Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To say that Hisashi was proud of his boy was an understatement. It had only been a week since he returned from America for a well needed vacation and every moment he spent with his three year old son put a smile on his face. Much like his beloved Inko, the boy was filled with emotions and he could ramble about a single topic for what seemed hours.

While many would take his mutterings as silly, Hisashi saw much more. His child understood causation, how actions caused reactions, and most important of all could see connections from observations at an alarming quick rate.

Izuku was not a genius, he had worked with far too many of that type to see it in his son. No, his son was prodigy much in the vein of a world class detective, analyst, or even scientist. It was something he would have to encourage and grow in the future. Right now, he wanted his son to be able to be young and enjoy his childhood

Maybe he could finally convince Inko to relocate to America when Izuku was ready for middle school. That way he could ensure his son could thrive and use his abilities to their fullest. Of course, there was the question of his quirk. It would be interesting to see which parent his boy would take after.

Before that, he had one more week with his family and he was going to make sure that he could make as many memories with them before once more heading back to America. That was plenty of time to see if he could guide his son towards a more productive use of his talents.

Izuku already loved talking about quirks, a little direction could get him moving to actual analysis. He was too young for a laptop but maybe a notebook to help him get started.

---

It was 1:00 AM when he received the call from his Inko, their son was quirkless. The doctor had him tested and found that there was no hope of even a recessive quirk that could appear later in life. Hisashi was fully tempted to drop everything and go back to his hurting family.

They needed him more than ever but he had worked so hard to get where he was now. The slightest leave of absence would push the project further back and he would lose more time that he could not afford.

What was worse, he would now be forced to keep his family from visiting or even living in America. It was never talked about openly, but the way the quirkless were treated in the States came very close to how they handled different races with the Jim Crow laws of the past. He would never subject his Izuku to that kind of hatred.

In Japan, there was a chance for him to thrive. It would be difficult as the quirkless were often unsupported and faced difficulty, but he knew his son could handle it. He may not be able to go to Japan in person but he could set aside time each week to be there for his family.

Maybe now was the time to get his son something to take his mind off of the lack of quirk. His Inko would never allow him to send Izuku into self-defense classes as his age but gymnastics would allow him to keep the flexibility of youth and hone his body for further physical pursuits. Especially since his son seemed adamant about becoming a Hero.

Most importantly of all, he would not prove to his son that he was a liar. When that hurt and soft voice asked him on the phone if he could still be a Hero without a quirk, Hisashi had not hesitated in the slighted to say, “Of course you can be a Hero”. It was his son, and he would make sure that Izuku could be whatever he wanted when he grew up.

---

“…then the Villain used his head to hit Blinding Sun in the face even while captured. He was able to break away and almost destroyed another building with his quirk before the Hero was able to recover and restrain him again. Thankfully he got the quirk suppressant handcuffs on him but you should have seen him dad, even with the cuffs on, he was able to put up a fight. It took Digger Trigger to actually end the fight. If it was not for the fact that the Villain for more intent on property damage, I think Blinding Sun would have been really hurt.”

“You mean he would have been dead, Izuku. A good portion of Heroes think only with their quirk. When faced with a Villain that actually knows how to fight or ignores the expected conventions, they are left vulnerable and are often injured.”

“That is why I think you should convince mom that I should take those martial arts classes. It would give me a one up for being a Hero.”

“We talked about this, your mom already has issues with you using your gymnastics training to get away from her so you can see Heroes battling Villains on the street. I am not letting my son learn anything else until he learns the most important thing about Heroes is to protect the innocent. What do you think would happen if your mother rushed after you and got hurt from your recklessness?”

“But nothing happened…”

“But it could have. You need to think about possibilities. Just because the outcome was beneficial one day does not mean it will be the same the next. Beside you are starting elementary school in a month. Maybe you should take the time to think about strategy. You will have a whole classroom of quirks to observe in a safe environment. Just because they are not Heroes or Villains does not make their abilities any less worth knowing.”

“But no one can possible have a quirk as cool as Kacchan and I already know all about his quirk.”

“Do you? Quirks can grow in strength with the person, there are also often details that can be overlooked. Have you truly explored everything that little Katsuki can do with his quirk?”

Hisashi smiled warmly as his son started to ramble about experiments he wanted to convince his friend to do. These weekly chats with his family made him feel almost as if he was there. Inko was ever the caring sunshine he had married and his son was growing into a smaller version of his wife. It was no wonder Izuku was wanting to get into heroics.

Of course he had already convinced Inko for the next step in their son’s training. Izuku may be disappointed in a nontraditional fighting school but his wife had been delighted when he suggested a mother and son activity of Tai Chi.

Most people would not consider Tai Chi to be a heroic fighting style and was mostly used by the elderly population for health benefits. It should ground his boy from his recklessness and start him on the path to learning about how to use his body as a weapon. Most importantly, it would give his beloved a way to take part in their boy’s routine.

He knew Inko was still worried about their son getting hurt and more about how others would treat him but Hisashi felt that his boy understood exactly what he was getting into. That was why he refused to treat him like a child, he expected his son to know the hardships and overcome them. Izuku would have to work harder than all the other aspiring Heroes, but he saw the determination in his son that could someday outshine the Symbol of Peace himself.

Chapter Text

Nothing could darken his mood today. Not his mother’s refusal to allow him to bring his analysis books, not Kacchan's insistence that school was useless and filled with extras, not even his father's demands that he not show off all the skills he had learned for the last two years in gymnastics.

Today was his first day of elementary school. While he had gone with Kacchan for a while in preschool, the day the doctor told him about his lack of quirk was the same day that his family withdrew him from the class. It had hurt not being able to be with Kacchan most of the day like he was used too, but spending long hours working on analytics guided by his dad or learning how to use his body in gymnastics had been more then rewarding.

Still he craved being with other kids his age. As much as he enjoyed playing endlessly with Kacchan, there were so many wonderful quirks out there to discover. Ever since his father suggesting experimenting with explosion, he kept wondering how school could aid him in finding new ways to help Kacchan become a better Hero. After all they were going to become number one Hero partners.

“Hey Nerd! What the hell took you so long?”

Izuku beamed even as he saw Auntie Mitsuki playfully hit his best friend and start to yell at him about his language. His mother shared a look with him and they held in their laughter at the antics of the family before them that were so alike.

The Bakugous had always been a bit rough around the edges but so fun to be around. Izuku had been afraid of what his best friend would think when they found out that he would never have a quirk. In truth, things had changed at first. Kacchan had not taken the news well believing that they would never be Hero partners and had been very prickly for a week.

When he had explain the situation to his father, Izuku realized the reason behind his change in behavior. In many ways his best friend was angrier about his status then he was. It was also clear that Kacchan felt he was broken a promise which was one of the most important things to his best friend.

He had dragged his friend home and had him watch one of their favorite All Might movies together. At one point he paused the film and pointed to a figure that shared most of the screen time with their favorite Hero.

“Sir Nighteye is always there no matter what. He might just be a sidekick now, but he will be a Hero too. Just you see Kacchan, I am going to be the Sir to your All Might. ”

It had taken a bit more convincing especially since Kacchan had a hard time understanding the appeal of the mostly mental based Hero. Of course explaining that with Sir Nighteye around, All Might was able to focus of Villain apprehension and could leave the investigative and civilian protection roles to his sidekick definitely had an appeal to “King Explosion Murder”.

After that they had become even closer friends as they worked towards a common goal. Katsuki was always up to trying new ideas for his quirk and they would often spar with each other. Most of their sparring was Kacchan trying to hit him while Izuku used gymnastics and speed to counter his attacks.

His mother had initially thought they were actually fighting the first time she saw them practicing. Apparently with explosion being used, the loud and powerful quirk had made the training look like Kacchan was attacking Izuku. They had a good laugh about it but had to promise not to train without one of their mothers present at all times just in case someone got hurt.

Thinking about their last spar made him involuntarily rub at the burn on his left wrist. They been using more burn cream recently since Kacchan had gotten faster after he suggested using explosion for propulsion. He had not told his father, but that was the real reason that he wanted to start martial arts training. He had to make sure he could stand side by side with his best friend. He refused to be a weakness in their partnership.

Katsuki was finally getting better control of the increased acceleration from his quirk that they hoped he would soon be able to us it for increased height while jumping. Of course the true end result would be flight but they both agreed that the blonde would need to be able to produce more powerful consecutive blasts for that which only drove Kacchan to practice his quirk all the more and Izuku was adamant that he would not be left behind.

The school was not far from their house and the two friends walked side by side. Izuku was explaining a new idea to strengthen explosion by forcing his skin to produce more of the combustible sweat. As always, Kacchan let him talk for a bit before telling him to “Shut the fuck up you damn Nerd.” Which was a clear indication that he was muttering again and should pull back and focus on the initial concept before moving on to other ideas.

His father had warned him about his habit of muttering too much information. Dad always said that if he wanted the upper hand on someone he should not let others know exactly how much he observed about them. He once laughed and told him that if he could control his muttering he could probably turn it into a weapon as most people would be disturbed but some of the facts he was able to ramble off with simple observation. But as of yet, Izuku had no filter for his mouth and Kacchan was more than willing to tell him when to pull back from his thoughts.

Izuku just laughed with his friend and started talking about the latest Hero to debut out in Kyoto. A fascinating quirk that dealt with realistic illusions that could be transformed into physical forms for exactly 4.5 seconds. He had to watch three different manifestations of the quirk to get the timing right but he was sure that there would be great things coming from Mirror Max.

---

They we quick to find the right classroom as Kacchan took charge once they left their mothers at the school entrance. Finding the only two seats in the crowded room that would put them next to each other they took their places even as a few of the boys that were already in the room started to approach them.

It was clear to Izuku that they seemed to know Katsuki and were mostly likely part of the preschool that he had gone to. He did recognize Tsubasa from the group from the short time he had spent in school but could not really remember anything about him beside the pair of wings that stretched out behind his back.

He let his best friend shine in the enthusiasm of the other boys as he observed them. A couple mutation quirks, a transformation type, and what was possibly an emitter type. He was most fascinated by emitter quirks, which had the largest range of sub categories and nuances. Much like Kacchan’s explosion, emitter quirks had the most growth potential and the greatest number of weaknesses.

“You can teleport objects to your left hand. Do you have to see an item to do so or just know it is there?”

There was silence from the group as the turned to look at him as if noticing him for the first time. It did not help that Kacchan gave him that feral grin he learned from Auntie Mitsuki when Izuku did something that amused them. He rolled his eyes are the response and looked at the boy in question again.

“Did Bakugou-san tell you about our quirks?” asked the boy and he glanced at his left hand. Before turning to the other boys as if to see if they had any answers. All four of them then looked to Katsuki.

“I don’t need to tell him shit about your fucking quirks, dumbass.” Kacchan yelled at them as he folding his arms across his chest and stared at them. The stare had the boys nervously looking back at Izuku who was still waiting for an answer. Sighing at the silence, Izuku knew this meant he would have to state the obvious.

“You keep your left hand cupped as if you are keeping something from falling out even though you are not holding anything. Your eyes also take stock of small items in the room while talking. You shift your body slightly every time someone walks in front of your desk. Which means you are keeping an eye on your things and have a way of protecting them if you need to.”

A bit more silence filled the room as the chatter died down as all the children in the classroom started to listen in on their conversation.

“That is so cool. Do you have a quirk that makes you super smart?” Izuku turned to look at a girl with a small pink bow in her rainbow colored hair that she could obviously change color at will that had spoken up.

“I don’t have a quirk.” His words caused an uncomfortable reaction as the girl backed away from him as if he burned her. The boys hanging around Kacchan all seemed just as disgusted by his words. Around the room, classmates whispering far louder than they should be started displaying signs of pity and disbelief at his statement. It hurt. His dad had warned him that is might happen, but facing it was another altogether.

Tsubasa seemed to be the first one to get his voice back as his face stretched into a sneer. “What kind of useless idiot does not have a quirk?”

Izuku looked to Kacchan and made a slight shake of his head. He knew that Katsuki had a temper that could cause trouble for the two of them if not put in check. Not to mention he would not have his best friend slighting him by not letting him handle his own fight. Kacchan only grinned back and moved his hands behind his head in a resting pose. A clear sign he was going to let Izuku handle this himself.

He turned back to the boy and let his mind run through the possibilities. He never really interacted with anyone else his age beside Katsuki. In gymnastics the others in his age group were all girls and tended to work on their own in groups and when they did all work together, were too busy to really have conversations. That meant he would have to react in a way he saw Kacchan interact with others… with less colorful language. He had no interest in having his mouth washed out with soap… again.

“Just about a useless as an idiot with wings that can’t even lift himself off the ground with them. The difference is, I don’t need a quirk to be useful. You can’t even bother to put in the effort to make something of yourself. Maybe if you take back your words, I’ll give you some advice on how to get your lazy bones up in the air.”

---

“… then Tadachi was able to make the ball appear in his hand even though it was still in the classroom and we were outside at the playground.”

“Wonderful my boy. What of that winged fellow you’re helping out?”

“I have him strengthen out his wings. His bones are all really light which means that too much weight can make them snap. I assume that he was hurt in the past which is why he is more aware about hurting his wings.”

“You did not ask him about his past?”

“I had to leave him some pride if he was going to listen to my suggestions and I did not want to have Kacchan lose one of his friends.”

“Excellent. You are learning how to observe more about people then just their quirks. Often the personality can give you hints about the abilities and weaknesses of a person which includes of other treat them. What of your new lessons?”

“They are so boring. I know mom was excited to be joining my training but everyone in the class is old and we move so slowly.”

“Tai Chi is a defensive martial arts, Izuku. It does not teach you how to attack but to react. Just like you told your classmate today, you need to put effort into yourself. Tai Chi will help you understand your body and how it moves. It will give you balance and even more important focus. Observe the steps in your lessons and think of how you can use them in a fight. You work slowly to allow your body to learn the movements so they will come naturally to you.”

Hisashi ended the call there without his usual words of love and promises of more conversations in the future. He knew if would make his last words more meaningful to his son and make him work all the harder. At times he felt bad for forcing his son to age faster than most boys but it was one of the few bits of armor he could give him to face a discriminatory society.

Izuku would have to stay strong and determined to break through the walls that would be placed his front of him due to a genetic improbability. Already he had used his abilities to keep a possible hazing of his classmates at bay. In fact, while Izuku would never claim it, it sounded like he was going to have a few followers from his confrontation.

If his son’s suggestion prove to be successful, other kids would soon be flocking to him to help them with their quirks. He would have to warn Izuku about giving away too much for free. Being a Hero did not mean he would be forced to be altruistic and having others with quirks that owed him could help him in the future.

Now that he was in a situation with other kids his age, being able to network and form connections would be key to potential partnerships to help him later. After all just as his son always told him during his rambles about the newest quirk he saw on the street, no quirk was useless, you just had to find a way to use them to your advantage.

Chapter Text

Heroes liked routines. They had patrols that were followed and sectioned off a part of the city for their domain that may intersect with maybe one or two other Heroes at most. At the heart, too many Heroes only meant they would have to share the limelight and the glory. For a profession that rewarded showmanship, being able to stand out could be the difference from becoming a Hero and being stuck as a Sidekick.

Izuku knew where all the Hero agencies in the 25 kilometer radius of his house were located. He had scouted the buildings of those within a half hour walk from his home. Observing the Heroes on the street gave him the schedules and patrol routes for each day time Hero and Sidekick. He was still working to convince his mother to let him out after dark to see the Underground Heroes in action. He knew which police officers and emergency medical personnel were most likely be called upon a Villain attack by the day, time, and location that the crime took place.

So that was why he was confused to find himself watching a police officer from a district across town moving the captured Villain towards a squad car. The quirk suppression cuffs that were always the first thing the officer on scene would have used were nowhere to be seen which meant that the patrolman could be injured from his mistake. Lanceman was currently talking with the press while posing with his arms transformed into the weapons he was named after. There would be no help in that direction.

His eyes landed on Spiker, the young Sidekick had just recently graduated from U.A. the month before and was currently working on crowd control. From watching the U.A. Sport Festival each year, Izuku knew the girl was able to transform the strands of hair on her head into long needle like projectiles that could be shot out at great speed.

Thankfully, the last year in Tai Chi had trained him to better control his muttering or everyone around him would have been able to listen in on his dilemma. He felt his brain still ran through all the possibilities just as fast if not faster now that he did not depend on his body to vocalize his thoughts.

In every scenario in his head, he could only see bad outcomes from his observations. He wanted to just be able to tell an adult his suspicions and let them take care of the rest. But he already knew that a strange seven year old telling a grown up about his worries would do nothing and take too long.

That meant he had to do it himself. Mustering up his courage, he walked over to the Heroine while keeping an eye on the progress of the cop and Villain to the car. Putting up one of his biggest smiles just like his idol All Might helped as he made his way right in front of his target.

“Hey you're Spiker right! I kept rooting for you during the Sports Festival! Your quirk is so amazing.”

Looking around he found some of the onlookers turning their attention to the young woman in front of them over the Hero in front of the press. He was glad his voice was loud enough to get a few of them to focus on the Sidekick, he did not want his interference getting back to his mother.

“That’s right little fan! I am going to be a pro in no time!” Her voice cut through most of the crowd and the group around them seemed to converge on their conversation as the people around them started to comment on her abilities and youth.

“Can you show me your quirk? It looks so cool on TV and I did not get to see you use it as all today. Please, it would be the most amazing thing ever!” His tone had cut just the right note with the people around him and more voices were calling for her to demonstrate her quirk.

“You got it fans. See that big pink flower in that tree over there? Just watch me…”

While everyone was looking to the flower that the Sidekick had mentioned, Izuku was working on trying to pinpoint the best way to… there. He slammed his palm against the girl’s thigh while making it look like he was using her to see the target better. He had timed it just right to move her out of sync and the projectile needle hair luckily went straight into the front tire of the patrol car that the two had just reached.

While he had hoped for it to hit the driver side window, the hair strand had lost acceleration faster than he had expected and he may have used a bit too much force while moving her to make her release her quirk at a steeper trajectory then required. He would have to consider that next time…. If there was going to be a next time.

Izuku moved back into the crowd allowing them to push forward around him as they saw a new spectacle play out in front of them. Spiker was running towards the car, her previous duty holding back the crowd forgotten in her embarrassment as the press cameras swung toward the scene and the shocked officer who stood looking at his tire.

As the Sidekick came closer to the two, the Villain literally picked up the officer and threw him at the oncoming Heroine. Lanceman, who was already making his way towards the incident, had swung his arms out as his lances extended from them piercing the Villain’s clothing and attaching him to the vehicle behind him stopping any hope of escape.

Izuku felt warm inside from the exhilaration and he moved further away from the scene. He had not expected that to work so well. He knew that there could have been a very logical reason why that cop was here but without the cuffs, the officer would have been in danger from the Villain if it was just forgetfulness on his part… and he had some small doubts about that.

This way the Heroes could ensure the Villain stayed caught and they could look into the cop that did not follow protocol. He did hope that he had not caused too much trouble for Spiker. He really did think that she could be a wonderful Hero.

---

He was there again. Izuku mashed his face into his window looking up towards the roof of the giant apartment complex across the street. He wished he could have binoculars to be able to see the Hero in greater detail.

Angler was technically not an Underground Hero. He just happened to work better at night because his main weapon was the giant fishing pole whose wire could disappear from the eye at night making his capture rate remarkable for a night time Hero. He was a Rescue Hero that was mainly was called in for kidnapping cases and human trafficking.

His quirk gave him a type of enhanced vision that and could give him the precision as if looking through a rifle scope. Izuku always did wonder why he had chosen the fishing pole over more traditional weapons like guns considering his quirk.

After a few nights seeing him pace the roof of the building he found his answer, he knew that the quirk was based off movement. The fishing pole could be cast out and he would be able to keep track of the heavy hook and lure and make adjustments through his pole based on the movement of his weapon and the enemy or victim. Even more, he knew what the Hero was looking for.

It had been easy enough to find out why the Hero was in town. This was not his usual base of operation which could only mean that he was here for a reason. The only case big enough in the area to draw the attention of the Rescue Hero was the Masaru Hitomi kidnapping.

The tragic story was on the news maybe a week past of the young girl that had been kidnapped by a Villain in the middle of a botched bank heist. The Hero had been able to stop the thief from taking the money, but had failed to notice the toddler being sucked into the portable hole the Villian’s quirk was able to create during his escape.

Since it was believed that the hole could only be used to create entrances through walls which is how he was able to get into the bank vault, they had extensively searched the rooms below the bank to no result. The new assumption was that he had taken the toddler with him. The child who happened to be the daughter of the bank’s CEO. The press believed that this was not a random act and had been done deliberately but no ransom demands had come from the incident and the girl was still missing.

Except they were wrong. When the Villain used his quirk to escape the Hero, he had pulled the young girl along because his quirk could only create a single size hole which included her in the escape by complete accident. He was also limited by the thickness of the wall he used his quirk against. Had it been able to go through a thicker levels of wall, he would have bypassed the bank interior and would have made a hole against the side of the building away from the public.

There would have been a crawlspace between the main floor and the vaults below due to the age of the building and he would have been forced to use it due to the limitations of his quirk. He would then have taken the girl with her to keep her from making any sounds and alerting the Hero above. Following the electrical wiring and pipes he would have been able to make his way to his real destination, the sewer system.

The reason there was no ransom note, was that the Villain had no idea who the girl was. Afterwards, when the news would have let him know who he had and still no ransom came out meant that the Villain was probably panicking and had no idea how to handle a hostage situation. The building across the way was the last known address that the Villain had resided in before being forced out on the street. This was not a time hardened Villain, this was a man who was desperate for money but still had morals enough not to put a child into the crossfire

That was why tonight as Angler landed on the same building he had used for the past two days, a small green flag about a hands width in size was waving in the night breeze. Words were scrawled across the surface of the fabric in a permanent marker. “Drainage pipe under Tiko Bridge”

While he had not investigated the area himself, it stood to reason that the entrance to the sewer in that area could lead to more clues for the Rescue Hero. After all the pipes in that area were newer meaning that they were larger and easier for a Villain to move around it. Maybe if they could get a canine unit from the police or someone with a quirk that enhanced their sense of smell, they hopefully would be able to locate the missing girl.

---

“…then the senior actually came up to me and ask me to help her with her quirk. Her power allows her to drift when standing still. The moment she moves her arms or legs though the power drops her back to the ground no matter how far up she is in the air or what kind of terrain she is over. She told me her family bought her a weighted blanket just so she could not drift off in her sleep.”

“I see. What did you ask for in return for your help?”

“Oh, the usual. A favor for the future and I may have asked her to get me photos of her classmates during the next physical assessment. I know they won’t use their quirks, but even seeing them while putting physical strains on their body can give me a better idea on how their powers work.”

“What does Katsuki think of your side projects since it means less time playing with him and your friends?”

“He thought it was a waste of time at first but I showed him some of the entries I’ve made in my analysis books and explained how it could help the two of us in the future. He really liked my section on Villains.”

“Does that include that Villain with the portable hole you told me about? What do you expect to do with that information now that he is captured?”

“Well, all quirks belong to families and many are similar with one another so it is always possible to see someone else with a quirk like his. Maybe next time it will be a Hero. They could have been amazing as a Rescue Hero. Just think of the possibilities in a disaster when trying to get people out of collapsed buildings or entering Villain hideouts...”

Hisashi let his mind wander as his son continued with his analysis of the Villain. His analysis was getting better. With his firsthand work in experimenting and helping his classmates in their quirk usage and his hobby of observing Heroes when he could, his collection of notebooks had grown. It started to concern him now that the information in those analysis books could be easily attained.

At one point he thought of suggesting that Izuku write them in English. After all he already spoke English almost fluently with their weekly talks that always had a bit of English thrown in. Living so long in America had made his comfortable in speaking in English and his son had wanted to be able to talk to him in that language as if able to be closer to him for it.

That would mean starting to teach him how to write using the Latin alphabet system. Which brought up another possibility. Should he take it a step further and teach him the Latin language as well? His son already loved science which used Latin in the naming system and as a dead language it would be difficult for anyone to actually read his analysis.

But it would take time for him to be able to switch to that kind of system in the meantime he would need to get better tools which would include a better security system for his information. A new tablet was already in route to Japan for his son’s use. It would give him the capability of keeping all of his analysis together, updated, and better organized. The stylus with it would allow him to continue to draw images of the Heroes and their gear directly onto the devise.

Most importantly it he had removed all internet and connections features from the equipment. That had been a compromise for Inko, who did not want their son being able to interact with people on the internet without supervision or at least until he better understood the dangers of it. She saw how willing he was to give people information and did not want him singled out by Villains or the authorities for having information that he should not have.

The only port on the tablet would allow Izuku to charge his devise but anyone that got their hands on it would have to work to get the information out of it. By the time anyone would know to look for the data, he hoped that his son would have the skills to make it worthless to them. He would have to start learning Latin himself in order to teach it to his son, but by the time that Izuku finished his English writing studies he should be ready for the new lessons.

It helped that his son was able to pick things up so fast, though Inko did let him know that it frustrated Izuku not to understand something and would find ways through practice or studying to make sure the concepts were ingrained inside that brilliant head of his. That meant he would depend on his beloved to let him know if they were putting too much pressure on their boy since Izuku would never admit to that kind of weakness himself. Inko had been keeping a sharper eye out on their son and was worried about his new habit of wandering.

Hisashi did not want to discourage their son from watching Hero fights, but at the same time it was too early for the Heroes to start paying attention to their son. Most Heroes would not understand letting a seven year old child walk around the streets on their own. They did not realize that many precautions had been taught to the boy and that he knew multiple strategies for escape and safety procedures.

Some lessons in stealth would benefit the boy, but right now the gymnastics and Tai Chi studies took precedence. Maybe he could make suggestions on how to blend into a crowd or using his environment to his advantage. After all, it did not take much for Izuku to take on a new challenge.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat in the hard chair next to the counselor’s office. He had been expecting this command performance since entering the school considering it was a legal requirement for all students to go through quirk counseling. The school probably waited the two more years just in case a quirk decided to randomly pop out of now where even though his x-rays clearly showed the extra joint in his toe.

The door opened and the councilor emerged with a crying student he recognized from another class in his grade level. Seriously, what kind of grown up did not even let a girl that was clearly troubled cry herself out and get herself together before shoving her out of the office into the view of her classmates. Then again the fake smile on the teacher as he motioned her away made it clear that he did not really care about the student.

“There is always a chance that you’re a late bloomer Chidori-san but after four years without a sign of a quirk…”

The bastard just let it hang right there after airing out all her issues in the hallway. There were other students all willing to gossip about the situation and soon the story would be all over the school. Beside what the hell was he talking about?

“Chidori-san does have a quirk. I mean it does not have a physical manifestation but that does make it any less of a quirk. It is actually quite an interesting one considering there is this Sidekick in Kyushu with a similar quirk. Of course when she uses it, she actually gets a blue aura around her and has mask to cover her mouth when not engaging Villains to keep civilians from being affected by it. I assume Chidori-san does not have such physical signs due to the weaker influence of her quirk on people when…”

He found himself being stared at and his words die down as he looked back at them. Was he not supposed to correct the counselor about her quirk status? He grimace as he scratched the back of his head. Maybe she did not want her quirk to be known. After all she did have a shy personality and her quirk technically forced people to behave a certain way.

“I’m sorry Chidori-san. I just love quirks so much. It seemed a shame that you were hiding yours.”

Izuku froze as he found his arms filled with a crying girl. He looked up at the grown up for guidance but was met without aid as the man continued to stared at him slack jawed. Ok no help there, what would Kacchan do?… probably use his explosion to startle the girl and tell her to man the fuck up… yeah that would not help this situation. What would mom do?

“Hey, what’s wrong? I really did not mean any harm by my words. There is nothing to be sad about. I think you have a really cool quirk.” He said as he stroked her back in a way that always made him feel better when his mom did it to him. He hoped none of this got back to his parents. His father would probably laugh about it but his mom would not like the fact he made a young girl cry. He hated disappointing his mother.

“I… did not… know… I had… a… quirk.”

The words were soft but with her moth position closed to his ear he was able to catch what she said. Was that what was wrong? She was crying because she thought she was quirkless? Izuku held back a sigh and patted the girl again letting her cry on his shoulder. Why should it matter if she thought she was quirkless? Was there something really wrong about it?

“Your quirk is beautiful. You can make people smile involuntarily when you laugh. It is a sound based quirk that does not require line of sight. I had thought at first that you could make people react with certain sounds but I can let you now that your crying is not forcing me to do anything. I heard you once about a year ago outside my classroom. Your laughter made everyone that heard you smile no matter what their current mood was. I will warn you thought that it does not change their mood only causes a physical reaction.”

While he was explaining her quirk, he felt her sobs ebbing away and by the end of it her tears had seemed to dry up completely. He looked down at her gently and started to lift her off his body. He checked to make sure that her own legs could hold her up before letting go.

“With or without a quirk you are still Chidori-san. I am quirkless but I have yet to let that mean I am any less capable. You should be proud of who you are. Maybe, if you want some help with you quirk we can talk about it later. If you have just found out about your quirk. I am sure your parents would want to hear the news. Right?”

