. 

"I see..."

"Toshinori also did the responsible thing and contacted Principal Nedzu...only he stayed away because he didn't agree with the choice...based on your son's age." He added, as Inko started to look indignant, "which makes sense, Midoriya is still a little younger than Toshinori was when he got the quirk, he was already as strong as an ox, he passed the Entrance Exam to get into U.A. before he even got the quirk." He laughed as both Midoriya's eyes went wide, "he got it a week later."

So what changed?

"Your son broke an arm and two legs in the entrance exam, when Nedzu saw the video, he realized that he needed to step in," the elderly hero continued, "he brought Midoriya's home-room teacher into the loop and later called me in."

"I don't understand why would he call you?" Inko asked.

"Besides the fact I was a friend and colleague of the 7th Holder, I trained All Might and was his also his home room teacher at U.A.," Torino answered, "Toshinori was total natural, when it came to using OfA he had problems controlling his strength and overdid things, Izuku is built more for speed and agility so while he will eventually get the full strength right now he needs to focus on what he can do."

"Izuku, honey I understand why you didn't tell me," Inko's voice wavered, "I've never been so happy for you yet so angry at you at the same time!"

"That's enough," said Gran Torino calmly yet in a manner that caused both mother and son to freeze, "What's done is done, I figured what your reaction would be Mrs. Midoriya which is why I came here tonight. Your son was chosen because Toshinori saw your son had the heart of a hero, but didn't have any powers, while I do believe a quirkless hero is possible, it would be significantly more dangerous, you're worried about your son. That's why I was called in, in a profession where you tend to die young, my age speaks volumes about my credentials."

"Okay, so what are you teaching him?"

"My fighting style for one, he got the fundamentals for flash step already," Torino chuckled, "He learns quickly, you should be proud." Turning to Izuku, "I also watched your fight against Bakugou and Ingenium's younger brother, with that other kid. You did good even without using a quirk."

Inko sighed, "I just wish..."

"Would you have given your consent if your son had asked your permission?"

"Even though it's been his dream to be a hero, I can't honestly say I would have..." Inko admitted, "I'm worried he'd be hurt."

"Mom..."

"She's just being a mother, hot-shot," Gran Torino commented, "Your son was in a difficult position because he gave his word, and it's not like Toshinori is going to try to chew me out or anything." He grinned and a shiver went down their spines, "He's terrified of me."

"So why am I being told now then?"

"So you aren't caught flat-footed and so you know to be on guard," Torino stated, "Also so if you have any questions or concerns you know who to contact," he handed her a few business cards.

"Sorahiko, can you stay for dinner?" Inko asked, "I probably do have a few questions."

"Sure, I'm not going to turn down a free meal."

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Sometime later, after Gran Torino had seen his room, his quirk journals (he even got to do an entry on the elderly hero and his autograph), and the elderly hero had a lengthy chat with his mother while he worked on his school assignments. Izuku laid back in his bed to get some sleep.

'I get it,' he thought, 'by making sure my mom knows, I don't have to feel a burden of hiding something from her, or feeling like I'm lieing to her.'

He was glad his mother had forgiven him (and All Might), she had understood the secrecy. He could only imagine how it would hurt for her to find out about all of this sometime later, presumably where he was seriously hurt.

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Gran Torino called Aizawa after he got home. 'I really need to think about moving closer to either the kid or to U.A., this commute is for the birds.'

"Torino, how was the conversation with the mother?" Aizawa asked, "Hopefully better than mine..."

"Quite well, she was understandably worried about her son, all the normal emotions a mother would have with their precious baby going into our profession, why what happened at the Minetas'?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow, needless to say Minoru is spending the night at my place..." said Aizawa in deadpane tone.

"Okay that's weird..."

"She was using him," spat Aizawa.

"Say what?!?! You mean she was..." sputtered Torino.

"Not that kind of using," Aizawa interrupted, "as you know she's big in the fashion design industry, however not all of it is her work. She was stealing her son's designs and passing them off as her own. She also got him hooked on the porn and then was effectively blackmailing him into continuing to supply designs."

"I hope you have a path going forward for that mess," Gran Torino sighed, "you have my sympathy and I'm glad I hadn't gone there or I would have done something we'd all regret. So how's the kid doing?"

"He's passed out on my couch with 3 cats sleeping next to him, or on him..." Aizawa answered, "as to a plan going forward, I'm working that part out, I'm going to wait for input from the Principal first."

"Well, I'm calling it a night," Gran Torino stated, "Thirteen wanted to talk with me tomorrow about 1-B's little field trip to USJ, night." Sorahiko hung up and sighed, 'I can't believe I got talked into going back into teaching and at my age...' Then again, Midoriya was an interesting student, always eager to learn.

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"Little did we know, something was stirring in the shadows, and in just two days, not everyone would be heading home..." -- Izuku Midoriya

Chapter Text

Chapter 10 - So Who Wants To Be A Class Representative?

Aizawa had brought Mineta to campus fairly early in the morning, so Aizawa could meet with Nedzu before students normally showed up on campus. Nedzu hadn't been amused with the mess that was dropped in his lap, though he was impressed with Mineta's talents in design.

"I'm going to see if I can get him into a support class as far as making support items actually fit with costumes," Nedzu told Aizawa who opened his mouth to interject, "He's still going to be a hero course student, but it would help him with his talent and I will also bring Mineta to the attention of Ryuku, she may want him as an intern."

"I would recommend Best Jeanist," Aizawa smirked.

"I sincerely hope for the boy's sake you are joking," Nedzu commented, "I will discuss it with Hound Dog to see about scheduling a preliminary session with the boy, at his earliest convenience."

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Later that morning when class was in session.

"You'll have to pick a class representative."

Various people were saying they wanted to be the rep, followed by Iida trying to get it to be decided by a vote.

It seemed to be going by as blur for Midoriya as he watched in horror as the tallies had somehow ended up with him being voted for as class rep with Yaoyorozu as a vice rep.

"I propose a vote to see about switching who is rep and vice rep!" Mineta called out.

"You just want to perv all over Yaoyorozu!" Mina spat at Mineta from across the room.

"SHUT UP AND LET HIM SPEAK!" Aizawa called out stepping in, "He may actually have valid reasons, and they better be valid reasons." There was the unspoken threat, while Mineta wanted to improve, and Aizawa was aware of that, it wasn't an excuse if that was what it was all about.

'Talk about pressure,' Mineta thought and chose his words carefully, "Being a class rep requires one to be able to handle meetings on the school council, as well as trying to lead the class...assuming it's humanly possible. I've seen Yaoyorozu participate in at least one charity event about four years ago, also she was team captain on a girl's soccer team that, can't remember which school, I just remember seeing her face on a news site, anyways she led her team to be soccer champions a few years ago, so I know she can do it. Midoriya, is smart, good at planning...but he can be rather shy, while he needs to work on that, it would be best for him to do so as Vice Rep, where he can grow into the role, rather than setting him up to fail." He'd left off calling her smoking hot, thinking Aizawa would probably kill him.

Most of the girls' jaws dropped. "That seems to be a fair point," Aizawa commented.

"That does seem to make sense," Yaoyorozu admitted before Iida could chime in.

"I second it," Bakugou stated, "knowing Deku, he's already panicking and will probably abdicate and hand the position over to four-eyes... I know he can at least handle the vice rep position, where he won't freeze up."

'Jeez that's harsh' Midoriya thought, even though being honest with himself, he was panicking.

'Camera shy, huh...' thought Aizawa, 'I like the kid more already, one of the things I can't stand about day-time heroes is the tendency for showing off for the press.'

The class took another vote and the roles got switched so Yaoyorozu ended up as class rep.

After Midoriya got back to his seat, he quietly said, "Thanks Mineta and Kacchan."

"Shut up! I didn't do it to help you nerd, I don't want that bumbling nitwit four eyes as class rep, I know ponytail girl actually has a brain and can use it." Bakugou commented, clearly not having forgotten or forgiven Iida for the loss. "The small-fry was right, you wouldn't be able to hack it, that's all there is to it."

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Later that day during lunch when the intruder alarm sounded as students began to panic interrupting Midoriya and Yaoyorozu discussing who should fill what rolls, she created a Megaphone as Midoriya's eyes went wide.

"OKAY LISTEN UP! It's only the press, so everyone calm down," she sighed, "Sorry for the interruption."

"That's so cool how does your quirk work, I'm guessing it has to do with storedfatbecauseitwouldn'tmake..."

"Midoriya we need to continue filling those positions..."

"S-sorry," the boy looked embarrassed.

"No, it's a good thing that you're good at analyzing, it might benefit the class for you to give each class member a report on their quirk for improvements for the sports festival."

Midoriya's eyes lit up, "Right."

"Okay now let's get these positions filled."

As the two worked, she noticed a huge disconnect his lack of control of his quirk and yet, Midoriya was anything but lazy. 'Also why would Aizawa step in for Midoriya and Mineta like that, when he keeps his distance from the rest of us, maybe they were involved in some past case?' She didn't want to dredge up old wounds, however she was astonished when he he suggested Bakugou represent them for the Sport Festival.

"It'll channel Kacchan's ego and his explosive personality might get more attention to the event and the rest of the class in general. Though I didn't get to see the others like you did, so there may be someone better."

"Well we don't need to decide until next week, but I'm leaning towards Kirishima," she commented, "Bakugou would be a good backup pick, but Kirishima seems to have that competitive spirit, but without the temper and the uncouth comments."

'He's not what I expected,' she thought after they concluded their lunch meeting, 'There are a few pieces I'm not seeing.' She didn't suspect him of anything nefarious, the poor boy was horrible at deception, that she could see, and after she thought about it, 'I'll ask the teacher about it later.'

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When she caught Aizawa later, it was as school was getting out.

"Sensei, sorry for bothering you but something about Midoriya doesn't add up."

"How so?"

"Well his lack of control of his quirk, yet his competence at everything not quirk related... Did his parents have something against quirks so he was afraid to practice controlling his quirk?"

"No," Aizawa stated as she opened her mouth to respond he sighed, "you're not going to let this sit unless I give you an explanation."

"As class rep, it is my duty to be aware of any learning difficulties of my peers that I may be able to help them to overcome them..."

"I believe she needs to be briefed," Nedzu commented walking up to them, "she'll also need a rough briefing about the other situation you uncovered so rumors don't go flying needlessly. Since you did submit both her and Midoriya as Rep and Vice-rep, which is good because it allows us to fit in extra training for him. Are the others in the lounge?"

"Yes, minus All Might who had to go deal with a mini-crisis downtown and then will have to read through the lesson itinerary for tomorrow..." The three of them walked into the lounge where a diminutive old man, as well as Midoriya and Mineta were waiting.

"You mean seriously, your mom was stealing your designs..." Midoriya was talking to Mineta and trailed off as the three came in.

"Good Mineta is bringing you up to speed," Aizawa stated, "I need you to call your mom about having Mineta stay with your family for the foreseeable future, while I bring the class rep up to speed, then we can talk about the other issue."

As Midoriya stepped into the hall to call his mom, Aizawa filled Yaoyorozu in on what he discovered at the Mineta residence, and she looked shocked, "I see, and you're telling me this."

"So you're aware that I asked Midoriya to have Mineta stay with his family due to all of this," he answered, as Midoriya walked back in.

"She said she'd be happy to have him."

"That's good, now for the other reason... Yaoyorozu, ordinarily you would not be in the know concerning all this but as class rep and with Midoriya being vice rep, you have a need to know concerning Midoriya's quirk. He did not receive his quirk until after he turned 15."

"You mean it didn't manifest until he was 15?" she was aghast at that, she'd never heard of someone's quirk manifesting that late.

"No," the old man spoke up, "he didn't receive it until the day of the entrance exam. It is a transferable power stockpiling quirk which he received from All Might, because Toshinori got injured several years ago and he's going to need to retire soon."

"I see," she hadn't been expecting this bombshell.

"You're already my top student," Aizawa explained, "and while that alone wouldn't be enough in and of itself, the fact you're going to have to work with him closely sometimes after school, would make it next to impossible for you not to notice things."

"Okay so the based on his shoes, I'd say Midoriya was born quirkless," she remarked, "I thought I recognized the shoes, it was one of the few lines still made for kids with the extra toe joint, the style selections is limited, while there are other red shoes out there, the ones he wears are fairly distinct."

Midoriya just looked at the ground at that moment feeling ashamed.

"Well that explains the extra lessons, and I'm guessing that's why you were able to anticipate Bakugou like that, since you've had to look for every minute detail that most people would overlook."

"You're not mad?"

"Not really, there are several influential people that are quirkless, believe it or not the current Prime Minister that is due to step down due to his health failing is quirkless. I just never expected to meet someone in my generation that was quirkless, it is extremely rare for a child to be quirkless in Japan these days, I believe there are only 1 to 2 thousand quirkless kids in all of Japan... If All Might considered you worthy of inheriting his quirk, then he must have seen something special. Don't worry, I can understand this needs to be kept confidential."

"Well at least you're the first person brought in on this all the way where it wasn't an accident," commented Mineta.

"Just cause your mother has set you on that path doesn't mean I won't kick your posterior off the top of the school if you start..."

"I get it!" Mineta grimaced.

Gran Torino ushered Midoriya out the door so they could get the boy's quirk practice in, as she asked questions that the Principal, her teacher, and classmate answered.

As she later waited for her chauffeur to drive up, she reflected on what she learned. It was a good thing she knew the truth, she could only imagine all the conclusions she could have jumped to that was wrong. 'Well I can tell my parents I'm the Class Rep, they'd be thrilled.'

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Sometime later Izuku and Minoru stood in front of the door to the Midoriya's apartment with Sorahiko standing behind them. Izuku opened the door, "Mom, I'm home and I brought Minoru, also Gran Torino is here."

"That's wonderful," said Inko from the kitchen, "It's been years since Izuku has had friends over."

"I wish it were that simple," Gran Torino said, "I'm not sure how much your son could tell you."

"Not a whole lot, he just said he could tell me when he got here if he couldn't get a chance to explain in more detail..."

"Essentially, their homeroom teacher discovered Minoru's mother was stealing his design work and marketing it as hers, and also got the kid hooked on disreputable materials, then blackmailed the kid so he would do make more fashion design sketches."

Inko grimaced at that, "So the school is trying to break him of..."

"Don't worry, Mr. Aizawa didn't let me take those with me," Minoru cut in, "I'm really sorry for the inconvenience..."

"No trouble at all," Inko assured him, to Mineta's bewilderment, "do you prefer to go by Mineta or Minoru."

"Minoru is fine, since I'm going to be staying here," Mineta grinned.

"So he knows..."

"Yes mom."

"And after dinner you can help me unpack..." Gran Torino jumped in, "Cause I'm living down the hall..."

"What?!?!" both boys voiced together.

"Nedzu managed to convince me to move closer to U.A., a lot of the teachers use U.A. as their hero agency, I figured why not," Sorahiko Torino snickered, "Don't give me that look, most of the stuff has already been unpacked and put away, Nedzu can work wonders when he wants to."

"But your old place?"

"Mr. Brave wanted a place where he could move his family to that was quieter," Torino shrugged, "he's also a handyman, so wanted a fixer-upper. There is enough stuff happening that he can continue his hero work, but he won't be dealing with some of the screwballs that are seen in the more densely populated areas. Oh don't forget to tell your mother the good news."

"What news?"

"I'm my class's Vice Representative!" Izuku answered excitedly.

"That's wonderful!"

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After dinner and the boys had helped the elderly hero finish unpacking, Izuku showed Minoru around the apartment. It turned out Minoru was actually interested in analyzing quirks though he tended to prefer pervy heroes.

"Wait you're 'FanMight01?'" 

"You're 'TheGrape?'"

"What was that dear?" Inko asked.

"You remember that forum about quirk watching right?"

"What about it?"

"Minoru is one of the people I talked to, though he tended to analyze 'R' Rated heroes."

"Seems he needs to learn to branch..."

"Izuku tended to have that covered along with someone named 'Copyboy23', you think he's at U.A. too?"

"Who knows..."

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Unknown to us, dark forces were gathering to strike, and on that faithful day it was no longer a lesson, we were fighting for our lives... -- Izuku Midoriya

T minus 1 day till USJ

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 - USJ Part 1 - Tragedy on High Seas / Asuii's Impossible Decision and Mineta's Resolve

What started off as an ordinary bus ride to the new USJ seemed like an ordinary enough day. When Asuii started making comparisons between Midoriya and All Might's quirk and speculated that they were related, Midoriya's face just made Mineta crack up.

"Seriously, Asuii their quirks may be able to do similar things but they look nothing alike, All Might's got those ridiculous muscles and Midoriya's has this green lightning," Mineta chuckled.

"Call me Tsuyu, please, also that green lightning could be from his mother..."

"His mother has weak telekinesis," Mineta quickly answered, 'Man if people are recognizing the similarities this quickly, how are we going to keep this secret.'

"Dude, how do you even know that? Why are you staying at Midoriya's place?" Kaminari asked, "Don't tell me you two are..."

"Mr. Aizawa asked Midoriya and his mother to have Mineta stay with them for the foreseeable future," Yaoyorozu jumped, in interrupting Kaminari, "As of course this involves things that need to be kept confidential, and it could involve a legal case where Mineta would be the plaintiff..."

"How would you know?" Jiro asked.

"I'm the Class Representative," she replied then sighed, "also Mr. Aizawa needed me to be aware as to why Mineta would be hanging around after school when Midoriya and I have duties as Class Rep and Vice Rep, that isn't because he's a stalker... it's cause."

"He's waiting for the nerd," Bakugou finished for her.

"Interrupting people is rude!" Iida stood up making a chopping motion.

"NOBODY ASKED YOU FOUR-EYES!"

"Now see here!"

"ENOUGH!!!" Yaoyorozu and Midoriya both shouted, and Midoriya shrunk back into his seat as Bakugou glared at him.

"The driver could get distracted and lose control of the bus," Yaoyorozu stated calmly and Bakugou calmed down, understanding her point.

When they arrived at USJ and entered, Midoriya's eyes were wide with wonder all the simulated disaster areas, it was so cool like it was a movie studio. Then the villains appeared and most of the class was separated.

Mountain Zone:

Yaoyorozu found herself with Kirishima and Kaminari in the Mountain Zone with numerous villains attacking. She quickly took charge.

"Kirishima I need you to hold them off, Kaminari I need you to shock them.

"I can't direct my electricity!"

"I've got it," Kirishima jumped in between the villains and his two classmates, his body hardening as he fought to protect them while Momo created a metal staff for Kaminari.

"Use this!"

"I got you," Kaminari grinned channeling the electricity through the pole and moving to help his other classmate.

"I'll make an insulating blanket so you can cut loose."

Unknown Building in Collapsed Zone:

"Why'd it have to be you DEKU?"

"You think I asked to be sent here, Kacchan?" Midoriya retorted the green lightning starting to become visible, "Now's not the time."

"You think you can ignore us!" One of the thugs taunted while charging them with a knife.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" both boys yelled. Bakugou lit into the thug with an explosion followed by Midoriya's foot launching the villain partway through a wall.