Chidori gave him a warm smile and without another word slipped away not even turning to look back at him or the counselor that was still standing outside his office. Girls were weird. Mom and Auntie Mitsuki made so much more sense. She had just been told her quirk was a sound activated minor manipulation type and was happy. At least Ms. Joke could incapacitate people with her quirk. Chidori’s quirk was too minor to even put into his analysis notes but was still happy. Girls are weird.

“Are you sure you don’t have an intelligence quirk?” Izuku looked up at the counselor who seemed to finally come back to his senses.

“Extra joint in my toe. I can show you the x-rays if you want. I keep them on me for when people don’t believe I am quirkless.” He said as he pulling his bag up to him and rustled around for the copy of the x-rays. He actually had them laminated and placed in folder with a copy of his quirk registration form that showed he was designated as quirkless to protect them since it came up so much.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Come in, this should not take that long since you don’t have a quirk.”

---

“Hey Doc. I heard you were the person to come to when there is a quirk problem.”

Doc? He looked at his group of friends as they ate lunch outside at their usual spot. They were all looking right back at him making it clear that he was the “Doc” that was being called to. He looked up as an older student with horns similar to a ram placed his arm around his shoulders and got way to close for comfort. Some kind of intimidation tactic? Around them the four other boys that had come with the speaker ranged out circling them. Yep, definitely an intimidation play.

“You have a problem with your quirk?”

Izuku took another look at the horns coming from the boy’s head but saw nothing that could be considered a problem. It was a typical mutation quirk. A simple one in fact that did not seem to have much going for it. The other boys that had come with him were in a similar situation from what it seemed. Izuku did not know much about these upperclassmen. Their quirks were nothing interesting as a number of mutation and basic transformation quirks, only one had a quirk worth putting into his analysis notes which was named shatter and bend.

He highly doubted that the quirk that could manipulate the malleability of materials was having issues with their quirk considering it was a five touch point quirk and his limit was around half a kilogram. Not to say it was not an interesting quirk and if the boy wanted help such as an interest in building its strength to become a Hero, Izuku would be more than happy to help

“Not me, a friend of mine. I was hoping you can tell me all about his quirk.” The upperclassman stated as he squeezed Izuku’s shoulders a bit harder.

Well that was interesting. He was lying. He did not even need Kacchan to tell him even though the blonde had let out a loud “Tch” as the boy was explaining what he was there for. His other friends remained silent but were clearly uncomfortable in this situation. They were used to kids randomly interrupting them to ask for help from Izuku for their quirk or plea for Bakugou to demonstrate his quirk, this was a new experience and none of them liked it.

“You’re going to have to give me more information if you need me to help.” Rule number one when in a situation you don’t understand. Get more details in order to find out the bigger picture.

“He has this weird quirk that allows him to push people away from him. One minute you are next to him, and then suddenly you moving away and can’t move or even blink.”

That described none of the quirks that went to this school. It would have been in his notes if he knew anyone like that. A quirk that dealt with paralysis and defense would be highly prized as a Villain Apprehension Hero. The possibilities of such a quirk were numerous. Seeing such a quirk in action may be worth tagging along with these boys.

“That sounds really cool. I would have to meet him to…”

“No, no, no, I just need you to tell me how to stop him from activating his quirk.” The false smile that came from the boy sent a few shivers down his spine.

And that was what he was here for. He looked at Kacchan, who nodded his head willing to back him up if this came to a fight. Then again, Kacchan was always up for a fight. They had to be careful at school, getting a record could hurt their chances at a Hero School which was the only way one could become a Hero in Japan. His other friends also seemed to get the odd atmosphere and were moving closer to each other as far away from the older boys. Which was all for the better, they were not fighters.

“You seem to misunderstand what I do so I will tell it to you in small words. I like to study quirks. So when someone comes to me and asked for help. I do what I can. Now what you asked for. I cannot give you. I am quirkless. What I do is watch, test, and verify information. I am not a psychic that pulls information out of nowhere. You’re wasting your time trying to intimidate me and my friends. I think you should go now.”

“No quirkless freak has the right to talk back to me like that.” The snarl from the older boy let him know his words had enraged the other and that he would have to move now. He pulled forward into a tight roll tumbling out of the upperclassman’s grasp and moving closer to his best friend who was already on his feet.

Kicking up Izuku landed on his own feet and moved further away from his friends. Kacchan followed him naturally wanting to keep the gang from paying attention to their classmates. The older boys had taken the bait and came closer to the two leaving their other friends able to run off. That meant their time would be limited now. He knew they would go straight to the nearest teacher to help them out, they would just have to hold up until then.

“We have nothing to do with you and yours. Walk away. I do not want to fight but I will not let you hurt us.” Izuku said watching the other boys. They were clearly waiting on their leader to decide how to handle the situation. He already knew what the choice would be. These boys only understood strength and walking away from a quirkless underclassman would damage the image of their leader.

Kacchan seemed to understand this as well as he let out a few loud pops of his explosion quirk more for show then damage and growled at the students surrounding them. “Get on with this it you fucking cowards. This is how you bastards get your jollies isn’t it. Outnumbering a pushing around a couple of juniors. Well fuck you idiots. We can take on double your numbers and not even put up a sweat. Run back to your mommas now while they know who you are before I rearrange your fucking faces.”

Good old Kacchan. Having him around was like pouring gasoline into a fire but there was no better person to have at your back. It did give the desired outcome as the leader moved putting his head down and moving to attack him with his horns just like a ram. Which probably meant his skull was also harder and dense to account for such use. It also explained the emptiness in his head as well if he thought his actions would lead to any other outcome.

Izuku slide to the side just as the senior was about to smash into him using his Tai Chi training to react and tilt him just enough for him to blunder into one of his followers. He had no time to watch the two trying to untangle themselves from the ground before ducking under the arm of one of the other boys that could transform his skin into snake scales for extra protection. He swept his leg out to unbalance the attacker and used his elbow to pushing him toward the leader who was finally getting up from the ground only to topple back onto it with the new weight above him.

Moving backwards in a back-bend so Kacchan could release explosion above him right into the face of the next advancing youth, he followed through with a kick-over slamming his foot into the chest of the boy before landing on his feet again. He moved behind his best friend just as the nasal voice of their gym teacher yelled out.

“What is the meaning of this? Fighting in not allowed on school grounds.”

The teacher stalked his way with two of their friends following with wide eyes as they looked at the scene before them. Izuku and Katsuki were the only boys still standing as the five upperclassmen were in various states of laying on the ground or getting up. Kacchan gave a loud “Tch” as he crossed his arms and glared. Clearly put out by not being able to continue the fight.

Izuku put on a weak smile and let the waterworks go. Much like his mother, Izuku was able to cry easily. A trait that had got him out of quite a few incidents especially when it was clear that as a quirkless child, teachers were all too willing to see him as weak and worthless. What was worse they would almost always take the side of a quirked individual no matter what the circumstances.

“You should have seen it Sensei, these boys were picking on us for no reason and were getting violent when Kacchan protected us so that our friends could run and get one of the teachers. I was unable to get away like the rest so Kacchan was forced to stay and shield me from their attacks. Unfortunately he still needs to work on his quirk control and it went off a few times by accident. But he really is a true Hero for saving us all.”

Izuku felt that is may be laying it on a bit thick but there was no way the upperclassmen would admit to being beaten by a quirkless nobody. Kacchan never revised his stories knowing that the teachers were always looking for an excuse to show how useless his quirkless friend was and after a few unnecessary detentions for “attention seeking” kept his mouth shut.

That was part of the reason they were going to be Heros and change society so that other quirkless would not have to go through the same thing that Izuku was forced to. Kacchan only nodded at the story and looked disdainfully at the upperclassmen who at this point were all back on their feet. Both of them had used enough force to take them down without hurting them. Izuku lied completely about Kacchan’s quirk control. With the amount of times they practiced with it, his control was superb which was necessary as his quirk was only going to get stronger.

“It is good of you to protect your friends, but fighting is still not allowed. You need to try harder next time to find a teacher before it gets to that stage. As for you boys. Bullying is a serious offense and the school has a non-tolerance policy towards it.”

Izuku watched as the seniors left with the gym teacher as the two friends that had come back with him started to gush around Kacchan being so strong and taking care of those boys all by himself. The two best friends smiled at each other and allowed the two to have their misconceptions. Telling them that Izuku was able to hold his own would only lead to disbelief and might get him in trouble since he had no Hero potential according to the teachers.

“So why did they call me Doc?”

---

“Apparently the whole student body has been calling me the Quirk Doctor behind my back. It would have nice to have been told earlier. I had been wondering why so many more students have been coming up to me to ask about their quirks. I have so many favors I doubt I will ever use a quarter of them.”

“Just because you do not plan on using their help does not mean it is not useful, just having the ability to call in a favor gives you the power in your relationship. Not to mention even if you never call it in. Those you helped will think better of you since you helped them without a seemingly benefit to yourself. Heroes depend upon public opinion, the good will you are fostering now with your school mates will help sway the people to look to you in a good light.”

“Quirk Doctor is hardly a Hero name. It sounds like one of those useless quirk counselors that do their job and nothing more. It does not have the epic sound that you get from a name like All Might or Crimson Riot. I want people to call out my name when they’re in trouble because they know I would be able to save them.”

“Do you really want that kind of responsibility, Izuku? You are one person and cannot be everywhere. Even the great All Might you admire so much is unable to save everyone. They gave you that nickname because you inspire them. It may be for only your smarts when it comes to quirks but they are seeking you out. They know if they have a problem they can come to you and you will help them. Would you say they are going to ask for your help first before seeing this useless councilor that you speak of? Build on your strengths my son and you will get the recognition that you desire. Now tell me more about this theory you have on Tiger from the Wild Wild Pussycats.”

“Well, if you look as his record ever since he made the transition to his proper gender his stats have gone up across the board more then what can be accounted for by just training. I think that by aligning his body with…”

Damn was Hisashi proud of his son. He did wonder about the obvious disdain for what seemed like all the school authority figures, but Inko had not been able to find out what was going on there. He did not want to make Izuku move schools considering how many friends he had been able to make and the connections he was constantly growing but it was concerning.

They had raised their son to respect adults, but they had also taught him that respect had to be earned. Clearly the staff at his elementary school had all lost the respect of his child. They had chosen that school for the strict no-tolerance for bullying and had hoped that it would keep him safe.

Though considering the massive amount of quirk discrimination in Japan, it might still be the best option since they were not willing to go with a home schooling route. Private schools would not even let their son test into their programs due to his lack of quirk. That left Izuku with only the public school option. It was lucky indeed that Hero Schools did not have the same bias as private schools. Most likely since they would not believe a quirkless individual would be able to make it through their entrance exams.

Those exams were geared highly to the powerful quirks like his best friend Katsuki. Most Hero Schools also changed up their exam from year to year in order to keep the physical exam a surprise. It was a good thing his son thrived in challenge even if his first response was usually reckless.

He would have to look into convincing Izuku’s next teacher to help him tamper down this self-sacrificing streak that was all too evident. Of course he was still working on getting that next teacher to move to Japan in order to give his son the lessons that he would need to level the playing field. A personal visit may be necessary to convince the old coot to come out of retirement for his son.

Chapter Text

No one looks up. If you want to be alone all you had to do was take a fire escape to the top of a building. In the city, the buildings were so close together it was as if there was another street for those pedestrians that did not want to bother with the crowds of people below.

He had been held back by school again. They had said it was because his grades were slipping. The only reason they were slipping is that the teachers learned to add essay questions to all tests. They could not mark up his regular straight forward questions and answers as wrong but essays were easy prey for teachers to subtract points to make sure the quirkless kid was not the one getting the best grades in school. At least math was math and they could not find a way to put in essay problems in that class.

It was worse when they would force other students to partner with him on group projects because they would always be marked lower than the effort put in and his classmates would always blame him for their grade. He could not help that his teachers had universally turned their back on him. At this point he was just lucky that none of his teachers had decided to do an all essay test or they would surely fail him.

He was still getting better grades then most of his class so it would not hurt him in the long run to get into a Hero School, but it rankled him that every adult at school seemed to be out to get him. He did eventual find the source of the hatred.

The quirk counselor had decided that the “Quirk Doctor” was hurting the students by giving them false information about their quirks. While there had not been a single instance of Izuku’s information being wrong or detrimental to any of the students that asked for help, the damage had been done and all interactions with other students were watched over to stop him from giving out advice.

That was not to say the students did not come to him for help. But all of it was done very secretively and usually only if the need was dire. With the teachers willing to harass anyone that wanted to be his friend, that pool had dried up quickly. Only Kacchan stayed by his side and even then they had moved him to another class for the new school year to keep “Bad Influences” away from their star potential student.

He was being symptomatically isolated and he felt like he was going mad. Small things like working with his analysis notes could never be done at school now. He would have a mini heart attack every time one of the teachers had taken away his tablet and only his mom was able to get it returned to him. After the third time it had been taken and the teacher had hinted about “accidentally” losing the device, the tablet always stayed in his bag while at school. So he had decided to work on his Latin in a regular school notebook. They complained about his distraction from school work but since he never worked on it without completing his assignments first, they could do little about his one freedom.

He was also extremely lucky that the school knew his after school schedule and could only punish him two days out of the week which were the only free days he had from lessons. When his mom had come to pick him up to go to their Tai Chi lessons together only to find him being punished, the school had gotten an earful from the tiny and overly polite female who had clearly threaten to take them all to court for discrimination and would like to see how they handle police intervention.

He had convinced his mother not to go through with her threats even though she knew all too well what was happening with his grades. At least the student body mostly ignored him and he could deal with the teachers. Another school could put him is a worse situation and his would lose the companionship of his only true friend.

Leaping to the next building, Izuku was finally driven from his thoughts by the sounds of a fight. At least he still had the ability to watch Heroes at work. He just had to be sure not to be seen and stayed out of the way or his father threaten to no longer protect him from his mother when she complained that it was too dangerous of a hobby.

That had been another reason for learning how to navigate the city from above. He could get just about anywhere using the make shift paths and no one was the wiser to his presence at the incidents he observed.

The fight had seemed to have just started so he made himself comfortable at a perfect vantage point to watch the Flame Hero take on what looked like a Villain with a peacock mutation from the array of beautiful looking feathers that would fan out at times or follow him like a tail at others. It was a good match up for Endeavor, while he was not a fan of the fire quirked Hero mostly due to his absolute lack of control and massive amounts of property damage. He doubted the battle would take that long considering the Villain’s inability to fly even with a bird quirk and the flammability of his feathers.

He had taken his tablet out and was updating his information on Endeavor when he felt the air by his right shoulder change and he kicked out against the wall at his feet in order to flip over and away from the hand that had been moments away from grabbing him. He looked up at the homeless person that still had his hand positioned to contact him. No not homeless…. not with that build. A Hero then in civilian clothes? Possible a night time or underground Hero? Wait…

“Eraserhead?”

The instant reaction of his eyes flaring to red and his hair standing straight up confirmed his assumption. The previous student from U.A. that had transferred from the General Studies course to Heroics by completely devastating the competition at the Sports Festival in his first year was in front of him… and was trying to erase the quirk of a quirkless child.

“Does it feel different when you try to erase a quirk from someone that does not have one? Does it feel the same way when you try to erase someone with a mutation quirk? Can you feel what type of quirk someone has when you erase them? Do quirks have different flavors? How about when you tie your hair down and it can’t escape, does you quirk still work.”

“Enough questions. How do you know who I am?” The pro Hero said in a gruff voice obviously from lack of sleep. Which made sense to Izuku considering he was an underground Hero which meant he mostly worked at night. With that kind of schedule, he probably just woke up not that long ago.

“Technically that is a question as well but the answer is, I love Heroes. I will admit it is hard to follow your career since you left U.A. but people still take photos and try to video you when you save them or if they come upon you when you battling bad guys. There was a great video of you about three months ago taking on that yakuza group with Gang Orca. Probably had about 10 seconds of you in it since the guy filming it was so intent on catching as much of Gang Orca in the video as possible, but you were still amazing.”

“Kid, I get it. Now tell me what you were doing up here.”

Izuku tried to tamp down a bit on his fanboying. It was clear that it was annoying the Hero. Probably it was similar to his mother in the morning who did not function properly without her hot tea to wake her up and his energy could be a bit much for her at that time of day.

“Well, I heard the fight going on and thought this would be a great place to see it without being in the way. I normally like to get closer, but since Endeavor is known for his… lack of finesse when it comes to collateral damage I felt this would keep be safer while writing everything down in my notes.”

“That was the devise you were working on. Show me.” Eraserhead said as he held out his hand fully expecting to be obeyed.

Izuku hesitated for a moment before entering the 20 digit security code from the custom prompt that had received an questioning look from the pro to open up his tablet before lowering it onto the waiting Hero’s hand. His father had always told him not to let other people see his analysis notes but this was a Hero. You were supposed to follow their instructions just like police officers and medical experts.

“What kind of language is this? I can tell you are using English but only some of this makes sense to me.” The pro was quickly sliding from one entry to the next as he looked at his notes. He stopped a few times probably at the images of support gear or the different body shots of the Heroes that were included as well. Izuku was somewhat proud of his ability to draw. He would never be a true artist but you could definitely tell what he was trying to capture when he put it down with the stylus.

“It is a combination of English and Latin. My father is teaching me and it helps me practice when I use it for my analysis. I am working on getting the whole thing translated over but I am still learning so it is taking time.”

Izuku did not quite hear what the pro said when he quietly grumbled as he continued to go through the different listings of Heroes. Then he paused… long enough for Izuku to worry a bit before the Hero showed him what he was looking at. It was a drawing of Eraserhead from back in his third year sport festival when he had only made it to the second round. Izuku always assumed he had done that on purpose considering he was aiming to be an Underground Hero and his quirk worked best when the bad guys did not know what he was capable of.

“You might just happen to be a big influence for me. You’re one of the few Heroes I know that actually fights quirkless. Not many people like the quirkless so having someone that forces others to fight without their quirk is really cool for me. If it helps, you can stroll down and see the drawing I made based off that video I told you about. That capture weapon of yours is amazing, it is like it almost has a mind of its own. It must have taken you years to perfect it.”

“So what exactly did you write about me. There is a lot of text for the little you are able to actually see of me beyond the Sports Festivals.” He said as his scrolled down as suggested and once again stared at the image of himself.

“Mostly theories and conjecture. Such as squinting. You know how your eyesight can improve your focus when you squint. Well it helps since not as much unnecessary light is able to make it to your eyes and could potential give you a bit longer time limit before blinking.”

Eraserhead just gave a grunt in acknowledgement before handing the tablet back to him. Izuku smiled and him and went to retrieve his bag from where it was left next to his previous seat by the edge of the roof. Safely securing the device back into his bag he noticed that the fight was done and both medical and police personnel were on scene. He frowned down at the destruction of the road and streetlight that had been taken out from the uncontrollable power of the Flame Hero.

“For someone that has enough control to use his flames as a mask, why does he keep using such overly destructive attacks?”

Looking to see if there were any civilian casualties. Luckily from what he could see of the medical personnel they were mostly dealing with shock patients rather than burn victims this time around.

“I would guess, because it makes a good show and more people would notice him.”

The words from the pro came in such a dry tone that Izuku could not help but to laugh. He had initially not realize he had asked his question about Endeavor aloud. It made sense though since it was a Limelight Hero that depended on popular opinion to get his placing. He was not expecting a Hero to have a poor opinion of another though.

“When I am a Hero I won’t need those kinds of tricks. My priority would be the safety of the civilians.”

“You would be a better Hero for it.” It was interesting to hear approval from the tired Hero that had been rather cold and short this whole time.

“Even without a quirk?” Izuku said pushing his luck but wanting to hear his opinion anyway.

“Don’t see why not. Quirks aren’t everything. Now go home Problem Child.”

He gave the Pro Hero a beaming smile and took a running leap off the roof to the next building and the waiting fire escape. Waving back at an adult that actually believed in him he continued down to the streets chuckling as he made his way back to his apartment. He could not wait to tell his parents about this encounter. If he had a shadow the followed him back from above, well at least it meant that someone cared… or was making sure his did not get into more trouble.

---

“…and then the Villain was coated in some sort of sticky substance when the small bomb exploded from the impact. Mystery was then able to swallow back up that mist that her quirk makes and apprehend the Villain before it was able to free himself from the goo. It really is a shame her quirk does not allow her to actually sense the people in her quirk. You can tell she has complete control of it which is why she places the height just above the eyesight of the Villain so she can still know where they are. Which is probably why she is so dependent on support items.”

“The Hero Support Industry does have some amazing people working for them. The smart Heroes know that not all situations can be won with their quirk alone and will give themselves advantages by using these items.”

“When should I start looking into support items?”

“What do you consider that tablet of yours?”

“But that is not going to help me win a fight.”

“Why not? The information you collect can tell you who the best Heroes to partner with to avoid casualties, where to find criminal activity, and how to subdue troublesome quirks.”

“But I’m not exactly going to hit someone over the head with it.”

“I should hope not. Besides, it you were caught with an actually support item how would you go about explaining it? You know very well the laws state that support items are for Hero, Support, Medical, and Government usage alone. Anything above a taser and they will start calling you a vigilante… and no, I am not getting you a taser.”

“I’m going to need something for long range though. Not all Villains confront Heroes face to face.”

“That is something to consider for the future. Right now, I need your help.”

“Anything, you know I will do it.”

“As it just so happens my presence has been requested at an upcoming conference. I am allowed to bring family… but Inko thinks it might be too much to bring you along. After all you can’t wander off on your own… on I-Island.”

“I’M GOING TO I-EXPO!”

“If you can prove to your mother you are able to behave and I am not talking about that school that should be burned to the ground. I meant your need to find as much trouble as possible and insert yourself into the equation.”

“Dad, they we going to drown those kittens. There was a perfectly good animal shelter a half mile down the street…”

“And rather than explaining that to the boys or catching the bag as they threw it into the river. You decided to send them into the river themselves while you convinced young Katsuki to use explosion on them every time they tried to come out of the water so you could take them to the shelter yourself before they could retaliate. Those boys were in that water for 20 minutes by the time you got back and saved them from that best friend of yours.”

“…sorry dad.”

“Even more you have to understand that Heroes do not meet out punishment. They capture Villains who receive judgement and punishment in a proper form. While accidents happen and are often overlooked, the discriminatory masses will never overlook your faults. You not only have to prove you can stand up and be a Hero on your own but that you are better than them. I know it is not fair, but you can never let other people think of you as lesser. The moment they see a weakness, they will take you down. Think on it and I expect to hear good news from Inko next time I call young man.”

Hisashi hung up the phone and stopping holding back the laughter that he was forced to keep out his voice ever since Inko let him knew what happened. She of course was horrified that their precious little green bean decided to punish the neighborhood hooligans for animal cruelty. But no one was injured from the incident and it definitely showed that his little imp was still planning on working with that Katsuki brat when they became Heroes. Which would help his being accepted into the industry if he had strong Heroes supporting him going in.

Looking up from his desk he smiled at the original analysis book that had been shipped over from his son. The others had been destroyed but Izuku was not strong enough to destroy the very first one they had worked together on and so had sent it to America for safe keeping. Hisashi was also not strong enough to rid himself of the dangerous relic and had it preserved in a hard plastic and hung on his wall like a trophy because it always made him feel warm inside just looking at it.

It would be good to be with his whole family again. Inko had been so excited when he told her that they would be able to see him again after there long separation. The project unfortunately was taking longer than expected and this trip to I-Expo will hopefully have them leaving with a couple of sponsorships for higher quality materials then they were currently using since the grants only got them so far. He would be willing to do more than appeal to donors if it got him back to Japan to be there for his family.

There was also the more personal objective. He finally found where that old hag was hiding and he was going to show her that if she wanted to leave a legacy before she died, that his son was just about her only option. A feral grin took over his face. Family vacations were the best.

Chapter Text

Izuku had been glued to the window of the plane ever since the tiny speck that was I-Island came in view. Sitting next to his mother he did not know what he was more excited for, to be able to explore I-Island or to see his dad again.

Maybe now that he was older his parents would let him have a laptop. That way they would be able to video chat with each other so he could at least see his father when they had their weekly conversations.

He had so much to show him now that he could actually let his father see how much progress he can done with his tablet and his even drawings were getting better as well. He had worked harder than ever to make sure that his analysis would make his father proud and far better than that original notebook he had sent him.

Izuku could not help but think of the array of support items they would be seeing at the expo. Hopefully one would give him more ideas of what he would like to have for himself when he became a Hero. He would have access to limited types of support items once he was accepted into a Hero School and working now to see what item would best suit him would make it easier to design and request them.

He really did want to have something long ranged but would not impede his movement or weight him down too much. Maybe something unconventional like Eraserhead where people could easily mistake that capture weapon as a scarf.

After a few talks with dad, it was clear that he could not use guns as they would give him a scary public image. He needed something that did not look threatening to civilians while still being effective in capture efforts.

He had gone through his notes a number of times looking at the different support items that were used by Heroes and none really spoke to him. There were so many things that he would need in a weapon to make it work with his abilities and image.

Not to mention he did not want to be just about the equipment he could use, he needed to prove he was a Hero in his own right in case he did not have access to support items. That meant he could only use the weapons and items as a way to enhance himself as a Hero and not the only reason he was able to be one. This would take more thought. It was a good thing he would be around his father for a few days to bounce ideas off one another.

---

He dashed forward into the crowd the moment he had laid eyes on him. People always said he looked just like his mother with her green hair and eyes but it was his father he really took after. With the familiar wavy hair and dusting of freckles, he was a green toned miniature version of his father. Even their sleek muscular builds meant for speed were similar in nature. Two identical smiles clashed together as the small boy leaped to the towering figure that was his father to be gracefully plucked out of the air and swung around in a close embrace.

Both heard the more sedate steps of the matriarch of their small family move closer before she too was engulfed by the two pairs of loving arms. They stayed like that for moments just happy to be together again. All too soon, Izuku was lowered down to the ground and found his hair ruffled by a large warm hand.

“The conference does not start until tomorrow so you have me for the rest of the day. That means we can explore a bit if you want. Otherwise we can get to the hotel if you need to rest first.”

Izuku knew that the question was really for Mom, but he could not help but be excited to hear that dad would be with them for the day. He had already promised to stick with at least one of his parents the whole time he was here and he was going to be on his best behavior in hope of most exciting excursions for the future.

“I’ve been resting the whole time on that plane… so if you’re up to playing tour guide?”

His dad grinned as he took his mom’s hand in his and walked the two of them to the baggage pick up. Izuku followed along happily excited to see more of the famed I-Island. His eyes darted all around him trying to spot potential Heroes in the crowd.

While everyone was in casual clothing at the airport, he did suspect a couple of new arrivals from another flight to be a well-known Brazilian Hero Duo. And the shade of green skin on the one women they just past matched a popular Heroine out of Russia.

“I see you got rid of that muttering habit of yours, but anyone looking at you right now knows that you’re analyzing everyone around you.”

He blinked and he looked up at his father who had stopped their small procession. He started to move his head to see if his father was correct before his father held out his hand indicating for him to halt. His dad sighed and released his mother’s hand and he bent down to him. His father’s hands moved down to his shoe where he untied it and started to tie it back up again which put his father’s mouth close to his ear.

“Keep your head straight and slide your eyes to the side to see when you walk. When you do move your head look like you are focusing on something mundane or something that multiple people are paying attention to. Normally, I would not be telling you this out in public in a busy airport but you are gaining the wrong kind of attention. Heroes depends on their natural senses to keep them safe. When anyone pays them too much attention especially when they are in civilian clothes, they get nervous. Nervous Heroes do not always think before acting which can lead to accidents and uncomfortable questions. Do you understand Izuku?”

He nodded and looked to the side without moving his head as his father suggested. He was right about the green colored lady being Siren Flower as he could see her whole profile now as she looked in their direction. His father gave him a hug and he moved back to his feet after ruffling his head again. As his father moved to grab Mom’s hand again, he moved to grab her other hand and received a smile from both parents for the action.

This time as they moved forward, Izuku made sure not to look directly at any of the people that he suspected where Heroes. He did recognize a couple more Heroes and a few that he suspected could be ones he had not heard of as they continued on.

He wondered if someday he would be able to make a database filled with all the Heroes from around the world current and past. It was very rare for Heroes to actually travel away from the part of the world that they protected, and many Sidekicks with amazing quirks never made it to actual Hero status and were rarely talked about. Maybe once he became a Hero himself he would get better access to information about foreign Heroes.

---

His dad had rented a car for them and had driven them around to see the multitude of landmarks around the island. No matter where he looked there were so many cool things to see. Not to mention now they were out in the street, many of the Heroes were actually walking around in costume.

He figured it was fine to stare at them now considering the outfits were all made to draw attention. He kept his father advice in the back of his head though in case he would have to use it again. It might be a good skill to practice being able to observe people without them knowing.

They had finally ending the sightseeing tour by arriving at a small hotel close to one of the many beaches. They had just enough time to take the luggage up and change into some nicer clothes before heading out again to a fancy restaurant a short walk away. Izuku always felt out of place when not in his casual clothes or his school uniform. Formal clothes were meant for funerals and ceremonies in his mind.

Looking at his father in the business jacket and slacks made him wonder if he was wearing his own clothes wrong somehow as Hisashi looked so natural in his formal wear. Even the tie that his father gave to wear for the dinner felt odd as he never used one before. He pulled on it a bit to loosen it but was careful not to ruin the knot even if his father had made his practice it in front of a mirror a few times. As if his father was able to listen to his thoughts, he felt the large hand ruffle through his hair again for comfort as his mother complained that he was making a mess of it.