'Nice...' Bakugou grinned, 'okay so he's able to use his quirk now, the Hobo said he was a fast learner and was getting the hang of it. That means...' He directed his attention at the villains, "SO WHICH ONE OF YOU IDIOTS WANT TO DIE FIRST?"

Midoriya grinned, he knew how powerful Kacchan was, and he could predict his former friend/bully, 'I can do this,' as several of the villains charged them, "SMASH!" He punched one surprisingly light villain across the room and ducked the other as Bakugou blasted the one he just ducked.

Bakugou grinned, after having put up with the four-eyed moron in that stupid match, it was good to have someone backing him up that he could at least trust would do their best or die trying.

"We don't have time for this!" Midoriya swore, "Full Cowling... FLASH STEP!" The boy began jumping all over the place bouncing off the ceiling, walls, and floor like a demented rabbit. Bakugou ducked as Midoriya flew over him kicking one opponent through a boarded up window. While he followed up and blasted two other villains.

"What the fuck was that?" Bakugou asked as he casually blasted some guy that could turn invisible trying to sneak up on him.

"It was a move Gran Torino was teaching me, youseehehasjetsinhisfeetthat..."

"DEKU short version!" Bakugou could have added a bunch of expletives but now wasn't the time.

"It's a quick attack that is a signature move of Gran Torino that tends to work best in rooms or alleys..."

"Are these these the assholes after you?" Bakugou asked, cutting him off.

"They're here to kill All Might, I don't think they're aware of me..." Midoriya commented absently.

"I'm gonna go take these posers down!"

"Hang on, we need to figure out..."

"DEKU!"

"We need to go after the warp guy and find out who's jamming our phones!" Midoriya fired back, holding up his phone, which was showing no signal, "We don't know who in a class could be in trouble, not everyone was fortunate enough to land in the same area as you, DAMN IT!"

That caused Bakugou to pause, 'He's right, these villains might actually be too strong for some of the extras,' before saying, "He'll be by the entrance, can you keep up?"

Midoriya nodded and the two took off, "I think Mr. Aizawa could be in trouble too."

"Worry about the Warp Idiot first, he could haul in reinforcements, and he's moving the idiot brigade all over the place!"

"G-got it!"

'Good he's listening and is following my orders, that makes it easier to keep an eye on him like I promised the Hobo,' Bakugou grinned his mind fully focused like a predator on the hunt, 'Mr. Black Cloudy Ass is going down.'

Flood Zone:

Asuii grabbed Jiro since she was the closest, but noticed two other classmates in trouble, Mineta and Aoyama. She realized even without Jiro she'd only be able to save one of them. Mineta was closest to the boat, so she made her choice.

Mineta gasped as he hit the deck of the boat followed by Jiro and Asui climbed aboard.

"You pervert!" Jiro shouted at him.

"Where's Aoyama?" Mineta glanced around, 'Jeez Jiro, it was an accident, I've got better things to do then grope her when we're fighting for our lives...'

Asuii looked at the bloody shredded cape coming to the surface of the water, "H-he didn't make it."

Mineta was starting to panic, but then it hit him, 'Midoriya was scared out of his mind facing his bully, yet he did it anyways, so I could beat Iida, people are heroes because they are cool, right Midoriya... I have to keep calm.'

"Jiro, I need your boot!"

"I'm not stripping for you, you pervert!"

"Can the speaker work underwater?" Mineta asked in a surprisingly calm voice without even looking at her, Aoyama's death fresh on his mind, 'I can't believe she'd think I'd suggest something like that when one of our classmates just...'

"What?"

"Can it?" he asked again evenly, praying it could, otherwise he didn't see a way out of this.

"Well yeah, it's waterproof but they're underwater and while my sound waves are a good ranged attack..."

Mineta looked at her and grinned maliciously, "Perfect, they screwed up when they dropped us here, we have a weapon! We're gonna teach them what happens when they mess with 1-A. Okay here's what we're going to do..."

While my plan worked and got us out of the encounter with the villains in the Ship Zone, not all of us made it out, unfortunately Aoyama didn't make it and while she did everything she could, I don't know if Tsuyu will ever forgive herself. That's not to say there weren't other injuries, that day, but she isn't the only one with regrets from that day, and I'll be honest, if I hadn't worked with Midoriya on the second day of classes, Jiro and I would be dead too. However, as to my regret, it was because I wasn't fast enough. I froze at a critical moment and Tsuyu nearly paid with her life. -- excerpt from Minoru Mineta's statement concerning USJ attack to Detective Tsukauchi

Chapter Text

Chapter 12 - USJ Part 2: A Much Needed Reprieve of Execution

Mountain Zone:

Kaminari had gone full out with an Electrical Discharge shocking and putting out of action almost all their opponents, but one of them was still up and grabbed the helpless youth. Kirishima was mostly worn out and the villain now had a hostage.

"You know, since it don't look like you all can take me anyways I just think I'll kill him right here," the giant villain whom also had an electric quirk boasted, "don't worry you'll soon join him in the after..."

At that moment a small White and Yellow figure rocketed into the would be murderer, "If there's one thing I hate it's villains that monologue..." Gran Torino spat after kicking the guy in the temple. "You kids alright?"

"I think so, Kaminari and Kirishima just overused their quirk, where are the other pros," Yaoyorozu asked.

"Sorry just me for the moment, and it's just a matter of chance that Nedzu called me earlier about All Might getting stuck with a bunch of villain attacks in rapid succession," Torino took a breath, "Anyways as I got here and figured I could come in the back, and tried calling Nedzu, I noticed I was getting no signal, and it took me some time kicking in the fire escape door, and the emergency stairwell door was the real problem cause I had to build up speed. It's almost as if all those emergencies Toshinori had to deal with this morning were... Oh shit! Will you kids be all right on your own?"

"Sure, I must say you were so manly!" Kirishima called out, "I'll come too!"

"Sorry, but I need you to stay here and help your classmates, that one doing the thumbs up looks completely out of it..." Gran Torino trailed off as some more villains whom had hung back in what looked to be a small tree line approached them. The elderly hero sighed, 'Great looks like I'm going to be tied up here for a little bit after all,' as he noticed one villain had almost like a porcupine quirk.

"Leave the quill guy to me," Kirishima stepped forward hardening his body once again, noting that the small old man would be at a serious disadvantage.

"Good hunting," Gran Torino took a breath and launched himself into the other villains...

Enroute to the Entrance from Collapsed Zone:

"This is getting fucking annoying... DIE!!!" Bakugou lit into a group of villains as Midoriya whom hadn't been quite as fast as he was caught up and engaged two of them that were trying to flank the Explosive student.

The short battle didn't last long, but Bakugou was getting frustrated, he knew the longer this went on, the worse the situation was. He recalled Deku's comment about the villains probably weren't aware of him yet, and he could tell his former victim was scared but not for himself, 'He's scared for All Might, he shouldn't be... He knows something is wrong...' He wasn't going to ask the nerd here, but he knew him well enough, "Don't overdo it Deku..."

"What?"

"The Hobo told me you need to keep from going over your limit, now calm the fuck down!" Bakugou snarled at him.

"But..."

"Check your damn phone see if it's working now, I'd check mine but the cheap ass thing broke," he ordered, 'the old hag is going to be pissed I broke it, but whatever.'

"It's working!" Midoriya called out excitedly.

"Good call the school!"

U.A. Lounge:

Nedzu had just watched All Might leave in a hurry, because he was feeling uneasy, when his cell phone started buzzing. 'It's Midoriya, I wonder if people were just busy..." He answered the phone, "Hello..."

"Principal Nedzu! USJ is under attack, they're after All Might!..."

Nedzu heard explosions in the background, "Why did I not hear anything from Aizawa and Thirteen?"

"They were jamming our phones probably with a quirk, but the jamming is down, Kacchan told metocheckthephonetoseeifitwas..."

"Got it," Nedzu got up running out the door and glanced out the window seeing what looked to be Tenya Iida in the distance closing on the front gate of U.A., "don't worry help's on the way, I see one of your classmates on the way to the entrance now." He didn't bother elaborating further because he knew Midoriya was smart enough to figure out who.

Central Plaza of USJ by the River:

Mineta looked on in horror as the guy with a hand for a mask grabbed Asui by the face.

"Oh Eraser you're so cool."

'Thank goodness,' thought Mineta having to his embarrassment froze when the guy had lunged at them, he could feel the blood-lust. Jiro on the other hand, capitalized on the moment and kicked the villain right between the legs as hard as she could.

The villain gasped and barked out orders while collapsing to his knees for the monster that had held their teacher's broken arm in it's grasp launched at Jiro as Asui got in the way and took the blow meant for Jiro.

Mineta's eyes went wide with horror as the Entrance Doors exploded inwards flying off their hinges.

"I AM HERE!!" All Might was on the scene and he was not happy.

At that instant the Warp Villain was attacked by Bakugou and he went face first to the ground with the student's hand on the back of his metal collared neck.

Mineta could see Midoriya not far behind Bakugou and diverting off towards Asui and Jiro, he ran to follow...

Outside Asui's Hospital Room:

Mineta stood outside the door not sure if he should enter or leave when he felt Midoriya's hand on his shoulder.

"She's awake you know," Midoriya said, "Jiro said she overheard the doctors telling her parents she'll be just fine." He had been very lucky that the teachers had gotten there when they did, just before he launched himself at the villain. Which was good, because the villains likely hadn't made a connection yet. 'Wish all of us had made it out alive though, if Asui had been any slower...'

"Midoriya, I froze when it counted..." Mineta looked at his friend, the first he'd had in a while, "It's my fault..."

"It's not your fault," Midoriya re-assured him, "these guys were out to kill All Might, I heard it was your plan that got Asui, Jiro, and you out of the Flood Zone."

"But not Aoyama, and now Asui..."

"Mineta, do you have a swimming quirk?"

"Well no..."

"Do you have super speed, are you a pro?"

"No."

"We're still learning," Midoriya commented, "I think you need to be there for Asui though, because she had to choose which of you would die, I imagine that's really tearing her up."

Stealing his resolve, Mineta walked to the door of the hospital room and slowly opened it, while Midoriya called Yaoyorozu on the phone to give her an update on the students that had been injured. Ojiro had suffered minor injuries, as had Kirishima and Kaminari. "The funeral for Aoyama will be next weekend, I heard they caught the villain that actually killed him, he's being arraigned for murder."

"That's good..." said the class rep from over the phone, "I'll brief the other class reps, thanks for looking into the others at the hospital, how's Mineta holding up?"

"He's taking it hard, even though it was his plan that saved them at the Flood Zone, and there was nothing he could do to save Aoyama in any event," Midoriya sighed, "I got lucky to land where I did, but I can't help but feeling..."

"Don't beat yourself up," she replied, "You and Bakugou did good and it's not like the ringleader escaped unscathed..." She was referring to first Jiro's critical strike and then Snipe later shooting his hand as he lunged for All Might.

"He wasn't the ring leader," Midoriya's voice went hard, "He was too childish, there had to be someone pulling the strings. It's a good thing Gran Torino showed up when he did, cause that villain was jamming our cell phones..."

"The meeting is going to start soon, if I need to put you on speaker for questions..."

"Okay, I'll try to find out what time Aoyama's funeral is next weekend and when they wanted people showing up, it would be good if the class at least showed up to it," Midoriya promised, "hear from you soon, bye."

Midoriya knew in his bones that this was just the beginning, whomever was responsible was after All Might, probably over One for All, fortunately they didn't know who he was yet, though how long that could be kept he didn't know.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter 14 - Dinner at the Midoriya's / Pep talk, Vice Rep to Vice Rep

"I don't like it that you want to continue going to U.A., one of your classmates was murdered," Inko began crying, "I don't want to lose you!"

"I don't think you have to worry on that front," Mineta commented, "You and Bakugou really lit into your attackers. He actually wasn't yelling at you after all of that. Me on the other hand..."

"Don't sell yourself short," Sorahiko Torino commented, "Your plan was incredibly ruthless and effective... I rather liked it, you made use of what you had on hand and saved who you could given the environment, an environment you'd tend to avoid as a pro, I'd say you did fairly well. It is a hero's job to protect those that need saving and defeat villains, you should be proud."

"If Izuku were there, we probably all would have..."

"No, someone would likely have been killed," Izuku interjected, "the key to being in a position to do anything was Asui, I might have been able to save myself while crippling myself in the process, but it isn't your fault that Aoyama was killed and it isn't Asui's."

"His armor..." Mineta smacked himself upside the head, "Of course if Asui had gone to rescue him he'd have slowed her down to the point she couldn't get to safety." Mineta sighed, "Speaking of costumes I talked Mei into making some alterations to your costume she was anyways, but..."

"Minoru, I can't believe you're conspiring with them to change stuff around without asking me!" Messing with other people's hero costumes was typically frowned upon.

"Actually Mei already was doing that, I just figured I'd suggest some inputs as far as material treatments, and some support gear," Mineta shrugged, "Given you're trying to learn Gran Torino's fighting style, I figured you needed something to protect your feet while doing more damage to the opponent, speaking of which you'd actually be able to use the footwear in the sports festival, also wanted some metal bracers incorporated into the gloves you're using something strong enough to stop a blade..."

"Actually, you'll want to get that checked with those running the festival, however those items make sense, and the material changes?" Gran Torino asked.

"Well if we're working together in the future having most of your costume treated to not stick to my quirk but instead bounce off would give a huge advantage, also Mei was also fixing the color scheme, she showed me her design changes, it looked a little plain but fit with what mom original came up with." There it was he was starting to consider Inko his mother, or the mother he should have had, he didn't want anything to do with his real mother.

"Minoru," Inko said, "I'm glad you think of me as your mother, but you shouldn't completely cut yourself off from your real mother, you may end up regretting it."

"True, it's just that..."

"What she did to you was wrong, I agree, but I'm hoping there is a part of her that loves you I guess," she turned to Izuku, "Changing subjects have you talked to Aoyama's parents."

"Yeah," answered Izuku, "We're going to try to have all of class 1-A and class 1-B there, several pro's will be there including Endeavor."

"Shoto will love that..." Mineta snickered.

"Quite frankly, right now I don't care what his beef is with his father, this is for Aoyama's family as briefly as we knew him," explained Izuku, "He can take his issues with his dad and shove it for one day, for Aoyama's sake."

"Not saying I disagree," Mineta commented, "You didn't run into Endeavor in the Hospital, he was frantically checking to see if Shoto was alright, because he didn't bother calling to let him know he was okay. I let him know that his son essentially one-shotted all his opponents, I also told him one of our classmates didn't make it. He'd heard that part and had been afraid it had been his son. He surprisingly took the time to meet with Aoyama's parents."

"Izuku dear, you have that meeting with the other class reps and vice reps tomorrow, or was that cancelled?"

"No, that was called because of what happened yesterday, and to follow up on what I found out for Momo earlier today regarding our other classmates, speaking of how was your conversation with Asui, Minoru?"

"She should be back in class on Monday, Tuesday at the latest, thanks to Recovery Girl."

"That's a relief," Izuku sighed with relief.

"Gran Torino sir, could you train me to be stronger?" Mineta asked.

"Believe it or not you're fairly strong now, you're extremely sharp, and you already understand the limits of your quirk, though you're also imaginative with it. I would recommend you learn gymnastics, given your small stature and the fact your quirk functions as a trampoline for you, also lose the diaper/boat/whatever you want to call it."

"FOR THE LAST TIME IT WASN'T IN MY DESIGN!"

"Why gymnastics?" Inko asked.

"I'm guessing it's due to his size and build," Izuku stated, "the best Gymnasts tended to be extremely short."

"Yeah, also it would help him branch into a form of fighting where his small size would be an advantage, additionally he could probably learn a few of my moves that wouldn't hinder you with the alterations to your costume," Gran Torino commented, "Other moves Mineta wouldn't be able to learn, but some he could add his own flair to."

Later as the boys were cleaning up the kitchen, Inko asked, "Sorahiko, were you really there because Nedzu called you?"

"Well Nedzu did call me, but I was already on my way there anyways," Sorahiko Torino admitted, "I just had a bad feeling in my gut, and you don't get to be my age by ignoring it."

"Thank you for looking after them."

"Don't worry about it, don't tell either of them but I've grown rather fond of them in the short time I've known them," the elderly hero commented.

"My lips are sealed."

Izuku watched Mineta from across the room (it had taken some re-arranging to get a 2nd bed in the room) whom was finally and thankfully sound asleep, the other boy had woken up from a nightmare involving Asui. While Mineta tried to hide it, Izuku knew that the other boy was really shook up. He considered what Mineta had pulled to get the flood zone survivors to safety, it was an extremely vicious (and to be honest potentially lethal response). 'To tell the truth, I can't think of another way they could have gotten out of there given the circumstance,' he sighed, 'Mineta had admitted he was concerned that he may have ended up getting Jiro to actually kill someone, but thankfully that hadn't happened. I just can't help feeling I could changed things if I had been there.'

U.A. Campus (after the class rep meeting)

"So how are you holding up, Midoriya?" asked Shoda Nirengeki (Quirk: Twin Impact), who was the Vice Representative for Class 1-B.

"As well as can be expected I guess," Midoriya replied.

"Yeah, was going to joke about sending Monoma to your class, but that would have been in bad taste..."

Midoriya actually chuckled at that, "Don't think so, we don't need 2 deaths in the same year."

"Yeah," Nirengeki sat down next to Midoriya, "Anyways don't worry about Monoma, Kendo will keep him in line for the funeral, I wish the other first year classes would attend Aoyama's funeral though, show some school solidarity but they are already circling the empty seat like vultures. It's in really bad taste, let the poor guy be laid to rest and his grieving family grieve first. I think the Sports festival should be pushed back."

"I know that what's you'd do, unfortunately they won't due to having to maintain appearances," Izuku sighed, "Shoda, I have to say your idea of joint class training where we mix 1-A and 1-B students to build a comradery was a really good one, and if you guys were also on the field, it would have really helped."

"Yeah... Izuku I don't want to be adding more to your already crowded plate of troubles," Shoda began, "and I really don't want to betray confidences, but Iida is taking his loss to Mineta rather hard, then his not being a Class Rep like his brother..." Izuku glared at him and he sighed, "I know it's stupid and I told him that. Yaoyorozu is a very good Class Rep, and you're certainly coming into your own and are a lot less shy in only a few days, granted you still are shy when it comes to you personally, but when it comes to representing your class you do a very good job, particularly under these circumstances and having to deal with extra lessons to have control of your quirk."

"So why?"

"Tenya and I went to the same Elementary and Middle school, and unlike you and Bakugou, we have always been good friends," Shoda ran a hand through his hair, "I just know between his loss to what everyone thought was the class's perverted clown that wouldn't last a week, and then his inability to follow his brother's footsteps, he has a tendency to sit on his emotions until the pressure builds up and he blows his top. I've been able to defuse things in the past, but throw on a classmate's murder, and him feeling inferior. I mean he considers you a friend so he's likely not to blow his top on you, but he might lose it with Mineta."

"Right now, I'm honestly afraid for Mineta," Izuku admitted, "He's taking what happened to Asui really badly, granted she's going to be alright, and then he was there when Aoyama was killed."

"So he's one of the 3 flood zone survivors, that means Asui was another, who was the?"

"Jiro."

"Yeah I shoulda figured, anyways..."

"I'll talk to Iida and Mineta," Midoriya sighed, "though Mineta might get into more self-destructive behavior. Really that win did wonders for his confidence. He seemed to normally have no self-esteem."

"You know how I am into strategy games right and how I participated in those championships..."

"..."

"Yeah, well I met Mineta and got beat by him 3 years in a row in chess," Shoda commented, "he even won the whole championship 1 year, but then he stopped showing up, do you know the story as to why?"

"Yeah, I was told not to talk about it, because there may be some lawsuits..." Shoda gave Izuku a startled look, "Mineta would be the plantiff, anyways I didn't know he used to compete..."

"I see..."

"Well food for thought," Izuku shrugged, "Thanks for getting your class to agree to attend the funeral."

"I pointed out that the class reps of 1-A would do their best to make sure their class showed up if it had been our class, that got even Monoma to sober up..." Shoda laughed, "Look if you need anything."

"Thanks, look maybe you can transfer Tetsutetsu to us and your class deal with the vultures, you do have the ultimate weapon for dealing with them after-all..." Izuku joked referencing Monoma.

"Sorry but Kendo would murder me," Shoda laughed, "though it would be hysterical seeing Tetsutetsu and Kirishima in the same class based on how you described him. Even old sourpuss Eraser would be in stitches.." he sobered up immediately, "how's your teacher?"

"Well from what I've heard, he'll recover, but there may be some lasting damage," Izuku admitted, "We're also lucky Nedzu had called Gran Torino, he bailed out Momo as well as Kaminari and Kirishima."

The two got to talking about other subjects until Kendo and Yaoyorozu finally showed up, "So how'd your discussion go?" Shoda asked them.

"It was a good idea Shoda," Yaoyorozu admitted, "Thanks."

"Hey us hero reps have to look out for each other you all would do the same for us."

The four left to go back to their respective homes. Midoriya wasn't surprised to find Mineta showing up at the door to the apartment the same time he did. "You went to see Asui..."

"Yup, I delivered a get-well flower arrangement, Jiro is already out of the hospital by the way..."

"Did you know Nirengeki plays chess?"

"I thought he looked familiar... Look I'm sorry about not telling you."

"What do you have to be sorry about? You should get back into those games, you could probably teach me..."

"Izuku I already know you know how to play," Mineta commented as Midoriya opened the door, "though I am really out of practice... and mom's out shopping..."

"Well that's good, Nirengeki wanted me to tell you to not poke the bear named Iida."

"Look Iida can go pound sand, if he can't be gracious about losing."

"Mineta... I know you want to prove yourself after what happened, you want to get stronger quickly, I don't have a problem with that, nor did Shoda, just try to keep it toned down, Iida is taking these last few days rather rough, especially since he is feeling like he isn't living up to family expectations..."

"Okay, that makes sense," Minoru acknowledged, "wait did Nirengeki go to the same school as Iida?"

"Yeah, they are friends, he didn't think you were being malicious or anything, just..."

"Okay thanks for the heads up, but he's got things wrong," Minoru pointed out, "I'm not the biggest antagonist towards Iida."

"Yeah Kacchan still hasn't forgiven him," Izuku groaned and Minoru just started laughing at Izuku's expression. Being part of a family was fun.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15 - Preparing for the Sports Festival

Despite Midoriya's fears, Shoto Todoroki and Neito Monoma did not cause a scene at Yuga Aoyama's funeral. Not to say there wasn't friction between the youngest Todoroki and Midoriya in the days leading up to it and the days following, but it was something that quite frankly Izuku didn't care about. 

Flashback:
"If you can't be respectful for our dead classmate's funeral and leave your personal shit for later then you have no business being in the hero course in the first place!" Izuku shouted at Shoto.

"Here, here," Bakugou interjected, "Get your ass in gear Icy-Hot, if I can put up with the 'Old Hag' you can put up with flame head to pay respects to a dead classmate!"

Present:

'Well that had been shocking, but not really surprising when I think about it," Midoriya reflected, 'Most of our parents were also there, minus Mineta's mom.'
He looked over the notes he prepared for each of the surviving class members of 1-A, having been allowed to look at the videos from the 2nd day of classes and what camera feeds were working at the USJ with Aizawa's permission. He yawned as he finished the last report, 'Now maybe I can at least get 2 hours sleep in...'

Homeroom, the next day:

"Okay listen up, you all have a reading assignments..." Aizawa directed Midoriya to to the front of  the class carrying a series of packets, each one having a different student's name on them.

"I've looked at the video of each of the mock battles from our second day of classes and the fights at USJ," Midoriya began tiredly, "I know I haven't seen everything you all can do, but I figured a preliminary report for each of you as far as what strengths and weaknesses each of you have, as well ideas for improvement, could be helpful. Oh Jiro, Mineta had some advice that you need some speakers that are more easily accessible for you than the ones on your boots, which he believed should be your backups," as she looked like she was about to argue Midoriya continued, "and quite frankly, I agree with him." 

Several of his classmates looked ready to jump down his throat when Aizawa still wrapped up like a mummy took control of the situation again, "Midoriya, back to your seat, I had to have Torino come up with a packet for you, though most of it is likely stuff you are already working on... I suggest you all read what he gave you, he spent the weekend after the funeral putting these together for each of you, and he came to school early this morning and spent time with me going over them. They should benefit you in the sports festival and help you all improve."
Midoriya noticed Shoto glancing through it and started glaring at him, as they left to go to math class.

Free Period for Training to prep for Sports Festival:

"Midoriya, i can't believe you are demanding I work on using fire..." said Shoto Todoroki confronting the Vice Rep, "How much did my dad pay you, what did he offer."

"Grow up," Midoriya fired back, "I don't know what your beef is, if you want to lead with your Ice, go for it, but you still need to be proficient with using fire. We've already lost one class member and I don't want another to get killed because you're half-assing things."

"I couldn't have saved Aoyama."

"Not saying that, I'm saying that in a future situation your refusal to use your fire side could mean the difference between life and death."

Shoto stopped and considered what Midoriya was saying, "I have a question..."

"What?"

"Are you All Might's secret love child?"

Midoriya just looked floored, "Huh?"

"Your powers are similar to All Might..."

"Okay... I'm not All Might's  kid, why?"

"Are you familiar with quirk marriages?"

"Aren't they illegal?"

"My dad entered into an arranged marriage with my mom based on her quirk, he kept me separated from my siblings, I he trained my eldest brother till he killed himself, he drove my mom crazy, and he used his fire on me for training..."

Midoriya sighed, "Okay are you sure everything you believe is accurate?"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No, however looking at this from an analytical standpoint, the quirk marriage theory for instance..." he paused trying to think of how best to word it, "It doesn't fit, you see your dad would have picked someone with a high fire resistance, picking someone with an ice quirk would be asking for issues. I'm not saying you dad should be father of the year, but there are certain things that don't seem to fit..."

"That man is a monster..."

"Did you notice that Mineta's mom didn't bother to show up at the funeral?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with..."

"Everything, you see she didn't show up at the hospital either, though I'm not sure if Mineta contacted his mom or not, like you he probably didn't. Anyways Mineta saw your dad there, your dad was frantic, he was terrified you had been the one killed. There are some other things that I can't talk about though."

"He was just worried about his masterpiece."

"Maybe, maybe not, my dad has a fire breathing quirk, and so I know fire quirks can be...hard to control, and often people have to build up their resistance to their own quirk."

"How can you defend him?!?!"

"I'm not, but as to why you should know how to use your fire, for goodness sakes it's your quirk not his, and you may encounter villains that are immune to your ice..."

"I want to make it without using that aspect of my quirk."

"Then just lead with your ice, there will be times that you may have to use your fire in combat, again its your quirk not his. Shoto, if this is about the fact your dad had a conversation with me, it had nothing to do with you..."

"Then what was it about?" Shoto demanded confronting him.

"It was a conversation of one former class rep to another, about how I shouldn't blame myself for Aoyama's death!" Midoriya snapped angrily.

"My apologies," replied Shoto after a brief hesitation.

"Look, this has been really trying for everyone," said Midoriya, "I didn't write that report to try to advance any agendas except helping my classmates improve and hopefully keeping us all alive."

"I'm not here to make friends," Shoto retorted, "I will win and will do it without using my father's fire."

"If you say so," Midoriya went back to practicing his quick activation of OfA, thinking back again to his conversation with the Number 2 pro-hero.

Flashback:

"So you're Midoriya, I wanted to talk to you," came a deep voice, breaking Midoriya out of his train of thought after the service, he looked up and saw Endeavor, "I understand you are the Vice Representative for Class 1-A, I've already talked to Yaoyorozu. Walk with me."

Midoriya got up and followed him somewhat warily.

"When I attended U.A., I was my Class's Representative," Endeavor commented, "It was a trying time even though we didn't have a major crisis-es."

" I don't think I'm doing a good job, or I could be doing something more, like giving everyone an idea of how to train regarding their quirks," Midoriya admitted, "I'm starting to think Iida is right that he'd be better suited..."

"No, he would not," Endeavor replied, "While we didn't attend the same years, I know his elder brother was more mature than he is and better able to deal with the unexpected. You've had to deal with a full on targeted villain attack in your first week of school. That is not something that you'd realistically be prepared to handle. From what I've seen, you've been doing a fairly good job so far, just focus on what you can do, and your classmates can either take your advice or not. Sometimes people will have to learn for themselves."

"I just don't like having to exert authority over my classmates, and..."

"You're out of your comfort zone, understandable," said Endeavor, "in some ways its good, that you don't like exerting authority, which is why you're better than Ingenium's younger brother. He's obsessed with being like his brother and comparing himself to his brother, the fact is he isn't his brother, and it's eating at him. Thing is he wouldn't do a good job as vice rep, he'd try to boss you all around only concerned about rules, and decorum, you're trying to get them to behave responsibly, keep them safe, and provide the class rep with needed information like the status of students in the hospital. Doing the leg-work for the class rep is the responsibility of the vice rep. Anyways, if you ever need to talk..." he hands Midoriya a card, "here's my card..."

Present:

'That had been rather odd,' Midoriya thought as he worked on to some other exercises, he wanted to be on his A-game for the sports festival, 'I guess Shoto saw me talking to his father, and assumed we were talking about something we weren't.'

Later that day, several kids from the general studies course showed up throwing down a challenge and the fact there was already one seat waiting to be filled, and other students could lose their places to, and it really rubbed several classmates the wrong way. Strangely, Midoriya felt he was starting to get used to being the Vice Rep, and when Iida approached him trying to get him to step down...

"No, I think I'm good," Midoriya smiled, "People have told me it's helping me with my shyness and I'm doing a good job given the circumstances, so you're stuck with me being vice rep." Iida looked as though he had mixed feelings, and even though he congratulated him.

U.A. Entrance:

"I read through your analysis of my quirk and ways to improve," Mineta commented as they walked out together.

"...And?"

"You did a really good job, Izuku," Mineta commented, "Though I noticed my packet wasn't as big as some other people's."

"Your weaknesses are fairly straightforward, and you're already starting to work on them," Midoriya replied, "I wasn't going to harp on something you already knew about. Some people I haven't seen them use their quirks as much, so you taking my advice on speed chess."

"Yeah, I'm taking it back up, being able to come up with plans on the fly is critical for a quirk like mine," Mineta admitted, "Guessing Icy-Heart isn't taking your advice and Iida is still obsessing that he isn't just as good as his brother..."

Midoriya sighed, "Yeah, but Shoto's dad made an interesting point about Iida not making a good fit for vice rep..."

"Pretty bad that the Number 2 hero can see the problem from a distance," Mineta grumbled, "I'm surprised Bakugou didn't immediately destroy his packet."

"Probably because of what Aizawa said at the start of class that he had gone through all of them, so he knows I noticed some important things, otherwise he would have, truthfully quite a bit of it will be stuff Kacchan already noticed..."

"Well that's probably true, you know him better than I do," Mineta looked thoughtful.

"About the sports festival..."

"I won't grope Yaoyorozu," Mineta promised, "I don't want to get hit with whatever she'd force you to do for her revenge while I slept. No given the patterns from last few years, we're likely going to have some sort of obstacle course race at first... I plan on using Iida as a ride if I'm right..."

"Wait what?"

"Look, nobody can be accused of cheating if I latched on to Bakugou, Todoroki, or Iida, but the thing is, I don't want to be frozen and Bakugou has that spin move and I don't want to be on his bad side the entire tournament..."

"Minoru, I don't think that's going to end well..."

"Yeah and if he does anything to me, I know I've got friends that will go to bat for me, besides if he and I make it to round three, there is a chance we'll have to fight again so it will all come to a head anyways..."

The two friends walked home discussing what they thought would take place in the sports festival.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16 - The Views of a Spectating Villain

All for One settled in to watch the Sports Festival with keen interest, while he was usually interested in the event where numerous quirks were shown off, he had a keen interest in the boy whom inherited One for All, but he was also interested because a family member would be competing. 'After all, it's not every day I get to see one of my grandchildren competing in something, particularly lately.'

He noticed Tomura grumbling from a side monitor about the pointless spectacle and grinned, 'Tomura hasn't quite put Izuku Midoriya on his radar yet.' He supposed that given what the one girl had done to him, he couldn't blame Tomura for being a little fixated on her.

"I'm curious," his doctor asked him from behind the chair, "Why didn't you set loose Tomura on that boy?" All for One didn't even bother answering letting the doctor work it out, "Oh I see, he has One for All, but then..."

"It is pointless to go after him as long as All Might is in the equation," the 200+ year old super-villain replied, "I've noticed that he's gotten increasingly better at fine control but not raw power, additionally I recently recalled something about the boy. You let me take his original quirk not long after he was born, I can't remember what he was sick with, a quirk that would let him control fire while not being able to generate it himself, it is a pity we lost that experiment due to All Might's interference..."

"His illness was quirk related, he was drawing heat to himself and accidentally raising his body temperature, ironically you may have saved his life, since he did not have any unusual resistance to heat and he was running a fever of 39.4 degrees Celsius, so what makes the boy so special now?"

"Out of all the past holders of the quirk of my late brother, none of them had previously had a quirk taken by me..." All for One chuckled as the boy managed to come in first, and his grandchild also managed to make it to the second round.

"Ah, I'm a fool for asking," the doctor's mustache twitched, "his brain was wired to handle a quirk, but he has no quirk, you want to see what One for All will do."

"Yes, that's part of it, the other part is I must take the musclebound idiot out of the equation, first," he grinned, "you see there are rules regarding the transfer so I may as well treat this as an experiment. Given how well the Quirk has worked when transferred to one that is quirkless, young Midoriya may be more compatible than Toshinori Yagi... You have patients you need to get back to don't you."

"Of course master, I just wanted to check on my most important one," answered the doctor walking away.

All for One turned his attention back to the broadcast watching his grandson had unfortunately picked a fight with Bakugou in the middle of the 2nd round and his entire team was suffering for it. 'Looks like he bit off more than he could chew. Ah there's the youngest of Endeavor's children, he really wastes the potential of his quirk.'

The matches were advancing just as he thought they would, they were getting ready to set up for the third round when three students suddenly withdrew from the 3rd round, then there were a bunch of other students that were refusing to take their place. 'This is getting beyond stupid, this self-sacrificing is almost sickening, while I can understand some of it, you made it as far as you did, accept it already...' He watched the seventh place team huddle and made a selection as to which of them would be in the final round. All for One grinned, 'Now the real show is about to begin, show me what you can do ninth holder, show me little brother...'

Matches:
1. Izuku Midoriya vs Momo Yaoyorozu 
2. Eijiro Kirishima vs Mina Ashido 
3. Fumikage Tokoyami vs Hanta Sero 
4. Tenya Iida vs Ochaco Ururaka 
5. Minoru Mineta vs Mei Hatsume 
6. Shoto Todoroki vs Hitoshi Shinso 
7. Denki Kaminari vs Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu 
8. Katsuki Bakugo vs Ibara Shiozaki 

All for One settled in to watch what should be quite a show...

Chapter Text

Chapter 17 - Showdown: Class Rep versus Vice Rep

Minoru Mineta looked at the match ups with a little amusement and a little dread, though not for himself. Izuku and Momo were friends, they worked together a lot, and this could drive a wedge between them that could hurt the class. At the same time there was some amusement of Midoriya always ending up with beautiful women yet his friend was so shy it was hysterical. He supposed he better check up on Izuku.

Prep Room:

Midoriya was muttering up a storm going through what he thought Yaoyorozu would do when Mineta knocked on the open door. "Well you're doing better than I thought you would." An empty food tray was to one side on the table while he was marking up a white board.

"I'm having to think of this as a school matchup, she's going to be hard to beat, though I have the advantage."

"Prep time, she can't use her quirk to prep before the match," Mineta agreed, "Just be careful, who knows what she'll cook up, considering what she knows."

"Yeah, I'm intending to hopefully just drag her out of the ring or something though," Midoriya explained, "I really don't want to hurt her, she's one of my friends. So you worried about your match?"

"Not really, if I know Mei she'll try to turn this into an infomercial to advertise her support items..."

"Well that's good."

There was another knock, "Mineta what you talked the girls into that was completely inappropriate!" Iida was at the door.

"Huh?" Mineta looked clueless.

"Iida, Mineta was here asking about if I was okay facing off against Yaoyorozu, what's going on?"

"So you know nothing about the outfits?"

"What outfits?" Mineta was clearly confused.

"The cheer-leading outfits..." Iida began, then realized Mineta genuinely didn't know what happened, "I apologize..."

"Wait they're in cheer-leading outfits, I gotta see this!" he started to take off out the door but Midoriya grabbed him by the shirt collar, "Hey Midoriya I want to see!"

"I'm keeping you out of trouble, since it wasn't you that did it," Midoriya sighed, as Gran Torino walked in the room behind Iida.

"So Minoru got himself in trouble, eh?"

"No, I'm keeping him out of trouble, he was down here..."

"But I take it he wants to see," Torino chuckled, "Okay kid come with me, but stay close so I don't need to put you on a leash, I think I figured out the culprit."

"Kaminari," deduced Midoriya, "How many fell for the prank?"

"Enough, that they could use a lecture," the elderly hero chuckled.

Midoriya groaned.

Stands:

Mineta had gotten to see what happened and was still laughing it up at the girls, snickering about the outfits and how they got tricked by the class idiot, especially when he heard about what Kaminari's punishment. "Watch it Mineta..." Kaminari groused, "it isn't funny."

"Dude, I applaud you for what you managed to get them to do, but boy am I glad I wasn't involved."

"Yeah, cleaning bathrooms for a week, during my study hour," Kaminari groused, "and here you are sitting pretty."

"Cause you pulled it all on your own, and least I don't have to worry about further revenge."

Mina had one arm uncovered looking ready to wallop Mineta, "Seriously..."

"Sorry Ashido, but I have 2 student alibis and 1 teacher that can testify I wasn't present when all that went down, besides I had already promised Midoriya and Yaoyorozu that I wouldn't pull these stunts during the festival," Mineta grinned impishly, "I'm honestly amazed they fell for it." He started cracking up again.