As they entered the establishment his father waved off the hostess and moved his family through the dining hall to a group of six adults that he had waved at as they got closer. Clearly these where his co-workers that his father was going to be presenting with tomorrow at the expo.

They all seemed friendly but it was very evident that they also only spoke English. Something his mother had never really learned beyond a few easy phrases. So while his father talked with the group, Izuku quietly translated what was being said to his mother so she would not feel left out.

After a few pleasantries, his father introduced his mother who had bowed politely and roughly greeted them in English while smiling so brightly the others at the table that they returned the smile as dad helped her into her seat. Then it was his turn as bowed himself at the table of adults. His response was also in English but much clearer and with just a small trace of an accent.

“A pleasure to meet you. I hope my father has not told you too many impossible tales of his only son.”

Laughter greeted his statement as he had hoped relieving some of the tension out of his mother who still seemed worried about the language barrier as he sat next to her and continued to translate the conversation. His father seemed in his element as he led the conversation during the multiple course menu and even added mom into the stories by translating her words for his friends. He could tell his father appreciated him being able to translate for his mother leaving him to better integrate his family into the group.

“So your father tells us you want to be a Hero.”

Izuku stopped partway through his translation as he realized the question had been directed at him. He finished the translation to his mother and smiled as the middle aged woman with blonde hair that had spoken to him.

“Yes, father has been helping me out and I am working very hard at learning martial arts. I hope to get into U.A. which is the school that All Might graduated from.”

His words brought up more conversations about the number one Hero that was very well known in American from his long presence in the country. Izuku was eager to share some of the more popular stories about the dual nation Hero while this father took up the job of translating the words to Japanese for his mother. At one point his mother seemed to finally feel comfortable enough to add to the conversation without prompting from his father.

By the end of the meal, the three of them had left the restaurant with large smiles and for once, Izuku actually felt somewhat comfortable in his dress clothes. As they returned to the hotel, his father smiled proudly down at his son as his mom left them to use the bathroom.

“So it seems you can be subtle when you try. You did a very good thing for your mom today. You helped without making a show of it and made all my coworkers believe that you can be a Hero.”

“They don’t know I am quirkless...”

“Of course they do. Izuku, I work with those people daily. They have seen every new photo Inko sends me and heard all of the stories about you getting into trouble. You made them believe in you. Now you have to show the world that they can believe in you to.”

If Hisashi saw the tears that fell down his son’s eyes he did not mention them as he pulled him into a tight hug. He would admit he could have avoided the dinner. His coworkers all knew that it had been years since seeing his family. But he wanted to show them off.

His beautiful and radiant Inko had fascinated them with her grace and sweetness. Izuku, with his enthusiasm and intelligence, definitely left a good impression on them. This had also been a test for his son and he had passed with flying colors.

The only reason his team did not work on I-Island was that the grant money that the United States of America had given them for the project came with strings. Everything had to be built on US soil with the material all locally sourced from the same country whenever possible.

His group of brains could outshine many of the scientists and researchers here. If he asked them to help him design a Hero costume that would keep his son safe in their free time… well after today, he had no doubts about their willingness to help.

Chapter Text

It was just him and his mom right now, dad was working on the presentation with his coworkers and they would be meeting back up with him afterwards. He was excited to see what exactly his father was working on. Dad would often hint or mention just a small part of his work but this would get him a chance to see the full project that kept his father away for so many years.

That meant right now he was allowed to explore the expo. Izuku kept a firm hand on his mother’s as he directed them down the different displays from the numerous scientists, inventors, and companies that were the backbone of the support item industry. He knew that his mother was not really interested in the different booths but still tried to enjoy their time by explaining why certain items had caught his interest.

They were talking about how certain colors and symbols were used worldwide to indicate things even when unable to read the written text having just finished watching a booth demonstration from a young pair of Egyptian inventors. They had brought with them a multiple substance container and dispenser that was promoted to help put out the many different types of fire hazards. Such an item could be useful in labs where chemical fires were a real danger as well as when conducting field test. Unlike what most people thought not all fires were the same and a fire extinguisher only really worked on one type of fire.

That was when he noticed her. A girl maybe a couple years older than him in a booth with a series of different bolts of fabrics. What made her interesting beside her age being one of the few people close to his age in the hall, was her bright gaze as she looked at the exhibition around her. It was also one of the few tables that did not have a crowd currently surrounding it. This was probably because the girl was the only one at the table and was watching it for the creator of the display.

Walking closer he started to notice details of some of the fabrics that were arranged on the booth. The highly visible colors were a clear indicator that they were meant for Heroes to use for their outfits. But even more that fabric was armor. The way the cloth laid indicated a stiffer and thick material most likely inter-weaved with metals to protect against slashing and projectile attacks.

“How are they able to make costumes with that when scissors and sewing machines would not be able to cut the fabric?”

“Father uses a specialized cutter to remove the shape from the cloth. It uses a highly focus heat torch to weaken the fabric before separating the pattern from the whole. The machines for sewing use a special heating element to keep the needle at the right temperature.”

He blinked not expecting the answer to his question returned in a flawless Japanese having assumed the other to be from a different country considering all the reading materials on the display were in English. He smiled back encouraged by the answer to continue asking questions.

“So he uses thread derived from some sort of insulator to keep it from falling apart in the high heat?”

“Exactly. One of his first creations was a fire proofing fabric that he has been able to redesign into a thick thread.”

“Is that extra protection for the material since the heating process compromises the integrity of the fabric?”

“No, the seams of the costumes are always larger so that the all cloth that is affected by the cutting process is inside the costume as an extra layer of protection only.”

At one point, Izuku realized he had reclaimed his hand from his mother in order to use it to gesture as he talked to the girl. They had moved on from the fabric and costume building process to her current experiments with the fabrics her father produced. She was trying to create a way to better conceal and carry Hero costumes for when Heroes required a quick change while out as a civilian or when called to a disaster where a few extra minutes could save move lives.

Izuku naturally went into his brainstorming mode that he used with his father when they would bounce ideas off of each other. Asking her what areas he had already looked into an offering suggestions of about variables she might have overlooked. They had finally narrowed her focus down to expanding and contacting materials with programming to have it act out a series of commands. That was when laughter penetrated there conversation.

Both looked around to find themselves the focus of two adults that were clearly used to the antics of their children. Which made he remember something important and turn back to the girl.

“I’m Midoriya Izuku. It is nice to meet you.”

“Melissa Shield. That is my dad, David Shield, he is the one that made all these amazing fabrics.”

“This is my mother, Midoriya Inko. We are here with my father Midoriya Hisashi who is going to be presenting later.”

“Actually. If you don’t want to be late to his talk, we need to get going to the presentation hall now.” His mom interrupted now that she knew that she had the attention of her son.

Turning back he bowed to Melissa and he smiled broadly at her. “It was great talking to you. I hope we can see each other again.” He bowed briefly to her father and quickly grabbed his mother’s hand to make their way towards his father. He turned back once to wave at her before continuing on at a purposeful speed. He did not want to miss any of this father’s panel. Maybe he should have asked for her phone number though…

---

Izuku had stars in his eyes as he stayed on the seat inside the empty presentation hall waiting for his mother to retrieve his father so they could explore the rest of the expo as a family. His father was amazing. In all there talks, he had never fully realized the full purpose of the project that his father led. Genetic cloning for medical applications. They were making ways for people with quirks that negatively imparted their bodies to live normally.

Not everyone born with quirks had a body that could handle their quirk. It was a problem that was even more pronounced and the newer generation of quirk users that could have dual quirks or a conglomeration when two different quirks merged into one unique quirk. Many times duel quirks were misdiagnosed as a single quirk. This led to more issues with medical sciences as many of the cases that quirk impacted had no way to compensate for the bodies inability to handle their own quirk.

His father had used himself as an example when demonstrating the necessity of the project. Hisashi with his ability to breath fire, had fire proofing in his mouth and throat. But his skin including his lips and face did not have that protection. For him to safely use his quirk he could only create very small flames or use a fireproof mask to protect himself when using larger flames. This project of his could graft cloned skin from someone that did have fireproofed skin seamlessly in patches so that the genetic information could merge and replicate in order to produce the effect naturally through the patient body.

It was brilliant and it would save lives. It was also in early testing stages which meant it still had a ways to go and his father would not be flying home to live with them any time soon. It hurt him somewhat to feel selfish for wanting his father home with him when he was working so hard on a project that could help so many lives of both Heroes and civilians.

He looked up at the noise of someone opening a door and his eyes widened at the unmistakable sight of Sir Nighteye entering the room. While the Sidekick was dressed in his usual Hero garb, he would still probably blend in with most crowds considering his look was based on being normal. Izuku waiting patiently with his eyes on the door in case… that other Hero was coming in as well. After a few moments of his Idol not showing up it was clear that the Sidekick had entered the room by himself. Most likely looking for privacy as Sir Nighteye quietly continue to talk to someone on the slim phone in his hand.

He wondered if he should make his presence known considering that it would be impolite to listen in on a private conversation. His choice was taken from him as the man spoke louder in a clearly irritated tone and every word could be heard by the boy.

“I will not watch you kill yourself. This hiding is not like you. Let me know when you’re ready to talk face to face.”

The Sidekick pull the phone from his ear and ended the phone call. Thoughts ran rampant in Izuku’s head at those words. All Might was the only real Hero that Sir Nighteye worked with. While there had been collaborations in the past, they were too rare to get that kind of emotional response from the person before him. What was going on? As his brain worked a sharp pair of eyes met his and an electric awareness went between them as Sir Nighteye realized that he was not alone.

“Hi, I’m a big fan.”

Smart. His brain froze from the contact and that was the only thing he could think of to say. He wished he had a better way to handle this situation. Of course his fanboy self would come out at the worst time. It was true, the man before him was a huge influence on his childhood. His partnership with All Might was what got Kacchan to overlook his quirkless designation.

“I looked for you in the footage of the Toxic Chainsaw fight from two days ago but I did not see you anywhere. It was the first time in years I have seen a major fight with All Might without you there.”

“I was… busy. You saw the fight already?” The voice from the Sidekick seemed to come out as distracted and he was clearly lying. It was also obvious that he had not seen the footage from the hint of interest at the last question.

Izuku pulled out his own phone. It was supposed to be used for emergencies, but he often transferred Hero videos to it to analyze later or added to his collection of what he considered the best Hero fights and rescues. All Might was in a lot of those collected videos. The one with Toxic Chainsaw was no exception.

“Of course, I get notifications anytime a video pops up online with All Might. He is the best Hero out there. I have it saved on my phone. Want to watch?”

While he had made the offer, he had not expected the serious looking Sidekick to nod and slide into the seat next to him. Izuku beamed at him and started the video. It was a very classic All Might take down but the person filming it had done a great job showing the full battle scene. So many videos were taken by people that wanted to film All Might in a close up view but they never took into account his speed so would often lose their target forcing them to move the camera rapidly around to find him again.

This video showed the movements of both the targets so well that Izuku planned on making a frame by frame analysis in the future since All Might was often faster than he could see. Izuku was getting better at predicting where the Hero would end up though and that helped capturing what the Hero did to contain the Villain.

“All Might seemed to be able to handle everything just fine without my help.”

The bitterness in his voice told Izuku more than anything else. This he was actually used to. Kacchan would get that tone in his voice when he felt as if he could have done better and was more often angry at himself and then angry at those around him for praising what he considered sub-par effort. The bitterness from Sir, could only be one thing.

“Are you kidding? All Might had to leave the battle twice. Once to save that family from the building crumbling down on them and the second to get the police office out of the way from that fissure in the ground that Toxic Chainsaw created. He was so distracted you can see at one point where the chainsaw actually lands on All Might’s left side.”

He got a strange looked from Sir Nighteye at that point but pushed on. After all, it seemed to be more internally going on that bother him rather than from what he was saying. Had something happened to upset All Might and make him more distracted?

“A friend of mine plans on being Heroes together with me when we grow up. He has this amazing quirk that will be perfect for a Villain Apprehension Hero but it can also be dangerous when dealing with rescue or protecting civilians. Like All Might, he is akin to this giant hammer that sees all problems as nails. You and I, we make it possible for them to deal with the nails.”

There was silence for a moment before Sir Nighteye got up from the chair. He slowly straighten out his already immaculate clothes and hair and looked back at him. Izuku was watching someone put his emotional armor back on. Whatever had made the Sidekick come into the room had hurt him on a level Izuku could not comprehend.

“I think you will make a very good Hero. I will be waiting for your debut.” He said as he made for the door. Izuku watched his progress as the stride that the man walked became more confident as he neared the door. By the time he left the room, it was like seeing the Sir Nighteye that would appear to the press.

“Interesting encounter. Beware meeting your idols.” The small Chinese woman who spoke took a seat next to him as she took a drink from a large flask in her hands. Looking over her head, he saw his father smiling at his from the side.

“He seemed troubled and I just wanted to help.”

“Not everyone can be or wants to be helped.”

“But shouldn’t we try anyway? If there is something you can do, you should try rather than regretting about it later.”

“Your father has told me that you are impulsive and self-destructive. I agree that both of those are dangerous qualities for a Hero. Why should anyone help a Hero who will just get themselves killed?”

“Because I know that I can do better and be better. My objective is to protect the people around me. I can’t do that if I am dead.”

“Do not make me regret this. I am going to work you harder than any teacher you have had to deal with before. Not only will you take lessons from me, but your routine and diet will be controlled by me as well. If I think you are not able to meet my expectations, I will drop you where you are and find someone worthy of my talents. Your father has convinced me that someone needs to have my skills passed on to them. Your job is to convince me that that person is you.”

Hisashi sat down in the seat that was yet again vacated and pull Izuku into a hug as his son’s new teacher grumbled as she wandered away. He knew his son would be able to impress her. They had walked in just as his son was showing a video to Sir Nighteye and had watched the encounter. He had wanted to let the two know that they were in the room but Fuang Meiling had held him back and pressed to see how his son would handle the situation.

Meiling was one of the top medical professionals from China. She was also as quirkless as his boy was. Which meant she would know well what it was like to live with a disadvantage. More than that, she was the only daughter and heir from the Fuang’s dynasty known for their skills in Chi Blocking.

Back when quirks were first discovered in China, there had been panic. In order to control the populations of people with powers, a strike team was created and led by Fuang Shiang. His skills were vital in taking down people who used their quirks for evil or allowed their quirks to get out of control. These skills were passed down their line until Meiling was the only one who still practiced the art. With no children to pass her knowledge on to, she had agreed on a chance.

Chapter Text

Shifu Fuang had given him even more homework at the end of their lesson. In the year that she had been his teacher, she had completely upended his life. Every morning he woke up to a one hour run. He was expected to go further and faster each day pushing himself a little more. His mother a received menu of high protein and healthy meals that he was expected to have daily. Worse of all where the heavy weights that were attacked to his wrists and ankles. He was only allowed to take those off at night when he was sleeping.

His lessons were a bit of a puzzle. He was learning all about the human body. Every day that he worked with his Shifu, she had him memorizing the multiple structures and connections that made up a person. Now he was working with a life size dummy and was supposed to be able to locate the area when it was called out in seconds. His newest homework was all about performing acupuncture techniques.

When his dad told him that Shifu Fuang was the best in her field of medicine, Izuku had thought nothing of it believing that she would be working on his workouts and diet in order to put him in the best shape for fighting. While he was still taking his Tai Chi and gymnastics classes it seemed he barely had any free time at all. He was given only one day to rest and even then he was not excused from his morning run, weights, and any homework from Shifu or school had given him that he had yet to finish.

What little time he had to work with Kacchan was in the afternoon of his free day and he was no longer allowed to spar with the loud blonde. Not that he really wanted to do so with the weights on, his gymnastics was hard enough with those torture devices on. But they were still able to go over ideas to strengthen explosion and tried new tactics that would be useful in Hero work. Izuku just felt happy to be able to interact with Katsuki in a normal fashion. At school, the only time they saw each other was at lunch and it never seemed to be enough time to really talk before separating again for more classes.

School was another monster in itself. It was his last year in elementary school and everywhere he turned he found complete apathy. He had helped far too many of his classmates for them to be a problem to him so instead he was ignored. While there were always whispers and rumors, no one was willing to actually confront him. Kacchan was no help in that area, he paid little attention to what other’s said and could never say who started one story from the next.

He had turned into a bit of a cryptic. Younger students were warned against associating with him. The ones that did come to him for help always acted as if they were selling their souls for his information. He allowed it because it was easier then to fight it. He had initially tried to stay cheerful in front of the massive discrimination displayed by his teachers who had gone past merely grading him improperly. If he spoke in class, looked too long in another classmate’s direction, or showed any emotion, he would be called out on it.

At first he was hurt that his class did not stand up for him. They surely saw that what the teachers doing was wrong. But as the last year in elementary school, they all faced the issue of testing into a good jr high school. Going against the teachers could hurt their chances, so as a group they had all turned their backs on him unless they needed something.

Izuku hoped that middle school would be better since not all students would care about getting into high school considering it was not compulsory. He had his doubts though. It was more likely the students without high school aspirations would be the type to not care about the rules and would not be the crowd he would want to associate with. Maybe they could at least convince the school to have him in the same classroom as Katsuki. He might be able to suggest the Bakugous ask for it in their stead. Aunt Mitsuki could be quite persuasive.

---

At first he had hated running. All his attention was on the ground in front of him and the weights that made each step a struggle. Each day made it a little easier. The ground no longer fought him as he moved further and faster. He had taken to use his time running to explore the neighborhoods around him. He knew multiple routes to pick and how long each would take. This included the people he could meet and the different landmarks he used to mark his time. It had turned an hour of misery into an hour of potential. He knew that Heroes went on long patrols and while running was nothing like a patrol, he was able to start thinking of what Heroes would look for during a patrol.

He would try to memorize everything about him, careful to not move his head when he spotted someone new and wanted to analyze them. It made his runs enjoyable and he actually found himself looking forward to them. That was when he started to get to know people. To them, he was not the poor quirkless student that had no future. He was a bright smile and a quick good morning to brighten their day.

Then he started to help them out. A small child trying to retrieve a kite that had gotten stuck in a tree. The older lady that needed a pair of hands to haul a heavy box home. The store owner that needed help removing heavy equipment to the dumpster. Small things. Nothing that took him away from his run for long and he would always make up the time used to help others. But it made him feel alive.

So when he saw the fire, he moved faster than he ever thought possible and at the same time felt like he was running in place. It was Kanada’s house. The little old widow stayed by herself with only her cats for company. He had his phone out the moment he saw the trouble even as he made his way to the small abode. The moment he heard the emergency line open to the operator he gave the address, told them about the fire, and begged them to hurry.

By the time he had finished spouting off the information he found himself in front of the house with a couple of onlookers that were staring at the fire. Seeing Kanada was not around, he handed his phone to the oldest of the pair and told them to continue talking to the emergency officer as he ran to the door. Feeling the door he did not feel the heat that would radiate out if there was a fire directly behind the door. He would have to be quick though as once the door was open, the added oxygen to the house could increase the intensity of the flames.

With a quick jab he broke through the door’s lock and entered the house trying to hear where the little old lady was located. He was not able to hear the woman but he did hear her cats. He bolted to the kitchen where the heart of the fire was. It looked like a gas pipe fire from the stove and was currently blazing out of control as the thick black smoke billowed around the room. He found the body on the floor and moved to check on her. He found no obvious impact marks and figured that the blast has thrown her back giving her a knock on her head.

Her position on the floor probably saved her from the smoke inhalation but with the fire growing, it would not be safe for her long. Luckily she was small enough to carry as he carefully dragged the body out of the kitchen before positioning her in his arms and raced to get her out of the house. He left the door open for the cats to make their own escape though he was sure they were already gone once the entrance had been made available for them.

Taking her beyond the property to the large crowd that were watching the house he was quick to find the gentleman he had given his phone to who was still on the line with the emergency operator. He told him to let them know that there was no longer a danger of a loss of life at the moment but due to the proximity of the house, they should still try to come quickly in order to contain the fire before it could spread to the other houses in the neighborhood.

He considered taking Kanada directly to a clinic for a moment but realized the responding medical personnel would be able to get to her faster and even with a quick exam before moving her, it was always possible to miss something serious in his hurry. Placing her on the ground in a recovery position to keep her airway open he look around to make sure everyone else was safe before taking a seat himself releasing all the tension out. He felt his whole body was shaking from the adrenaline.

He finally realized what was going on around him when a water bottle placed in front of his eyes. Looking up he smiled at the corner store manager as he took the proffered gift and emptied the bottle in one go. Feeling more human, he got back on his feet as he heard the sirens getting closer. Moving back to the man on the phone, he told him to tell them know he heard the sirens and could hang up now. He retrieve the phone and placed it in his pocket before thanking him for his help before heading out to finished his run.

Right now he would be more in the way than anything else now that professionals would soon be on scene. He did find his steps slower than before as his body was still going through shock. He would have to talk to Shifu about that reaction. He could not afford to let his body breakdown after an adrenaline high. It might also be a good idea to have her look over him in case more of that smoke got into his lungs then expected. He had tried to be careful but could not take the chance of allowing his body to be in anything but peak performance.

---

“…then Sir Nighteye completely dominated the fight. It was as if he was able to predict every move that the Villain was making. I have always thought he had an intelligence based quirk since you never saw him use that ability but I think he was actually hiding it this whole time.”

“An ability like that would have many weaknesses especially if you are right and believe it to be a touch ability. It is curious why he would be more open with his abilities.”

“I think it was his way of making a debut. He is making a statement that he is a Hero in his own right even though he is still working with All Might. He has made no moves to server their partnership but I predict that we will be seeing more solo fights from Sir Nighteye in the future.”

“Most Sidekicks make their own agencies once they become Heroes. You don’t think he will move on?”

“Sir is an amazing Hero, but I can tell he is also very self-aware. He would want to be able to have access to the best Hero, since no one can match All Might in power, he will stay.”

“You learned so much about the man from such a short interaction. That reminds me, a very determined colleague of mine tracked me down the other day. Turns out you made quite the impression on his daughter. You seem a bit young to be breaking hearts already. Do we need to have “that” talk now?”

“Dad! It was just talking. Nothing happened. I can’t believe…”

Hisashi worked very hard in not letting his emotions show on his face as his son turned into a red strawberry protesting the idea of being interested in girls. Getting a laptop for Izuku made these conversations more intimate but also harder. As much as he loved to tease his son, it was also harder to hide his feelings since Izuku was so good and picking out emotional tells.

He had never expected to get a call from David Shield. That man was a legend in the support industry. He was the only man that All Might trusted to make his costumes. It was also rumored that his name was up for getting a Nobel Peace Prize. That kind of ally would open so many doors for his son, he was more than happy to act as an intermediary to put him in touch with the man’s daughter.

Chapter Text

Middle school was worse. He was finally able to have the comfort of Kacchan in his classes, but his every move was watched. If anything happened, it was his fault. Katsuki used his quirk to emphasis something, Izuku fault. Students a bit too rowdy, Izuku fault. Students coming in late for home room, Izuku fault. All because the act of breathing air was a “distraction” to the other kids. He was an “Instigator”, “Trouble Maker”, “Insubordinate”, and a “Cheater”.

It did not take long for the other students to realize that they could literally do anything to him and not get in trouble. In fact the teachers seemed to get an almost twisted delight in his misery. At first Bakugou would try to protect him, which would lead to Izuku being punished for dragging his friend into his problems because he was such a “bad influence” just like his report from his elementary school had stated.

Kacchan had stopped trying to help after Izuku got a week of suspension for instigating a fight that resulted in his classmate getting a black eye. That classmate had brought in red spider lilies and told him to do them all a favor a take his own life. The class including the teacher had laughed until Kacchan sucker punched him right in the face and then Izuku was sent to the principal’s office. Because of course it was the quirkless person’s fault that he was being suicide baited openly in class.

It had taken everything to keep his parents from razing the school to the ground. Even Shifu had to be talked down before she marched into the school and removed the problem at the source. He considered talking to his parents about going to an online school, but if he left with the current state of his school records, no Hero School would take him. That meant he needed proof. Something that should have been so simple and yet if he or Kacchan tried to record anything, the devise and video would be removed by the teacher.

That was when he went to the only person that understood what he was going through on a deeper level. Melissa had been supportive of his aspirations since day one. It had taken him two months after they had gotten back in contact before his finally admitted that he was quirkless. Only to find out the girl had the same designation.

Unlike his situation, I-Island actually only cared about how well their students were at STEM classes. Since Melissa was at the top of her class, she rarely had trouble from the teachers, it was her fellow students that were her main issue. But they were only able to pick on her when no teachers were about. Not to mention, it sounded more like they just stayed in their only cliques and ostracized her for her differences. Which meant that Izuku was one of her only friends.

Being two years older, she already had plans to go to the I-Island Academy next year and would soon be away from the pettiness of her classmates. She was horrified when she heard about what he had to deal with on a daily basis. She even offered to see if her uncle could help since he lived in Japan. Izuku did not know how much her uncle could help considering he still needed proof that this was happening. Even if he were to leave the school what happened to the next quirkless kid that did not have the same options?

That was when Melissa offered him the concealed camera. It would allow him to record what was going on in the classroom with a touch of a button. The camera came in the shape of prescription glasses. The small camera was set into right side of the frame with a small microphone on the left side. The wiring ran back along the hard plastic casing and would have to be charged daily but no one would be able to tell that is was recording equipment.

At first he had been afraid that the camera would be discovered the first day he went to school with them. But his classmates had only laughed at his nerdy look and preceded to make fun of him as if he were a blind person. He had to step over many legs that were “accidentally” in his way that day and the teachers had scolded him for moving too slowly.

While he was able to record many instances of bullying with his glasses, none of them felt good enough to make his case with. After all he had no wish to come back to this school once the evidence was submitted. That meant that he would have to have definitive proof that the school could not backpedal out of.

In his third week of trying to capture the evidence, Kacchan had not come to school that day. He had been pulled out for a doctor’s appointment and was not expected back until the afternoon. Izuku had not known this fact until he came into homeroom and did not see his best friend at his desk.

Katsuki was always early, it was part of his always being first mentality. Izuku always waited closer to the first bell in order to avoid being around the other students as mush as possible. He felt something inside him plummet that day when he did not see Kacchan in his usual spot.

Bakugou may not be allowed to help Izuku with the bullying, but he was respected by the class and teachers. That meant they would usually hold back when Kacchan was around if only to try for his favor. Izuku would have told them that is was a waste of time since none of them had the attributes that Katsuki respected but he knew about that layer of protection and depended on it.

He had hoped that nothing would happen considering the teacher would be expected at any moment but his wishes were in vain as one of his classmates who could elongate his fingers moved to grab his shoulder with his quirk. Izuku had thought nothing of it to move to the side to avoid the seeking appendages.

Unfortunately, more of the boys found this as a game and tried to get their hands on him even as he twisted and turned to avoid them. He could hear the other students yelling encouragements to capture him and found himself cornered quickly by a number of his class before finding himself on the floor as the boys above cried their victory of capturing him.

The boy who had started it all looked down at him with a smirk before smashing his foot down on his left hand twice before the sound of the door opening interrupted their fun.

“Get to your seats. Class has started.”

The boys all moved away leaving Izuku to cradle his hand that had clearly been broken as two of his fingers jutted out at odd angles. He looked up at the teacher asking for help as he showed his hand.

“That means you too Quirkless. Just because you enjoy rough housing before class does not mean you get out of your lessons.”

The coldness in his voice left chills in Izuku as he slowly picked himself up and made his way to his desk. He could do this. It was one class. Once the class was over he would make his way to the nurse. There he could get the help… but the other kids would be able to keep him in the classroom if they wanted to continue their cruelty. The pain was already making him sluggish and he needed his hand seen to as soon as possible.

Had the fingers just been dislocated Izuku could have set them in class, but he could feel the actually breaks in the bones and knew that they would have to been looked at in case any of the bones had shattered rather than making clean breaks. The longer he stayed here, the more time his body would try to heal around the fractures.

He looked to the door. He was fast. He knew he could make it out the doors before the teacher or his classmates could make a move. From there… well getting to the main entrance would put his path in the way of too many obstacles and one of the teachers would be able to get him by then. Not to mention he would have to make it to the hospital that was another ten minutes if he ran.

The roof could be secured. There was only one way into the area and he would be able to jam the lock keeping the others at bay. From there he could call for help. Maybe it was time to get in touch with this uncle that Melissa kept trying to get him to talk to. He definitely had the footage he would need to get out of this hell hole. He just hoped his parents would forgive him for not getting himself out sooner.

He made the break for it the moment the teacher had turned his back on the class to write on the chalkboard. Even with the uproar from his classmates he was out of the classroom and down the hall before the strident voice of his teacher could be heard. He found himself moving up the stairs two as a time as he focused on his objective.

Getting to the roof access, he grabbed the key that they hide above the lip of the door and quickly unlocked it. Opening the door he got onto the roof and relocked the door before taking a textbook out and hammering it hard against the key that was still inserted in the door. With the key broken and jammed in the mechanism he slammed the door and tried the lock to ensure that it would stay closed.