Realizing Mineta was actually telling the truth she sighed, "Jeez, so they really got hoodwinked by the class idiot?" she sighed as Mineta nodded and Kaminari pouted, "Oh I guess you were concerned about the first match, two lovers duking it out."

"Midoriya isn't dating Yaoyorozu..." he rolled his eyes, "This could drive a wedge in the class." He saw the two walking towards the stage.

Stage:

Booming over the loudspeaker came Present Mic's voice: "In this corner we have the lovely Princess of Creation, the Representative of Class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu!"
"This isn't a boxing match..." came Aizawa's voice.
"Spoilsport," Present Mic grumbled over the loudspeaker, "In this corner we have U.A.'s green lightning boy, the Vice Representative of Class 1-A, Izuku Midoriya!"

"Okay you two know the rules, I want a good clean fight, you win by knocking out, immobilizing, getting your opponent to concede, or opponent ending up out-of-bounds. Now let's get it on!" she yells channeling her inner Judge Mills Lane cracking a whip.

Midoriya started forward, "Yaoyorozu I really don't think..."

She created a small spray bottle and sprayed him in the face, as he screamed about his eyes...

"HEY NOW THAT WAS LOW!" Mina shouted in astonishment, "I can see doing that to Mineta, but Midoriya?!?!"

"Sorry Izuku this was the only way I could come up with to beat you," she stated as she created a taser and aimed it at him planning to use that to end the match.

Midoriya could see 8 silhouettes through his closed eyes, as he started glowing with green lightning arcing over his body. She fired and Midoriya felt something take control as he twisted away dodging the attack.

"What in the?" Yaoyorozu gasped in disbelief barely managing to create a shield that to block a blind Midoriya whom was launching a series of punches and kicks, as she staggered under the force of the blows. 'I need a weapon, maybe I can, no..."

"Momo go to the left the left!" Mina shouted.

"Huh?"

"Yaoyorozu has stepped out of bounds! Midoriya advances!" called out Midnight, she then asked Midoriya quietly, "Do you need help off the stage?"

"Yeah I can't see, what did you spray me with?" Midoriya was clearly shaky, and with the crowd noise he was starting to get disoriented.

"Mace," Yaoyorozu admitted guiltily.

"It's okay you were trying to win," Midoriya replies quietly as a medical robot wheeled up to him and then helped him off the stage and to an eye washing station where Recovery Girl worked to help him recover. He had to head off to a locker room then to get the rest of the mace off him and some clothes that didn't have it on them.

Stands:

Ochaco and Mineta were both glaring at Yaoyorozu.

"Seriously, MACE!" Ochaco looked at the class representative furious at what happened.

"Seriously, did you target Midoriya thinking I pulled that stunt?" Mineta asked softly.

"No, it was the only thing I could think of where I would have a shot at beating him," she replied, "I hope he forgives me."

"He probably already has," Mineta replied, "Look I get it you have issues with me but don't take them out on Midoriya..."

"It'll probably take me longer to forgive you," Ochaco admits.

"It didn't work anyways and the plan fell apart..." Yaoyorozu looked like her confidence was shaken.

Ochaco got up and walked away so she could get ready for her match, she doubted match 3 would last long so this would be the time she could prepare.

Stands:

Midoriya hurriedly cleaned himself up and changed, then rushed back to the arena. Eijiro Kiroshima and Mina Ashido were on the stage facing off with each other the match clearly underway...

"Has it started yet?" he asked breathing heavily.

"You didn't have to run all the way back here," Mineta scolded.

Momo interrupted Mineta, "Yes, but you really haven't missed anything; are your eyes okay?" Momo asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, if it had been more concentrated though..."

"That was cool how you dodged the taser!" Kaminari exclaimed, "How'd you do that?"

"I really don't know..."

"I guess you got lucky."

"Yeah..."

Mineta knew that tone, Midoriya was genuinely worried and it was One for All related.

"So who do you think will win?" Kaminari asked as the match continued.

"It all depends on how well Kirishima's hardening will protect against acid," Midoriya replied, "It also depends on his pain tolerance and if Mina can dodge him."

"I'm slightly leaning towards Ashido because she has a super-athletic bod..." Mineta commented and as people looked at him and Asui looked about ready to get a rope, "I'm guessing she works out a lot, so while Kirishima may have more physical strength it isn't by that much, she's more agile than Kirishima. It also largely depends on how vicious she is with the acid too. Jeez people get your mind out of the gutter."

"Seems his skin is resisting her acid, even though his clothes aren't," Momo commented.

"Okay, so if his quirk can resist the acid..." Kaminari began.

"Then Mina's in trouble, though it also depends on his pain tolerance..." Midoriya commented, "It doesn't look like his quirk is completely effective at blocking the acid. It looks like she should still win since she's more agile." To be personally honest, he'd rather face Kirishima because acid could really hurt, he knew that from experience, even if the burns had been healed by a quirk that didn't leave scarring.

Stage:

"You really should give up Eijiro," Mina remarked skating all over the place with her acid.

"I'm not giving up," Kirishima replied, "It wouldn't be manly!"

She skated in and hit him with more acid, and he stumbled. She closed for the kill only for Kirishima to find some last reserve of strength and rammed his head into her gut, wrapping his arms around her while pushing her out of the ring. However, she managed to pick up her feet so Kirishima crossed the line before she hit the ground

"Kirishima is out of bounds because Ashido didn't touch the ground, Ashido WINS!" announced Midnight.

There was a thud as Kirishima passed out, with first degree burns over a good percentage of his body.

Stands:

"That was something I had told Mina to work on," grumbled Midoriya, "Not just assuming she has victory and letting her guard down."

"Well she still won," Kaminari commented.

"Yeah, those burns on Kirishima are no joke though," Midoriya sighed as he watched the medical robots wheel Kirishima away, "I feel really bad for him." He noted that Kirishima had really taken the wind out of her, 'Bruised ribs maybe?'

He watched the next two contestants come down.

"Tokoyami's got this in the bag," commented Mineta, nobody disagreed, and that match was over almost as quickly as it began. With Dark Shadow swatting the tape aside and tossing Sero out of the ring.

Prep Room:

Ochaco gulped nervously, as she left the room and steeled herself for battle, her fight with Iida was about to begin.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18 - Dangers of Obsession

Stage:
Ochaco Uraraka stood across from Tenya Iida as Midnight signaled the start of the match.

"I would advise you forfeit," the younger brother of Ingenium warned her, "I won't hold back, I've shamed my family too many times as it is."

"I refuse, you're not the only one with dreams," Ochaco retorted. As he lunged at her, a sweeping kick to her mid-section followed by pain. She coughed but managed to get up and tried to touch him to place her own quirk in play...

Stands:

Izuku Midoriya had wanted to go talk to All Might but felt he had to see this, deep down he was worried for Ochaco, he was afraid Iida would take it too far.

"Thank goodness she dodged that," Mineta commented just loud enough Midoriya could hear him.

'She can win but it isn't likely," Midoriya thought to himself, 'He's been training since a little kid.' He distantly heard booing and their teacher then cutting into the people over the intercom about treating her with respect.

"Midoriya, does she stand a chance at winning?" Mina asked him.

"Yeah, but not a very good one," Midoriya commented, "You see he has the speed and strength as an advantage. furthermore he has training that she just hasn't had. Also he feels like he has something to prove which can both improve and hinder his chances at winning... Mineta shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"I already know what I'm going to do," Mineta answered, "I think I need to be here."

"For Ochaco?" Mina asked.

Mineta shook his head, "For Midoriya, you see..."

"Wait they're a couple!?!?" Mina exclaimed as Midoriya turned beat red.

"Keep it down," Mineta scolded, "No, but I think it could happen, anyways I know I need to be here because this if Iida goes to far someone needs to be there for Midoriya." He got excited, "It looks like she's gonna get him. SHE GOT HIM!"

"No, IIDA THAT'S CRAZY!" Midoriya shouted as a feeling of dread. Mineta's eyes went wide with horror as he realized what Iida was going to do.

Stage:

'Yes I got him,' Ochaco had managed to take a grazing hit while touching Iida with 5 fingers activating her zero gravity quirk. "Give it up Iida it's over!" She grinned not realizing what would happen next.

"No, I won't lose! RECIPRO-BURST!"

Because his legs were so far from his center of mass he spun around like a pin wheel catching Ochaco in the left arm and left side of her rib cage at almost shoulder height, there was a snapping sound as she was launched from the stage. A green blur shot from the stands and caught her as she was about to hit the wall.

"OCHACO URARAKA is OUT OF BOUNDS AND UNCONSCIOUS!" Midnight announced, "TENYA IIDA WINS!"

There was a thud as Aizawa used his quirk to cancel out Ochaco's. Seconds later Iida came bounding up as medical robots rolled up with a stretcher, "Is she okay?"

"Of course she isn't okay..." Midoriya glared at him, "what you did was downright dangerous you could have killed her!"

"Please move sir," said one of the robots and Midoriya handed off Ochaco to them.

Stands:

"Hey Pinkie," said Bakugou getting Ashido's attention, "Free Advice, if you don't think you can beat Deku, I'd recommend getting the hell out of his way."

"Huh?"

"You've never seen Deku pissed off, Four Eyes managed to do something I have never thought could happen," Bakugou grinned, 'Okay looks like it will be a fight between me and Deku.' He took a breath, "HEY RUNT ITS YOUR FIGHT NEXT, GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR!"

"But..."

"Don't worry about Deku."

Iida walked up to the stands somewhat chastened, yet at the same time he was ecstatic and driven to win his next fight, 'I did it, I will make my family proud.'

"HEY FOUR EYES, WHAT FLOWER ARRANGEMENT WOULD YOU LIKE!"

"What for?"

"FOR YOUR FUNERAL..." Bakugou snarked, 'If I can't get the nerd to calm down that is.' He walked away. Quite frankly, Bakugou thought Midoriya was right to be furious, the move Iida pulled had been incredibly dangerous, for all his yelling about killing people he always held himself in check so he wouldn't actually do it. That was why he had purposefully moved in a way that would give Midoriya time to dodge that full power blast on the second day of class. It was also how he knew just the right amount of a blast to use when maneuvering and blasting the nerd in that class. If he didn't have that level of control, he genuinely could kill someone.

It took a few seconds for Iida to put things together and he went pale, "He doesn't mean literally does he?"

Kaminari whom had been unnoticed watching the exchange spoke up, "I think Midoriya is super-pissed given what you just did to his girl, better hope Tokoyami takes you down..."

Iida scoffed, "I intend to win this!"

Kaminari just shuddered remembering the report Midoriya had put together regarding his quirk, 'If he has the same level of detail concerning Iida... I pray to all that is holy that Midoriya calms down.'

Corridor Behind the Stands:

"Deku!"

"Kacchan, look this isn't a good time..."

Bakugou noted that Midoriya was shaking with rage, "Deku."

"He could have killed her, if that had been much higher it would have been her neck!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN DAMN IT!"

Midoriya glared at him.

"She's alive, she'll recover. You need to calm down Deku." Bakugou suddenly grinned, "Now that I got what the Hobo would say out of the way... Do us all a favor and kick Four Eyes' Ass! I'LL MURDER YOU IF YOU LET HIM GET TO THE FINALS GOT IT!"

"Got it," Midoriya answered. As Bakugou walked away, Midoriya said quietly, "Thanks Kacchan."

Chapter Text

Chapter 19 - Why We All Hate Infomercials / Your Overconfidence is Your Weakness

Stage:

Mineta was getting bored, he was worried about Ochaco of course, but putting up with Mei Hatsume's advertising her 'babies' was starting to get old, rather fast, 'Oh come on how much fuel does that damn jet pack have, anyways...'

Stands:

"Okay I like good support items as much next guy but come onnnnn..." whined Kaminari.

"It's not like Mineta can do anything to her with her in the air like that," commented Jiro.

"Ribbit, actually he can, ribbit," Asui interjected, she had managed to compete in the first two events, but wouldn't have been able to manage the 3rd round since she was still not at 100%, "Mineta doesn't want to use it because it could get Hatsume hurt."

"What?  All he's got are those sticky hairballs," Kaminari.

"They don't stick to him," Jiro replied, "They are his personal trampolines... I should have seen it."

"The problem is all the maneuvers he can pull would leave him open to attack and could also get them both badly hurt," Asui explained, "he isn't up against a villain he's up against a fellow student."

"Wait what's he doing?"

Stage:

Mineta plucked a few hairballs and started throwing them at the remote control 'babies' that Hatsume had carried along so they were stuck to the floor. 'At least that way they can't be used against me.' He sighed and finally shouted up at her, "HEY INFOMERCIAL OVER, HATSUME!"

"But I haven't shown off my new remotes," she tried activating them with her remote on her wrist and their engines started up but remained stuck to the floor, "huh?"

"I got tired of waiting," Mineta commented casually looking at his fingernails, "I wasn't going to be your test dummy." He winced as one of them actually exploded, "So we going to fight? Or are you going to forfeit."

She landed and started walking off, "Well I'm out I got to make some adjustments to my babies so that doesn't happen again!"

Mineta sighed as Midnight announced his win, 'At least I didn't end up being used as her walking billboard, she didn't even try talking me into it due to my height.' He raised one hand and walked off the stage.

As he walked back into the stands he noticed some of the other 3rd round contenders looking at him with a look of sympathy.

He flopped down in his seat near Asui, Jiro, and Kaminari, "That was a complete waste of time," he groaned, "don't get me wrong it was kind of what I expected but still..." He suddenly noticed Ojiro was starting to walk to talk to Todoroki. "I'll be right back."

Corridor:

"Ojiro wait up," Mineta called out, "You're going to try to give Todoroki a heads up about that kid's power right?"

"Yeah," Ojiro commented, "If you verbally respond to him, he brainwashes you."

"If Todoroki didn't pay attention earlier that's his problem," commented Mineta.

"WHAT? Just cause you benefited..."

"Just hear me out, okay," interrupted Mineta, "What that kid did to you was bad, but Todoroki already knows about this Shinso's ability. You giving point by point details is kind of giving our classmate an unfair advantage..."

"Are you sure it isn't cause it benefits you to fight him next instead of Todoroki?" Ojiro asked as they watched Todoroki walk by.

"Well if he wasn't paying attention to our conversation that's not my problem..."

"You mean?"

"If Todoroki happened to be paying attention to his surroundings, then he's got the warning, if not oh well," Mineta grinned, "You see if he just happened to hear us discussing it..."

"Thanks Mineta."

"I don't know if he was paying attention though," Mineta commented, "Wish I could say I planned him on hearing it, but I didn't. Anyways, there is a good chance that Todoroki will lose this, and can't say it would bother me if it did. Midoriya was complaining about it all weekend about Todoroki needing to get some things pounded into his skull."

"What exactly?"

"He can't always rely on his ice," Mineta held up one finger. "He needs to get over his anger issues," he held up a second finger. "He shouldn't assume that everyone is as incompetitent and weak as the villains he one-shotted at USJ," he held up a third finger.

They watched as Todoroki got baited into verbally responding instead of icing the general studies student first thing. The student ordered Todoroki to walk off the stage, and Midnight called out the victory.

After being released Shoto Todoroki had a shell-shocked look on his face as he walked back into the corridor.

"Learn anything?" Mineta asked as the temperature suddenly became several degrees colder, "Guess not."

"What do you mean?" Todoroki asked.

"One of your big problems is your temper," Mineta shrugged, "You also completely underestimated him didn't you."

"So Midoriya ran those write ups through you..."

"Well I do currently live at the Midoriya residence," Mineta pointed out, "He wanted a second opinion cause he was afraid of being biased or overly harsh in a few people's cases, he is taking Aoyama's death like it's his fault, which it isn't."

"It's your quirk not his..." Shoto Todoroki said aloud.

"What?"

"Something Midoriya told me," Todoroki answered.

"Least it wasn't in the middle of a fight..." Mineta grimaced, "knowing him he'd bust his own arms going all out just to try to help you..."

Separate Corridor:

"...and I could see eight figures, and it was like someone else was controlling my body..."

"Nonsense, you just got inspiration from seeing the past holders, I've seen the past holders before as well it is perfectly normal," All Might reassured a shaken Midoriya.

As he smiled and walked away Gran Torino walked up behind Toshinori, "Problems?"

"Not really the kid got shook up seeing the past vestiges, he thinks they controlled him briefly," Toshinori grinned, "I mean seriously he saw me there."

"Maybe they did," Gran Torino replied shrugging, "it could also be the kid's imagination, he was blinded Toshinori, it could have been reflexes and dumb luck but the kid is so analytical sometimes over thinks things..."

"You don't seem bothered either way," Toshinori commented.

"If One for All did somehow intervene, it is acting to protect the boy and we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," Torino looked up after considering something, "that said we should keep an eye on the kid, just a gut feeling." He listened to his ear piece, "Okay so lightning boy and metal kid are going to go at it next, I really don't see that one ending well."

Privately Toshinori Yagi agreed with Sorahiko Torino, having those two individuals fighting each other could be extremely dangerous, after-all nobody knew if Tetsutetsu's quirk grounded him against electricity or made it more dangerous for him. They weren't exactly going to have the kid sticking his finger in and electrical socket.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20 - Class 1-B's Analyst / 45 seconds

Midoriya was walking back to the stands when he saw Neito Monoma talking to Tetsutetsu.

"Remember, what I said about that guy's quirk," said Monoma.

"I got it," Tetsutetsu, "I don't think it's a cool thing to do you giving me a play-by-play plan to beat the kid."

"Let's put it this way," Monoma replied in a very serious tone, "If you don't you're going to die."

"Yeah like you're gonna..."

"I'm saying his quirk could potentially stop your heart and kill you," Monoma interrupted sternly, "I don't want a single member of our illustrious class to die at the hands of a glory hogs from 1-A."

"Got it," said the other boy starting to walk to the stage.

Monoma finally noticed the Class 1-A's Vice Representative standing there, "Spying on us?"

"Just curious," Midoriya shrugged, "I'm guessing you were warning him about Kaminari's quirk. Consideringitcouldpotentiallystophisheartandallthatiftheelectricityweretocrossthe.."

"So you have been studying us as though we were the enemy, you..." Kendo walked up behind him and Karate chopped Monoma in the back of the neck rendering him unconscious.

"Thanks for finding him, I'm really sorry about that," Kendo apologized.

"Don't worry about it, he was right about Kaminari could potentially kill your classmate though," Midoriya warned.

"Don't worry, Monoma had that covered if Tetsutetsu sticks to what he told him," Kendo smirked, "He tried to give us an idea of who we all had to watch out for from your class a few days ago. Particularly Tetsutetsu, he commented that if those two ended up fighting each other it would tragedy waiting to happen."

"I see, I suppose that makes sense given his quirk, he'd have to be able to analyze what he's copied quickly."

Stage:

"This should be over fast," Kaminari commented, "hey maybe you should give up now, I mean we are a bad match-up."

"Funny, I could say the same to you," Tetsutetsu replied though his tone had no sign of mocking like Kaminari, as Midnight began the match.

Kaminari charged in, "1.3 MILLION VOLTS!"

Tetsutetsu howled in pain but still stood.

"Okay how about 2 MILLION VOLTS!"

"Don't do that you'll turn...stupid!" called out Jiro's voice.

Tetsutetsu was on one knee was the Kaminari was totally out of it giving the thumbs up.
Seeing his chance Tetsutetsu charged in and shoved the helpless Kaminari out of the ring.

Stands:

"What just happened?" Kirishima whom was finally up and moving about asked.

"Yeah, shouldn't Kaminari have won..." Jiro remarked, "That other kid shouldn't be standing."

"Apparently Monoma has been scouting us out," Midoriya commented joining them.

"That's unfair!" exclaimed Hagakure, since she was invisible they couldn't see her face but it wouldn't surprise anyone if she were scowling, "I mean that's like cheating."

"In this case, he may have saved Tetsutetsu's life and prevented Kaminari from being expelled for using a lethal attack that killed a student."

Todoroki had joined the group along with Mineta and Ojiro but had kept silent during the exchange. "He's right, given how metal conducts electricity Tetsutetsu could have been killed," Todoroki finally spoke up, "Midoriya, I owe you an apology..."

"Don't worry about it," Midoriya commented, "I'm sorry for getting on people's cases so much, I'm just worried about losing another classmate."

"Don't worry about it, we all understood you meant well, anyways, I'm confused, how did he..." Ashido asked.

"He only made the skin along certain parts of his body metal instead of the whole body," commented Mineta before Midoriya could speak up, "he gave the electricity a path of least resistance down one side of his body and away from the heart, though he should have withdrawn because that was still really dangerous."

"Wow, I didn't know you could analyze people," Asui commented.

"What can I say, I have many talents..." Mineta smirked.

"And just like that Mineta goes back to acting like he's 12," Ashido commented and just about everyone laughed at that.

"So who is going to win the next match if they've been scoping us out, she'll probably..."

"No Kacchan will win, I doubt it will take him a minute," Midoriya commented with a knowing grin, "He made the typical mistake most people would make when analyzing Kacchan."

"You didn't do the same thing Monoma did?" Hagakure gasped, "Not that I'd blame you, it would serve that twerp right."

"Nope," Midoriya grinned, "I just know Monoma has made the classic mistake of seriously underestimating Kacchan."

They watched the match and at first it seemed like the girl with vine hair quirk was going to overwhelm Bakugou who just started triggering rapid explosions from his hands blasting away the vines. As more vines erupted from the ground he launched himself into the air at practically the same instant. Most of his classmates were gaping as Bakugou rapidly closed the distance and blasted his opponent out of the ring.

"It took him 45 seconds," commented Mineta, "you fought someone like that while not using a quirk..." The other students (Todoroki excluded) were looking at Midoriya in shock.

"As I said Minoru, Monoma seriously underestimated Kacchan," Midoriya shrugged.

"Hopefully Tetsutetsu takes him down." grumbled Mineta, "I know I can beat him, but Bakugou would be a lot harder, especially since he's smarter than he acts..."

"Only reason I could keep up with Kacchan is I knew him well enough to predict him, and he underestimated me," Midoriya commented, "given this is an open stage, I don't think I can beat him."

"But that flash step move..." Mineta began.

"Only works if I have walls, trees, or other heavy objects that I can rebound off of," Midoriya answered, confirming Mineta's deductions regarding the limitation of the move, "thankfully if I end up taking on Kacchan, he probably realizes this so he won't hold it against me for not giving it my all, since I can't use the move given the terrain."

"So Mineta you gonna take down the gen-ed brain-washer?" asked Ojiro.

"I think I have him figured out," Mineta grinned, "I've seen it in action, so it isn't an unknown variable. Don't worry."

"He's doomed," commented Ashido.

"Watch me," replied Mineta completely sure of himself in fact he already had a plan of how to react to the taunting.

"WE HAVE A 15 MINUTE BREAK!" came a voice over the loud speaker.

Midoriya excused himself and walked away to prep for the next match.

"Ashido, I'd recommend you try to prepare for your match," Mineta commented, "Just a friendly warning..." 

"You'd even betray your friend to try to score with a girl..." Hagakure acidly remarked.

"No, I just don't want Ashido to lose so badly she embarasses herself," Mineta retorted, clearly offended, "Midoriya is a lot faster than Kirishima, and Ashido don't throw acid in the eyes, it could permanently blind someone." Yaoyorozu who was sitting away from the others winced at that comment.

"I won't," Ashido commented, "he isn't a perv, so his eyes are safe don't worry." getting up to get prepped for the next match.

2nd Round of Matches:
1. Izuku Midoriya vs Mina Ashido
2. Fumikage Tokoyami vs Tenya Iida
3. Minoru Mineta vs Hitoshi Shinso
4. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu vs Katsuki Bakugou

Chapter Text

Chapter 21 - A Villain's Analysis / Tomura's Education

Bar:

"Tomura," the ancient villain spoke through his microphone. While Tomura Shiggeraki was drinking his usual.

"Yes sensei," his young protege replied.

"Do you have any predictions as to how the upcoming fights will go?"

Now that sparked Tomura's interest, 'So a lesson then,'  he took a breath, "Well if we're looking at who will win, I have some guesses based on their quirks."

"Go on..."

"The first fight will likely go to the tag-a-long, he is just as quick if not faster than the horned pink-skinned wench. She has the ranged advantage with her acid, but I don't think she'll go for the face. I expect the fight will be a short one."

"I see you've been playing those Medieval games too much again, how could the girl win?"

"Sometimes it's satisfying to gut your enemies up close and personal," Tomura admitted, reminding himself to avoid gaming terms for the remainder of the lesson, "I would say she could win if she targeted the eyes, or caused the boy to slip and slide off the stage. She also seems more sure on her feet than him, but that could be the circumstances of last match."

"That could work, next fight..."

"The next fight would be a toss-up, it depends one the speed of bird-head's quirk versus the spectacled boy, though I liked his ruthlessness, maybe he could be a recruit..."

"No, while it is an out-of-the box idea, and inspired one actually, I don't believe the younger brother of Ingenium could become a full on villain," All for One shot down the idea, "now how could either of them win."

"The bird-head's weakness is in his seeming inability to fight close quarters... Although his quirk is cool."

"Tomura, taking a quirk with a fully developed personality behind it is generally a bad idea, particularly when it could decide to strangle you, now continue."

"The Iida brat's weakness seems to be his impatience, but if he can get in close, he can win, but his lack of a ranged attack is a weakness."

"An acceptable analysis."

"The next fight would seem to favor the brainwasher, that other boy was nothing special in USJ, quite frankly he didn't seem worth killing..."

"I must warn you that appearances can be deceiving, not your fault for overlooking this one, because I have information that you were not privy to in this case, because it didn't seem relevant for you to know at the time, nor would it have interested you."

"Oh?"

"He is the son of a famous fashion designer; you never had much interest in the fashion industry. That said, the boy is an extremely skilled tactician, and has a genius level intellect."

"Didn't know he had an intelligence quirk..."

"No, his quirk is something else, not all geniuses are geniuses due to their quirk, remember that Tomura."

"I understand," Tomura made a mental note to remember that lesson, 'perhaps someone Sensei met on one of those forums he went to for kicks. I never had much interest in them...' He considered it further, "Okay well then the odds still favor the brainwasher in my opinion, because a genius often has an ego; however it is possible that the midget can pull off a win."

"Better, now explain how."

"Well the brainwasher wouldn't have the fighting experience a hero course student would, at least not generally, and the midget's sticky quirk could cut off the brainwasher's ability to activate his quirk, or it might not if it is just dependent on responses."

"I imagine it would not work if his opponent were deaf either," commented All for One, "Next fight."

"The final round favors the kid with the explosive quirk," Tomura eagerly predicted, "Unless he were to suddenly run out of gas, the metal idiot is too straight forward and isn't too clever."

"I concur, but how could the metal boy win..." 

"It could only happen if 'Lord Explosion Murder God' would be dumb enough to let the other boy grapple with him, or get in a lucky hit to render him unconscious..."

"Indeed, so two fights you are sure of the outcome and two you aren't, depending on who wins the two you aren't sure of who would win the next ones..."

"If bird boy wins his fight, I'd favor him to win the next fight, but it depends on whether or not tag-a-long can match the strength of the other quirk. If the other kid wins, I'd say the tag-a-long wins."

"Go on..."

"I still favor the brainwasher in the next fight, and he can potentially go all the way, the midget doesn't stand a chance against Murder God..."

"If the bird boy as you call him were to be a finalist against Shinso, I will be perfectly blunt, the brainwasher would lose, due to the fact the other boy's quirk is sentient. An extraordinarily strong willed person may as also overcome it."

"So anyone that can successfully make their will saves..."

"Could defeat the brainwashing, there is always a limit to a quirk's power, and all quirks are subject to their own rules regarding said quirk."

Tomura nodded, "So who would be your picks Sensei?"

"Ah, I would pick Midoriya to win his next fight, and will likely tangle against Iida in the following round with Midoriya to be a finalist, for one bracket," the 200 year old villain grinned, "Then I would pick Mineta beating Shinso only to lose against Bakugou whom goes on to win the whole thing. That said there is a chance Tokoyami would beat Iida and it would be a toss-up who would win that bracket at that point, however they would ultimately lose against Bakugou."

"Seems to me you've got another possibility."

"It is always possible that something could happen like an unexpected injury, I don't have a precognition quirk. If this Shinso were to win against Bakugou he would probably lose to either to Midoriya or Tokoyami, Iida of course would lose. On the other hand, young Izuku just isn't quite at the same level that Bakugou is."

'Wait a minute he just called the boy by his first name,' Tomura thought. "So is that your grandson?"

"No..."

"Then your grandson had to be the boy that could temporarily copy other quirks," Tomura deduced, "since his quirk is the most similar to yours, he'd be the next most likely individual."

"Very good, make sure to avoid killing my grandchild, he may be on the wrong side, but family is still important..."

'Oh that wasn't why I asked, you fell for my trick play,' Tomura smiled it was rare that he could pull one over on All for One, "Of course Sensei. Now then the reason why you never had the tag-a-long bumped off was because you really wanted to recruit him, not for his quirk but for his mind..."

There was a sudden pause, and Tomura knew he had figured it out, "Very good, you caught my slip, I had been hoping to recruit him, though he wasn't born quirkless, though because he is a carrier of the gene for quirklessness he possesses the extra toe joint, you could say he was misdiagnosed. Until recently, I also believed he was quirkless." What All for One was not going to say was the fact he had taken the boy's quirk as an infant.

"Given your interest, was he to be a replacement for me?" inquired Tomura.

"Not at all," the villain calmly assured him, "I wished to recruit him for the same reason the good doctor is my right-hand even though he doesn't have a powerful quirk. It is always good to have someone with his talents as your right hand."

"His intellect and analytical abilities," Tomura reasoned, "but then why did he appear quirkless..."

"It appears that he suffers from a very rare delayed quirk manifestation syndrome, which occasionally show up in people with quirks of a stockpiling nature. It is also possible the sludge villain exposed him to some chemicals that triggered a genetic mutation, though that possibility is unlikely..."

"That would be unstable and he'd likely be in the hospital," scoffed Tomura thinking back to USJ, as Kurogiri went about cleaning glasses, "he reacted to All Might after fighting the Nomu, out of concern, unlike the others, who were just celebrating that All Might defeated the Nomu... He knew we could kill the boss... There's a link between the two, I'm going to kill him."

There was another pause, "Tomura, while ordinarily you would have called the correct course of action, in this case I must inform you the boy is not to be killed until All Might is no more."

"So there is a connection," Tomura seethed, "even more reason..."

"Killing the boy right now would be counter-productive," All for One hadn't intended for Tomura to seriously tangle with All Might's successor, at least not just yet, but sometimes he underestimated his protege.

"I see, so killing the boy is out," Tomura reasoned, he didn't agree with his mentor, but he would follow his rare order, 'there has to be a reason.'

"For now..." confirmed All for One.

Tomura continued, "...and you don't want him crippled... At least not physically..."

"Oh, you've thought of something."

"Yes, All Might's secret love child, versus me, there is a certain symmetry in that, and I guess I should make the first move, and to start he should suffer before he dies..." Tomura's face broke into a maniacal grin.
"Go on..." All for One was grateful Tomura couldn't see him struggle to keep a straight face, though it would keep Tomura from learning about One for All until he was better prepared.

"If I can't target the boy directly, we target the one who is closest to him..."

"Well done Tomura..."

"Now the question is whether I want him to be there when it happens..." Tomura started scratching, "I kind of want to see the look on his face..."

"Don't tip your hand too soon," All for One interrupted, "I've lost too many of my followers whom acted out of impatience and not keeping to the shadows. You want to make sure in this case that while they might suspect, they can't know for sure..."

"I got it," Tomura grinned, "so random thugs, make sure it happens when he isn't there, damn it would be perfect right now, but I don't have pawns in play to accomplish it..." He knew it couldn't be party members that could lead back to him if things went sideways, 'This is why I hate games like Star Craft or Stellaris, they take too long.' He thought for a moment, "Maybe the Hero Killer would like a shot at All Might's..."

"You have a plan, Tomura we can create the opportunity later, or you can decide on a different course of action, for now focus on the present, let us watch to see if our predictions turn out to be accurate."

Undisclosed Location:

All for One grinned at his protege's education coming along brilliantly, as he muted the microphone, "I can't believe he thinks Izuku Midoriya is All Might's secret love child," he began chuckling, "though I suppose when one doesn't have all the pieces, it is a valid theory." One cause of concern though, 'I wonder if he'll seriously try to recruit Chizome Akaguro to do it. Maybe I should caution him about, nah let him figure out for himself, I'll just have to make sure things don't get too out of hand, and who knows the Hero Killer might actually take it up...' 

He noticed the matches were about to begin, and turned his attention to the broadcast, eager to see if their predictions would pan out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 22 - Something to Prove

Izuku Midoriya stood across from Mina Ashido as Midnight signaled for the match to begin. For a moment neither of them moved as if sizing each other up.

"Just so you know, Midoriya it's nothing personal," Mina grinned, "but I want to win this, plus you shouldn't be the one to take down Iida if you know what I mean."

"Ashido, I'm not going to go overboard on Iida, and I'm not going to lose this match," Midoriya replied evenly as green lightning started to dance along the surface of his body and gym outfit. He suddenly seemed to disappear, but she was ready for him and skated out of the way as he slipped on the puddle of acid she created. However, contrary to what she'd planned he managed to stop himself before he went out of bounds.

"You really need to watch your footing," Ashido grinned mockingly, only to get the wind knocked out of her because she underestimated how fast he sprang back up and closed the distance. She managed to use her dance skills to avoid the fist that followed. She threw acid at him, but he surprisingly twisted out of the way. She took advantage of his dodging to try to get some distance between them only for him to close the distance again.

Stands:

"It looks like Ashido is on the ropes," commented Jiro, "or not..." as she watched Midoriya slip again.

"It's actually a fairly even match," Mineta commented, "Ashido's got a super athletic-bod..." He looked up at Jiro about to use her ear phone jacks on him, "Which means she works out a lot... Midoriya is fairly reliant on his speed, but with Ashido's acid, she is making it so it is hard to get sure footing..."

"Better... So how's Asui doing?" Jiro asked since she had seen Mineta talking to her when they had the break between rounds.

"Well considering she had to go see Recovery Girl," Mineta began, "she really shouldn't have participated in this. I understand why it's so important and all, but her rib cage, collar bone, and shoulder blade weren't fully healed... I really don't get why she insisted on watching as many matches as she could rather than immediately seeing Recovery Girl."

Figuring it would be better to get Mineta focused on this fight instead of focusing on Asui, "I'm sure she'll be fine," she said, "so it looks like Ashido is starting to get the upper hand, she has him boxed in the corner..."

"No, the deciding moment is going to happen right about... now," Mineta commented as Midoriya managed to grab Ashido's ankle as she swung in for a kick, then threw her out of the ring.

"What just happened?"

"Easy, Midoriya needed a place where he would have sure footing, and the corner of the ring while a risky location generally would be a place Ashido couldn't have skated through cause she'd risk skidding out of bounds. Midoriya only needed to lure her in, that and fighting someone like that who is cornered tends to be incredibly dangerous. She didn't want to up the concentration of her acid, which is good, but her closing like that gave Izuku a chance to grab her ankle, which forced her off balance, so it was easy to toss her out," Mineta shrugged, "It was simple really, I'm gonna go get prepped for my match, while they get the stage cleaned..."

"What, why?"

"Because Tokoyami versus Iida will most likely be a short match," commented Mineta, walking away.

Outside Waiting Room A:

Mineta opened the door to find Shinso already there, "Sorry, didn't know you chose this room, I-I'll head to the other one..."

"You know there is already one vacancy in the hero course, too bad you weren't the one to die, how did the class clown survive anyways?" Shinso mocked, "Yeah, heard all about you diaper boy..."

'He's trying to provoke me, probably for his quirk, but that was over the line,' Mineta decided two could play at provocations and gave Shinso the middle finger, then turned and walked away smirking as he heard Shinso's rant about hero students, 'Problem for you is I've seen how your quirk works, even better I figured out how to counter it.' His smirk turned into a feral grin, 'I am going to show everyone, I refuse to be dead weight where people get hurt because I can't hack it.'

He walked into Waiting Room B and considered what he needed to do to win. 'I could just put my shoes on the wrong feet, but that would cripple me from a movement standpoint, it would throw off my aim, and he could likely take me at that point. I need to shut him up or immobilize him immediately... Thankfully over-using my quirk is rather painful, but I'd be screwed when I face Bakugou. Part of me would just like to let Bakugou take him out, but I don't want that pompous ass to even make it to the semi-finals. Speaking of asses, I don't know whether I want Tokoyami to win so Iida doesn't make it to the next round, or for Iida to win, just to watch Izuku systematically humiliate him.'

While Iida was a little faster than Midoriya in straight line running, Izuku could turn a lot better and contrary to what people would believe given their statures, Izuku had the strength advantage. So Mineta was fairly sure Midoriya could throttle Iida, and he was fairly sure it would be about an even fight against Tokoyami.

Present Mic announced over the speakers for Tokoyami and Iida to come down to the stage, and Mineta settled in to wait, while brainstorming over what Shinso's game plan probably was.

Stage:

Iida charged towards Tokoyami who just sighed in response, intent of taking him out immediately, only for Dark Shadow to suddenly cloak the bird headed boy. 'Is that from...' Tenya silently cursed the fact that Midoriya had handed out all those quirk analyses for the class. As Tokoyami/Dark Shadow brutally countered Iida's attack.

Stands:

"Well I'd say I'm not fighting Iida after-all," Midoriya commented to Shoda Nirengeki, whom had stopped Izuku to talk to him and make sure he wouldn't lose it while fighting Iida.

"Yeah, I'll say... I'm guessing Tokoyami picked some stuff up from you," he winced as Tokoyami/Dark Shadow slammed Iida into the ground again. Then Dark Shadow detached himself from cloaking Tokoyami and switched to how people were used to seeing him. Before Iida could recover, Dark Shadow just picked the stunned Tenya up and just tossed him out of the ring like a sack of garbage. A few minutes later, Tokoyami made his way up to the two of them.

"I apologize for not allowing you to deal with him," began Tokoyami calmly, "especially since you inspired me to create my new move."