Sliding his back to the door to use his weight as extra protection he set his text book down and rummaged in his school bag for his phone. His mother would be a home right now, calling her would make him feel better but it would take time for her to get here and then through the red tape the school would pull before reaching him.

Calling the emergency line directly would have them calling the school who would spin this stories so many ways before getting to the truth. That left one person. It took five rings before her voice came on the line. She started to talk about her newest project immediately obviously speaking to him as she worked.

“Melissa, listen to me for a moment. I need you to call your uncle. I have locked myself on the roof of Aldera Junior High in Musutafu. They… broke my hand. I need medical help and an exit. Please hurry.”

He barely heard her worried platitudes before the dial tone sounded indicated that she had hung up. He struggled with the last of his energy to get his textbook and phone back into his bag and secured it to his body before shutting down completely.

---

He awoke to the sound of beeping. There was an IV drip attached to his arm and his left hand was covered in a fresh cast. He frowned looking down at the cast. For them to had taken him to the hospital and applied the cast to him, meant that he was out for at least five hours. He must have pushed himself too hard getting to the roof. He needed to be better than this if he wanted to be a Hero.

His thoughts were interrupted by a man he recognized walking into the room. He had never talked to him, but it would be hard not to know the detective that came out to the aftermath of a number of the Villain encounters that he had observed. But why would he be here? This was one of the best detectives on the force considering his work load and his amazing quirk. There were just so many uses for a lie detecting quirk in law enforcement. Why would they send him out for a bullying case?

“Hello, I am Detective Tsukauchi. The doctor said that you might be up by now. Your mother should be back at any time. She left to pick up your father from the airport.”

“How long have I been…?”

“Two days, you had quite a few people worried. Aside from your obvious injury, tell me how long has it been since you have had a full night’s sleep?”

Izuku blinked at the question. What did that have to do with anything? More important, his father had dropped everything to come here for a simple case of bullying. He was not going to hear the end of it from his parents. He really did not mean for anything to happen. After all, his classmates had never tried to physically hurt him before.

“Maybe a month, it was a couple weeks after school started. I do sleep though I’ve been giving myself two hours a night to make sure I go through the sleep cycle. It is just that it has been getting harder to… well I been having to push myself to get everything done. “

“You mean with all your make up homework that your classmates sabotage but you were still required to turn it? Or the school group projects that you are forced to work on alone while the rest of your group got the credit? Or maybe it is the amount of extra homework you are given by your teachers for acting out in class?”

“Melissa told you about the recordings…”

“What I do not understand is why you did not come forward the first week of school to stop this.”

“I did try. I was suspended for two days for seeking attention. I still had hope back then that it would be different from elementary school. That was why Melissa agreed to help me to get proof of what was going on. I knew I was not going to be able to take it much longer. But I could not let them win. That was why I stayed up every night to get all my school work done. The moment I failed at any of it, it would have proven to their minds that I was as worthless as they called me.”

“So why not bring it to the authorities the moment you had proof? You had enough footage from the first day to make all of this come to an end.”

“…I think a part of me wanted to show the world what being quirkless is like. I talk to Melissa all the time, and she never had to deal with this kind of behavior. In a way, she gets me because she has felt the pain of being quirkless, but she had never had to go through with it on this level and I hope she never does. That first day, those videos might have been able to save me, but what about the next quirkless kid? And the one after that? No one should have to go through this. I had to be sure.”

“Well you got your wish kid, I just hope it was worth it.”

“Detective, I know that this will not change people’s minds about the quirkless. In fact anyone who watches the video with probably think that this is a single anomaly and that this kind of thing does not happen on a world wide scale. That is why I am going to become a Hero. So I can save the people that cannot call out for help just like I was not able to.”

---

“… so then Melissa and I are trying to see if the fabric used by Ryukyu could actually shrink as well as expand. Every time the Hero changes form, her outfit is able to match the size she is in. That means that the fabric has to have some indicator to allow it to stretch. It will also be curious to see if the outfit will grow with her since her dragon size has gotten larger over the years or if it will have a max limit for expanding.”

“It is good to know the two of you are actually doing more than hiding important information from your parents. I understand why you did what you did, son. But surely you knew that we could have helped you?”

“I promise dad, I had never thought any of this would have gotten physical or I would have gone to you immediately.”

“Just explain one more thing. How did you get All Might to rescue you from that school?”

Hisashi was met with silence as his boy sat up frozen still. Inko had left to pick up dinner as the doctors had wanted Izuku to stay the night in the hospital. That left him to talk to his son about what happened and how it would never happen again.

“All Might saved me?”

“Quite spectacularly too. Apparently the police had been called into the school to handle a deranged student that was committing self-harm on himself and had locked himself on the roof. The press had gotten wind of that kind of news and had a reporter and cameraman out in time to film All Might leaping on to the roof to appear moments later holding a figure with very recognizable green hair. Took about ten years off my life seeing your limp body as you were removed from that school.”

“Sorry dad, I had no idea.”

“Sounds like you are not the only one with secrets then. They are closing that school now. All the students will be transferred to the other nearby schools. After your videos, a full investigation went underway. Every single one of those teachers knew what was happening to you and just accepted it. A good number of them will be going through the justice system the rest will have their teaching license revoked. That leaves us with the question of what to do with you. Your mom is adamant that you will not be going back to a public school with any of those kids, and I agree. Fuang has agreed to home school you. In fact she is insisting on it. Something about having to see you every day to force you to use your brains. At least she stopped threatening to drop you as a student once she found out what happened. Even more you need to make this right with your mom. Finding out that you passed out from prolonged sleep deprivation made her feel guilty for not noticing sooner.”

“Mom had… I mean I was hiding it… Why would?”

“Izuku, your broke her trust in you. She works very hard to raise you on your own. We both understood when I accepted that grant with all its conditions that I would not be able to be here to help her with the day to day. That was why we depended on you to tell us when things were wrong. At least that was what we thought you were doing. Downplaying what was going on and then hiding crucial information is what got us here. While we are on the subject of trust. How is it that you are planning on being a Hero Partner with Katsuki when he had no idea of the full extent of what you were going through? Another thing for you to fix and you will fix this. All of it.”

Hisashi had faith in his son to get through this. He knew that Inko, Fuang, and Katsuki were angrier at themselves than at the hurt child in the middle of this mess but that would not stop them from keeping a closer eye on Izuku.

Melissa had been apologizing almost non-stop since she was the one person that Izuku had confided in. She had been so afraid of losing her one friend that liked her for herself to tell anyone what was going on. While she had tried multiple times to encourage him to get help, Hisashi understood exactly how stubborn and determined his son was and did not blame her.

Her father, David, had even reached out himself and offered to help Izuku continue his studies at the middle school that Melissa went to on I-Island. He had considered it for a long moment as that would mean Fuang would be able to host him while they continued working with his other studies.

But Inko would be forced to uproot and while she would have done it for her son, she had already given up too much for their family and he was not willing to put more pressure on her. Not to mention moving Izuku away from Japan would make his boy think that all of this was his fault. His son will stay here, grow stronger from the experience, and show the world that what they were allowing to happen was wrong and could no longer be ignored.

Chapter Text

It had taken three months after the cast was removed before Izuku was allowed to go back to gymnastics. He had been able to modify his movements in Tai Chi to continue his lessons with his mother but gymnastics required the use of his whole body. Shifu Fuang had taken control of every other aspect of his life by giving his mother the new schedule. His mother had become much more watchful and was quick to mention if she felt he was working too hard.

His father had been right and Izuku knew he had hurt her badly from his silence. There had been times when he had just gotten back home when his mother would come into whatever room he was in just to look at him. He knew she was just affirming that he was alright but each time she did so he felt a pinch of sadness knowing that he had done this to her. It would only get harder when he became a Hero and had the potential of getting hurt on an almost daily basis.

At one point there had been serious talks between his mother and Shifu about the diminutive woman moving into their apartment. Thankfully that never came to fruition considering how much Fuang enjoyed her independence and needed the training space in the house that she was renting.

In a way the weights on his wrists that he had hated so much had been useful in protecting him. With them on, no permanent damage had been done to his hand. Three of his fingers had been broken. Two were clean breaks but his pinky finger had a bone shatter and it had taken surgery to piece together all the fragments.

Even now it was not able to bend the same as his other fingers being stiffer and less flexible. The physical therapy exercises we supposed to fix it in time but it made him feel clumsy every time he spilled or dropped something because of it. Still he persisted with his training and for his good behavior had received a new regime of weight training to end his days.

The first time that Izuku had come back late from his daily run after the incident, Shifu had made a point to join him for his morning exercise for an entire week. He still went red in the face every time Shifu and his mother talked about that experience.

He had felt that absolutely everyone on his usual routes had made an effort at one point to tell his “grandmother” what a good person Izuku was and how worried they had been when they saw him running with his cast on. Shifu had been all too happy to let them keep their misguided assumptions and wanted to hear all about what her “grandson” did for them.

Izuku had never wanted a quirk that could make his disappear more than that week as he was forced to listen to his mentor cackling about his inability to not offer help with his mother. They had even brought his father in on their amusement and as much as he loved his father, the man played dirty at times. It had been made worse when Dad had turned it around and pointedly wondered why he was the only person that was apparently not worth helping. He had no answer for that.

After that week of hell he was allowed the independence to go on his runs normally and was ordered to text home if he was going to be late. He was never late without the proper text after that. In fact he learned to quickly send texts off behind his back so not to be rude if talking to a person about some task they needed help with. He would have been willing to put up with much more in order to not have to die from embarrassment again.

It was also hard to be angry at the people that had tattled to his Shifu about him. It had touched him, that they had been worried about his health and wanted to praise his deeds. He was thankful his name had never gone public from the news of his old school being shut down. The video of All Might saving him never actually showed his face which help keep him anonymous to those that were not part of what had happened.

That was why he was shocked to hear a yell of derision one day as he ran down a familiar path. Looking about his eyes landed on one of his old classmates who was charging forward with a face red with anger. Most kids were just getting up or preparing for school while he ran so he did not often meet those that were his age but it served to reason that since they had gone to the same school that the boy would live nearby even if they had not seen each other outside of school before.

Makou Kaon had not been one of his usual bullies. While he had been one of the boys that had held him down that last day, he was always a follower. Izuku had actually put him in the analysis notes considering he had a rare quirk that allowed him to produce a fine powder of sodium hydroxide also known as caustic soda from his hands. He would normally wear specialized gloves considering the prolong exposure to the powder could damage everyday objects. It also worked as a sanitizer and cleaner since it could break down organic materials… and those hand were coming straight at him.

He ducked under the outstretched arm and moved away from the boy. The powder he produced on its own could be easily brushed off if it got on his skin or clothes without issue, but he had to keep it away from his eyes and mouth. Enough water could dilute the substance and tamper his ability to produce more. The problem was since the quirk created such fine particulates, the wind could disturb the powder and send it airborne which would make contact with his vulnerable areas a certainty.

That meant his only choice was to keep his distance. He also was unwilling to move to more populated areas while those hands were uncovered as they could easily hurt innocent pedestrians. Knowing the route as well as he did he dodge away from the boy and used him momentum to propel him down one of the nearby alley ways that would block most wind from getting to the boy and would make his quirk all the more troublesome.

From there it was easy enough to take a flying leap onto a large dumpster and continue to the bottom rung of a fire escape ladder that would be too far off the ground for the other to follow and pulled himself up onto the closest platform. From his vantage point he looked down at the former classmate that had followed him as he had expected. Moving his hands behind him, he pulled out the phone from his back pocket and sent a quick text letting his mom know he was going to be late again.

“Get down here you damn Deku. Why can you never fight fair? You fucking ruined my life.”

Izuku had never asked about his former classmates. He had only been told they went to other schools and had left it at that. A part of him did feel happy to hear that they had received some sort of punishment but he would have never wanted to ruin anyone’s life.

“What are you talking about? I never did anything to you.”

“Are you really playing dumb now? It is because of your damn video that a mark has been placed on my record. I can’t even test for Hero School much less enter one now.”

“You don’t have the proper control of your quirk to get into Hero School.”

“What the hell do you know? You don’t even have a quirk.”

“You depend on too many other factors to make you quirk useful as a Hero. In its current form it can only be useful in close combat and even then the most effective use of your quirk would literally blind your opponent permanently which will lead to more issues when they go into the justice system. You would require a support item that could neutralize your quirk down to an irritant before anyone of sense would let you on a battle field.”

“You always did have all the fucking answers. Even when no one asked for you opinion, isn’t that right Quirk Doctor. As if you were better than the rest of us. It made us sick seeing you talk with Bakugou at lunch about being a Hero. As if a quirkless freak like you could be a Hero when we have perfectly good quirks. You will never be a Hero.”

Makou lifted his hands in the air and seeming to aim toward Izuku and started to blow on his hands causing the powder to go airborne just as Izuku had feared it would. Except Makou was an idiot. The powder was light enough to go airborne but there was no wind in the alleyway to lift it all that high. All Izuku would have to do was stay put to be safe from it. Except Kaon had closed his eyes, as he continued to blow on his hands creating a higher consistence of the partials in the air. If he had closed his eyes that meant, he was not immune to the effects of his quirk which means…

“Stop! You are going to hurt yourself. Inhaling with that amount of caustic soda in the air will…”

He was interrupted by loud coughing as what he was afraid of happened. He could see the shape in the middle of the cloud of powder had fallen on his knees and continued to cough. Pulling his phone out him made a called to the emergency line.

“We need an ambulance immediately. There has been a quirk accident when a boy accidentally discharged his quirk that produces sodium hydroxide and inhaled it. Considering the large amount that was inhaled, the medical personnel should be expecting burns through his throat and maybe lungs.”

Without Makou adding more of the powder into the air, the fine partials were naturally dispersing and settling on the ground but his former classmate would need help before it was fulling safe to enter that area and the longer he waited the worse the burn damage would become. Cursing his luck, Izuku pulled his shirt off and turned it into a makeshift mask to protect himself and he took a leap off the building and into the alley.

His vision was impaired by the power and the material of his shirt but was still able to make out the shape of Makou lying on the ground. Unfortunately, he had stopped moving which meant his body was no longer expelling the dangerous substance from his mouth. He had a water bottle that he used while running but opening it now with the powder still in the air would help no one.

Pulling the boy up into a fireman’s carry to keep his mouth angled to the ground he ran out of the alley and into the streets again. He could not go far with the ambulance on the way, so he placed him on the ground and pulled his shirt off his head carefully so any power that had landed on it would not add to their current problems and turned it inside out to carefully wipe his bottle down in case the outside had been contaminated as well.

Opening the bottle he used the water to wash Makou’s face of any of the traces of the sodium hydroxide. It would be too dangerous while he was passed out to rinse his mouth with the water but with his face clean he did open his mouth as he moved him into the recovery position so that his saliva could naturally escape with more the toxic chemicals.

Unlike his usual move of heading back to his exercise after helping, there was no one out here to take over and with the boy out cold, he could potential cause more damage if he was not being watched. That meant Izuku was waiting with the body when the ambulance came rushing down the road and stopped as he waved them over to show that he was the one that called in the emergency.

---

The medical team moved out and assessed the situation quickly as they already knew what they were expecting to find. What they were not expecting was the rumored Green Miracle that stayed respectfully out of the way and clearly explained the cause, symptoms, and actions he had taken as they worked. Having worked this area for years, the team had all heard about the Green Miracle. It was mostly a joke that they had thought the people in the neighborhood had made to keep a known vigilante out of trouble.

There had been a number of calls that they had answered to find the situation mostly taken care of and the person left to explain what had happen would talk of a young boy with green hair that happened to be in the area at the right time to help. Conversations with the victims usually started with, “It’s was a miracle” to then describe an unbelievable action of a child that was unable to stay at the scene of the incident.

Since none of them had ever seen the boy, they had always joked about his mystical existence. The very clearly green hair child with a body packed with muscles from what they saw with his shirt off was the perfect description of the elusive Green Miracle.

Once they were certain the patient was stable their Lead Hunoko walked up to the boy to get some final information. Midoriya Izuku was the name of the Green Miracle. When past exploits were mentioned he waved it off like they were nothing special. He explained that before when he was in public school, he would have to hurry home after helping out since he did not want to be late to first bell. He was able to give off the personal information for Makou Kaon so they would be able to find his parents and inform them about the accident.

It came out later when they had reached the hospital and unloaded the ambulance that the victim would have permanent scaring in his throat. The Green Miracle had been able to save the boy’s life by stopping the spread to the lungs but he would never be able to speak normally nor be able to eat solid food again.

---

“Fat Gum seems to have a greater working relationship with the police then most Heroes. At least they seem to utilize his abilities more than the average Hero. You can also tell he uses a lot more strategy than many of the higher ranking Heroes.”

“I don’t he is really thinking about his ranking considering what his quirk is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me what do you know about the top Heroes? Why do Female Heroes seem to all depend on their sex appeal?”

“It’s a popularity contest. The more people vote for you the higher the ranking.”

“Exactly so why does Fat Gum portray himself as he does?”

“The form he uses gives him the best defense to capture and protect others.”

“That same quirk could also give him the body and face of a Greek God. It seems that he cares more about what will work the best as a Hero rather than in popularity.”

“Not completely. He still gives himself a cute image to make people feel safe around him. He could have easily gone for intimidating. He also seems very easy going and approachable when around civilians though he is all business when around police or Villains."

“Many Heroes depend on a mutual association with the police to find Villains and assist them with take downs. Making the police recognize his reliability and dedication probably means they are more likely to come to him for help. It is not too late if you rather go into police work. I know your mother would be happier if you want to take on a safer line of work.”

“The police do a lot of good, but they are also not allowed to interact directly in Villain apprehensions. I have never been one to stay in the sidelines when there is something that I can do to help. Besides, we both know that the police academies will not let quirkless trainees into the program. We are a liability for police work. It is only because the Hero Schools are associated with the public school system that they are yet to mandate a rule that can discriminate on quirks.”

“Another discriminatory practice that we will have to fix eventually. But that can only change if we give them a reason to change. That means even more depends on you. Have you looked into those extracurricular courses that you have access to with the online classes?”

“A few, Shifu wants me to complete the required courses first. I was thinking it would be a good idea to take advantage of the advance science classes. From what I can determine the Hero course usually leave out science in there curriculum in order to….”

In a way, it warmed Hisashi that his son was looking into science courses. It would help him better understand the inner working of many of the quirks that he studied. He would try to steer him towards Genetics and Chemistry since that would help him the most. He was already more than an expert on human and mutant physiology considering his mentor.

Far too many Heroes depended on their staff to fill in the holes that the education system left them. U.A. was better than most when it came to expanding knowledge but they could only pack so many classes in a day for their students.

He felt that Nedzu had been one of the defining factors for the positive change in course studies at U.A. but Hisashi assume that the principal could only change so much before receiving push back. There had also been word of a new teacher that focused more on students that could think over smashing through walls. Maybe someday soon they would be able to have a fair entrance exam to take in account the different types of Heroes.

Chapter Text

Izuku fell to the floor again completely paralyzed from the swift attack. Shifu was pulling no punches today. The day after he had turned thirteen, Fuang had told him that he was now old enough to put theory into practice. His new lessons in combat were brutal. He had more bruises on his body from falling on than ground in three months then all his prior years sparring with Kacchan.

The small feisty Chinese woman moved faster than anyone he knew quirk or no and the moment you let your guard down, she was there to plant your face into the ground. Her technique was a masterful blend of Tai Chi and medical knowledge. There was never any true power in her attacks, instead she used quick fast jabs and specific points on the opponent’s body to disrupt the natural functions such as movement.

He felt the weight on his back as the devil woman sat down on him. That meant he had been hit in one of the more vital areas and would be forced to stay in this position for a while. It was Shifu’s way to making a point that he needed to better protect certain parts of his body.

While they had a life size human dummy that could be used for practice, Fuang wanted Izuku to know exactly what every strike and contact point did to a person. From the slight dizziness, involuntary movements, sharp pains, and complete body paralysis, Izuku had experienced it all.

This current torture, was a graduation present. Shifu believed that he was ready to take on new opponents and would finally be teaching him how to disable somebody’s quirk. Considering Fuang Meiling was as quirkless as Izuku, that meant inviting others to join their training. She had learned Chi Blocking from her father as a form of self-defense. It had largely grown out of favor as it was a difficult skill to master.

Most people that looked into martial arts wanted to jump into the physical dynamics and build improvement one punch or kick at a time. Chi Blocking required knowing every single part of the human body and the relative chi paths that allowed the body to function before the first blow could be struck. It also required a more intuitive knowledge as mutation and transformation quirks could rearrange common patterns in the body's make-up.

That meant analyzing people instantaneously while looking for the best focus for his attacks while being able to get in close contact to make his move. Shifu had already shot down the idea of using a long distance support item as the techniques require a personal touch to be effective and non-lethal. That meant he was also being taught stealth to compensate for his need for close combat.

That did not mean he would have be able to use long range support items in the future, just that the techniques that he was being taught could not be used with them. Which lead to the idea of getting something that could be used in tandem. But right now, he just had to survive the rest of his training. At least he was starting to feel his feet again.

---

Izuku was laughing with the old man that ran the local flower store. He had just received a large delivery and was having difficulties lifting all the containers with their delicate charges inside. Luckily, Izuku had been running by at the time and offered to help him carry the plants into the store from their current location stacked next to the front door.

It was easy enough to move the items where the owner directed and they had chatted as they went being on friendly terms ever since he had help his granddaughter retrieve a kite that had been stuck up a tree. He had also texted his mother considering there was always one more thing that needed to be done when it came to this flower shop.

He could not blame the man, it was a small family run business but the man was usually on his own until his daughter in law dropped her kids off at school and could join him. That left him with the business of opening the shop and preparing it for the day. So when the task of hauling was done, he was not surprised by the additional request to recover a few items from a tall shelf for a commission that the man was working on.

Perched on the ladder it was a coincidence that he had turned his head in time to see the older man stumble. It was the blank look on his face that made Izuku jump from his position and grab the man before his head landed on his worktable. It was fortunately the shop was small enough that he was able to reach the man in time. Easing the body to the floor his pulled out his phone and called the emergency line as he checked over the common reasons for this kind of incident.

“Potential cardiac arrest at the Little Sun Flowers location on Tudan. Subject is a gentleman in his late 60’s who is currently unresponsive. He is still breathing but his heart beat is fluttering sluggishly and could have a relapse. No AED is available at the location with no other person able to retrieve one as I monitor in case CPR is needed. Please send a medical team immediately.”

Izuku placed the phone on speaker and rushed to the door of the shop to open it wide. He used to hang up the phone once he was done delivering information but a stern lecture from the emergency personnel about needing a continuous line to the scene. Most of the time Izuku played little attention do the phone but every now and then would be prompted for an update.

It did not take long to hear the sirens and the movement from the front of the store as familiar faces entered the room. Izuku got up and took up a spot away from the body to be replaced by the medial response team. The area had already been cleared and the front of the unresponsive man’s buttoned down shirt was open so the medic could place the proper equipment in place to see if they would safely be able to transport the man.

As the team worked a single woman came over to Izuku with a wave. He quickly explained the situation to Hunoko and the steps he had taken. He also explained which family member to contact and handed the keys he had found to the store to the team leader so they would be able to lock up the shop when they left.

“As meticulous as ever. So when will you finally be getting your certification and join us in the field Midoriya?”

“You know very well, I am working on getting into Hero School.”

“So what, lots of Heroes have secondary degrees and certifications in medical, teaching, and engineering fields. You can’t tell me you never thought of using your skills in a rescue situation?”

“As much as I would like to, beyond the basic first aid classes I have already taken, I would never be accepted into a program. Medical programs require a certification of quirk control. It is meant to ensure that applicants will not lose control of their quirk under high pressure and delicate environments. As quirkless, I cannot get a certification or even a waiver from the requirement.”

“Well then, have you ever heard of internships?”

---

Shifu Fuang had been excited when Izuku had come back with the offer from the emergency medical response team. There was no real way she could practically train her student in real life situations so it had seemed the perfect solution to give him actual experience in the field. The fire station that the medical team was attached to, had not been as enthusiastic of getting a quirkless liability in their ranks especially considering his age.

It had taken a constant battle between the medical personnel that knew him, a few choice words from his mother, and finally a personal visit from Fuang Meiling to the Director of Emergency Operations and the Fire Chief before his weekends were handed over to Hunoko and her team of responders.

Izuku had no idea what Shifu had told the two men that were in charge of the location, but it had worked wonders. She had pulled him aside and explained that he was going to have to work hard to prove himself and that any mistake would allow them to send him packing. He had received an impression that they had given him the opportunity because they thought he would not be able to meet their standards.

Every day that Izuku entered the station in uniform was another victory. He was allowed to ride in the emergency vehicle and support the medics as they worked. When they were not activated for an emergency the team would usually be preparing for a call by resupplying materials, checking equipment, and teaching their new intern everything that he would need to know to join their ranks. Considering the drilling and studies he had gone through with Shifu, they had been happily surprised by how much he actually knew about emergency medicine.

There had only been a single hiccup in his duties with the team. They had been on scene to a massive car crash. They had been one of multiple responders on site where the driver of a large semi-truck had lost control on the road and had plowed into ten other vehicles before the impacts had slowed the careening automotive to a stop.

When they had arrived at the incident, there had been chaos from the people trapped inside their car due to the damages to the injured and unfortunately dead victims. The on-site leader was the Rescue Hero Appetite who had taken control once he had made it to the scene and was directing his Sidekicks and responders to do the most good.

It had been amazing the first time he witness Appetite using his quirk which allowed him to literally eat inorganic materials and regurgitate them into items. It meant that when faced with a damaged car that had no available opening for the passengers to get out, the Hero had simply walked over and ate a gap that they could emerge from.

His medical team had be regulated to the respond to one of the first cars that had been impacted by the tuck and then dragged along by the truck to smash into others. The person inside was still alive but in bad condition. The Rescue Hero had already made a hole large enough for a single person to enter and check their status before removing them. Once all the safety protocols had been followed they used a cloth stretcher to secure the victim to and they made a slow procession to the waiting ambulance.

Once the body was secured half the team were instructed to stay on scene to help while the rest rushed to the nearest hospital. Which was how Izuku was sent to secure more victims and prepare them for other emergency vehicles when they arrived. He was bracing the leg of a woman that had a clear fracture and seemed more irritated in missing her important meeting then her broken leg considering the phone conversation she was having with her assistant while he worked on her injury. That was when he saw it.

He did not even think as he pulled himself from his position on the ground and ran. A civilian car had gotten through the police barriers and was roaring down the street using part of the sidewalk to make its way past the accident. The little girl and mother who were wrapped in a shock blanket sat on that exact sidewalk having been lucky to only have been bruised from the experience but still coping with the accident.

Using the force of the momentum to propel him forward he grabbed the mother and daughter and pulled them to the wall of the business that they were in front of in time for the car to speed pass them all unharmed. There was a short sob before a loud wail came from the young girl as the newest almost disaster had been too much for her. He held the girl trying to comfort her as he moved both back to the open area. He avoided the location that they had just been and elected a more peaceful spot on a bench.

Once the mother was settled he had place the child back in her arms all the while working to assure the two that they were safe. He even pointed out the car that had tried to drive through the area had been stopped by Appetite considering a good portion of the front of the car including the engine was gone and the driver was being questioned by police. That last seemed to calm the mother enough to take over comforting her child though there was a hollow look in her eyes from all the experiences.

He was making his way back to the women with a broken leg who was currently shouting into her phone when a strong hand took hold of his shoulder. While he knew that someone had been there, he had not expected to look up a see the Rescue Hero looking back at him.

“You did well but try to leave the heroics to the professionals. Your job here is to help people who are injured. You have on no protection and could have easily died from your stunt.”

“I’m sorry, I saw what was going to happen and my feet just started to move on their own.”

“You prevented a tragedy. But you also almost became your own. You’re just lucky that you had enough thought not to use your quirk or we would be having a different kind of conversation.”

“I don’t have a quirk.”

“That makes you even more reckless. You are setting yourself up to be a victim and can cause even more issues. I think it is time for you to leave. This is clearly too dangerous a place for you. Be on the next ambulance out of here. That is an order.”

Izuku looked down, not wanting the Hero to see his eyes. The moment he had told the man that he was quirkless, it went from do your job by helping people to you are too weak for any disaster work. It was not fair. He had done his job, it was true that saving the two was not part of his responsibilities but could he really stand by and watch them being run over when he knew he could help them.

As angry as he was, he still found the strength to make it back to the woman with the broken leg and finished dressing it before gathering up his supplies to find his ride back to the station. He was lucky that the Hero had not asked for his name or location. Hopefully, that would be the end of this and he would never have to see him again.

---

“…so the two month suspension is almost over and I am allowed to go back to the station on Saturday. Apparently the Fire Chief put in a good word for me so the Director was not able to kick me out completely.”

“As much as I hate that worthless excuse for a Hero, he was correct in a way. You were being reckless again. Fuang was supposed to have rid you of that trait but it has seemed to only grown with age.”

“Come on Dad, I’m not that bad. Besides, Shifu likes complaining about everything that I do.”

“Is that why she told me that you have more potential to be a Hero then all the Sidekicks in Japan?”

“Shifu said that?”

“She is proud of you in her own way. She will be even more proud when you pass that Field Medic Certification Test.”