Dark Shadow manifested himself, "We just had to take out the trash," the sentient quirk commented nonchalantly.

Tokoyami sighed, "I apologize for..."

"Don't worry about it," Midoriya shrugged, "Hopefully that will be a good wake-up call for Iida. I was kind of worried I'd go overboard on him."

"I look forward to facing you," replied Tokoyami cordially, "Don't think I will be that easy to beat."

"Same," grinned Midoriya, "I don't intend to lose either. Does that new move have a name?"

"Yes, it is called Abyssal Black Body," replied Tokoyami walking away.

I wouldn't find out until a day later, that after Tokoyami's fight with Iida, that his older brother had an encounter with the Hero Killer, one that would end Tensai Iida's career as a hero... -- Izuku Midoriya

Chapter Text

Chapter 23 - The Brainwasher and the Grape

Mineta stood across from Shinso as Midnight started the fight, 'Okay Tokoyami took down Iida, so I don't have to worry about Midoriya doing something crazy. Now I just got to deal with Aizawa's mini-me...'

"So, how's it feel to be responsible for the death of a classmate?" Shinso asked with a smirk that Mineta really wanted to wipe off the taller boy's face. "What not going to say anything?"

'Okay keep calm, stay focused, I have to end this now,' Mineta thought as he charged in at Shinso.

Stands:

"Has Mineta lost it?" Jiro asked.

"I don't know I think it's manly of him to confront that guy head on," replied Kirishima.

"Kind of out of character for him though," Ashido commented, "He usually acts like a slacker or tries to run around screaming..."

"That's kinda harsh," Kirishima commented.

"It's cause he doesn't want to get brainwashed," interrupted Ojiro, "though I don't think he's going to win."

Stage:

Shinso tried grabbing Mineta, but was having a hard time getting ahold of the smaller boy, whom had learned to turn dodging into an art-form. Mineta pulled off one of the sticky hairballs from his head and threw it in front of himself using it as a trampoline to vault over Shinso. He then turned his landing on the ground into a roll. 'Good thing I decided to take up old man Torino's advice,' he thought. At that moment Shinso grabbed him from behind and picked him up.

"Got you, you little..." Shinso was cut off when Mineta slammed the back of his head into Shinso's nose breaking it. As Shinso dropped him, he pulled two hairballs and pinned Shinso's feet to the floor. Then he used another hairball to pin one of Shinso's hands to the side of the taller boy's face.

"Shinso, can you move?" Midnight called out. The taller boy was forced to shake his head. "The winner is Minoru Mineta."

Recovery Girl's on site Nurse's Station:

Hitoshi Shinso and Minoru Mineta sat across from each other as Recovery Girl looked them over and kissed Shinso to fix the broken nose.

"How's Ochaco and Tsuyu?" Mineta asked looking at the two girls whom were asleep on the cots at the end of the room.

"Asui had no business even participating," Ms. Shuuzengi commented, "she managed to re-open some stitches; Uraraka will recover thankfully, and you're awfully free with using their first names..."

"They both prefer being called their first names among friends," Mineta shrugged then looked at Shinso, "We need to talk."

"What's there to talk about? you're in the hero course with an amazing quirk, a privileged..."

"I'm next to the last person to use that spiel on," Mineta replied, "for the longest time, I thought my quirk was lame. The difference between us is I worked at it." The smaller boy glared at the Gen Ed student.

"Yeah the class perv..." Shinso rolled his eyes, "I've heard about you."

Mineta decided to ignore the verbal jab, "Anyways, given how well you did in the Sports Festival, it wouldn't surprise me if they transferred you into the Hero Course to fill Aoyama's seat. Though, I would recommend you treat him with more respect."

"Sorry, I was trying to get you to react..." Shinso looked down at the floor.

"I know that's why I didn't kneecap you," Mineta admitted, "I was really angry, you see I was there when it happened as was Tsuyu."

"Okay, what happened?"

"We landed in the flood zone Tsuyu had managed to grab Jiro and had to choose whether to try to get Aoyama or me, and by virtue of me being closer to the boat and that I was smaller and easier to carry, she saved me. Aoyama's costume was also a huge factor in why he died, if that villain hadn't killed him, he would have drowned... Though if there were no villains, Tsuyu would have been able to get him topside," answered Mineta.

"I should apologize bringing it up, here I couldn't even make it through the entrance exam to get any points due to my quirk..."

"It took some creative thinking on my part to get through it," Mineta grinned, "I had to bait the robots into traps to immobilize them. You have a really powerful quirk, and you remind me of our teacher; it wouldn't surprise me if he's going to move to have you put in the empty slot. You're going to need to learn to fight without just relying on your quirk though, maybe you should sit down with our vice rep. Midoriya could give you some ideas of what to work on."

"Offhand, I'd want a voice modulator," Shinso admitted.

"Makes sense, but maybe you should also try ventriloquism," Mineta replied, "Though as I said you are like Mr. Aizawa. You have any ideas for costume design and support gear..."

"I was taking things one thing at a time, and I'm not here to make friends..."

"Shinso, you need to make friends; it's helped me quite a bit, and given how our quirks work, it's often better to have someone we can work with," advised Mineta.

"You're okay, the blood wasn't yours and you don't have a concussion," said Recovery Girl inserting herself into the conversation, "good luck in the next round."

"Oh I know I'll probably lose," Mineta grimaced, "Bakugou will treat me as a serious threat from the get go. Thing is his quirk could help him get out of my traps." He got down from the small table and started to walk away.

"Hey Mineta, good luck out there," said Shinso.

"I'll see you in class," Mineta waved.

"He wasn't just saying that?" asked Shinso.

"He's probably right," she replied, "they will want to fill the seat as soon as possible, and you did make it to the 3rd round and took out the Number 2 hero's son I might add."

"Midoriya, isn't he All Might's secret love child?"

Recovery Girl burst out laughing, "No, he most certainly isn't; I even secretly did a paternity test just to make sure."

"Okay, then why?"

"Well to All Might, Midoriya is like the son he never had; while to Midoriya, All Might has become a father figure to him because his real father has been entirely absent in his life," Recovery Girl answered, "Also both of their quirks developed rather late and their powers are similar. However, they aren't actually related; but it wouldn't surprise me if they were father and son in a past life."

Stands:

"What did I miss?" Mineta asked watching Bakugou and Tetsutetsu going at it.

"Not much," Midoriya commented absently, "I know if I beat Tokoyami, I'll have to face Kacchan so I figured I should watch."

"Gee, thanks for vote of confidence..."

"His quirk can destroy yours," Midoriya pointed out, "I'd be happy if you won, but I have to be objective about this."

"So you think you can beat Tokoyami?"

"I know I can, but I'm trying to think of a way to do it without breaking a finger in the process..." Midoriya admitted, "So what's your opinion of Shinso?"

"He's a mini-Aizawa," Mineta frowned, "that said he's done well enough to get as far as he has in the Sports Festival. If I had to make a prediction, he'll be transferred to the hero course immediately after this festival ends." He winced as he heard a cracking sound that came from Tetsutetsu, "That's gotta hurt."

"Well this round's outcome is totally predictable..." interrupted a familiar annoying voice, "Though I suppose your class thug is good at fighting and nothing else, ack..."

"Sorry about that," Kendo commented dragging off Monoma.

"No problem," Midoriya commented.

"Maybe you should put him on a leash," Mineta laughed.

"Minetaaa..."

"Sorry, I was just trying..."

"You know that's actually rather tempting, I'll have to ask you class rep," Kendo replied looking thoughtful, as Midoriya groaned face palming.

"The winner is Katsuki Bakugou!" called out Midnight.

"Looks like you and Tokoyami are next up," said Mineta. Midoriya started walking down. "Hey Izuku, good luck okay."

"Yeah, you too."

Chapter Text

Chapter 24 - A Hero too Fast for His Own Good

Keigo Takami, also known as Hawks watched the Sports Festival intently. Unknown to many, the students and staff were having their backgrounds thoroughly looked into following the death of a hero student, and there were some oddities. 

'Izuku Midoriya,' Keigo thought, 'At first glance it would seem you were a potential mole, but after the HPSC President called Principal Nedzu about it, and he shot down that theory rather spectacularly, it looks like you are something else, something far more valuable.' The primary evidence had been the sudden emergence of his quirk (which granted was grasping at straws, but given that 'Nomu's' multiple quirks and the thug in question had a different quirk), however the Principal made it quite clear he knew about it and that he decided it should remain confidential.

Flashback:

"So Hawks what did you make of my conversation with Principal Nedzu?" asked the President, while she often made her own calls on things, and would normally just give him orders, she occasionally valued his input on things, particularly when he was in the same room when the call was made.

"Well assuming that he somehow managed to acquire the quirk from parties unknown, the Principal is clearly aware of the who, where, and how; maybe a pro-hero with an ability to pass a quirk to a blood relation. It could also be he was experimented on unwillingly, maybe by the same parties that created the 'Nomu,'  only he was recovered by certain pro heroes that kept it off the books for his own privacy and safety. Another possibility, given the similarities with his powers and his apparent closeness with All Might, he could potentially be the Number 1 hero's secret love child, and they had to lie about his quirk to hide him for obvious reasons."

The President's eyes went wide, "I should have seen that possibility..." She sighed, "That would have been a huge public relations nightmare, to falsely accuse the Number One Hero's son of being a spy for villains."

"Fortunately, it looks like he's not All Might's secret love child, so we can strike down that theory," Hawks commented reading through the boy's file, "His blood type doesn't match All Might's or his mother's, he's O Negative, which is rather rare. It does match Hisashi Midoriya's recorded blood-type though, but it says his father works in the United States and it is an estranged marriage. Maybe All Might came across the kid some years ago and he's like a father figure replacing the absentee one. You know his quirk may have a stockpiling component where he stores up energy and couldn't use it until recently just as the file says... You do realize that the Rat is going to be super pissed you had his computers hacked."

The President considered the Number 3 hero's words, "So in your view looking at the evidence, All Might is almost like his adoptive father and the boy clearly looks up to him, and he would have no motive to be involved in that attack, so you think we can cross him off the list of potential suspects, so what are your thoughts on the other potential suspects."

"If he's anyone's agent, he's Nedzu's, given how the Principal immediately lept to the boy's defense. Anyways, we don't know there is a spy, do we?" Hawks pointed out glancing through the files, "Even if there is, I'd say it's too soon to say definitively who, but we can cross off Endeavor's son, and Tenya Iida... Also looks like we can cross one Minoru Mineta off the list," he leafed through the files, "Says here his teacher pulled him from his home, apparently there was some abuse going on, so, he wouldn't have a motive, if anything he'd have a motive to try to go vigilante to try to take them down. Furthermore, one of the two seriously injured staff members is the one that got him out of the abusive household."

"There were a series of transmissions from U.A. around the time of the incident and the days leading up to it that went to an ice cream parlor..." she smiled as he waited for the missing detail, "during school hours..."

"Again, we can cross off the one from Midoriya's cell phone at USJ, that went directly to Nedzu based on the call logs," Hawks' eyes narrowed, "seriously, don't you think it's rather abnormal for a kid to have the school principal on speed dial... He's gotta be working for Nedzu. not this League of Villains, that phone call is what sent in the cavalry."

"You don't seem to think there is a spy..."

"Not every bad thing is caused due to a spy, I'm not sure there is one in U.A.'s hero course, remember these villains had a guy with a Warp Quirk, he could bypass U.A.'s security fairly easily. If there is, my guess is they are in Gen-Ed or Support. Reason being, it says here that the villains didn't know about the students' quirks. If the spy was a classmate, wouldn't they know about everyone's quirks, or at least some of them?"

"True, I do want us to have a few more contacts inside U.A., just in case," said the President after thinking for a moment, "The spy might have been aware of the quirks but wasn't able to report them before the attack, therefore we need assets in U.A. for when they make their move."

"I don't think we can make Midoriya an agent of the HPSC, especially if he has ties to All Might, but we can keep him close and make sure he feels he can rely on me as a resource in an emergency," said Hawks, "though I've kinda taken a liking to this Tokoyami."

"Let me guess, it's the bird head," the President commented, "that and you think he can fly. That's why you picked up Rocky as I recall, cause you thought his hero name was hysterical. Anyways, his background checked out, we can authorize you taking up to two interns."

He winced at the mention of a certain sidekick, one that they both knew had somewhat divided loyalties, granted those loyalties were to another hero and there wasn't actually anything nefarious, but still she didn't like the fact he had kept him in the agency, especially since his loyalty wasn't to the HPSC. "He's useful, and he's been willing to use his ties outside the agency to help in cases. I also know that he wouldn't go along with anything nefarious, and he could be my 'in' regarding information about all of this."

She considered it for a moment, then smiled and started chuckling, "It's not every day an annoyance becomes a potential asset."

"See, he's useful, and his divided loyalties are from him just wanting to do the right thing and because he has loyalty to a past mentor, we both can respect that. Anyways, just so you know, I might not be able to do undercover work for a good while," Hawks pointed out, part of him didn't really want to have interns, but he didn't like the covert stuff either, "if this boy is really so valuable that Nedzu immediately went to bat for him..."

"I expect you to find out why," the President ordered, "If the boy is really that valuable, I'll pull you from doing any undercover work."

"That's cool, though what If I feel it should remain confidential?"

"I still want to know why, though it can remain off the record," the President commented, "Same reason why I agreed to keep the information about your sidekick's ties to a certain Rat off the record. While I trust your judgement, if someone needs to go to bat for the kid, it would be better for him if I can step in and say I'm aware of the circumstances, it's need to know, and they don't need to know..."

Hawks shrugged, "Yeah, make it sound like it is some state secret and it should shut down people prying into it, at least from a law enforcement standpoint... Okay if they do well enough in the Sports Festival, it looks like I got some interns. Compared to some of the other jobs I've had to do, this should be a piece of cake."

"No booze," the President smiled as Hawks opened his mouth, "I meant you steer clear of booze, that includes beer; you have to set a good example..."

'Ah man, this is about my vacation isn't it,' he thought, but decided not object, "Sure why not, I have to set a good example..."

Present:

'Well they've both done pretty well so far,' Keigo thought, 'I feel bad for Endeavor though, his son getting taken out like that...' His thoughts shifted back to the fight at hand, 'That's no ordinary strength quirk.' He zoomed in on Midoriya's kick to Dark Shadow and the green lightning continued to spark over Dark Shadow for a couple seconds. 'He also dodged that one attack in the first match despite being blinded... Note to self, if he doesn't have goggles, make sure to get him some.'

"So those two are the kids that are likely to intern here?" commented Keito Kurinsumi, aka The Flying Squirrel Hero Rocky (quirk Flying Squirrel: he can do just about anything a flying squirrel can do), startling Hawks. He'd only been with Hawk's agency for a year now, his twin sister actually worked at the Endeavor Hero Agency (same quirk go figure, though his physical features were more squirrel-like). He'd originally been recruited on a whim of Keigo's because their first names were so similar, specifically cause he thought it was funny. The joke got old quick, but he proved to be a real asset, he was the only one in the agency that could nearly keep up with him, particularly when he got the brilliant idea of actually adding a jet-pack to his costume (his sister thought it was crazy though). He was also currently the only sidekick that could sneak up on him, and it was entirely unintentional.

"Hey those are my cashews," Keigo protested, "Besides if you eat too much you won't be able to glide. Shouldn't you be in Hosu?"

"You need to check your damn phone," Kurinsumi complained with both cheeks puffed up with who knows how many cashews stuffed in them, "I took the bullet train to get here and then flew the rest of the way."

Now that got Hawk's attention, (that and the 1.2 meter tall sidekick smelled like burnt fur, and his tail was smoking) considering Rocky knew he was going to unavailable during the festival so he could check out these two potential interns, "Okay what's the emergency?" He grabbed a nearby water bottle and poured the contents over said tail.

"I found Ingenium and contacted emergency services," the short sidekick commented, "It looks like it was the Hero Killer..."

"Is he going to make it? Why aren't you still there?" he trailed off as his sidekick pointed at his phone, "Oh right, but this is HPSC stuff, you knew that..."

"I know, and you said you'd be off during this time to get an idea about those two kids, but I couldn't say that to other people," Keito commented talking and munching at the same time like a squirrel, "well at least Hosu isn't my normal patrol. I'd be toast."

"That'd smell terrible, all that burnt fur..." Hawks quipped, "and I still haven't found a Bulwinkle yet... Speaking of burnt fur, you really shouldn't smoke..."

Keito growled about the joke at his expense. "I overheated the jet-pack's afterburners to get here... So how're the two kids doing against each other they seem to be taking a long time..." he trailed off as he watched Tokoyami and Dark Shadow dive to either side as it looked like Midoriya was going to flick his finger at him, only for the green haired boy to suddenly charge forward and throw Tokoyami out of the ring. "It looked like shadow boy was dominating that fight until he got faked out, why was he..."

"You missed when he pulled it the first time in the fight," Hawks commented, "the first finger flick was almost like a high powered cannon. Broke his finger though, I guess Tokoyami thought he was crazy enough to pull that again. They're really a fairly even match." He realized that Rocky was listening to his headset.

"Okay got it, I'll let my boss know, if there's anything I can do to help Mrs. Iida... Yeah I'm sure I can talk my boss into some patrols of the area... Okay, well here's hoping the doctors are wrong... you have my sympathies... sure I'll be willing to talk to the kid, take care bye," he looked at his boss, "I talked to Mrs Iida on the phone on my way back here. She just let me know that she talked to Ingenium's younger brother, and he was enroute to the hospital. Also Ingenium might be paralyzed from the waist down..."

"You just had to volunteer me without asking, where is all my free time going..." Hawks whined, then got serious "Ingenium was always a swell guy. His brother was likeable enough too, but just a bit too stiff and rigid."

"He's been having a rough time in school, his mother is worried about him..."

"You've been talking and flying again..." Hawks admonished, "As long as I don't have to give the kid a pep talk... You did do your first internship with Ingenium's agency didn't you?"

"Yes, during my first year at U.A., and the follow-up because I was the only kid in my class to get their provisional license in the first year..."

"You need to go back there, for a few?"

"Nah, I'll stop in on my days off," Keito Kurinsumi shrugged, "I liked working for Ingenium but couldn't stand his other sidekicks, and it got annoying be treated like a kid because of my height." He glanced up at the screen, "Looks like the small kid is putting up a fight... And that ends it." He watched Mineta get blasted unconscious, "Looks like we've got a break before the main event and the match for third place."

"I think Tokoyami will take third, the little guy has spirit but it is a really bad match up..." Hawks shrugged, "I don't see Midoriya taking first, given how this Bakugou fights."

"They're really too young to be recruited..." Rocky complained.

"They aren't being recruited as agents, just if they need someone to contact..." he glared at Rocky, "Don't give me that look, you weren't recruited. You're just aware of some of the stuff...okay cause you found out on accident and I vouched for you."

"You had your secretary use her quirk on me that forced me to tell the truth..." Keito's ears twitched with annoyance.

"She doesn't remember any of it..." Hawks grinned, "look you're a swell guy and I didn't want to kill you..."

"So, what's the real reason you're itching to have these two study under you?"

"No more of the undercover spy stuff, also I kind of agree with the powers that be, there is something Nedzu was trying to hide about the kid. Call it a gut feeling."

"You realize some secrets should stay buried."

"Look, I know you used to be a student of Nedzu's, and you've been his eyes and ears in my agency..." Hawks said with a deadpan tone causing Rocky to nearly choke on the cashews.
Rocky beat his chest to make sure that the food went down the right pipe, "When?"

"Since I first hired you, don't worry about it, we're all on the same side," Hawks grinned, "When have I steered you wrong?" Keito just glared at him, "Okay I need to know what the colors of his hero costume are..."

"Why?"

"Midoriya needs some goggles, something to protect his eyes..."

"I'll ask Nedzu, so does this mean..."

"Keito, you've always been a big help and I know you've tapped into Nedzu's resources for some of our cases when we had a dead end, and to bail me out of trouble a few times, maybe saving my life once or twice," Hawks shrugged, "you also helped me go off the grid for that vacation, her worship is still trying to figure out how you managed it. So as far as I'm concerned it's cool."

"I'll get the goggles, do you want some for Tokoyami?"

"Sure why not, so he doesn't feel left out..."

"Any special features?"

"Aside from being incredibly durable, not really, I don't want special features being abused, they can have better eyewear with the cool features when they're older..."

"Anything else?"

"Well see if you can get Nedzu to cough up information regarding Izuku Midoriya, the stuff he kept out of the records..."

"Okay, I'll stop by U.A. tomorrow and see if Nedzu will give me a hint."

"Can't he just tell you?"

"Depends on his mood..." the Flying Squirel hero sighed.

"Wait, I think I'll come with you?"

"Why?"

"So the Rat doesn't just try to steam roll you, and you aren't put in a position of having to choose sides..." Hawks thought for a minute, "You know scratch that, we're meeting with him this evening, call him up."

Stadium:

Principal Nedzu approached Toshinori Yagi and looked up at him. "We have a problem..."

"Okay what's up," Toshinori asked.

"Well the Hero Safety Commission has been looking into the USJ incident, and first they called me, suggesting your protege was a mole..."

"Okay now that's just crazy," Toshinori replied, "He has no motive and no opportunity, not to mention you've seen his analytical abilities, the entire class would have been killed. Not to mention, he was potentially their real target, and it was just to get me out of the way."

"I know, and the only evidence they were going on was the sudden registry of a quirk, and something concerning that creature you nearly sent into orbit. I shot it down, however I just discovered they hacked my files on the students..." Nedzu looked rather annoyed, "I think they are now interested in your protege for other reasons."

"Great," Toshinori sighed, "So you think they are going to try to recruit him and turn him into a zombie."

"Not all HPSC agents are Zombies as you say, Hawks isn't..."

"So it's true he's an agent of the HPSC..." Toshinori looked rather annoyed, "He's just a kid for goodness sakes."

"I don't think they are going to recruit Midoriya," Nedzu looked thoughtful, "You're too high profile and he's too tied to you. Not to mention they know he's somehow tied to me, though they don't know how. I think you may have to let Midoriya know he should be truthful with Hawks, assuming my prediction is correct and they actually offer him an internship. He'd be safer with Hawks than say Endeavor."

"How so?"

"Hawks normally patrols all over the place, it would be harder for someone to predict where he'd be. Additionally, they can more easily cover for Midoriya regarding One for All and he's more familiar with the clandestine side of heroics."

"You know I didn't want HPSC to know about One for All," Toshinori sighed, "Why are you looking okay with it?"

"I'm hoping that won't come out. If we hadn't lost a student, I doubt they would have started this investigation, let alone hacking my files. I think Hawks will understand it needs to be kept secret, even from his superiors, well except for her. Unfortunately I can't use the story that he's your secret love child.  It would have given us such a convenient cover story regarding his powers. One look at his blood type and that cover story goes out the window..."

"Secret Love Child...that'd be kind of hard considering I'm still a virgin," Toshinori rolled his eyes, "Wait, what's wrong with his blood?"

"It's O negative," Nedzu commented, "it would generally be a match for one of the parents, in which case his is a match with his father's."

"And unfortunately, neither Gran Torino nor I would trust Mirai within a 10 kilometer radius of the kid, let alone an internship..."

"I do have a contact in Hawk's agency..." Nedzu admitted causing Toshinori to cough up blood in surprise.

"Are you crazy?!? He works for the HPSC and you put a spy in his agency..."

"They already know, it's all part of the game..." Nedzu gave an amused chuckle, "not that they have a leg to stand on considering Lunch Rush works for the HPSC." At this Toshinori looked flummoxed, and Nedzu continued, "Good thing Lunch Rush isn't aware of your injury. I believe my contact tried to sign on as your sidekick a few months before you found Midoriya. I was most put out when you rejected him..."

"You mean Squirrel Boy..." he chuckled as Nedzu glared at him then became serious, "Keito Kurinsumi, his quirk is literally flying squirrel. He also literally looks like 4 foot tall boy with a squirrel quirk, hence the nickname... I will say his attempt to get the job was...memorable, he scaled my tower to get in through the roof just to try to get an interview... If it wasn't for the fact I was trying to keep my injury under wraps, I might have accepted him, given just how determined he was not to take no for an answer... Wait you told him didn't you?"

"I may have... slipped a few hints," Nedzu looked amused at Toshinori's face turning pale. "He has never told a soul about it, about your injury, I mean..."

"So he doesn't know."

"I only told him about your injury."

"That explains why he kept seeming to try to spy on me for a good month, even after he got the job with Hawks, did you want him to be my successor?"

"No, I knew his body would never be able to take the strain due to his own quirk and the resulting bone structure," Nedzu commented, "having someone on hand that could help you though so you wouldn't overwork, that was my goal..."

"You should have just told me the truth, I might have let him join my agency..."

They both listened to the announcement of who would be in the final fight.

"So how many people are going to know about One for All, by the time this is all said and done and how are we going to keep it a secret?"

"The problem is they may be right about there being a spy, if they are I don't want them going down the wrong rabbit hole," Nedzu replied, "and Midoriya isn't exactly my protege..." There was a ring from Nedzu's cell phone, "Ah speak of the little devil... Hello Keito, it's been a while..."

'That's ironic, calling him little, considering that kid was taller than you,' thought All Might.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hawk's Hero Agency (Lounge):

"Hey teach, wish I could say it's a social call..." the Flying Squirrel hero began.

"Can you put us on speaker?"

"Keito, are you okay?"

"I'm putting you on speaker with Hawks..." he hesitantly did what he was told, 'I'm so dead.'

"As, our mutual employee said, this isn't a social call," Hawks figured he'd let that cat out of the bag and throw Nedzu off balance.

"What have you done to Keito?"

"He's fine, I've known for a while, thanks about my vacation by the way," Hawks grimaced, he really didn't want the infamous rodent to make his life a living hell.

"I'm still here."

"So, I take it the HPSC is continuing their investigation."

"Fraid so, the President is convinced that there is a spy in your school..."

"I can assure you it is not Midoriya," Nedzu commented.

"He may have been their target wasn't he?" Hawks threw that out there, it was a possibility in the back of his mind, a small one, but he caught a noticable hesitation.

"They were out to try to kill All Might, whom unfortunately had to deal with a series of emergencies on the way to work..."

"They were also after the kid..." Hawks didn't even make it a question anymore, "Why? Don't tell me he's All Might's secret love child either, his blood type doesn't match his mother's nor does it match All Might's."

"This can't be discussed over the phone," Nedzu finally stated, as Toshinori left the vicinity because Izuku was getting pounded into the ground by Bakugou and there would likely be an award ceremony soon after the match for third place.

"Okay... Rocky and I are heading your way, do you want to talk about it at the Sports Festival or..."

"We should discuss this at U.A.," Nedzu's tired voice replied over the phone, "Keito, it's related to the injury we discussed about a year ago."

Hawks noticed his sidekick's eyes going wide, "Can you have the kid there?"

"He'll be there, as well as some others..."

"If you could haul Tokoyami along as well, I want to kill two birds with one stone..." he smirked as his sidekick groaned at the joke.

"Then you are offering them an internship..."

"Pretty much..."

"Unfortunately he isn't in the know..."

"Then read him in, I don't want my interns keeping secrets from each other..."

"I understand, he'll be there..."

Hawks hung up the phone and tossed it back to Rocky, "Lose the Jet-pack, we'll take the bullet train, and I can get you airborne to fly the rest of the way, you can coast of my wing."

"Yes sir!" Rocky started to walk away.

"Not just yet, what's this about an injury..."

"You'll find out soon enough," Rocky replied cryptically, unstrapping the jet-pack and going to the lockers to change to a fresh hero costume, a firm believer in always having a spare costume.

Little did my new Mentor Hawks know, he had just stepped foot onto a centuries old battlefield, as Rocky had warned him sometimes secrets should remain buried. -- Izuku Midoriya

Chapter Text

Chapter 25 - Hawk and Squirrel meet Edgelord and Fanboy

U.A. High School:

Hawks and Rocky walked down the dimly lit corridor most of the people were gone for the day after the sports festival, and the janitorial staff were automated; however this area was deserted even of robots.

"Okay it's a little early for Halloween," grumbled Hawks, "Look, I like a good horror movie..."

"Well I don't!" Rocky replied a little too abruptly.

"Okay whatever is going on is something you clearly don't want to tell me about..."

"It isn't my secret to tell," his sidekick sounded incredibly tired, "sir, it's not that I don't trust you, but I'd be betraying someone else's trust..."

"Hello, Hawks and Keito," said Nedzu surprising them both from out of nowhere.

"Now I know how you can sneak up on people so easily..." muttered Hawks.

"Sir, I'm..."

"I already suspected they knew about you," Nedzu commented, "Though I'm curious why did you keep him?"

"Because I like him, he's a good kid that was just trying to do the right thing," Hawks shrugged, "same as you. There are also times I want someone from outside the Commission's sphere of influence to keep me grounded." As the three walked towards a room at the end of the hall.

Nedzu stopped outside the door, "I gathered together some of the people that are in the know as well as Tokoyami, once you step into this room you will be walking into something there is no going back..."

"Look, how bad could it be?" Nedzu opened the door and Hawks saw a skeletal man in an All Might costume, along with a small old man that was even shorter than Keito, a man that was covered in bandages, and four students that Hawks recognized from the sports festival broadcast.

There was an awkward pause in people's conversations when Rocky spoke up, "How much time are you down to now, All Might?" It took a moment for it to register, but it hit him with dawning realization just how serious the situation was.

"Little over an hour," Toshinori Yagi replied, "Taking down that Nomu pushed me past my limits and they're steadily declining..."

Hawks barely registered the door closing behind him, 'This is bad.' He glared at Rocky, "You knew about this?!?!"

"Some of it," Rocky admitted, "I'm kinda in the dark on a lot of this, but Nedzu originally wanted me to be at All Might's agency to keep him from overworking, after he got seriously injured a few years ago. I've always been a fan, but not to the extreme like Sir Nighteye..."

"Before you get mad at Keito for keeping this from you, there are some things that Keito wasn't aware of," Nedzu diverted Hawks attention back to himself.

"You realize how many people are in danger that neither Endeavor nor myself was aware of this?!?!? All Might, you suddenly retiring due to health reasons could cause a panic, we'd have all kinds of criminals coming out of the woodwork."

"I-I think it was to protect me," Midoriya finally spoke up looking at the ground.

"What?"

"At some point last year Toshinori came across Izuku Midoriya and chose him to be his successor," the old man finally spoke up, "He passed his quirk on to the boy just before the start of the school year. Ordinarily the drop in power would be minor, the decline would be able to be covered by the fact like so many of us, All Might was growing old, but given Toshinori's injury he has had a significant drop off, entirely different from what it was like for Nana."

"That's why you wanted me around All Might? To be his successor?!?!" Rocky looked furious.

"No, I knew your body could never handle it, but you could be there when he chose someone," replied Nedzu, "I didn't expect you to try to influence him on his choice like Nighteye. However, it wasn't my secret to tell."

"You were pretty candid with him regarding my injury," All Might growled only to be hit upside the head with a cane.

"IT WAS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD YOU DUMBASS!"

Watching All Might cowering in terror from the diminutive old man caused Hawks to chuckle, "Okay so this is why Midoriya could not be a plant for this League of Villains, because he's their target, due to this quirk; it was obvious that Midoriya can't handle the full power of the quirk..."

"His body is still getting used to it, and while like Toshinori he was quirkless up until he received the power; unlike Toshinori he's not a natural with it, and it grows stronger and evolves with each new wielder," Gran Torino commented, "Have you ever heard of the quirk stealing boogeyman."

"I've heard the urban legend..."

"It's not a legend, he's the villain that injured Toshinori," Gran Torino commented, "We thought he died from his injuries, but it looks like he's back." At this the small student that made it to fourth place turned white as a ghost. "Minoru calm down, he won't target Izuku until he's taken down All Might, it's a matter of pride. Furthermore he can't be at full strength or he would have led that attack."

"We don't know for sure he's back, I crushed his skull for goodness sakes..."

"Okay why can't this guy just steal the quirk..."

"I-I'm just guessing, but given the transference is dependent on the will of the holder, it stands to reason that it might be the only quirk that he can't just take..."

"Bingo kid, anyways from what Nana told me," Gran Torino paused holding up his cane towards All Might to get him to keep quiet, "The original holder was the younger brother of All for One, anyways long story short to try to get his brother to follow him he forced a stockpiling quirk onto his brother, not realizing that his brother held a quirk that allowed him to pass his quirk on to others. The two quirks fused into one and became 'One for All.'

"Corny name," Hawks commented, "So is Midoriya like the 3rd holder or 4th holder?"

"I'm the Ninth," answered Midoriya, "though some of this stuff I didn't know about." Gran Torino shot Toshinori a look that would have incinerated him if looks could kill.
Hawks noticed his sidekick had collapsed onto a sofa, 'Man he was right ignorance is bliss.' He calmed himself down, "Okay, first up my boss the HPSC President needs to know, hell she needed to know at the very least about your injury. I can understand why Midoriya was kept secret, he's growing into the power, but he has no experience using a quirk, and can currently only use a small portion of the power. So Mr. Yagi was quirkless before getting 'One for All,' what was this Nana's quirk?"

"Float," answered All Might.

"And the other holders?"

"No idea, but I haven't been able to use..."

"I saw the previous holders and felt myself being moved to avoid the taser, it was like..."

"That is nonsense..."

"Is it?" both Hawks and Aizawa said at the same time. "Think about it, it is a stockpiling quirk you told me yourself that it will show the creation of the quirk," Aizawa continued, "That means there may be some residual traces of the previous holders, why not their souls, it stockpiles something?"

"But he saw me there and I'm still alive..."

"But you can still use the quirk," Hawks pointed out, "maybe you two are linked, and it isn't that he's choosing not to go after Midoriya, it's the fact he can't as long as you are alive in the best case scenario."

"That makes sense," Mineta spoke up and Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement, "It could also mean that Midoriya can't pass the quirk on to someone else. On the flip-side we could be totally wrong, and this guy can't go after Midoriya until he recovers his manhood by thrashing All Might for giving him a beat-down."

"This needs to be kept a secret Hawks," Aizawa pointed out, "The only reason you're being told about this is that Midoriya doesn't need to be dragged through all of this while the real spy, if there is one, roams free."

"I still have to tell the President... off the record," Hawks commented, "Think about it, other people will be launching their own investigations, if the HPSC President throws her two cents in about Midoriya being a red herring, they'll assume he's one of ours and to dismiss the items that brought him to their attention in the first place, because they'd assume he's reporting to the President, for the HPSC's investigation. Fair?"

"I hate to say it but he's right," Aizawa frowned, not that people could see under the bandages, "What are you smiling for?"

"Well the kid just got me out of having to do any covert or undercover work," Hawks smiled, getting a laugh out of Rocky, it was good to see his young sidekick smiling again. "Okay Midoriya, Tokoyami; you two are going to be interning under me. That's why I demanded Tokoyami be read into this. I take it that these two students are the only other two students aware of this."

"It's only a matter of time before Kacchan figures it out," Midoriya muttered.

"Who is Kacchan?"

"He means Bakugou," Mineta sighed, "He's probably right too, given they've known each other since preschool."

"So how did you two find out about it?"

"I woke up when All Might was chatting with Recovery Girl about Midoriya," Mineta admitted, "That led to Mr. Aizawa finding out what my mother was doing, and I'm currently staying at the Midoriyas' for the foreseeable future."

"I was briefed because I'm the class rep and Midoriya is the vice rep," Yaoyorozu answered, "I don't understand why you brought Tokoyami into this if you all think there is a spy?"

"The powers that be knew Hawks well enough to know he'd want to mentor Tokoyami and did a background check on him," Rocky spoke up, "Though if you are the spy Tokoyami you better speak up now so we can flip you otherwise the boss will have to kill you..."

"I'd like to see chicken wings and squirrel boy try," spoke up Dark Shadow as Tokoyami face-palmed, "My apologies, however while I walk in the darkness, I walk on the path of justice."

"Okay well that settles it," Hawks commented, "All Might, given how your injury relates to you needing to protect your successor, I understand; however if you are truly down to an hour, certain people need to know."

"What if those people end up being informants to All for One?" Gran Torino pointed out.

"I see your point, okay I won't let Endeavor know, however I will let the President know, however she'll keep it off the record."

Sometime later:

They had left at staggered intervals, Gran Torino was walking with Mineta and Midoriya down the darkened halls, when Midoriya suddenly stopped. He looked as if he was searching for something, a chill was running down his spine as he felt a tingling inside. There was someone else there, he knew it. "Hello?" he called.

"Kid there isn't anyone else here," Gran Torino assured him, "except maybe Nedzu, the sweeps would have picked up anyone, I doubt even Hagakure would be able to get by the after hours security."

Midoriya just cocked his head as he felt the presence disappear, "They're gone." He said flatly, almost still straining to sense something only he could hear.

"Kid you're just tired, it's been a long day," Gran Torino commented. Mineta on the other hand was really creeped out.

"It wouldn't be so creepy if the cleaning robots had been roaming around," Mineta muttered.

Hero Public Safety Commission Headquarters:

"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Rocky asked.

"In this case, you know some of the facts I don't," answered Hawks as they walked into the office, "Is the room secure?"

"I just had it swept for bugs again, and neither of you have any electronic devices on hand?"

"We left them in the drop box," Hawks assured her.

"Is there a reason why Nedzu's..."

"He has pertinent information that the Rat finally said he could share, I brought him in case there was some details that he's aware of, that I'm not. However, we all need to agree this meeting never happened."

"Report."

"The boy can't be a spy for the League of Villains, instead he was likely the target and they were just trying to get All Might out of the way," Hawks answered, "You were right that he received his quirk from someone, but he didn't get it from a Villain. It's All Might's quirk, or rather it was All Might's quirk."

The President turned pale, knowing Hawks wouldn't joke about something like this.

"All Might was badly injured a few years ago, I was told about the injury just before I graduated from U.A.," Rocky admitted.

"I'm listening..."