“I still can’t believe the team signed me up for it without telling me. No wonder they gave me so much homework since I was not allowed in at the station. It is ironic that Japan does not allow the quirkless into their medical programs, but cannot legally turn them away from the exams.”

“That means they fully expect you to pass. Consider that when you start overthinking things again. You have a lot of people behind you because you made them believe in you. This is just your first step to being recognized.”

“I thought I had to hide my skills. That was why I was not allowed to compete in gymnastics and I know Shifu is very careful with who she has me spar with.”

“Certain skills. As a quirkless Hero, it will be to your advantage if other people discount your abilities. But being renowned for other skills may help you gain the confidence of the people. Consider Recovery Girl and what she is known for. Now consider what Japan requires for anyone designated as a Hero. All Heroes can fight and defend, Recovery Girl specializes in support but in her day she could stand on the front line with any other Hero and was often called in first during a disaster.”

His son dissolved the conversation into a series of speculation involving the Youthful Heroine. One of the more entertaining thoughts was using her quirk in Villain apprehensions considering she used the vitality of her patients to heal them. The potential of stopping Villains with a kiss seemed an interesting concept but considering the recent state of her physical ability an unlikely scenario to test.

Hisashi had been afraid at first by the amount of time Izuku was putting into his internship but it seemed his teacher knew what she was doing when she forced the fire station to take him on. It was concerning how sequestered his son was from those his own age. He was still communicating regularly with Katsuki and Melissa, but other than that, there was no real time in his schedule to socialize. That had been the reason that they had decided he should go to school.

He was also often disappointed by the Heroes and adults once they learned about his quirk status and have caused more issues in his inability to really trust authority. Adults had to prove themselves to him before Izuku was willing to open up to them now. He was starting to treat his peers in a similar fashion which was going to hinder him in Hero School. He was also going to burn himself out if he refused to depend on anyone but himself.

Maybe it was time to convince Meiling to allow Katsuki to join in on some of the training. He had understood why they had stopped it previously since Fuang had worried about them picking up bad habits from each other since they had vastly different skill sets. Now, it might be possible to start training them to be a team just like they had always wanted. Izuku would be happy to spend more time with his best friend.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Katsuki laid exhausted on the padded floor of the training room drenched in sweat and sporting giant smiles. Kacchan was only allowed to come by Shifu’s house twice a week after school but they had made the most of it by working harder than ever. They had less than a year to be ready for the high school exams and they were both gunning for the best Hero School in the country.

When the two of them were not sparring with each other under the often disapproving eyes of his teacher, they were trying new ways to combine their skills into tactics that could be used for different scenarios.

With explosion added to the mix, Izuku was able to work on a variety of aerial moves that would allow him to propel him forward and attack his opponents at close combat. While it worked well, he did not want to depend on Kacchan to get him in the best position to fight but still had no clue what he could use to compensate.

Katsuki’s control of his quirk was amazing. While Izuku had be training daily to prepare his body and learn skills to counter quirks and attacks, Kacchan had be using Izuku’s advice to improve his quirk. It had given his a large range of outputs and intensity that could be used. He had mastered tempering his force to the exact amount he would need in order to conserve and continue fighting longer.

Prolonged flight and blinding flashes were all part of his skill set since it was no longer about how big an explosion he can cause but rather how best to use his powers. Though he could make giant fucking explosions as well which were always a treat to watch.

They had been working on a new stunt that would literally turn Izuku in to rocket as Katsuki would propel him forward at high speeds with his quirk. Shifu had laughed so hard the first time they had tried it and Izuku’s face hit the ground hard due to his angle.

After realigning his nose to its proper place they had tried again to ever increasing success. This was how they always worked on new moves together. Not everything they tried worked, but often failure could lead to different types of tactics that they had not thought of.

Finally getting to his feet, he waddled over to the waiting water bottles and towels to put him back into somewhat reasonable appearance. Katsuki had already on his feet as he expected when he had turned to throw him the second bottle. Kacchan would have felt challenged if he could not get up at the same time as Izuku and would often force himself to continue past his limits.

It had made Izuku more aware of the signs of distress from his best friend so they could stop when needed since pushing too much could lead to injuries that would slow their progress. In a way it also helped him recognize his own limitations. That more than anything was why Shifu approved of his association with Bakugou even if she continued to yell at him for his choice of language.

Both of them were able to walk back together considering the closeness of their homes. They usually took the time to talk about studies, Heroes, and new ideas for their training. At first Izuku had tried to get Kacchan to describe the quirks of his classmates but it had been clear that the blonde really did not pay enough attention to them to add them to his analysis notes. That meant none of them had impressive enough quirks or skills to make him notice them.

Izuku adjusted the weight on his wrist as they continued down the familiar path. It always took a few days for him to get used to them after they were increased. That was when he heard the scream. Knowing all too well the sound of pain from his internship, Izuku ducked into the alley and bolted towards the sound. He heard the heavier steps of his best friend who followed him closely though was falling a bit behind as Izuku was the faster of the two as long as Katsuki was not using his quirk.

They turned a corner to a small dumpster area where a number of boys had cornered a figure on the ground and were currently kicking them as smaller grunts came from the downed body. As Kacchan saw the scene before him he let out a number of loud pops from his quirk as Izuku ducked behind a pile of boxes and started to sneak his way around the group to the fallen form. Katsuki was always great for a distraction.

“What the hell are you fuckers doing?!”

Izuku peered around a dumpster to see the group focused completely on Kacchan as he continued to yell and insult the boys. He slipped out in the open for a moment before taking cover at a smaller pile of trash and was able to get a better view of the victim. A boy around their age with shocking purple hair and what looked like a dislocated left arm. That was probably why he had screamed and alerted them to his predicament. There were also a number of bruises and cuts on his arms and face.

He hoped that was the extent of his injuries and he rushed forward and grabbed the boy by his middle before hefting him onto his back in the fireman’s carry before kicking off the wall in front of him elevating him to the wall directly across to kicked off again to get them higher before tossing the boy up to the waiting arms of Katsuki who had used his quirk to blast off from the ground at the same time that Izuku had made his move.

Without the heavy weight of the boy dragging him down, it was much quicker work to bounce off the sides of the alleyway to reach the rooftop where Kacchan waited for him with a scowl. He always did hate bullies. He never forgot what had happened at Aldera the one day he had not be there to stop it. Izuku looked back down at the boys that realized their prey had been taken and gave them a friendly wave before moving away from the edge to see how much damage was done to the other.

Crouching on his knees, tired eyes stared back at him from as he looked for as blood or signs of head trauma. The eyes were clear and focused which was a good sign as he started to prod the body before him looking for signs of breakage. At one point, Izuku felt his questing hands get slapped away as the purple haired boy had received enough man handling for the day.

“Get off me. What do you want with me anyway? I am not going to do you any favors for saving me.”

“I hardly need a favor for rescuing someone in need. You have quite a few bruises but nothing looks like it need immediate medical treatment besides your arm. Looking at the bruises, this is not your first time taking a beating. Lift your left arm as high up as it will go, I want to see something.”

Izuku smiled as the boy automatically responded to his “medic” voice. Being as young as he was, it was often an uphill battle to make patients understand that he was a medical professional. Deepening his tone and adding authority to his voice could make people follow directions initially before they started to complain about his age. In a case like this, that was usually enough to get things done as he gripped the proffered arm and slammed it back in place.

A startle yelp came from the boy as he jerked his arm out from Izuku’s grasp but the arm was back to where it should be, so there had been no harm done there. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a well-used tube of cream that would help with the bruising. Lifting it up to show the other he gave him another grin.

“This can help heal those bruises. Do you want me to help put it on you or do you want to do it yourself?”

“What?”

“I said…”

Izuku froze as his body stopped working. He could still see and think but his words would not come out of his mouth nor was his body able to move closer. What was worse, Kacchan could tell something was wrong and if he did not get out of this soon, he would be patching up even more injuries from the boy before him.

“Get. Away. From. Me.”

He knew that those words had compelled him to slowly rise to his feet from the power of the boy’s quirk. Some kind of brainwashing that probably dealt with responses. He felt his feet move backwards on their own and the growl of his best friend behind him. He had full control of his thoughts and had to protect the purple haired kid from his own blunder.

He was forced to move back but he tried to angle himself toward Katsuki. By not fighting the command he was able to manipulate it enough to place himself in the path as the boy clipped him in his charge to the kid with the brainwashing quirk. That jolt of external movement startled his body enough that Izuku felt the fog lift from his body. He was just in time as he hurdled himself at his best friend who was almost on top of the obviously scared boy. He wrapped his armed around Kacchan in hopes of halting the attack.

“Kacchan! No. He did not hurt me. He is just frightened.”

“Damn right he is frightened. I’m going to shove my foot right up his ass and then he can take his damn quirk and shove it up there too. We have better things to do then help a damn extra that won’t use his quirk to help him fucking self.”

Typical Katsuki. He had been worried about him and was mad at the boy for not protecting himself when he had the perfect quirk to do so. Izuku wondered if he would be able to convince the other to experiment with his quirk. Brainwashing was a rare ability and he would love to be able to add it to his notes. Looking back he saw that the boy that had gotten to his feet and was clearly looking for an exit.

“Don’t worry we are not going to hurt you. I’m Midoriya Izuku and my friend here is Bakugou Katsuki.”

“…yeah not believing Explodo Boy. I’ll take my chances over here.”

The boy said moving away from the enraged blond. Izuku could not really blame him, Katsuki knew how to be intimidating. It was a great skill when faced with Villains… not so much with civilians.

“Well you did use your quirk on me. He does have the right to be concerned. You have such a great quirk, I am surprised that you have any trouble at all with those boys.”

“Wouldn’t it be “villainous” to use it on others?”

“You have the right to protect yourself.”

“Why are you not afraid to talk with me?”

“You just took a beating rather than use your quirk. Pretty sure we are safe. So once again. Do you want me to help you with the bruises or do you want to do them yourself? If you want you can keep the cream and do it at home. I have plenty of it back at my place.”

As an answer the boy grabbed the tube from the ground and shoved it into his pocket almost as if wanting to have it in possession before it could be taken away. Whatever had been done to the other had scarred him quite a bit. Maybe if he had been forced to stay in middle school, he would have similar mental issues. It was better to treat him like a wild animal and give him his space until he was more comfortable.

“I am pretty sure it is safe to get down now. Those boys have probably all left. Will they give you more trouble tomorrow?”

“I can usually avoid them but I had to stay late a school which meant they were able to follow me.”

“What of your teachers?”

“They always blame it on me. Since I can control people.”

“I know all too well what that is like. You may not trust us now, but if you need help call me.”

A small white business card was pulled out of the side pocket of his bag and held out to the other. It simply had his name and cell phone number on it. Hunoko had given a stack of them to him when he had passed the Field Medic Certification Exam as a gift which is why the back showed the symbol of the Emergency Medical Services Team. The boy had taken the card as if the paper was about to bite his fingers, but at least he took it.

Giving him a large smile, Izuku gestured the way for them to get off the roof safely. At least for the boy. Considering the state of his body, he clearly did not train and would not be able to take most of the routes that Kacchan and Izuku were able to use with ease.

“Thank you. I’m Shinsou Hitoshi. Do you really think my quirk is not villainous?”

Kacchan made a loud “Tch” at the question but Izuku just looked at Shinso in puzzlement. How many times had he had to prove to others that he could be a Hero even when he was quirkless? He had no idea about Shinso aspirations but he could at least try to help him with his inner demons.

“A quirk is a quirk, there are no good or evil quirks. It’s what the person does with their quirk that matters. There have been Villains with perfect quirks for Heroics. It’s all about how you use it.”

There was no response as the boy seemed lost in thought. But at least it seemed like he listened. He had also kept the business card. He doubted the boy would use it but he hoped that he would consider it if he ever needed to. Izuku had kept that hidden camera that Melissa had given him to rescue himself. Maybe he could pass it on to someone else in need of rescue.

---

“…it took one punch to completely shatter the support item on his neck. That would have been a good strategy for most Heroes but Present Mic definitely knows some type of martial arts and was able to subdue him without the full use of his quirk.”

“The Voice Hero would have full access to his quirk with or without the directional speakers. It would just mean he could have harmed the civilians on scene. Including the boy hiding on the rooftop to watch the Hero in action.”

“But he is barely out in public any more. With his full time job at UA and the radio show, you never really see him on the streets. You can tell he has really been fine tuning his take down. Most of the other bad guys had already been taken down from his long range attacks before the one was able to get close to him.”

“The longer you prolong a fight the more opportunities for the Villain to cause damage and casualties. It may not make a good show but it is safer in the long run. With his radio show, Mic does not need to prove his fighting prowess on the street to gain popularity.”

“That’s true, All Might was in the area the other day and completely ended a fight with a sludge quirked Villain in under three seconds. He literally made it rain from the force of his punch and the Villain was scattered everywhere. I wonder if Kacchan would be able to do that someday? Maybe with the use of support items?”

“Not everyone is going to be able to change the weather from a single punch but Katsuki’s power is intense. It is possible it could continue to grow and evolve, just don’t try too many weather changing experiments.”

“Melissa and I have been working on designing gauntlets for Kacchan. He needs better wrist support and we discovered the other day that if he is carrying someone he won’t have full access to his directional blasts while flying. He is a lot easier to design for than me. I swear every suggestion gets more and more elaborate.”

“She is a bright girl, but have you considered a more simple direction? The more elaborate the support items, the higher chance that others will discount your abilities and say you are a Hero only because of your gear.”

The burst of muttering from his son meant that he was currently going through all the options available on his new potential support item. In Hisashi’s world support items were more a necessity to compensate for something lacking in the quirk or body. His son was perfect the way he was and was getting better each day.

Melissa’s father had gotten in touch with him the other day having realized that Izuku would be heading to Hero School soon. He had gotten attached to his daughter’s friend and wanted to help protect him in the only way he knew. He offered to create his Hero outfit. Which meant that his son would have access to the safest materials on the market.

His team had already designed the outfit that would showcase his son for a role as a Limelight Hero with the added benefit of protecting every single body part they could think of. All that was left was for Izuku to make it into a school and he had no doubts about his brilliant son.

Chapter Text

It had started with a yo-yo. A simple toy that looks playful and would extend his reach. Then he had thrown it at a pole and watched as the string wrapped around an object much like Eraserhead’s capture item. But a yo-yo could only go as far as the sting on it. That led to looking into other items that could be thrown. He had found out about an old sport called the hammer throw which used a large metal ball and could be sent great distances through by swinging the ball at increasing momentums.

The casualties and damage the large heavy metal ball would create if used in heroics was off putting, but there had been something there. He had found out about bolas by looking closer at ball shaped weapons. They were meant to be thrown and tangle an object though it could also do far more damage if aimed at the head or neck.

He had brought up the idea of using bolas to Melissa who had put energy into researching them with a fervor close to his own quirk research. As a weapon, it was archaic enough not to raise flags for being used by someone not in heroics which meant he could practice with them. It was also fairly simple to build himself with rope and bags of sand. Once he was allowed to have support items, Melissa already promised to make him a set that would befit a Hero.

They were not an easy weapon to master. In fact he spent most of his early trials with the weapon hitting himself with the bags of sand. He finally found the perfect length to not hit himself with only to find his aim would be completely off the mark. Like many things he learned, it took practice and determination. He would spend time each night before dinner working with the makeshift weapon on the rooftops.

He had been thankful that there had been no one else there to witness his progress. Shifu would have found his bumbling attempts amusing. Which would have gotten back to his mother who would then tell his father how many times Izuku had brained himself on the head or released the bolas in the wrong direction.

As he developed skills for the support item, he also looked into the entrance exam for UA. While they always changed up the test a bit there was one thing that stood out. It was made for people with powerful quirks. He had looked into bringing support items but found that only items for medical conditions due to quirks would be allowed. Even looking at bringing in basic items like rope or a pocket knife were off the table so he would not even be able to take things that would allow him to make a weapon at the test.

That was when he looked at his Aldera uniforms. It was a requirement to wear the uniform of your school when taking the written exam and that was the last one that he had used. His parents had wanted to burn the things after they had left the hospital, but Izuku had wanted to keep them as a reminder. He would have preferred to use the uniform from his internship if he had to use any but knew that it would not be allowed. That left him with the ugly reminder of what his Jr High school life had been like.

That was when he had a thought. Why couldn’t he make one final use of the uniform? Pulling out one of the jackets he held it by both of the arms and looked down. He could make a sling out of the jacket if he tore away the base of it. It was made of a sturdy material and he would have find objects to fill it but it would work. Also rather than wasting the base if he could cut it into one single long strip of cloth there could be a way for him to make his own bolas. Maybe with his shoes as weights.

Of course he would need for it to be intact when getting to the exam. He was not able to sew himself but his mom might be willing to help him. As long as they premade the cuts and used a weak stitch that could be torn when needed… He would be able to enter the test with something. He would have to test it out before the exam. But it could definitely work. Good thing he had more than one uniform from middle school.

It had not taken much convincing to get his mother in on the project. She seemed to take quite a lot of glee in turning the jacket into a long ribbon. The sling portion of the jacket was easier to work with though he did have his mother reinforce the buttons on the cuffs to make it easier for him to hold when he stuck his thumb into the gap used to adjust the sleeve.

Working with a sling was not all that similar to the bolas beyond the aiming. Any object added to the center had to be carefully centered so it would not fall out before being thrown and the fabric was thick and did not want to be swung. That meant carefully rotating the apparatus into a swinging motion before releasing one of the arms to shoot the rock he had collected out.

He also had to reinforce the stitches that connected the arms of the jacket to the body as it had ripped in practice from the heavy use of the sling and the weight of the rocks. It was not the best sling but he could get good sized rocks to go in the general direction he was aiming form. It was not the most precise weapon and he would only be able to use it is no other people were in the direction he was aiming for but it could be used.

The long makeshift rope was even better as he was able to control it. Unlike the bags of sand he used for his bolas, his shoes were not able to work as weights. Not to mention that meant he would have to run around without shoes to which his mother firmly shot down.

That is how he ending up trying a rock to the end of it and twirling it at high speeds before aiming it. It only gave him the length of his rope but it added a lot of pressure to the rock when it hit and was far more precise. Not to mention he would be able to reel it back when done. It did not have the finesse of an actual support item but it could deal damage which was exactly what he needed.

---

Today was the first day in years he had been allowed to not wear his weights. Shifu had told him that while he needed to continue his regiment, he also had to be able to function without them for the entrance exam. That gave him one day a week where he was able to set them aside. To compensate for the break in his training he was given even more time dedicated to running and sparring in the training room.

It felt like he was flying. His speed had definitely been taken up a notch that he would probably be able to beat Kacchan using his quirk in a race. He almost wanted to try moving up to the skyline and continue his run up there. But he knew from experience that he could often misjudge his force when adding weights so did not want to try for that now. Maybe on his way home from training he would give it a try by then he should have gotten the hang of his mobility.

Over the years he had merged his multiple routes into one long route but he felt that he would actually be able to extend his route even longer with the pace that he was going. Not to mention the added time he was supposed to be running today would allow him to explore a bit more.

So when his route usually led him to the right heading toward another sleepy neighborhood, he went straight. This path would get him closer to the business district and the past the old beach that had been turned into a dump. As he ran past he felt it a shame he had never used this road before or he might have tried to clean up the beach. But with the entrance exam just a month away, there was no way he would be able to add a beach clean up to his schedule.

He felt his phone vibrate just as he left the vicinity of the beach and casually answered it without looking at who was calling. After all, the amount of people that actually called him could be counted on a single hand. So when there was silence after his cheerful greeting he looked at the phone to see who had call but was unable to recognize the number.

“Who is this?”

“…you said I could call you if I needed help… This was a stupid idea. Never mind.”

Izuku’s heart plummeted at the dial tone was the only thing left of the cryptic message. There had only been one person that he had given his business card to that was that young sounding. Shinsou Hitoshi. He went to the all-boys school maybe a mile from Shifu’s place. He had recognized the uniform on the day that they had saved him. What had happened to make the boy call out for help?

Ducking into an alleyway he made his way up forgetting his earlier cautions. School would have just started so it was likely the boy could be found there. With no explanation of his trouble, Izuku could not call on the authorities to find out what was going on. If it was bullying, it might make the situation worse if the police did not find anything in their investigation. He did have a number though… He made a call to Hunoko as he bounded from one roof top to the next.

“I have a problem. I met a boy about nine months ago.”

He rolled his eyes at the squealing on the other end of the line.

“Please be serious. I think he is in trouble.”

The silence on the other end of the line told him that she was listening closely and was waiting for him to explain.

“I gave him my number after getting him out of an incident with a couple of bullies in case he needed help again. Well he just called. He would not tell me what is going on but it can’t be good if he is reaching out to me after this long. If I give you his number can you trace it? I don’t know if I should be running to his school or if he is somewhere else entirely. I just know I can’t let him down. So many people have already let him down and I refuse to be one more.”

“…give me his number and get your uniform on. We are making a house call. Emergency personnel are required to show up when we receive a call without verbal response.”

“Thank you, Hunoko.”

Izuku gave her the number to trace and quickly changed his path to get back to the apartment. He sent his mother a text to let her know what was going on and to get his internship uniform out as he would need to do a quick change.

By the time he had got back to the house his mother was waiting for him at the door and changed while giving her a brief summery of the situation. He ran out just in time for the emergency vehicle to stop and let him jump into the passenger seat before they peeled off again. Hunoko grinned from her seat across from him and she explain the phone number was currently active at the school just as he had suspected.

They had tried calling the number back but there had been no answer. That meant they had the right to enter the school in search of answers. His job was to be visible. Since the boy had tried to reach out to him for help, it was likely his presence could help them figure out what was going on.

They arrived on scene to the school with little fan fair and Izuku stayed next to Hunoko as his lead marched to the school as if she owned the place. While they had not come with the sirens on, the principal met them at the door which meant they must have been spotted pulling onto the grounds.

Hunoko was polite and professional as she explained they were investigating a silent call to the emergency line and requested his assistance. They were walked through the halls to the principal’s office where she recited the number that had made the call.

Izuku noticed when the principal’s face paled a bit when he had entered the number into the student database but was all smiles and he told them that he would send someone to retrieve the student from class.

Hunoko matched smiles with the principal as she watched him leave the room for a moment. She looked to Izuku who had taken a space on the wall near the door and nodded the moment the door closed. She had also noticed the inconsistent language from the principal.

When the man entered the room again he was very congenial as he started to mention what a trouble maker Shinsou was and asked if they would like to have a look at his record with a long history of antisocial behavior.

There was a brief knock not long after the principal had started to go into the amount of stress students were under during high school entrance exam season. This thankfully ended the one way conversation aside from a series of noncommittal noises that Hunoko used to encourage the principal to continue speaking.

The boy with the familiar purple hair walked into the room and the principal immediately started to talk about bothering emergency personnel who had better things to do then respond to prank calls. Hunoko only allowed a few moments of this before sweetly interrupting the principal and asking him to leave the room so she could finish up the interview and get out of his hair since her day was very busy though she had enjoyed talking with him. It almost wanted to make Izuku gag but the principal seemed to accept the request and left with a last stern look at Shinsou.

“Well you really know how to pick them kid.”

Izuku smiled at Hunoko and he walked forward towards his boss as Shinsou stared at him as if he had two heads. The purple haired boy had not seen him when he entered the room since his focus had been on the principal. He kept his hands to himself remembering the boy’s reaction to touch on the roof but he would have love to have given the other an encouraging hug.

“You called for help. Well here I am.”

“You are crazy. You know that right?”

Hunoko laughed as she stood and ruffled Izuku’s hair affectionately.

“He seems to know you quite well for only a second meeting.”

“Look, I don’t know how he dragged you into this but, but when I called I was just tired of it all. I thought, why the hell not and called to… I don’t know magically teleport out of the cleaning cabinet and…”

“Do you often spend time in cleaning cabinets?”

Hunoko interrupted the boy looking at him seriously. She saw the same thing that Izuku had seen all those months before a series of old and new bruises.

“Maybe one or twice a month. Most of the time my classmates just pretend I am not there.”

“And the teachers don’t let you out?”

“Sometimes, no one responds to me since they are afraid I will use my quirk on them. I just got out when I got called to the principals office.”

“That was what third period? You’ve been in a cleaning closet since school started?”

“Yeah but it is always my word against all the kids and teachers.”

“What of your parents?”

“They try, but it is hard to go against the school when you have no proof.”

“Then it is a good thing you have someone on your side this time. Keep your head down as we walk out of here. We need them to think you’re the one in trouble. They will never know what hit them.”

The vicious grin she shared with Izuku and Shinsou disappeared as she left the room with one hand on Shinsou shoulder marching him towards the door. She politely explained to the principal she was going to take his student out of school so they could talk with his parents about his behavior. Which seemed to relieve the man and also put a spark of light in his eye as if he was delighted that Shinsou could be in trouble.

Were all Jr High Schools just as bad as Aldera had been? He had been lucky and kept out of school after the incident but should he had worked harder to find out if this was a common occurrence to discriminate on what the adults considered weak or villainous?

Shinsou had told him all those months ago about the situation he was in that had mirrored his own experience. He had stayed out of it since he had wanted the boy to have his privacy. He had seen a sharp pride in Shinsou similar to Katsuki and had not wanted to overstep.

But wasn’t the essence of being a Hero all about meddling when you don’t need to? All Might had said that once in an interview and it had stuck with Izuku. Maybe he should have interfered or at least given the boy a better way to get out of the system then a business card. This system had to be changed. It was the job of Heroes to protect everyone not just the ones that were deemed worthy.

---

“Kacchan says that Shinsou is quiet in class but no one has been able to bully him for his quirk.”

“I’m surprised Katsuki agreed to watch over the boy considering his outlook on what he considers civilians."

“I might had given him a summary of Shinsou’s quirk from my analysis notes. It had surprised me when he let me know that he was aiming for U.A.’s Heroic Course. Bakugou understands that he has a strong quirk that would be fantastic in Hero work.”

“Has that made him at all friendly with the boy?”

“Not really but at least he accepts him. Brainwashing has more applications in Underground Hero work so at least he does not see him as a rival. I had to pull on a few favors from elementary school to get him moved to the seat in front on Kacchan.”

“All things considering, I am surprised they were willing to make good on those promises.”

“I might have let slip that having helped them with their quirks meant I knew all of their weaknesses as well.”

“Fear can motivate people in the short term but can also lead to anger. You have to be careful with how you are perceived.”

“Dad, they stood by and watched me being treated like dirt. They might not have hurt me but they knew and never spoke up or did anything.”

“That is what separates the Heroes from the civilians. Don’t blame the bystanders for not coming to your rescue. How would you feel is one of them had spoken up and became a target with you?”

“True, that is why so many Heroes have Sidekicks that are responsible for crowd control. Ingenium has even taken it a step further to have sidekicks that specialize in certain roles. He had almost twenty sidekicks the other day when he responded to an emergency…”

Hisashi let the information on the Turbo Hero wash over him as he thought of the new friend that his son had made. He had a lot of potential as an ally but it could also increase his problems of getting accepted if he associated with a Hero that people could consider villainous.

He agreed with his son that it was what a person did with their quirks that made them good or bad. Back in his school days, before he had full control of his own quirk, he would accidentally start fires while laughing which had given him a bit of a villainous reputation for a bit.

Time would show if this Shinsou would be able to convince civilians to see him as a Hero. Knowing his son, he would be there supporting the boy through it all. Of course that was if the two of them were able to make it into UA together. From what Izuku had mentioned of his new friend, he was unlikely to make it into the Hero course considering the physical nature of the entrance exams. But he could be fortunate if there was a way for him to exercise his quirk during the exam. Either way, with the test coming up soon, they would know in the matter of a few weeks.

Chapter Text

UA was massive and impressive. Izuku fiddled with the collar of his school uniform thankful that the revisions also made it larger as he had filled out quite a bit in the years since he had left Aldera behind. It felt very weird wearing the outfit but it only have to make it through the exam before he could be rid of its presence completely. On top of everything else he also wore a pair of glasses that he had not used since middle school.

“What the hell are you fucking wearing Nerd?”

He turned to look at a fuming Kacchan that stalked over with eyes intent on the uniform. Maybe he should have mentioned to his best friend what he was going to be wearing, but they never liked talking about their experience at Aldera and there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up. After all to Katsuki, Aldera had been a failure on his part.

“It’s in the rules, Kacchan. Applicants must come in their school uniform. This was the last one I had.”

“Stay out of my sight or I will fucking destroy you.”

“Don’t worry once this is all over we can blow up the remains to celebrate our acceptance to UA.”

“What’s with the four eyes?”

“Oh, I wanted Dad to see the exam. I thought it would be the best way to capture everything for him.”

“What the fuck ever. I am still going to come in first place in this whole damn school. You better not get in my way you fucking Nerd.”

“Let’s do it. I’m going to ace this test and be beside you the whole way.”

He received a feral grin from his friend as they continued on to the registration area. Izuku could tell that Katsuki was just excited to be here as much as he was. This had always been their dream school. It produced the brightest and the best Heroes in Japan. While there were other Hero schools, being able to graduate from UA would help prove he deserved to be a Hero.

---

A girl with short brown hair watched two boys enter the main building with wariness. She had gotten closer since she had thought a fight might break out. The blonde boy had seemed so angry and kept yelling but the other had treated it as though it was nothing. She nervously played with her fingers as she continued to the building herself. She really hoped she would not have to deal with that kind of anger on a daily basis in school.

---

Izuku looked across the room where Kacchan sat, there assigned seats had them separated which how he ended up sitting next to a boy with a dual quirk. Clearly born with a mutation that made him almost a third of the size as the rest of his peers considering he displayed none of the common generic signs that pointed to dwarfism. His other quirk was the ball shape growths that made up his hair. From the way they sat on his head, they were probably detachable as well which was a useful trait if one was in need of ammo. The more fascinating thing was the fact that the objects were not made of hair but seemed to have a slick coating of some kind of substance.

“Are those balls flammable so you can create your own fire projectiles?”

“Huh, never tried to set them on fire, but they can stick to anything. Only I am immune to their effects.”

“Wow that is a really powerful quirk!”

“Yeah, that is why all the girls are going to go crazy for me when I am a Hero.”

Izuku blinked and after a few moments of listening to the other boy talk about women as sexual objects he was getting very uncomfortable. Izuku never really thought about it. Melissa was really pretty but they were just good friends. He would never dream of doing any of the things that the boy was suggesting to her.

Then he started talking about the “quality” of the girls in the room which really made his cringe a bit. Izuku really wished they could have gotten on any other topic but just like he could go on about quirks, apparently the boy next to him could talk endlessly about women.

He hesitated for a moment then turned on the recording for his glasses as the conversation got more uncomfortable. Especially since the boy started to talk about how to sneak into the girl’s dressing rooms using his quirk in a way that made it sound like he had done something similar before.

Thankfully the talk ended as the packets of paper tests were soon handed out. The other finally stopped talking about what he would like to do with breasts of the pretty girl the row across from them who was nervously resizing her pencil as she waited. Considering her blush, she could probably hear every word the kid was saying since it was not as if the boy was trying to hide his perversions.

Izuku subtlety stopped the recording as the test landing on his desk so he would have plenty of time on it for the action his father had really wanted but well, something about the way the boy had talked just did not seem right for a Hero student. The question was now that he had video, what should he do with it?

---

He had finished the test and double checked his answers with a good half hour to spare. He probably could have finished sooner but had wanted to put as much information as he could into the essay questions. Flashbacks of Elementary and Jr High reinforced his need for the essays to be flawless. He could not let the teachers hold him back for biases that were not in his control.

After leaving the desk to turn his test in, he was allowed to head to the cafeteria for lunch before the physical portion of the test began. He did not know how much he would be able to eat considering how nervous he felt but knew it would be better to have all his strength before the test for an optimal performance.

That left him with another conundrum. He had a video that should probably be seen by the school authorities… but they would also probably confiscate his glasses which would mean he would not be able to send the footage to his father. There was nothing in the rules that forbid bringing recording devices which was most likely due to the prevalence of phones which would make it hard to enforce.

As he passed by an adult on his way to the cafeteria he paused for a moment recognizing the hair. Even with civilian clothing on, there was no way to mistake her for the R Rated Hero that she was. From every interview with the women, she seemed playful but down to Earth. She might be able to understand his problem.

“Uh Midnight?”

“Oh my, so you were able to see through my civilian clothes?”

There was a clear double entendre in the sentence along with a husky voice delivery meant to entice. But after spending ten minutes listening to the drivel that the boy before the test had spouted. Well he could barely produce a tinge of red to his cheeks though he did feel his eyes widen a bit being talked to in such a way. Bakugou would be laughing at his awkwardness if he saw him now.

“I am a fan of your work. You have such an amazing quirk and have one of the lowest escape rates for Villain apprehension… but actually I don’t know what to do. I found out something that I think the school should know about but I don’t know how to share that information.”

“Snitching on a potential student? Did you catch someone… cheating? Tell me all about it.”

Izuku gulped as Midnight clearly saw through his panic and was teasing him. Seriously though the Pro Hero was a bit too much to deal with in person. He pull out his phone putting a barrier between them and he looked about the empty hall.

“I think it best if I show you.”

---

Izuku felt relief as he sat in the cafeteria the glasses still perched on his nose as he took a bite of the rice bowl. He had found Kacchan and Shinsou already eating by the time he had gotten there. After showing the teacher the video, she had demanded a copy of it and since it was a ten minute video that was completely uncompressed it had taken a while to get it sent to her phone. Once the download was complete she had left him in the hallway to find his own way to lunch.

“I was getting fucking tired of waiting for your ass.”

“Oh, I saw Midnight in the hall on my way here. I just wanted to ask her a few questions.”

“God damned Nerd.”

“Yeah, I definitely have more things to add about her in my notes.”

Izuku could not help the blush thinking back to the encounter now that he did not have to worry about a potential situation anymore. Shinsou gave him a tired look.

“Really the Rated R Hero is your type?”

“Fucker would have fanboyed over any damn Hero he can find.”

“I’m not that bad Kacchan. I’m more surprised you are not a fan Shinsou. Her quirk would have made her a perfect Underground Hero. Her personality is loud but her skills are undeniable. You should see some videos of her during riots and hostage situations. Just last week she was called onto…”

---

Izuku was thankful when he returned to the auditorium to find the seat next to him empty. He really could not have dealt with putting up with that boy right before the physical exam. It was going to be hard enough as it was to get through it. He figured he had done well enough in the written test he could get into General Studies and then make his way into the Hero Course with the Sports Festival like Eraserhead had. But he would be letting down a lot of people that had supported him so far if he gave up now.

He had been a bit embarrassed when he was the lone student that shouted when Present Mic had called for audience participation but he could not help it considering the Voice Hero was actually there in costume unlike Midnight had been. He really wanted to get a better look at the directional speaker on their way to the buses. There was so much potential in the support item for Shinsou to have something similar for his own quirk. He might be able to convince Melissa to help him out with a design for his new friend.

Of course the two of them would have to get past the robots first. Katsuki would have no trouble getting first place with the test before him. Explosion could take on the destruction of the robots easily. Shinsou’s brainwashing on the other hand would only really work if he used it on the other examinees which would hurt their chances of getting in. It was unfortunate that he had not found out that he wanted to be a Hero earlier and could have helped him get in shape.

---

When Hitoshi entered the bus with Bakugou he realized how both lucky and unlucky he was that he had registered to take the exam under his old school. It was good to have a somewhat familiar face going into the exam but the boy was also crazy competitive which would mean he would most likely be gunning for all the points. It still amazed him the most angry boy on the planet was best friends with literally sunshine.

He felt a rough hand on his back as he was shoved onto the first seat available as the blonde sat next to him. While they were in class together they barely talked. Bakugou was always so focused on what he was doing that anything else was deemed a distraction. Midoriya had explained that Bakugou actually did like him and would protect him if needed. But he never really saw that side of the boy next to him.

“The Nerd thinks you’re interesting. Stay out of my fucking way or I will kill you.”

Yeah, he could feel that warm protectiveness Midoriya told him about. It was already bad enough he would have no chance to use his quirk on the robots. How much more could this day suck?

---

Katsuki left the bus with a grin of anticipation. This test was going to be a blast. Thankfully Eyebags was with him so he could keep an eye on the boy. Izukun would kill him if the other got hurt on his watch. At least he had been able to warn him to stay away from his blast area. Considering the size of the robots they were about to fight, the purple kid needed to stay behind him so he would not be hit by any of the debris from the impacts. Hopefully he was smart enough to listen to him.

---

Izuku looked about him at his competition and did not recognize any of them but there was a lot of really cool quirks on display. While on the bus he had already taken apart his jacket. He had tied the sleeves together around his waist and wrapped the ribbon of fabric around his right arm. Until he was able to find projectiles they would be of little use. But by covering his dominate hand, he could have extra protection when he tried to punch one of the robots. Hopefully the metals they were made out of would break easily.

His eyes stopped on a girl who was clearly in distress and moved to help. He felt a hand reach out for him and easily ducked under it to get to the girl. He heard the other follow him and start to berate him about interfering with the other examinees but paid it little mind. Getting to her girl he used his hands on her shoulder to angle he body down.

“Breath in through your nose for ten seconds then out through your mouth for another ten. Again. Feel better?”

“How did you know?”

“I know a panic attack when I see one. Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.”

“Thank you. My name is…”

“START”

The moment Izuku heard the voice ring out for the beginning of the test. the girl before him was forgotten as he turned and ran for the gates while turning on the camera on his glasses. He would need every moment to get through this exam. He could tell the other examinees were behind him but would be gaining soon once he entered combat. Which was why when he found the robots before him, he went for the three pointer out of the group.

Built almost like a turtle with its armor, Izuku took a running slide under the body as he guessed its weakness. He happily found the piece that connected the body to the head was made of a thinner and almost malleable material to allow the creation to move its head side to side to find opponents. That meant he could grab the head from below and yank it out of the socket to disable to the robot.

He slide past the wheels of the machine as it crashed to the ground disabled without its head. This was going to be easier then he thought as he got back on his feet and jumped up to beheaded the one pointer that was aiming toward him using a similar tactic. These robots may look scary but with enough pressure to the right area, they were more than able to be defeated.

Taking the head of the one pointer he slide the end of the ribbon on his hand through the vents at the front of machine to attach it and twirled it around before smashing into the receptors of the two pointer which did not have the weakness of a head to decapitate. Reeling the head back in he ran for the next three pointer and used his movement to once again slide under the machine to take off his head.

The three and the one pointers would definitely be easier and faster to deal with as the two pointers required more effort. He took a side street moving away from the main area as the rest of the examinees had made their way into the testing site. The game would be to find and destroy the robots before anyone else got to them. Izuku smiled in eagerness. It was time to give Kacchan a run for the top spot.

---

Hitoshi wanted to scream. He had run after Bakugou figuring that the exploding boy would be able to get him a makeshift weapon from the debris of his destruction. Instead he found himself yanking the other examinees out of the way of the flying rubble caused by the chaos of the boy that knew no boundaries.

Every time he thought to go after a pipe or metal bar that could be used as a bat, there was another explosion and yet another person to shove out of the way of the destruction. At one point he finally did get a make shift bat and used it to shield himself and anyone else stupid enough to get near the blonde. Every time he thought about leaving the area to find robots for himself, another idiot wandered into Bakugou path.

Well at least there was always the Sports Festival. Maybe he could get Midoriya to help him train for it.

---

While it was wasteful to use his makeshift weapon to destroy robots, it was coming in handy to wrap around examinees that were in danger of getting hurt and moving them away from the trouble. While the hard head of the robot he was using as a weight would potentially cause a bruise, it would be a far more favorable outcome then taking a direct hit from one of the machines. Really the other kids should have a better awareness of what was going on around them if they wanted to be Heroes.

Taking the head off another one pointer he had found himself back on the main road in time for the ground to start shaking. He jumped back while grabbing a couple of examinees to get them out from under the falling building that had been about to land on them. They had ran off without a second thought as the zero pointer loomed out in front of them.

About to take off to grab some more points before time ran out, Izuku saw the fallen shape of the girl he had helped out before the exam. She was right in front of the robot and would be crushed if it continued on the path it was taking. Taking a leap forward he raced toward the girl as he untied the jacket sleeves from around his waist to give him access to the makeshift sling.

He placed the robot head he had been using throughout the exam into the folds and started to wind it up. It would be able to give him more distance then the other weapon and while it was not accurate, his target was large enough it should not matter as much. He release the projectile moments before reaching the girl. The robot head sailed through the air and landed in the center sensor on the massive head shattering the part on impact.

It is was anything like the other robots, that sensor would control the weapons which meant they would hopefully be safe from projectiles. If not there was enough debris around the girl that he could use some of the larger rocks and bricks to try for a few of the other sensors. Seeing that part of the one of the nearby buildings had landed on the examinee, he realized that she had been lucky that it had not completely flatten her. Grabbing a metal pipe from the pile of destruction, he wedged it under the wall that was crushing her and pushed down on it to bring the part that trapped the girl up and away from her leg.

“Can you use your quirk to help?”

Considering he had witnessed her sending robots into the air and destroy them by having them crash back on the ground he had little hope considering she would have probably already gotten herself out of this predicament if she could. The shake of her head was all the answer he needed and he applied more weight to the pipe to have the wall rise a few more inches.

“Can you crawl out?”

The girl was doing her best to pull herself out from under the rubble but it was slow going. She must have been injured badly from the falling building that he had not witnessed during the chaos. By the time she made her way out of the pile of building materials the robot was closing in on them and there would not be a way to run from them with the girl as injured as she was.

“Can you use your quirk now that you have had a few moments?”

“Maybe for a few seconds. I overdid it a bit.”

“Make the wall weightless and give it back its weight when I give you the signal.”

She nodded touching the wall with her hand. Izuku noticed that she used all five fingers to contact it before he felt the weight leave the large flat block of cement. Treating it as he Frisbee and twirled it around and released it towards the zero pointer. Watching it fly towards the head. He had aimed too high not being used to handling weightless objects. He shouted for her to release the object and watched as it crashed into the neck of the giant machine embedding itself into the robot. The head sagged down and thankfully stopped moving as he heard the Voice Hero calling for the end of the exam.

His part was not done yet as he held back the hair of the girl as she threw up on the ground near his feet from quirk overuse. Once he felt it was safe to move the girl as her vomiting move to dry heaves, he carried her to a cleaner spot and examined her leg.

“You’re in luck. It is just a sprain, I do not feel anything out of place or broken. You will need to keep it immobile for a bit and elevating it while at rest will do it good. But you should be better in a few days.”

“Or I could just kiss it better.”

“Recovery Girl! How… Yes, please.”

Izuku backed up to give the Support Hero more room to maneuver around the fallen examinee. He watch intently as she kissed the girl’s forehead and instantly started the healing process. It also seemed to help her nausea as well as more color came back to her face. That was amazing. Considering her position as the school nurse at UA, Recovery Girl never really was seen out at disaster zones anymore so there was no real recent footage of her quirk.

Even more, he had not sensed the Hero at all until she had spoken to them. He wondered if she would be willing to teach him a few things once accepted into the school. After the amount of points he had earned he had no doubts that he would be getting into the Hero Course especially since the other examinees had been kind enough to yell out their points every now and then. The big question though was… how well did Kacchan do on his end? Knowing him, it would be amazing.

---

Izuku was happily chewing through the bag of gummies that Recovery Girl had given him as he walked Uraraka back to the entrance. He had offered to escort her there to make sure she was able to get home considering she had to use quite a bit of her stamina to heal the minor injury. Her quirk would eventually come back on its own needing as much rest and the girl beside him.

He waved to her as she left on her own to get to the train. He had promised Kacchan that they would go home together so stayed at the entrance and waited for the blonde fire cracker. He ducked down and slipped away as a hand came down to grab him. Looking back towards the school he found himself in front of Eraserhead. This time the Hero was in his actual costume though it was not that much of a difference from his civilian clothes from all those years ago. The scarf was really cool looking though. A hand came out as the Hero looked straight at him.

“Glasses.”

Izuku blinked not comprehending the other for a moment. Suddenly realizing what was being asked, he removed the glasses and placed them on waiting appendage.

“I went through the exam instructions multiple times, there was no rule against recording devices.”

“Only medical support items are allowed in the exam.”

“I did not use it once to help me in the tests.”

“We will see.”

With those last words, the Underground Hero turned and left to go back into the school. He really hoped that the school would not refuse him from the grounds on a technicality. All he wanted was to show his father how much their hard work had achieved.

---

“…I got Shinsou working on his endurance. He was not able to get a single villain point the whole exam but I think it has made him even more determined to work hard in strengthening his body. At least the three of us are going into the same class together.”

“You were very lucky they did not disqualify you from the test for bringing that camera in.”

“It was actually Melissa that smoothed it out for me. I told her what happened and since she had access to the footage from the camera as well was able to get her uncle to speak on my behalf. I really need to meet him one of these days to thank him for all the help he has done for me.”

“Be sure to appreciate all the people who are helping you become a Hero. You are going to want their continued support in the future.”

“Don’t worry, I already know how much they have done for me. I have been working with Melissa on a new type of support gear. She really liked the way I used that ribbon to protect my hand during the exam and we are…”

Hisashi leaned back as his son explained the newest project the two were working on. While Izuku was not mechanically inclined, the two of them had made some marvelous support items in the time they had been friends. Melissa had even offered to add him to the patent on a few of them but his son had refused each attempt to add his name to the papers since to him it was just talking and brainstorming ideas rather than physically building anything. That was why every time Melissa did the paperwork for a patent, his son was notated as Quaque Die or QD. It was a common medical term for prescriptions that meant "once a day" in Latin that Izuku used because he had thought it a funny way to play off his nickname back in elementary school.

He would have to remind himself to invite Melissa and her father to the Sports Festival. He had already told his team that he was leaving for Japan to support his son on that very important day and had already put his name in to get tickets for the event when they went on sale. Getting a couple more tickets was the least he could do for all the help they had provided over the years. He might just invite this uncle as well.

Chapter Text

Kacchan had somehow convinced him that arriving early to the school would be better than coming in at the last second. That meant he had to rush his morning routine instead of leisurely getting ready for school after his run. He did not want to start the first day of school with a fight so he had met up with Bakugou to get to school together.

Shinsou was not going to get up early just to be the first one in the classroom and told them exactly where they could shove that idea. They still planned on saving him a seat with them if only to ensure that they could keep an eye on him. While he was getting better, there were still times where Shinsou had a hard time accepting that he could trust other people his age.

Izuku knew he had the same problem with adults. It was lucky that Hunoko was starting to give him more pleasant experiences with them but he still had a hard time opening up himself when meeting new adults. Hopefully with the teachers in the school all being Heroes, he would not have that problem here.

Katsuki had already claimed a desk by the windows and made himself comfortable. Following him over, he took the seat behind him and pulled out his tablet. It was still the same tablet that his father had gotten him all those years ago.

“You haven’t fucking finished yet?”

“I’ve been going through the video from the testing site and was pulling the information of the other examinees. I already know one of the others made it into the school since I saw her name on the top ten board. There were a few others that might be our classmates. Are you sure you don’t remember any interesting quirks from your test?”

“Too fucking busy to notice that shit.”

“Yeah, it guess is was hard making sure Shinsou made it out of the exams in one piece. Are you sure you don’t want to let him know that you were helping him out the whole time? I think he is still partly scared of you.”

“He’s got eyes. Don’t need any bullshit.”

“True but that was the only reason you got second in the exam.”

“Fucking cheat points don’t count nerd.”

“Hey, I got first place fair and square. You may have received most villain points and Shinsou may have received the most rescue points but I did get the number one spot.”

“Wait until I kill you at the Festival”

“You are going to have to find a way to defeat Shinsou then. He is going to want to prove he made it into heroics for a reason.”

“Fucking bastard can try. But I’ll show him his place like every other extra in this fucking school.”

“What kind of language are you using? And get your feet off that desk, you are dishonoring all the students that sat at the desk before you!”

Izuku had recognized the voice from the test as the uptight boy that had tried to stop him from helping the girl. He was also in a number of his footage using a speed based quirk. From his looks and quirk, he reminded him of the Hero Ingenium but there personalities were completely different from his observations of the Turbo Hero. It was also interesting if he came from a Hero family why he had not gotten in under recommendation.

“Shut the fuck up bastard. What the hell does it matter to you?”

Yeah, he was going to have to stop this now before Kacchan got more riled. While he had perfect control of his quirk. His temper was another matter and it did not take much to release his quirk when he felt disrespected.

“Do you drink grapefruit juice as well?”

“…I’m sorry?”

“Grapefruit Juice. There was an interview about three years ago where Ingenium mentioned that the citric acid from grapefruits increased the operation in his engines. Since you are obviously related, I was wondering if you also used citric acid.”

“You’re a fan of my brother?”

“He is an excellent Hero. Oh I’m Midoriya Izuku by the way and this is Bakugou Katsuki.”

Kacchan let out a loud “Tch” and glared at the boy with glasses as he clearly kept his feet on the desk out of rebellion. Thankfully, Izuku had been able to focus the other on a conversation about his brother and was ignoring the blonde at the moment. He found out it was orange juice that the consumed and he could not help but wonder if lemons would be a better way to get the citric acid considering that the fruit had a higher concentration than either grapefruits or oranges.

Before they could go more in depth in their conversation, more of their classmates entered the room and Iida left to introduce himself to them. The moment the boy was away, he went into his tablet to update the notes he had taken about the boy especially now that he had a name.

As the class filling in around him, he finally looked up again as he heard his name being called out. His eyes met the cheerful brown of Uraraka. He waved to her as she came in but also noticed the tall figure of Shinsou entering a moment later with the same tired expression he had seen since the day they first met.

The purple haired boy slumped down in the seat behind him as he placed his head on his hands as if wanted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, since they had not exchanged numbers he had no idea that Uraraka was going to be in their class or he would have saved a spot next to them as well. That left her with the only empty desk in the class which was on the other side of the room but Izuku knew that they would have time to talk later.

After all, he needed to talk to her about her quirks. It was no wonder that she had been out of energy so fast considering how she was using her quirks in tandem. Izuku had watched the footage multiple times and had experienced her quirk first hand. If she continued to use it the way she had been, it could do serious damage since at UA she would be expected to use it daily.

Looking around he spotted one more boy from his testing site. The one who was able to shoot a force energy stream from his navel. It seemed to be a very powerful quirk as well as it allowed him to move from the push back of the emission. Not to mention that narrow stream of force was able to cut through robots easily. That meant out of his testing site alone, four examinees had gotten into 1-A which did not count the possibility of some getting into 1-B as well.

He had been about to ask Shinsou if he recognized anyone in the room from his exam when his eyes met the Pro Hero that entered the room in a… yellow sleeping bag? Oddly enough none of the other students commented on it. He was happy to see the first Hero that had told him that he could be a Hero himself. Hopefully he was not still mad about the camera during the exam.

“Good Morning, Eraserhead!”

“Call me Aizawa in school. It took you too long to settle down and we do not have item to waste. Grab a uniform and meet me out in the field in 5 minutes.”

Ok, that gruffness might had been his fault. He forgot that Eraserhead was not a morning person and from the state of his face he was not getting enough sleep or could be a product of his quirk. He wondered if the Hero suffered from restless eye syndrome or maybe was unable to have REM sleep due to the connections to his quirk with his eyes.

Either way, they had five minutes and he was not going to get in trouble on his first day. He made it to the front of the class were the gym uniforms were piled after the teacher had pulled them from his sleeping bag. And made off with three of the uniforms already noting which sizes would fit his friends who followed after him.

“You guys better hurry. Aizawa Sensei expelled the last class he had. There is a reason why there is no class 2-A this year.”

That seemed to work as the other students cut off talking about what just happened and rushed to get to the gym clothes and followed them to the locker rooms at a run despite the Turbo Hero’s brother yelling about how it was not safe to run in the hallway.

---

Only two of the boys had missed the five minute deadline. Considering one had multiple arms that had to cut out the sleeves of the shirt in order to wear it and the other had a tail that also needed modifications to the uniform unless he wanted to flash everyone in the class, Eraserhead did not mention the tardiness. He probably realized it was unreasonable and they had still joined the group only a minute later.

“Time is of the essence. We have the improbable task of molding you into Heroes in three years. Bakugou how far could you throw a ball in your last physical?”

“72 meters”

“Now try with your quirk.”

Izuku stepped back to the girl with the ear jacks when he heard what the teacher wanted Kacchan to do. He knew that his best friend would have to hold back in order to not disintegrate the ball since he was looking for distance but that did not mean he could not do damage to the rest of them.

“If you have any ear protection put it in now or else cover your ears because this is going to be loud.”

The girl nodded and placed her hands over her ears in time for the explosion to go off as the ball hurdled through the air. He saw the girl wince from the noise and was glad he had been able to warn her in time. It was a shame he was not able to warn the students that decided to call this “fun” or worse complain about missing orientation. Had they all not just heard their teacher saying they did not have enough time to mess around?

“Fine, you think this is fun? The person with the worst score at the end of the test will be expelled.”

Izuku looked to Shinsou at those words and could not help but see the fear in his eyes. He had made it into Heroics but could be sent home just because of a non-physical quirk. It was possible that he was not the only one with that issue, but considering everyone person in class beside the two recommendation students got through the exam, it was doubtful.

Of course, this was Eraserhead, who also did not have a physical quirk. Was this going to be like the entrance exam all over again? All three of them had expected for Hitoshi to fail getting into Heroics. In fact they had all assumed Katsuki would be at the top of the class since he had kept count of his points and knew that he had ended the test with 92 points.

Izuku had only counted 39 villain points since he had been forced to take on the robots one at a time. With those 60 extras rescue points he had been amazed when the leader board showed that he had past his best friend for first. Which did not compare to Shinsou who had saved a total of sixteen examinees and received 70 rescue points for his heroics.

---

Izuku was irritated that he did not think to bring his tablet with him as he waited on the sidelines watching the other kids using there quirks. Thankfully with their teacher calling out their names, he was able to place each classmate with their names and quirks by the 2nd string of tests. Now he was trying to memorize as much as he could in order to add them all to his notes later.

The 50 meter dash had been no surprise when the guy with a speed booster quirk came in first. Having run every day since he was ten allowed him to make a pretty good showing beating the time of many of the others that had used their quirks to enhance their scores. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

Everyone was placed on the track to compete in the endurance run. The girl who was able to produce inorganic items from her body completely dominated the test and had surpassed them all. Izuku had been able to stay on the track longer than most though. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

The standing long jump is where Kacchan really showed everyone else his skill as he used his quirk to rocket into the air and fly past the sand box to hover for a few moments to show how stable he was in aerial maneuvers before landing. Years of using the upper skyline and gymnastics had trained him for the event and he cleared the sandbox though not with the same ease of his best friend. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

Then came the grip strength test where the kid with the multiple arms was able to get an amazing score as well as the tallest boy in class that used sugar to fuel his strength. Having trained with weights every day, Izuku was able to get a good store near the middle of the range. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

The repeated side steps were a breeze for Izuku but he could not match the agility of the boy with the tail but it was a close match. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

He was able to stretch out further than any of the boys in the seated toe touch from his flexibility and years in gymnastics. The invisible girl had been able to completely flatten herself against her legs taking on first in that test. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

He had done a good job in sit ups but had been floored by the amount the boy with the ice quirk was able to do. Though, he doubted that the boy only had an ice quirk considering the natural color of his hair… and the burn. It seemed to be an old childhood injury but it was very likely to have been made during a quirk accident that was common for children that first came into their quirks since they had little control at that age. Unfortunately, Shinsou had come in last.

They were on the last test. Kacchan had already received his score from the beginning and had seemed irritated when the Uraraka had thrown the ball with a distance of infinity. It also cemented the fact to Izuku, that she likely had no idea how her quirks worked. Izuku had taken off his shirt and folded it to make a sling much like he had done for the entrance exam and used it to fling the ball out, though it had fallen short of Katsuki’s result.

Now it was time for Sinshou. He had been at the bottom of every single test and if he did not get out of his own head and use his quirk, it was possible they would lose him in their class. Grabbing his shoulder, Izuku looked at him straight in the eyes.

“Your quirk is not villainous. Let them see why you deserve to be here.”

His friend seemed to understand what was on the line and finally got a bit of confidence in his step. It was hard for him to see his quirk as anything besides an abuse of power. Considering how helpless other had made him feel, it was not hard to see why it was difficult for him to consider using other people. Getting to the circle he look down at the ball in his had before turning to Uraraka.

“How far do you think your ball actually went gravity girl?”

“Just above the stratosphere…”

“Send mine up there too.”

Shinsou held his ball out as Uraraka left the class to join him in the circle and used her quirk to send the ball up following the path of her last throw. He kept her in his thrall until Aizawa sensei showed him the similar result for an infinity score before releasing her of his control. Shinsou had braced himself expecting harsh words or derision from his classmates for his actions but Izuku stepped in before they could speak out.

“How are you feeling Uraraka-san? Shinsou’s quirk always leaves me a bit light headed afterwards. Such an amazing quirk for a Hero but it does have some side effects.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Did not hurt me at all.”

“Great. Let’s move out of the way for the next person to try the ball throw.”

He had expected the girl to say something similar to that once he put the focus on her health rather than the state his friend had put her in. It also seemed to relieve the tension from the rest of the class. When Izuku had told Shinsou to use his quirk, he had expected him to use it on Bakugou since he was a known entity. He figured Shinsou had gone with Uraraka in hopes of not being at the bottom of the class.

Maybe he should have encouraged Shinsou to use his quirk earlier but he had hoped the other would have done it on his own. He just hoped it was enough to convince their teacher that he was worth keeping in the Heroics Program. After all he already knew what their scores where.

When Aizawa revealed the results, it was just as he expected with Kacchan placing right under the two recommended students and his own score in the top ten in 7th place. Even tying with Uraraka on the ball toss, Shinsou was at the bottom of the class considering the results in all the other events. His friend went cold at seeing his name at the bottom of the list.

“By the way, no one is being expelled today. It was a logical ruse.”

---

“One of the girls does gymnastics as well. It was hard to tell at first since she is invisible to the eye but is actually very physically fit.”

“That does not seem like the kind of quirk that would get through the entrance exam easily.”

“She is actually quite smart. I asked her about it and she told me that the robots were unable to sense her. So she was able to get on top of one of the 2 pointers and aim its tail at the other robots before she had it destroy itself before anyone else could take it down. I also gave her quite a few rescue points since it technically saved the examinees around her.”