"Nedzu wanted me to end up at All Might's agency since Sir Nighteye quit...to try to keep him from overworking and driving himself into the ground, anymore than he already had, and thus cutting the time he could be active," Rocky kept his eyes trained on her, "I didn't know about the fact he could transfer his quirk to a successor until this evening, I did recognize Midoriya from the news report on the sludge villain attack though, but didn't think anything of it until I found out about the transfer."

"I see, you know I don't like you Rocky, your mixed loyalties..." the President noticed the young hero was wincing but still was looking her in the eye almost challenging her and sighed, "That said, I do respect you. You were put in an impossible position." She turned her attention to Hawks, "I take it you got the boy to agree to be your intern?"

"Both he and Tokoyami," Hawks grinned, "I also got to meet the other two students that knew about this."

"Who?"

"Yaoyorozu and Mineta," answered Rocky, "they were aware of All Might's condition and of Midoriya being his successor. Mineta is currently staying with the Midoriyas' given the situation with his mother."

She didn't bother to ask what the situation was, because she already knew from Nedzu's files; but the files hadn't included the fact that certain students knew.

"Okay so what's this quirk and what's so important aside from it being transferable?"

"It's called One for All, it's an over two century-old transferable power stockpiling quirk, apparently the quirk stealing boogeyman created it on accident while forcing a stockpiling quirk onto his younger brother," Hawks answered, "It fused with his brother's existing quirk and became One for All. It's been passed from person to person, growing in strength ever since. It may be the only quirk this super villain can't simply just take."

"I see, and so All Might was a holder of this quirk, and given his injury, he recently transferred it to Izuku Midoriya after discovering him in the Sludge Villain incident; so can these holders use the previous holder's quirks..."

"All Might couldn't," Hawks stated, "but I'm not sure the same holds true for Midoriya, granted it could also be pure dumb luck, but he dodged some things he shouldn't have been able to dodge in the Sports Festival."

"It could be that he's linked to All Might in some way," Rocky spoke up, "Considering that All Might can still use it, and Midoriya reported seeing 8 figures during the incident in question and his body moved on it's own; one figure was All Might."

"I see... Hawks I'm pulling you from covert assignments, getting that boy trained up and cultivating his view of you as a mentor and someone he can trust is paramount," she directed him, "If others start investigating, I'll step in, so they infer that he's an HPSC asset, which would explain away anything they consider suspicious. Rocky is there anything else about this that you haven't told us?"

"If there is, Nedzu hasn't told me, if I remember anything else I'll report it to Hawks discretely," Rocky promised, and the President could tell from experience he was telling the truth, "I do have a suggestion, given the fact the boy has a target on his back, and I'm guessing he's a trouble magnet to boot, could you set up him having a learners permit at least while he's interning..." 

She smiled at the suggestion, "It would further infer he is actually an HPSC asset, but unfortunately, I couldn't even do that for Hawks. However, it gives you two added incentive to be on hand for when those incidents happen so you you can give your permission." She watched the two acknowledge the decision, "Okay, as far as the official records are concerned this meeting did not happen, dismissed."

She watched as both Heroes left the building, and considered who she could call in to take over covert assignments since Hawks would be unavailable, there weren't many she could trust to handle the assignments yet weren't on the verge of losing their moral compass like Hawks' predecessor...

Midoriyas' Apartment:

"You okay Izuku?" Mineta asked, they had finally moved in a second bed so Mineta wasn't sleeping on a couch in the living room, which had forced Midoriya to pack up some of his All Might memorabilia (at least till he could add a new shelf).

"It's been a long day," Midoriya sighed.

"I know, first you got 2nd place, something happens to knock everything out from under you, do you think you can trust those two?"

"I don't think they meant anything nefarious," Midoriya commented.

"Izuku, you should start a journal for if you end up picking a successor," suggested Mineta.

"I already did, Minoru, writing in code is hard though," Midorya yawned.

"That's good at least we get the next two days off..." Mineta started drifting off, "It was funny that you gave Bakugou a black eye..."

If it hadn't been for the fact both boys were totally exhausted, neither would have been able to sleep that night given the emotional ups and downs, and the revelation that the villain that hurt All Might could still be out there...

Undisclosed Location:

All for One's desk phone buzzed, and he immediately knew who it was. "Report."

"A group of students, along with Eraserhead, Nedzu, Gran Torino, and All Might met with Hawks and I'm guessing one of his sidekicks at U.A. after hours... These same teachers and All Might have had a lot of interaction with Izuku Midoriya since the start of school..."

"I'm already aware of this," All for One commented, "but it is good to receive confirmation of my suspicions. Who are the other students?"

"Tokoyami, he's the one with the sentient shadow; Yaoyorozu she has the ability to create things using her body fat; and the pervert Mineta. I'm sorry, I couldn't get close enough to listen to their conversation and the room was soundproofed. What action should I take?"

"For now, nothing... Don't do anything to try to undercut them, trying to place suspicions on young Izuku will only backfire at this point."

"I don't follow..."

"Hawks is tied to the President of the HPSC, she and the Hero Public Safety Commission have been his guardian starting from childhood; trying to throw suspicion on Midoriya or Tokoyami for that matter would just cause people to suspect that those two were recruited by the HPSC, that is why Hawks was there tonight."

"I really want to throw suspicion on the pervert," his agent complained, "He's staying at Midoriya's apartment, and it could..."

"Which is why you should not, it wouldn't be believable, they would immediately deduce it is a frame up, his loyalties are clearly to Eraser and Midoriya. You run the risk of getting exposed, just be patient; the information you provide me is extremely important my dear."

"Understood, will Shigaraki be more careful next time? That last time was close."

"Have no fear, he will be told to be more careful when you are around in the future."

"I have to go now..."

"Have a pleasant evening," Hanging up the phone, All for One grinned, it was yet more evidence that Izuku Midoriya was the 9th Holder, and he had an idea that the HPSC was in play. While he had spies in that government agency, they were currently off the table, because the President and by extension the top officials of HPSC had the boy under their protection. Those spies could be used for an abduction later, if all else failed, but right now with All Might in play it would be a waste of resources, especially since it would blow the covers of his operatives. 'The big thing was my minion managed to actually get that information. That said, I need to talk to Tomura about being careful not to injure my operative.'

Chapter Text

Chapter 26 - Choosing a Hero Name

While it was supposed to have been two days off following the Sports Festival, Midoriya got a phone call first thing in the morning...

"H-hello?" Midoriya answered his cellphone groggily.

"Midoriya have you checked the news?" came a serious sounding voice that was familiar to Izuku but he couldn't place it.

"It's 5 A.M.," he groaned then recognized it was Yaoyorozu, "Momo, what's going on?"

"The Hero Killer took down Ingenium, while it looks like he'll live, the prognosis is that he will have to retire from hero work," Momo's voice came out.

"WHAT?!?!"

"Izuku some people are trying to sleep," Mineta complained, still half asleep.

"Has anyone talked to Iida?" Midoriya asked frantically turning on the lights.

"Hey?"

"Sorry Minoru, but this is important..."

"Why, it's freakin 5 A.M..."

"Iida's brother got attacked by the Hero Killer!"

"Oh that's all... WHAT?!?!?"

"I see not everyone is a morning person..." came Yaoyorozu's voice.

"Ordinarily I'm up around 5:30 AM, but given yesterday, I didn't set the clock... Hold on I'm putting you on speaker... Okay there, so what's going on?"

"Okay, my maid is normally up around 4 AM, and she looked at the news this morning and figured this was important, so she woke me up early. Sometime around the beginning of the Sports Festival Ingenium was attacked by the Hero Killer in Hosu; he was fortunately found by someone before he bled out, the media doesn't know for certain the extent of the injuries, but it sounds bad."

'I forgot how rich she was...' both Midoriya and Mineta thought. "Okay so has anyone gotten a hold of Iida?" Izuku asked again.

"I've tried, but he isn't picking up, I've left him a text," Yaoyorozu stated, "I'm planning on going to swing buy Ingenium's agency, and ask?"

"We do have Rocky's phone number," Midoriya commented, "I could try texting him, again though Iida might be asleep, or he could be at the hospital?" Meanwhile, Mineta had powered up his own phone and sent out a text to both Hawks and Rocky about what was going on.

"Why him?"

"He interned under Ingenium during his 1st year, then interned under Principle Nedzu after that," Midoriya commented, "He had just started working under Hawks before the Sludge Villain, I have him listed in volume 13..."

"You know, this is another reason why thinking you are a spy for villains is crazy, if you were, we'd all be dead," Mineta commented, "Anyways, I sent a text to Hawks and Rocky... And Hawks has responded..."

"What's it say?"

"Rocky said he was going to check up on the kid this morning...and for the two of us to go back to bed..." Mineta paraphrased, "Here's another, he says that it will be a circus for the two of us to try to go check up on him, just send him a text or leave him a message..."

"Why would it be a circus?"

"The Sports Festival," commented Mineta, "Jeez, you can be really dense sometimes Izuku."

"S-sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Mineta patted him on the shoulder, "leave it to old Minoru to show you the..."

"If you take him to a brothel I will castrate you!" Yaoyorozu's voice seemed to grow louder over the phone even though Izuku was certain he didn't raise the volume.

Mineta gulped at that comment, "H-hey no need..."

"He's kidding Momo," said Izuku, "I'm going to head out to talk to Iida."

"No!" both Mineta and Yaoyorozu said at the same time.

"But..."

"Send him a text," Mineta commented, "If you go talk to him right now, it will make things worse. You mean well, but there is going to be media camped out and the media circus would be something the family doesn't need."

"I'm going to get off," Yaoyorozu said over the phone, "Mineta talk some sense into him."

Ultimately Mineta ended up winning the resulting conversation, we both sent texts and tried calling Iida. He didn't call either of us back, but Rocky called the two of us later to let us know that he talked to Tenya and he would be in class. The trip to U.A. two days after the Sports Festival was shall I say...well it proved Mineta's point. I felt drained by the time I got to U.A., Mineta lucked out due to his height and people didn't immediately notice him. I ran into Iida in the hall who assured me he was fine, and I would like to have followed up, but we would have been late for class. In class we were told about the spreads for the internship requests. I wasn't too worried about the low number of people requesting me at this point, since I already had where I was going lined up, but then were were told we needed to select our hero names. -- Izuku Midoriya

U.A. Class 1-A Homeroom:

Minoru Mineta had originally thought he had his hero name picked out for a while, but given everything that happened, it didn't seem to fit him anymore, 'I thought of Grape Juice for a while to go with the fruit theme, well some other meanings as well if I'm being honest with myself.' He watched people floating their hero names, he looked at Asui as she submitted her name, 'Tsuyu...' he thought, recalling what had happened at USJ.

"King Explosion Murder..." Bakugou's submission snapped him out of his dark trip down memory lane.

"How about no..." replied Midnight.

Mineta struggled to keep a straight face at Bakugou's submission. Other students submitted their names, when Midoriya finally submitted his hero name, 'Deku,' it seemed to fit, while sure it would annoy Bakugou, since it used to stand for 'Defenseless Izuku,' it had been turned on its head and would now be the name of a hero.

 'I get it, that's why Grape Juice doesn't feel right. The name should be a promise to myself, never again; I will not be taken that lightly again,' with that Mineta smiled for he knew what his hero name should be. He walked up to submit his hero name.

"My hero name will be Grape Shot."

"That's an interesting choice," Midnight commented, "It can imply several different things, a reference to a fruit theme of course, but can also refer to a type of ammunition for a shotgun, or a type of ammunition for a cannon..."

"Really, I'm surprised he didn't choose something perverted," Hagakure commented.

Midoriya held his breath for an explosion to follow, 'I have a sneaking suspicion why he chose that name.' Midoriya's eyes met with Asui's, 'So she picked up on it too.'

"Why should the name be a surprise?" Asui asked.

"Well seriously, we all know..."

"Toru, you weren't there in the flood zone," Jiro jumped in, "I've got my problems with Mineta and his past behavior, but even I have to admit he's trying to improve. Anyways, I'd take his name as a warning, he tends to act like a goof, but speaking from experience, I would advise you not to piss him off."

Hagakure scoffed at an angry Mineta being scary.

"No Toru, I'm serious," remarked Jiro, "Tsuyu and I both witnessed just how dangerous he can be when pushed too far, and Aoyama's death is still a sore spot for him. The plan he came up with was... scarily ruthless." Both Asui and Jiro shuddered, visibly remembering, the look Mineta had after Aoyama had been killed, there had been no hesitation on his part even if those villains could have been killed.

"Changing topics briefly," said Aizawa entering into the conversation, before it got any darker, "We have a new student entering into the Hero Course effective immediately." Midnight walked to the door and opened it. In walked Hitoshi Shinso. "As you all know, there was an opening in the Hero Course, and rather than sitting on things and letting the potential prospect fall further behind; we took the logical approach and made the transfer immediate."

"Welcome to the class," Mineta reached up to shake Shinso's hand who didn't return the gesture, "Maybe some other time."

"I didn't come here to make friends, I know I have to work hard to catch up to you all..."

"You should still make friends," muttered Mineta under his breath.

"Take your seat Shinso," said Aizawa, "Fortunately for Shinso, he's undergoing orientation and combat training during everyone's internships; as well as getting his suit put together. Do you have a hero name put together."

"For the time being, I'm thinking of 'Brain Freeze,' that seems to fit me best, at least for now" Shinso commented in the same tone as Aizawa.

'Yup, he's Aizawa's mini-me,' thought Mineta, walking back to his seat.

"You have two days to select who you want to intern under based on the requests you've received, those of you that have not received any requests, will be put with pro-heroes," said Aizawa, "Because Shinso has just joined the hero course, he's going to be interning under me." There was a somewhat sadistic grin.

Mineta decided to look through the people that submitted requests... 'Hmm Mt. Lady... No, better not... Sir Nighteye? I'd have to ask All Might about his sidekick. Ryukyu... She's a good option, she's pretty hot but she doesn't act like a perv. Slidin' Go... Who the hell is he? He sounds like a lubricant, just hell no...' He refocused on the class until it ended.

Sometime later he managed to track down Midoriya and All Might in the hall, "Sir, I have a question I need to ask you, alone." Midoriya looked at him questioningly, only for Mineta to point at the paper he received in class of the people that were looking at him as a prospective intern, at which Izuku nodded.

"We can talk later..." said Midoriya, "I need to talk to Iida."

Teacher's Lounge:

All Might deflated as the door closed, "Okay what is it?"

"What's your opinion of Sir Nighteye?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I received an internship request from him..."

The door opened and in walked Aizawa looking like he wanted a nap, "Okay more secret meetings?"

"Apparently, Mineta received an internship offer from Sir Nighteye...you two had better sit down," All Might said sitting on a couch while Aizawa and Mineta took the other, "If Mirai had sent this request to young Midoriya, I would tell him to reject it with prejudice."

"But why?"

"When I first discovered Midoriya, he was the first person I called," All Might sighed, "We had already had a falling out over me refusing to retire, however I had hoped that he would jump at the chance to help train my successor..."

"That would have really helped," Aizawa commented, "Midoriya wouldn't have broken as many bones for sure."

"On the flip-side, I'd still be living at my mother's," pointed out Mineta, "so there is a positive out of this. Who knows how screwed up I'd still be."

"Point, Anyways he rejected it quite vehemently, saying my choice was a mistake, putting it mildly the idea of me picking a quirkless..." All Might smiled as he watched both Midoriya's teacher, and one of Midoriya's closest friends bristle, "As you tell that kind of made things a non-starter."

"Sounds like a real jackass," Mineta grumbled.

"Don't sell him short, Mirai is brilliant; it wouldn't surprise me if he did find someone that I would have considered worthy," said All Might, "He was also used to me making some rather stupid mistakes, as well as overworking myself..."

"Just like Izuku..." muttered Mineta, "The overworking, and not taking his personal well-being into account. That said Nighteye got it wrong, the question isn't whether or not..."

"Mirio Togata," interrupted Aizawa connecting the dots, "He is actually a valid choice, he's a lot like All Might, however that doesn't change the fact Midoriya is also just as good of a choice, however Mirio has a quirk Midoriya didn't."

"Which likely would have been my deciding factor if viewing them side by side, especially after the 2nd sludge villain incident, I imagine Mirio is already strong, but Midoriya deserved his chance to step into the ring, just as Nana gave me that chance..."

"So why would he ask me?"

"I would advise you to make Ryukyu your top choice and make him your second choice. Do not accept Mt. Lady," said Aizawa.

"I was wondering why the Dragon Hero was on... It is because of my fashion designing," Mineta looked torn, "I don't want anything..."

"Is it because you never liked it, or is it cause your mother poisoned it for you?" asked Aizawa.

"I think the latter, if I'm being honest with myself," admitted Mineta.

"Well here's your chance to try it again under a mentor that is supportive of you," said Aizawa, "not take advantage of you."

"You did that for me?"

"No, Midnight did," Aizawa admitted, "she appreciates good fashion. I tried to get Best Jeanist to give you an offer."

"Are you trying to traumatize the poor kid?" All Might looked aghast, to which Aizawa smiled.

"Okay, I'll go with Ryukyu as my top choice, and let Aizawa find out what Sir Nighteye wants..."

"Try to be polite Aizawa," All Might suggested, "I don't want to attend two funerals."

Ultimately, I would find out later that Aizawa managed to talk to both Ryukyu and Nighteye where a compromise was reached. The first time around I would be working under Ryukyu's agency to try to undo the damage caused by my mother. When the next round of offers came around I would be working under Nighteye's agency, while still having contact with Ryukyu. The Dragon Hero had me send in pictures of my current hero costume and what I had actually submitted to the support students. Needless to say she liked my original design better. In just a few days, we would be starting our internships. Grampa Torino would be keeping an eye on mom for us, since Midoriya would be sleeping where-ever Hawks' agency put him, and I would be at Ryukyu's agency. This is the next step in our becoming heroes. -- Minoru Mineta

Chapter Text

Chapter 27 - Early Morning Commute

U.A. High School Principal's Residence: T-2 days till start of Internships

Nedzu had decided to go to sleep early the previous evening so he could get up, get some work done, and then watch the sunrise. While it didn't take him long to get cleaned up and dressed, he was just finishing tying his tie when there was a buzzing sound. He took a look at one of his monitors, 'Really, hasn't that woman heard of a phone. So much for getting work done...' He hit a button for the speaker, "I'm coming just a minute..."

He walked to his front door (which had been custom designed for him, of course), and opened it, "Can I help you gentlemen..."

"We need you to come with us?"

"Can I see some I.D.'s?"

Wordlessly the two showed him their badges and Identifications.

"Okay I guess I have a few hours," said Nedzu politely, following them to a waiting Limo. As he got in he asked, "Do you happen to know what this is about."

After the two men got in the front the one in the passenger seat apologized, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't know we're just following her orders..."
Nedzu didn't need any other information to connect the dots, 'Well, I'm not under arrest, she's likely angry about something, but it isn't something that I could legally get in trouble for. While I don't appreciate this, she at least is trying to extend some courtesy so that means she wants something, there are a few things that come to mind, but she clearly needs me in her corner otherwise the ride wouldn't be this dignified... It's going to be a while may as well have a nap.'

The car drove off from U.A. in silence towards its destination.

End of Book 1 - To be continued in Book 2: Hawks' Apprentice