“What of your other classmates?”

“Looking at everything, I think they give Eraserhead two types of Hero students. He gets the potential Underground types which is how Shinsou and the one with the invisibility quirk got into 1-A and the destructive quirks which is why Kacchan got in. His quirk is very useful in canceling out quirks before anyone can get hurt so it make sense to place students with quirks that could potentially be deadly into his class. It is why the majority of my class have very strong quirks.”

“What about you?”

“The school probably thinks I am aiming for an Underground Hero considering my lack of a quirk. Which is why I got into the class.”

“Have you met any of the other Hero class students yet?”

“No, but I heard that Vlad King is in charge of 1-B. I am going to bet that his class is made up of the support and rescue type Hero hopefuls. His power is very useful in restraining others in order to safely work the class through heroics but it is likely he specializes in teamwork. He has a long history of working with others. Six months ago he was on a mission…”

If what Izuku assumed was true, the school might try to strongly encourage his son to go down the path of an Underground Hero. Normally it would have been a good option for his boy, but since his goal was to change the world, he would not be able to stay in the shadows.

His Hero outfit had been finished in time for school. UA had been surprised when he had put in the request for an outside company to take care of building the costume for his son. In fact they had tried to convince him to go with one of the support companies they recommended since they had multiple contracts to ensure quality. I was after they were told that the outfit was being made by the renowned support manufacturer David Shield that they had allowed the unusual demand.

David’s daughter had also had a hand in the outfit as she create his Hero gear and added the Rod of Asclepius to the design. His son may not fully understand the value of his paramedic training, but Melissa had known that it would be extremely useful to acknowledge his abilities on his uniform much like a brand. His son was as prepared as possible to take the world by storm.

Chapter Text

After going full force in the quirk apprehension tests yesterday being in the classroom seemed very lackluster. He was glad that Shinsou had impressed Eraserhead enough that he had not been removed from the class. It was also very apparent that Izuku was ahead on most of his classes. It seemed that Shifu Fuang had been just as draconian over his schooling as she had been his training.

That morning he had been able to get with Hagakure to talk a bit more about her quirk. He had talked to her quite a bit the other day at the assessment when he realized they had gymnastics in common after seeing her during standing long jump. He had come to her with more questions especially about the quirks of her parents. Since quirks were often part of the same family which is how he found out she had a mutant type quirk.

That meant she had been born this way and had never seen her reflection. She could also not turn it off. Considering she was fully invisible, it was something about her body rather than her skin and hair. He had asked if she had ever tried to use different types of enhanced vision or light filters to see if her body could become visible. While she had never tried it herself, she had seemed interested in experimenting with the idea if just to see what she actually looked like.

Izuku would have to talk to Melissa for help in finding ways to maybe see his classmate. Especially since she was interested in espionage and underground Hero work. Knowing the weakness to her quirk would allow her to avoid them in the future.

He was also quite interesting in sparring with her considering an invisible opponent would definitely test his awareness. He could tell Kacchan was also interested in taking the girl on but Izuku doubted it would be a good idea unless he was willing to not use his quirk on her. Since her quirk did not include items on her such a clothing, she would have no protection from the burns that explosion could cause. At least until she got her Hero outfit.

Much like yesterday, Uraraka had come in right before the bell so he was unable to talk to her again. He was hoping he could find a way to talk to her without the audience of the rest of the class. It was one thing to talk quirks, it was another to try to explain to someone that the quirks they had been using since they were four were not what they thought they were. Maybe he could convince her to join him at lunch.

Aizawa Sensei seemed just as tired today as he was yesterday during the home room. He mostly stayed in the corner and pretended to take a nap in the yellow sleeping bag. Since Izuku knew the difference in breathing from someone actually sleeping and not, he knew the teacher was fully aware of them all and did not care what they did during the short period before the first class. Which was why the moment Cementoss entered the room Eraserhead was out the door without a word.

Modern Literature with Cementoss was interesting as the concept was to force them to think and explore social and political issues through essays, short stories, and novels. According to the syllabus that they received, the goal seemed to target questions on moral and ethics as well as cultural perspectives and regional insights.

All too soon, Eraserhead returned to lecture the class on Japanese History. Many of the historic events they had learned through their middle school years would be covered with the Hero perspective and a deeper exploration of how actions had changed the course of Heroics. This also included the laws and guidelines expected of Heroes as well as those learning to become Heroes.

Izuku had spent most of Health Class with Vlad King observing the blood Hero as he already knew all of the material that was to be discussed. It was all great information for a Hero to have, but when you been training under Shifu for years and then spent the last year working as a certified paramedic… it was not exactly riveting. Thankfully he would only have to deal with this class once a week.

World History with Snipe was interesting. With the rise of quirks most counties had enacted strict travel guides and bans. That meant most people did not leave their county of birth outside of business. Heroes were considered weaponized from their training and had even sterner rules that had to be followed to be able to do Hero work outside their licensed area. That was why world renowned Heroes such as All Might were so rare.

Just as the bell rang for lunch, Izuku found his way over to Uraraka before she could exit the room. His request to join her for lunch was met with enthusiasm even as they were soon accompanied by Katsuki and Shinsou. He was happy to note that her bubbly attitude did not diminish with the presence of the one that had used their quirk on her the other day.

Once they had gotten their food from Lunch Rush they had found a table near the windows. Not long after that they were soon joined by Iida, Asui, Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero. With half the class surrounding them, Izuku did not bring up the matter with Uraraka yet again. Maybe after school?

For now he just enjoyed getting to know the rest of this classmates. Especially since quite a few of them seemed to enjoy teasing Katsuki to the point where he would yell at them. That would only stop the teasing for a little bit before poking the bear yet again.

Oddly enough he could tell that Kacchan was actually enjoying himself. These classmates were not intimidated by him which meant they had actual got Katsuki’s attention. Iida would try to stop the group from getting too rowdy but it was hard to stop that much pent up energy.

Izuku had spent the entire lunch laughing and listening to group that he would definitely like to be friends with. The only question was, would they still want to be friends once they found out he did not have a quirk?

Lunch ended and they all found themselves back in the classroom with the Space Hero Thirteen. Much the same as the other classes even Home Economics was focused of Heroics. That meant that rather than setting up a household, it was based on building an agency and how to keep their bodies at their peak performances.

Izuku always liked the loud voice Hero and would listen to his radio shows every time he was on air. As much as he enjoyed listening to Present Mic, he was completely fluent in English. He wondered if there was a way to test out of the class since he did not really need it. He would have to ask at another time since it would seem rude to let the class think he did not want to study with them.

Looking at his schedule he blinked as he realized he would be expected to take English classes literally seven times a week. Such an accelerated course of study was meant to ensure fluency in the students since almost all correspondence with Heroes and support companies outside the country was in English. It was why there was such a heavy emphasis in learning the language for all Heroes. But it was also completely pointless for him to take them.

Thankfully the next class was mathematics with Ectoplasm. Izuku had always liked math as it was the one subject in school that his teachers had been unable to cheat him out of his actual grade. Considering his other teachers, he doubted he would have that issue at UA but it had left him with a definitive positive experience for the subject.

With that, it was the end of the school day and he was at a crossroads. Should he try to see if he could find Present Mic and ask him about his situation or try to catch up to Uraraka without the rest of his classmates around to finally speak to her about her quirk? His dilemma was answered for him as when he looked up searching for the girl in question she had already left the room. Maybe he could try again tomorrow.

With that he made his way to the staff room hoping to get in touch with either Aizawa or Yamada Sensei. A knock of the door found him face to face with Midnight and his face went red as he remembered their last meeting.

“Couldn’t wait to see me again I see. Do have something to show me?”

“…I was hoping Aizawa Sensei was available.”

“I’m hurt you were not pining to see me again.”

“Leave him alone Nemuri. What do you want Midoriya?”

Izuku was thankful that his teacher pulled him away from the R Rated Hero. As much as he admired Midnight, he really was not able to deal with her. Which might be the point. Midnight may be teaching them Art but she was also a master and working with the press. If she did not like a question she would redirect it without making it seem awkward.

She also used her enticement techniques in the field considering that she was a short range quirk user. She had to get her prey to come to her since she was far too flashy to be useful at stealth. She would not be a UA if she was actually predatory to the students. Was this her way of preparing them for the real world?

As he was lost in thought, he had found that he had been guided to a desk at the back of the mostly empty room. He did not see Present Mic about and did not know if he should have gone to his English teacher about this instead. After all, it was somewhat obvious that the Voice Hero was more congenial then his homeroom teacher.

“I was hoping to talk to you about my schedule.”

“It’s the first day of classes. How do you already have an issue?”

“Well, I speak English fluently sir. I have since I was little.”

“Latin too if I recall.”

“You remember me?”

“I don’t meet many quirkless six year olds on top of buildings writing analysis in a dead language.”

“I was nine at the time.”

Izuku stopped talking at the all too dead tired look his teacher gave him at his correction. He was happy that the Pro did remember him at least. He would also admit, he was always short for his age which made him look younger then he was. Building his body up with Shifu had helped people from confusing his age quite a bit though the short stature seemed permanent considering the size of his mother.

“Regardless, we don’t like breaking classes up. What would you propose to do? Your classmates all need the lessons.”

“Maybe I can do online lessons in the class? Or even work on my analysis.”

“You’re still making analysis?”

“I’ve been getting better since the last time we met.”

Izuku said pulling his tablet out. The code was entered and he flipped to the updated information of his teacher. He had even worked last night in sketching out his current outfit updates since his scarf had increased in length and shoes had changed since he had last met the Hero. Of course it was now completely in Latin but it was also obvious to the outsider that the analysis was more in depth.

“What do these numbers mean?”

“Capture percentages, cost of property damages, length of apprehension, rate of hospitalizations, and a few other variations depending on the type of Villain and crime.”

“We do have classes on analysis at UA that you might benefit from. Normally they are only for the Business Course. They are also only taken by second years.”

“I don’t mind waiting a year if I can get into…”

“You won’t have time in your next year to take those classes. There are reasons we pack your first year with Mathematics and English lessons. Can you translate a few of these notes for me?”

“Sure which quirk users would you like? I have collections of Heroes, Villains, and Civilians.”

“Let’s stick with Heroes for now. Maybe a couple of teachers so she can verify the information.”

“The teachers at UA are all Heroes right. That makes the person that teaches analysis a Hero as well doesn’t it?”

“She is not that well known. Spiker was only out in the field for half a year as a Sidekick before going behind the scenes as a Support Hero.”

“After graduating from UA and working with Lanceman. She found a new goal after being involved in a case with a corrupt police officer. Her name appears often in court documents as an expert in her role of verifying information.”

Izuku spouted out facts as he pull up the profile on the Support Hero. He had followed her career as much as he could considering she was not a Limelight Hero. He had felt tied to her in a way after interacting with her that day many years ago. He had not realized she had gone back to UA to work as a teacher but most teachers that were not part of the Heroics courses tended to not be publicized since, much as Aizawa indicated, there was not much name recognition from their Hero work.

Spiker’s profile was not the most up to date work he had considering she mostly worked outside of the public view, but her quirk had been broken down as well as the notes on her last public Hero Outfit. All together is was maybe five pages of notes and a sketch of the Hero as a Sidekick.

“Do you have another short one that deals with one of your teachers? I don’t want you to translate the twenty pages mine has.”

“Most of the other teachers I saw today are longer since they make more public appearances… Nedzu’s is only around seven pages.”

“Of course you have notes on Nedzu. Try to get them to me by the end of the week. I’ll let Yamada know if you need to use his English classes to get it done.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

He bowed as his left the room already making plans to get the translations done for the next day. The hardest part of coping the notes over would be recreating the sketches considering it was most time consuming part of the task.

With his mind on the current assignment, he had almost not registered the voice calling his name as he exited the school building. Looking around still thinking it was his imagination his eyes widen at the sight of Uraraka waving at him from the open gate. He had been so long with the teachers not even Bakugou or Shinsou stayed behind.

“Hey, Uraraka. I didn’t expect to see you out here.”

“Yeah, Tsu mentioned that I should probably talk to you.”

“Asui did?”

“Well she told me how your face fell when everyone came to join us for lunch and then how you always kept looking back at me in class.”

“She is very perceptive. I had no idea that…”

“I never would have noticed if she had not told me.”

“I actually tried to talk with you yesterday but you had already left by the time I got out of the boys locker room. I kept trying to find the right moment today but there always seems to be so many people around and I did not want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“I mean after you saved me in the entrance exam and then yesterday when you made sure I was ok after Shinsou brainwashed me.”

Izuku felt bad as he saw Uraraka blush. He had not really meant to have her relive the memories of her weaknesses. After all she should not feel ashamed for overworking her quirk in the exam to the point where she had no more reserves to save herself or yesterday when Shinsou had used his quirk on her.

“I just really wanted to tell you… you’re using your quirks wrong.”

“….my quirk?”

“Yeah, I saw it when you threw the ball twice during the quirk apprehension test.”

“You wanted to talk to me about my quirk?”

“Of course. I always find it fascinating when I meet people with dual quirks.”

His classmate’s face seemed to get even redder. Maybe he had messed up the delivery. He probably should have mention it was not her fault and was misdiagnosed like most people with dual quirks. Though considering Todoroki was part of the class and he clearly had a duel quirk as well, she should not feel out of place.

“I’m sorry. I probably should explain. I’ve been studying quirks for years. I think it might be the reason you overextended your quirk during the entrance exam and then had the reaction when using it on yourself during the apprehension test. I only really figured it out when you threw the ball though.”

“So this whole time during class you were trying to help me with my quirk?”

“Exactly. I realized you probably did not know that your quirks were zapping you of twice your energy when you are able to use them separately.”

“I’m confused. What exactly do you think my quirks are?”

“The one you are most familiar with is the ability to make any item weightless with a five finger touch activation. The other is like a weak telekinesis. You are able push weightless items away from a center of gravity. That is why you feel sick when using your quirk on yourself. You are trying to push you away from you. When you’re dealing with objects going up to are actually using the Earth as the center of gravity since you are connected to it with your feet. If you were to use yourself as the center of gravity then you will have more ability to push things in other direction.“

“What makes you think that?”

“Because, when you threw that ball it accelerated past your initial use of force. In fact you did not even have to throw it. Once you released it you pushed it away from the Earth’s center of gravity. Throwing it only aiding it very little considering you sent it up into space. Also when you make something weightless it does not automatically continuously float up since you control how much you wish to it away push away.”

“So why do you think it is taking so much energy?”

“Well once you have an object to the level you want it at you can stop pushing. That is why it is a dual quirk. You have to make contact with an object to make it weightless and keep it that way until you release it. The push you can do does not have to be constant. You’re using too much energy keeping things in place.”

“What about when I make myself weightless, how can I stop from getting sick?”

“We would have to test it, but I think you should be able to try to push away from the earth. Instead of trying to go up, try pushing down. You have to understand. I’ve only see your quirk a few times but I can tell it is draining you fast. If you want we can try to work together to see what works best.”

“Let me think about it.”

Izuku nods happily glad that he would not have to let her know he did not have time to experiment with her quirk today if he wanted to get the translations done for his analysis notes. Now that she knew what was going on with her quirk, she would be more careful about expending her energy.

Now if only he could figure out what was going on with Todoroki. At first he thought the boy only had an ice quirk but he was able to melt the ice he created during the assessment the other day. Which meant there was fire in his quirk as well. Why was he not using it though? He did seem a bit more stand offish unlike Uraraka. At least his quirk use did not seem to be hurting him so he could discover the reasons another day.

Chapter Text

On his way home from school yesterday, he had stopped by the corner store nearby the apartment to pick up a notebook very similar to the ones he had used to use before his father had given him the tablet. He had tried to update the information as much as he could for Spiker and Nedzu but there was really not much public information out there so he hoped what he had was good enough.

He was kinda excited to see what Spiker looked like now since the only sketch he had was of her sidekick outfit. He was also somewhat worried about his notes on Nedzu. From what Aizawa Sensei had mentioned, Spiker would most likely verify the information with the allusive principal. He was somewhat disappointed he had not been able to see the head of the school at orientation. Seeing him in person would have answered so many questions.

He had wanted to finish the whole thing before bed but his mother had seen the light under his door and had insisted that he could work on his project in the morning. That was why he had been putting the finishing touches on the notebook after his run and had entered the classroom barely a minute before the first bell.

He looked for Uraraka as he entered the room but she seemed to be in a deep conversation with Asui. He left the notebook on the teacher’s desk knowing that he would notice it the moment he came into the room. He already realized that Eraserhead would always scan the area when he arrived. It was a good habit for an Underground Hero and probably any Hero for that matter to know as much as you could about the location.

He smiled at Shinsou who had actually arrived before him before taking his seat behind Kacchan. Katsuki frowned at him for a moment before turning to look at the notebook he had left for the teacher before turning back to him.

“The fucker’s got you doing errands?”

“I’m trying to impress one of the Business Course teachers. Sensei agreed to help.”

“Trying to kill yourself again Nerd?”

“Mom would never let me hear the end of it if I do anything like that again.”

“Should I be worried about your suicidal tendencies Midoriya?”

Izuku looked behind him at Shinsou’s quiet question. He was looking for the indication that his words were a joke but the boy behind him had seemed serious. He would have to talk to Shinsou later about how Kacchan always exaggerated a situation. He would have thought that Shinsou would be used to the way Bakugou talked by now.

“Haven’t kill myself yet.”

The room quieted as Aizawa Sensei entered the room with the yellow sleeping bag under his arm. Izuku tracked him as he made his way to the corner and pretended to sleep. Looking back at the desk, he found that his notebook was gone. Somehow their teacher had grabbed it on his path to the front of the room but he had not seen him pick it up. Another useful skill to learn about.

Even without Aizawa Sensei giving the students tasks during Home Room, they were still expected to sit quietly at their desks. This gave Izuku time to work on his analysis of his classmates. He had been so busy the other day with the notebook he had not been able to contribute anything else to his notes. He had been able to put the basic information of his classmates names and quirks, now it was filling it out with how they used it and what they could potential do with them.

Present Mic entered the room not long after with his usual flourish even as their homeroom teacher made his way out. Assuming that Eraserhead had already talked to the English teacher about him, he continued to work on his analysis notes. He was actually working on a profile for Asui when he heard his name from the front.

“What’s got you so fixated little listener?”

“I’m trying to figure out what the viscosity of fluids produced by frog is and if it contains any of the toxins produced by multiple species around the world. I was trying to match the prominent features of the most well-known Japanese varieties with the few common traits present in the user.”

It had been automatic to answer the question considering his focus was on the analysis just as it was automatic to reply in the same language that it had been asked in. It took Shinsou poking him on the shoulder before he looked up and realized the class was staring at him.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you spoke English fluently yesterday? It should have showed up in your school transcripts.”

“I never needed to take classes in it. My father has been living in the United States since I was two. I’ve just picked it up naturally from speaking to him and letters. I take it that Aizawa Sensei did not explain it to you?”

“We will talk about it later.”

Izuku nodded as the teacher turned to the rest of the class and continued the lesson. That had been awkward. He had been hoping to avoid standing out to the rest of the class. He was so used to hiding in plain sight so the more things that made him different would place him further in the spotlight.

Considering his skills, he was trying to keep some of his talents hidden not to mention most of the class still did not realize that he was quirkless. He was trying to prove himself to his classmates before they found out he was working with a handicap. Not even Shinsou had been told about his quirkless state. At least he knew that his teachers had not made an issue of his status unlike past schools.

Izuku put up his tablet as Ectoplasm entered the class and replaced it with his math book. He was glad that Present Mic had not requested to talk right after English or even set up a time to discuss his class. Hopefully he would get in touch with Eraserhead and he would not have to deal with any of it.

He did wonder when he would hear back about his analysis. The only one who really got a chance to read them was his father. Kacchan would listen to them now and again but he would always end up having to summarize the information for him. Even if they were two of his shorter analysis, he was excited for the chance to have a Hero look at them and help he make they more professional.

As math class ended Eraserhead entered the room once more. They would finally be taking their first class in Heroics. More exciting than that though was the series of suitcases that were released from their hidden storage area in the room. They would be getting their costumes today! He had kept begging his family and friends to let him see their designs but they had all wanted it to be a surprise for him.

Taking his case from the wall he ran from the room remembering the lesson from the first day about how Eraserhead was not a fan of students that dawdled. Getting to the locker room he finally got his first look at his Hero Costume. It was a patchwork of white, green, and black materials. Touching the cloth his eyes widened as he realized this came from David Shield’s exclusive stock.

Pulling the outfit up, he recognized the cut and form to be similar to those worn by motocross athletes. It was a total body form fitting design that would give him full mobility. He was glad to see the gloves they had given him were fingerless. In order to fully access the Chi Blocking techniques he was trained in required touching the opponent with a bare hand in order to safely keep the opponent from harm.

Putting on the uniform he felt the hidden protective padding and metal plates over his vital areas that the patch work design hid. His father was not kidding about making an outfit as close to bubble wrap as he could make. It was surprisingly light as well which meant that his father’s team had made sure to give him access to medical grade protective foam where they could. They had also balanced the metal pieces throughout the body armor in order to hide their placement and keep the weight down.

There were metal shield guards with a black coating for both his arms that went from the wrist to just below the elbow. Tapping on the metal, he would bet that they would be able to withstand most projectiles. Pulling out the shoes he could definitely tell Melissa’s work. Study and heavy steel toed boots with an all-terrain sole that matched his suit in colors. They also had compartments on the inside fully loaded with a cable like rope meant for captures.

The was small green band that he looked at for a few moments before realizing he was holding the force field visor that Melissa had used to apply for her place at I-Island Academy. Placing it on his head just above his eyes the force field automatically activated covering his face to just below his nose.

It was currently in a passive state where is would block dust and larger particles from harming his eyesight. Its real beauty was the fact it was be able to react to changes in the environments and could actually create a full shield that would not even allow the air around him to enter and give him a very limited supply of oxygen.

There was a small pack with a familiar red cross detailing the outside. He was not surprised to open it to see a variety of tactical medical gear. The whole thing was strung on a belt that could be easily removed and put the pack at the small of his back out of the way until needed.

The last thing in the case was the bolas he had been promised by Melissa. They were a far cry from the bags of sand he had be using. It was a perfectly balanced weapon with a dark black leather lead attacked to a ring that could be safely hung on the belt with his field medicine equipment.

The three large balls that made up the weights of his weapon imitated the visage of magic eight balls but were quite a bit heavier. He would have to ask Melissa about that later but they did seem to fit well with the coloring of his outfit. Pulling the balls around behind his back he found a clasp on the other side of the belt that could be opened and the leather right above the balls placed there so they would not be distracting while not in use.

He took a quick look in the mirror on the way out to see one more surprise. On his leg in plain view was the Rod of Asclepius. He did not know if that was from his father or his Shifu. Both had been so proud when he had received his Emergency Field Medicine License.

Without that license he would not have been allowed to have it as part of his design. Considering how even more regulated Hero costumes were after Midnight had shocked the public with her original design, any depictions of professional skills had to be back up with the proper paperwork. To have it on a Hero School student was unheard of.

There may be five Heroes in Japan total that used it on their outfits since most Support Heroes involved with healing preferred the Red Cross. Considering everyone involved with his outfit knew he was going for a Spotlight Hero the choice of the snake gave him a more serious effect. He would not stay on the sidelines when there was someone to save.

Most Heroes with healing abilities tended to allude to those skills in their outfits such as Recovery Girl and her syringes even if that had been before professional emblems were heavily regulated. By the time she had actually gotten her medical licenses after leaving Hero School, people already knew her outfit on sight and she never updated it.

While it was a badge of honor, it also meant that he would be expected to take charge during a medical emergency. Hopefully he would not be involved with anything at the school considering he had none of the skills that Recovery Girl had. He had no interest in overreaching since she could literally perform miracles with her quirk.

He left the room even as the rest of the boys were still in the middle of changing, though by the looks of it Kacchan would be joining him soon as he was also never one to procrastinate. He could not wait to see how his gauntlets turned out. Melissa had offered to make them for his best friend so he knew they would be amazing.

There had not been enough time to introduce Shinsou to Melissa but he was already thinking of great support items to that could be included in the brainwasher’s outfit. Before he could seriously work on any items he would have to learn more about the boy’s quirk and he had been having issues getting Shinsou to talk about it or let him experiment with it. Already Shinsou was more open with him so he was hoping that the boy would be comfortable enough soon to allow him to work with him.

He entered Ground Beta as he had been instructed and found their teacher talking with Midnight. Izuku halted for a moment before backing out again not wanting to confront the Rated R Hero again so soon. Luckily as he had expected Kacchan had finished not long after and was stomping his way over.

He looked very intimidating with the explosion mask and warrior gear. On his arms, Melissa’s gauntlets were made to look like the barrel of gatling guns. If they were anything like the discussions he had had with her, they would be able to spin like the weapons they looked like and release the stored sweat to produce longer lasting explosions by chaining the detonations. They would have to explore how well they worked out since it was currently only theory.

With his best friend by his side he entered the grounds again to wait on their other classmates. They took the time to stretch and move around a bit to get used to the outfits. Izuku wanted to try his bolas out but did not think it wise to test them without a target.

By the time he felt comfortable in his new clothes, he noticed more of their classmates joining them and he tried to see if he could notice any support items among them. It was actually disappointing to see how few of the class actually had asked for support items. Did most of them depend only on their quirks alone?

It was also disappointing to see that Aoyama had not upgraded his support item since the entrance exam. All students had access to support companies for their costumes. Why would he not get his medical support item worked on by a professional? If anything, making a way to change the lenses in the belt might be able to produce different types of beams or even allow him to shoot out multiple beams at once.

Once everyone had made it into their outfits and out to the field the two teachers looked out at the group and motioned for everyone to get closer to receive instructions. Aizawa took the lead as he produced a bag and held it out to the Hero hopefuls.

“Each Hero Lesson will be based off on the different types of Hero careers. Each class utilizes the Heroes that teach in the academy and will cycle through their specialties. Most of you are looking to become a Spotlight Heroes like Midnight here who specializes in capture. Gab a slip from the bag. You will be working in teams.”

A few of the students hurried forward to comply including Kacchan who got there first. Izuku was more interesting at looking at his classmates to see what being told that they would be working is pairs could tell him about their teamwork skills. He finally made his way over to grab one of the papers from the bag and handed it to Midnight who was collecting the information.

“Each team will be playing the role of Hero or Villain. The end game is capture for either team to win. Villains will be given a hideout and five minutes to prepare. Heroes will go in and try to subdue them in fifteen minutes or lose the game.”

“Doesn’t that give the advantage to the Villains? Also is pairing up people that we don’t know a good way to start?"

“Iida, most Villains will have the advantage already since they usually chose the location where an apprehension takes place. Also Heroes will often work together without knowing much about each other especially if two different agencies are working together for a single objective.”

Iida bowed and apologized for interrupting the class but Aizawa just continued on ignoring both Iida and Midoriya. He held up a roll of tape and a communication devise to show them to the group.

“Each student will receive tape. You must tape the opponent’s hands together at the wrist for it to count as a capture. Students that have been captured must make their way out of the building and their communication will be cut off from their partner. Quirks are allowed but anyone trying to use excessive damage against your classmates or compromise the stability of the location will be disqualified and the other team will automatically win.”

He then turned to Midnight who called out Uraraka and Shinsou to take the Hero role while Ojiro and Kirishima would be escorted to the hideout with the timer starting the moment they entered the building. With Ojiro and Kirishima, he assumed they would look into hiding and trying to take down their opponents if they had the opportunity. Shinsou had been lucky to receive Uraraka as his partner considering she understood his quirk and did not seemed to be off put by it.

Watching the monitors it was exactly what he had predicted as the two Villains found hiding spots in separate areas of the building. Izuku had expected the two Heroes to go through the front door and systematically explore it floor by floor, instead Izuku grinned as he saw Uraraka use her quirk on herself and shoot herself up to the roof.

She had overshot her mark but was able to release herself to fall without hurting herself too much. That meant she had tried it on her own after he had suggested it to her. Maybe she would be more willing now to let his experiment with her since if his theory works, there were so many more things her quirks were capable of. It was unfortunate that because of the noise of her fall Kirishima had been able to hear her from his position and was expecting her. It was just fortunate that while the boy had moved to restrain her, she had been able to touch him will all five fingers and slam him up to the ceiling. After that she had floated up and got the tape around his wrists.

Shinsou had used Ojiro’s distraction at his partners capture to get him to respond to his question and had the boy tape his own wrists up before releasing him. The first game of heroics hide and seek was over in about five minutes. Shinsou had been lucky that he had found Ojiro in time to make use of the announcement that his partner had been removed from the game or it would have taken longer since Ojiro was definitely a fighter considering some of the moves he had used before getting distracted.

As they four classmates were headed back to the control room Midnight announced the next match between Aoyama and Jirou as the Heroes against Yaoyorozu and Satou. Izuku felt bad for the two Heroes in this scenario. Yaoyorozu had such a versatile quirk that she was at a definite advantage even with only five minutes of set up. Aoyama and Jirou entered the building to find the first floor completely loaded with traps and a sugar high Satou armed with a long pole to sweep them into the traps they failed to set off. It was over in a minute. Recommendation students were scary.

It was Izuku’s turn next as he was partnered with Ashido. They would be the Villains against Kaminari and Iida. Walking to the building Izuku was quick to ask about Ashido’s quirk. He already knew she was able to produce acid from the test two days ago the real questions was how much she would be able to produce. He was able to get her to soak the first floor with her acid so that she would be able to move around in it easily and Iida would be unable to have traction to run with the liquid on the ground. The acid should also be able to stop Kaminari from using his quirk since the liquid was conductive to electricity and would hurt his partner if he tried using it anywhere near the acid.

Izuku would stay on the ceiling for now finding a beam he was able to clamber onto in order to help direct Ashido and make a move if needed. The plan went perfectly as Iida quickly lost control of his movement under the slick substance as he rushed into the building. His partner had come in slower and saw the situation as Ashido was moving to wrap the tape around Iida. Izuku knew he would have seen the liquid on the ground. He also would have seen how close his partner was to the Villain he was targeting.

“Ashido jump!”

As the girl quickly sprang into the air. He fell using his rope that he had tied to the beam to control his downward movement trying to redirect the attack from the boy away from the acid. His shout had worked to startle the boy enough to give him time to tackle him before releasing the electrifying quirk and two short jabs ended the possibility of Kaminari killing them all.

The boy had scrambled away from him as he got back to his feet. Shooting a hand out as if to use his quirk, not even a spark left his hand. He stared dumbly at it for a moment before Izuku had the boy in hand to wrap the tape around his wrist. Behind him, Ashido was already working on Iida who must had hit his head harder going down then he thought.

Going over to his partner he pull off the helmet that encased the now tied up Hero even as he heard Midnight give them the win. Feeling around his head he did not see anything that would life threatening.

“How is your vision Iida? Is anything blurred or giving you double vision?”

“I can see quite well thank you.”

“Do you hear any high pitched or ringing sensations?”

The boy paused for a moment before shaking his head.

“I take it you had been hearing a tone but it is gone now. It means you helmet is not fitted properly and is too loose. You might want to get the support course to make adjustments. Encasing yourself in armor only works if the armor is able to protect you.”

“I’ll take your words under advisement.”

Ashido grabbed one arm as he pulled the other to get the tall student back on his feet. He stayed close as they walked back to the entrance carefully since the acid was still underfoot even though it was starting to dry. They stopped their progression as they got to Kaminari who was still looking at his hands in disbelief.

“Don’t worry. It’ll come back in another minute.”

“Wow, I did not realize you had the same quirk as our teacher! I thought you have an intelligence quirk. Why didn’t you say anything when I was telling you all about Acid?”

“I don’t have a quirk so there was nothing to discuss.”

There was complete silence at his statement. He knew he had to let the class know at one point and he did not want to lie to any of them. He needed to move the subject on to something else.

“So what exactly does your support item do Kaminari, I did not get a chance to see it at work.”

“It lets me hijack radio signals with my quirk.”

“So you guys actually knew what we were doing the whole time? I am surprised Iida ran in then.”

“…aw man.”

The group started laughing aside from Iida who only gave a smile at the missed opportunity from the blonde. They had stayed in a good mood all the way back to the control center without another mention of his quirkless state.

As they entered, Izuku notice that Bakugou was already gone which meant he was going to be competing next. When he looked at the screen he only saw his best friend waiting outside the building which meant that he was partnering with Hagakure. The other videos were black so he would not be able to see who the opponents were that way.

Looking around for the other missing students he realized that he would be facing off against Tokoyami and Shouji. He did wonder how many wrists had to be tied down for Shouji to be considered out. Either way Kacchan had a good match up against Tokoyami considering. The two had probably turned off all the lights in the building since Dark Shadow would be the most powerful in the dark and Shouji was not hampered by darkness considering how he was able to compensate with creating other senses.

It would be a great strategy that would completely fail considering that Katsuki brought his own light with him and Hagakure was a stealth specialist. Kacchan would go in loud to try to overload Shouji’s advanced hearing and then go after Dark Shadow who would be the biggest threat. While occupied Hagakure would be able to bind Shouji while he was disabled and Tokoyami while he was focused on the fight.

As the five minuets ticked down Kacchan went in quirk blazing just as Izuku had expected. He had made a mistake in his assumption that Shouji would be completely disabled by the loud noise. But Hagakure had been able to help by taking Tokoyami down. Bakagou was then able to focus on Shouji and had to take him down himself. He had the advantage since the other was in the dark with Kacchan controlling the only light and he was unable to compensate with hearing due to the explosions.

That left only four students as Asui and Sero went to the building to be the Villains to Todoroki and Kouda. It was a bad matchup for Asui and she seemed to understand that as he moved to the top floor while her partner stayed at the bottom. It made sense, if Todoroki planned to freeze things considering how disabling the cold could be for frogs.

It did bother him that Todoroki did not seem to be working with Kouda at all. He knew that the classmate was shy but he did not seem the type to not help out. Especially since he had the perfect quirk to find the others if they were going to do a game of hide and seek like they were preparing.

As the time ticked away instead of heading into the building as was expected Todoroki stamped his foot on the ground and completely froze the building. Izuku heart stopped as his eyes widen looking to the top of the building. He ran forward to the controls to hit the button that would page the coms that both teams wore.

“Asui! Asui are you ok? Say something.”

“Midoriya, that is not…” Eraserhead had started, clearly not understanding the danger.

“Asui is cold blooded. Exposure to that much ice will shut her body down and cause hypothermia within minutes. We need to get her out.” He turned back to the microphone. "Todoroki can you get rid of the ice?”

“Not in time. This much ice…”

“Kacchan blow a hole in the building. Sero are you able to move?"

“I’m stuck.”

“When Bakugou gets there, yell at him to let you out of the ice. You need to get your teammate out as soon as possible. You will be the fastest.”

He then turned to his other classmates already seeing that Kacchan had left as he had asked.

“Yaoyorozu, can you make a large insulated blanket? Sensei are we able to get in touch with Recovery Girl?”

“She is already on her way. I made the call once you explained yourself.”

The dryness in his teacher voice definitely made it clear he should have started with the explanation. Izuku understood what Eraserhead would not say but he knew that time mattered more than procedure in this instance. If he had waited to explain his fears, Asui would have spent more time in that cold environment and could cause lasting damage.

Izuku made it out the door grabbing the blanket that Yaoyorozu handed to him on the way out. A window crashed above him as Sero descended rapidly with a frozen Asui. Throwing the blanket over the girl holding it tight to her unresponsive body as he looked to Todoroki.

“Can you use your fire?”

“No.”

“Then can you warm the air then until Recovery Girl comes since you are able to use your quirk to melt your ice?”

There was no answer from the dual quirk user but a flood of heat seemed to surround them that was so hot that after a moment he has started to sweat a bit. Even more telling as the figure in his arms had started to shiver. That was a good sign as it meant her involuntary motor functions had started up again.

“At least one student has some sense around here. Lower her down a bit dearie so I can have a look.”

Once again the school nurse had appeared without him realizing that she was in the area. He bent his knees in order to bring the limp figure of his classmate closer to the Support Hero. She checked her pulse at her wrist and later at her neck. Izuku figured that the pulse point at the wrist had been too sluggish and weak to get a good reading of the patient over the neck which was closer to the heart. He was a bit surprised that she had not kissed the girl to use her quirk on her.

“Carry her for me will you dearie? The medical bots are not going to be able to keep her wrapped in that blanket and we need to get her into a warm bath for her cells can rehydrate.”

Izuku nodded motioning Recovery Girl to lead the way and he adjusted the girl in his arms to keep her fully covered while moving through the school. As they walked, Izuku could barely hide the grin as the nurse grumbled about the illogical nature of first year teachers that get student sent to her office in the first week. It was clear she was not talking to him and was merely venting but he would have loved to write down some of the colorful language she used to describe his teacher.

---

Izuku watched as the rhythm of her breathing normalized. Recovery Girl had asked him to watch Asui while she had been placed in a large tub of warm water. Since she was unconscious, being left alone for even a little bit of time meant the girl could potential drown by accident. After all he was just missing another English class by staying with the girl so he did not feel the loss from skipping the lesson.

“You had us all scared for a bit Asui.”

He smiled at the girl as her large eyes opened and her head turned the slightest fraction to look at him. Her head was probably pounding and moving too much would be painful. That was also the reason why the lights were dimmed and he had spoken his words quietly.

“Todoroki?”

“Yes, he froze the entire building. Recommendation students really are scary. Recovery Girl thinks we got you out in time before permanent damage could be done. She will be back soon. One of the third years apparently had his arm that was quirk transformed into a tentacle severed from his body and had a mental break down because he thought his arm would be gone if he transformed it back to normal.”

“It wouldn’t be gone?”

“If he had a mutation type quirk like yours yes, but he has an extreme transformation type. It means his body is malleable and as long as the mass involved is not decreased for the “normal” mode. It is able to reset. Take Kirishima for example, He is able to harden which increases his mass to a point that he could probably lose a finger in that form and still resent without the digit being missing.”

“Midoriya, what exactly is your quirk?”

“Oh, I’m quirkless. You probably thought it was intelligence based like Ashido had. I just like to study quirks. I hope we can still be friend Asui.”

“Call me Tsu.”

“Tsu then, now that you are up. Let me get you a towel. We had to place you in there with your uniform still on though thankfully it looks like it was built with water in mind. Besides, by now the water is probably no longer warm.”

He left the area to find the nurse on the other side of the curtain looking at him from her spot at the office desk. Her eyes took him in and landed on his leg. Looking down his medial emblem looked back at him.

“You actually wear the Rod?”

“I got my certificate over a year ago. I’ve been interning with Fire Station Four in the South District. Right now, I’m only able to work with them on Sundays.”

“You should get back to class, I’ll take over from here.”

“It was good to see you. Hopefully next time it would be under better circumstances.”

“We will be seeing each other.”

Something of her parting words had sounded a bit like a promise. Hopefully that would not mean that these types of medical emergencies were common in the first year. At least he had P.E. with Hound Dog to look forward to. Considering how most of the rest of his classes had been geared to heroics, he did not doubt that Physical Education would be the same.

Chapter Text

A notebook landed with a thump on his desk as Shouta rolled out from out from under it to see the scowling face of the second year business teacher. He had thought that Tanaka Miyo would have been pleased with a student in the Hero course that was interested in analytical work. So many Heroes that dealt in investigation work depended on hiring a team of researchers and analysts to make up for the short comings in their skills sets.

Only a few Heroes were able to work independently in the investigation field for this reason. The ones that did were often encouraged to travel to affected areas that needed their skill set which meant they often did not have a home base. With low staffing needs and the ability to work within the ranks of local talent they were well sought after for high profile cases.

Spiker had a mind made for physics and sequences. While she had used her talents to make her quirk effective in the field as a Hero, it had made her outstanding in the field of investigation working side by side with many public safety or government units. Given a witness statement she was able to picture the scenario and determine the viability and probability of the outcomes described. It made her on par with many detectives in interrogations.

So when he had handed her the notebook Midoriya had given him, he knew she would be able to realistically determine the value of his theories and observations. He had read both profiles himself before handing it over to his co-worker, they had been an interesting mix of facts, theories, and potential strengths and weakness as well as suggestions to improve or exploit both.

“Was he inaccurate?”

“He laughed.”

“What?”

“I took that notebook to Nedzu to get some of his facts verified and he laughed.”

“I know he had said Nedzu had a dual mutation quirk but surely that is a bit harsh for the work of a student…”

“No, not that kind of laughter. He laughed.”

“…oh”

“How did I not see that Nedzu is a mouse with a bear mutation along with his High Specs? Not only that but, yes, I can actually use any of my body hair to turn into needles which can indeed be used as lock picks. Where did you find this kid?”

“You don’t want to know. Regardless, do you think you can help him?”

“With what? How to take over the world? Did you read how many different ways he had formulated to disable me?”

“To be fair going for the eyes is a good strategy for most opponents.”

“Battle strategy is one thing but how in the world did he find out my hair needles are susceptible to heat? And you said he has notes on most Heroes working in the field? Do you understand how dangerous that is?”

“He writes them in Latin on a tablet that is not capable of going online locked with a twenty digit password.”

“I still don’t like it. Either way, I doubt I’ll have the chance to work with him.”

“Why is that?”

“Nedzu finds him interesting.”

“…”

“He asked me for a name and since you never told me, I told him it was one of yours.”

“That means he has looked at the class roster and already knows who it is.”

“Listen, you asked for my opinion on this notebook and I will tell it to you plain. I teach business kids to observe an apple falling and predict its landing, velocity, and impact. Your kid sees and apple falling and predicts how much wind was needed to release the apple, how much the apple weighed, how old the tree was that grew the apple, and what time of the year it is based on the color of the apple. I could teach him how to better organize his notes or to make compact summaries but if you really want him to thrive in this area. Nedzu is the one you want teaching him.”

With that Spiker left the room leaving the notebook in question on his desk. Opening the book he found comments in red where the analytics teacher actually made suggestions about his notes and actually tried some of the experiments in the theory section and gave him the results.

Turning to Nedzu’s page, there was only a single mark at the top of the page that said “Good Job”. It was clear he was meant to give this back to Midoriya even if Miyo did not believe she was the right teacher for the boy, she still wanted to reward his efforts.

He looked up as the door opened again and the slight form of the school nurse entered. He had not expected to see Shuuzenji-san in the staff room considering her desk was at the nurse’s station. Looking around it was early enough that none of the other teachers had gotten in yet.

He always timed his patrols to end about an hour before school which gave him time to refresh and try to get a nap in before homeroom. It meant he was often by himself in the early morning at the school. Something all the other teachers knew about him which was why Miyo had come in extra early to talk about his problem child.

“Why did you not tell me you had a medic in your class?”

“Midoriya is a Certified Emergency Field Medic. He does not have medical degree or a healing quirk.”

“He uses his head in a medical emergency, knows how to stabilize wounds, and works in the medal field outside of school. I should have been told.”

“He is an unpaid intern at a fire station with reprimands from three different Heroes about him being a hindrance during a disaster.”

“Emergency personnel do not keep around interns that are a hindrance. A fact that you know very well. I have always made it very clear that Medical Support Heroes potentials where supposed to go through me.”

“We only found out about his status when his costume came in five days ago. By that time his schedule was determined and he was already accepted into the program.”

“All Hero course costumes have to be approved well in advance.”

“Midoriya was an exception. His father filed the paperwork to have an outside support company work on his outfit.”

“You still could have informed me once you have found out. Now that I do know, we have to discuss when I will have him in the office.”

“He is a Hero student. You have never taken a Hero student as an assistant.”

“We have never had a Hero student with more brains then meat in his head when it came to the health and wellness of others.”

Staring at the little old woman before his desk, Aizawa knew that this was going to be a long day and school had not even started yet. At least putting the boy into Shuzenji’s hands would keep him away from Nedzu for a bit longer. Though knowing the principal, prior claims would not stop him from meddling. He did not get paid enough for this shit.

---

Izuku stopped by Tsu’s desk as he came into the classroom. He placed a lotion he had picked up the other day after leaving the school for her on her desk and waved to Iida before heading to his own seat. It would help her keep her skin hydrated after the scare of the other day. Hopefully she would not have to deal with more freezing incidents for now.

He smiled at Iida seeing he had already gotten to class. He already guess by the scowl on Kacchan’s face that the robotic mannered classmate had probably beaten him to the room. As he moved away to his own desk he found his way blocked by the stoic boy as he bowed to him.

“I feel I should apologize for my behavior during the entrance exam. I realize now you were a medical professional and were just worried about a fellow examinee. I asked my brother last night about the symbol you wear on your outfit.”

“I did not think that Ingenium had any sidekicks that wore the Rod of Asclepius. I know that Charming Cure is he Medical Support Sidekick and she uses the Red Cross to represent her status.”

“Brother says I should listen to you in a case of a medical emergency and could learn a lot from you.”

“Iida, I am a student just like you. I just come with a little bit of prior experience that warrants the Rod. I am more interested in knowing if you got your helmet looked into. It is dangerous to have a helmet that is that loose. It was the only reason that you had been taken out completely during the battle exercise.”

“I was hoping to get it done this morning but I did not know where to find the support department to put my request in. I was going to ask Aizawa Sensei during home room.”

“That is not a bad idea. There are a few other classmates that could probably use the same information after yesterday. The good news is we have science class with Power Loader today who is the head of the support department. You can probably ask for his help after class.”

He was given another bow as the boy thanked him for his help. It was done so robotically he almost wanted to laugh but he knew it would have hurt his classmate’s feelings. The boy may be a stickler for rules but he did seem to be very dedicated to heroics and to the well being of his class. It was very possible they could be friends once he was able to relax a bit more around others.

He was actually happy that Iida brought up outfits as he neared his own desk. In the seat before Kacchan he looked at the floating phone that was being used by the girl no one could see.

“So I have a question, is your Hero costume really just shoes and gloves or did they make you an invisible suit to go with your quirk?”

“…they can make suits like that?”

“Invisibility is a rare quirk but you are not the first Hero to have it. There is a quite famous American Heroine with similar abilities whose outfit turns invisible with her. You can also make use of a number of materials that are see through in general if the support company is unable to get the right materials.”

“Wont most see through materials warp images on the other side or bounce light and reflections off of it to give me away?”

“Have you ever tried wearing them? You won’t know until you test it out against your quirk in multiple environments. I’m sure the support department can help with figuring out the right materials to work for you. That way you can at least keep your shoes on.”

“I need something to be able to communicate with people. The shoes and gloves allow me to point and show the way.”

“Maybe you should consider lights. They are mostly invisible when off but can illuminate you when on in order to do the same without forcing you to remove anything when you need to go into a stealth mode.”

“I love that idea! Do you think they could give me a bright pink color almost like a magical girl?”

“You never know until you ask.”

Izuku said as he got to his seat as the bell rang. The class had filled as he had been talking to Hagakure but he was glad to see Tsu had made it to her desk so she was not having any serious reactions to the emergency from yesterday that would keep her from school just as he had hoped.

Eraserhead made his way into the room and unlike the other days did not go into the corner for his pretend nap. Looking around he made the announcement that they would be choosing a class representatives for the class. This lead to the cacophony of voices from his classmates that wanted the role until their teacher told them to decide among himself and went to his corner sleeping bag in tow.

Iida had stood up to use a voting system to find the class officers when Izuku stood up to block the vote. While he agreed with the concept of voting for a president, everyone choosing who they wanted would not work for a Hero class.

“Iida, before we vote for a president, shouldn’t we narrow it down to people that actually want the position? A class president has to be able to have enough free time to make it to the student council meetings and organize the class inside and outside of lessons. Not everyone here will be able to fulfill that criteria or desire the position.”

That had led to more talk before half of the class removed themselves from the running. Izuku noted that beyond Kacchan who could not bother with working with extras, the group that bowed out from the officer positions were most likely going into the Underground field and a few others that cited outside commitments including himself.

In the end the results gave the win to Yaoyorozu as the president with the runner up Iida being the vice president. Izuku did wonder if the class had gone with the original suggestion what the results would have been.

This had been the better option as he figured at least two of his friends would have tried to make him an officer and with more people to vote for, the likelihood of getting the role would have been higher. He had too much on his plate to take on more responsibility. Though he was sure his father would have liked the idea of him taking a leadership role.

As their teacher was leaving the class at the end of home room, a familiar black notebook landed on his desk. Looking up he wondered where the other had hidden the object as he had not seen him enter with it. In the sleeping bag again? The condition of the notebook did not seem all that worn so it had been taken care of.

“I’ll need that back at the end of school today.”

With that he was gone before Iida after his elation from his victory remembered to ask him about the support course and costume modifications. The class quieted down as Ectoplasm entered for another math class. Izuku had to push down the anticipation of looking at his returned notebook and placed it in his bag as he pulled out his textbook.

Izuku was disappointed that Power Loader had not entered the room in his full Hero gear. While the mechanical suit the other used would be unwieldy walking around the school, he had still hoped to see it in person. Maybe there would be another chance to see the Hero in his suit.

Considering this was their first science class, they mostly went over the curriculum of the materials they would be learning. That had meant there had been enough time afterwards to ask questions. He looked to Iida and motioned to indicate that he should ask his questions on their Hero outfits. Before their new Vice President could ask the question, it was Hagakure that asked about making changes to their Hero outfits.

That had seemed to release the flood gates as more students seemed to have issue with their suits then he had expected. With so many people asking questions of the science teacher, they were finally told that Aizawa would be giving them forms to make the changes and to run along to the lockers to change for their physical education class. If it was anything like the last time, the class would have more running with Hound Dog.

---

Azawa did not approve of his new popularity today as a stack of papers was dropped onto his desk. Looking up he saw a rather rigid Higari which meant he was agitated about something. As one of the more mellow Hero Teachers it was interesting to see him on edge.

“Why is one of your students running around naked?”

Naked? His mind ran through the students in his class first going to Kirishima who ran around without a shirt but since Higari did the same he doubted that was the issue. Looking down at the papers to give him more time to think, he realized they were costume update forms. Considering the number, it looked like enough for his whole class. Then he realized who the other was talking about.

“Hagakure? She had originally asked for no costume which was rejected. Then gloves and shoes only which also got rejected. We sent in a request for a stealth suit for her in the end with her gloves and shoes.”

“She never received a suit.”

“Are you telling me I had a student in combat training without any protection?”

“Did you check all the outfits?”

“Only Midoriya’s. All the other ones were made by the usual support companies we partner with.”

“Which company worked on Hagakure? We need to check the rest that were made by them and Sekijirou needs to check his student’s outfits before they start Hero lessons today.”

Aizawa turned to his computer to get the information as the other left to find the teacher for 1-B. His face went dark thinking about how a support company dared to put one of his students in danger. He also felt guilty for not checking the costumes earlier. There never seemed to be enough time in the day and he had assumed that the costumes had come back as order like they were every year.

---

Izuku walked with his classmates into the cafeteria after changing into their school uniforms again. He went at a slower pace than usual as Shinsou and a few of the others that asked to join them were still tired out from the running. At one point he bet Hound Dog would move to weight building and eventually sparring as PE in the Hero Course was meant to build up the body without quirk usage. For now that meant running.

Kacchan had already gone ahead as he was unwilling to wait on the extras that did not have enough stamina to keep up. That was fine, it meant that the blonde would be able to save a table for all of them to sit at. The same group that had joined them the first day had stayed around and he was slowly learning more about them beyond their quirks.

He still wanted to get a chance to get to know a few of the others but they all had their own groups together or were solitary during lunch. He hoped to be able to talk to a few of them about their all too interesting quirks such as Kouda. If he was right, the quiet boy’s quirk was actually a very similar quirk to Shinsou except it only worked on animals.

Looking outside the window he spotted the classmate on his mind now sharing his lunch with a number of the squirrels that made their home on school grounds. He seemed the most comfortable outside so it was no wonder his lunches were spent under the trees in the courtyard student were allowed to use during breaks.

They entered the cafeteria loudly as Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido got a second wind and were talking excitedly about some musical group. Izuku did not know much about music so had gotten in a conversation with Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu about their reading for the world history class they were having later on in the day.

There had been an awkward moment between him and Uraraka at first since they had not really talked since he explained his theories on her quirk. But as they continued to talk in a group she seemed to thaw a bit more and was soon all smiles again as they sat down at the table that Katsuki and Kirishima waited at.

Before he could dig into the delicious food before him an alarm sounded and he looked up as a number of the older students around them mentioned something about an intruder alarm. There was a desperate scramble to get out of the cafeteria even as Izuku stayed in his spot along with his best friend, Shinsou, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu. The others has made a break for the main doors but were currently in a sea of bodies all trying to get out.

“Kacchan, can you see what is going on outside? There is probably a secondary exit through the cafeteria that will be far less troublesome to take then the main entrance considering our location.”

“Don’t see a fucking thing Nerd.”

“Let’s go then.”

“I don’t think it is appropriate to go through a staff only space.”

“Iida, I doubt Lunch Rush would mind us going through his kitchen over being trampled by the mass outside.”

“They are all acting very disrespectfully for a renowned school.”

They entered the empty kitchen and Izuku immediately saw a door that should lead them back to the hallways to get to their classroom. Walking down the aisle, Izuku had enough time to duck as the large shadow filled the window darkening the room before a large crash sounded and a black figure emerged from the wall.

Behind him he saw that Shinsou and Kacchan had mirrored his movement and the others being farther behind had thankfully not be hurt when the wall fell into the room unable to handle the impart of the intruder.

It was a large black humanoid shape with an exposed human brain and two large bull like horns. It looked like it tried to scream but no sound came from the monster, instead a fine white powder was released from his hands. Izuku stared for a moment at that powder before sprinting to the nearby sink and turned on the water as he grabbed the nozzle sprayer used to wash dishes turn the water pressure up. He sprayed the area around the thing with water watching as the powder mixed with the water to fall harmlessly on the ground before aiming his sprayer directly at the hands of the monster.

Izuku had just enough time to roll away from the attack as the intruder came at him in retaliation for the drenching. The thing had smashed through the counter that had been between then and destroyed the sink and water came gushing up through the pipe that had been left behind as the metal had been crushed.

“Iida, run and find a teacher we need help. Shinsou, try asking it a question.”

“Why are you here?”

Another soundless scream and the monster kept its milky white eyes on the green hair boy and he moved further away from his friends. A loud explosion sounded and Kacchan ran forward using his quirk to pick up speed as he aimed for the monster’s exposed brain. Unfortunately the scream did not seem to trigger Shinsou’s quirk but at least it did not seem to produce any more powder. He had been worried that he had not had enough time to complete drench the other's hands. It did use a massive hand to pluck Kacchan from the air and throw him against the wall.

He never took his eyes off the monster to even look at his best friend. He was getting closer to the hole, if he was able to jump out, then hopefully whatever this thing was would follow him out and away from his friends. He was not given more time as the thing rushed him and he was sent barreling into the wall a meter short of his destination as the monster threw both of them out of the kitchen making another hole in the wall.

Izuku felt the monster with his hands and started to jab at him with his hands hoping his technique would work on such a large being before he kicked away from the falling giant and landed rolling in the grass as the large form of the attacker tumbled into the ground causing cracks on impact. His body already felt bruised as he crawled backwards away from the intimidating form as he cursed when the intruder slowly rose to his feet again.

The beast had turned to him again but before it was able to get closer a large rock was smashed into its face. Looking back up at the hole, Uraraka and Tsu were loading another rock onto Tsu’s tongue before hurling it at the creature. Obviously they were using Uraraka’s quirk to remove the weight of the rocks until it was released by Tsu. Izuku almost smiled remembering their similar tactic during the entrance exam.

Thanking his friends in his mind for the distraction, he was able to get back on his feet before running away. Looking back, his eyes widen as the monster curled into a ball and shot out like a bowling ball to destroy anything in its path. Not long after he heard the sound of explosions getting nearer to him and he looked up to see Kacchan weaving up above him. He took to the nearest tree in order to kick up and jump for the arm of his best friend and he was pulled up away from the towering creature that rolled after him.

Looking below, they saw the creature as it transformed back and was about to jump when a mist quickly spread around the area and the giant fell to the ground. Katsuki gave him a grunt of warning before releasing him above another tree. He caught himself on a branch and waited for his friend to land on it as well. With the mist below them, they would be unable to land safely on the ground without being put to sleep as well.

“Why didn’t you take down the fucker?”

“I tried. He was supposed to be unable to move but he shook it off too fast. I think the organs are enlarged or duplicated. It seemed to slow him down a bit but without those girl’s help, he would have probably crushed me before I got my breath back. How are you doing? It looked like you went head first into the wall.”

“Not even a scratch. You look like fucking hell.”

“I think he bruised a few ribs sending me into the wall but I don’t feel anything broken.”

“Why you?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Bastard never took his eyes off of you the whole time. So who the fuck did you piss off?”

“…do you remember Makou Kaon? He was in Aldera with us? He sat two seats to the left of you? He wore gloves every day to school?”

Katsuki stared at him and none of the descriptions got through the other before he finally pointed at the monster sleeping in the mists.

“Fucker never went to school with us.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But that quirk that he showed in the kitchen before I was able to douse it with water. I am going to bet anything it is caustic soda.”

“So what the hell happened?”

“I don’t know. It looks like an evil science experiment that went wrong. Especially since it had at least three quirks.”

---

Izuku and Kacchan sat in the nurse’s office as Recovery Girl talked to his friend about the dangers of head injuries and insisted that the blonde know the signs of danger in case anything happened once he was at home. Both of them had already received a kiss from the small woman and were waiting for Katsuki’s parents to arrive. The nurse had insisted that he was not allowed to go home without supervision and apparently Izuku was not good enough considering his own state after the battle.

His ribs felt mostly sore. The nurse did not want to take away too much of his energy so he was stuck with the pain and was told to return the next day to receive another treatment. Classes were canceled for the next couple of days due to the damages to the school. His other friends that had been there during the incident had already been seen to and deemed well enough to leave after being questioned by the teachers and the detective they had brought in for the attack.

Izuku and Bakugou finally had the chance to give their statements together to Detective Tsukauchi with Aizawa in the room as well. Knowing the police officer from past experiences, he had greeted him warmly and excitedly explained to Kacchan what the detective's quirk was. After that when asked to explain what happened, Izuku was careful to stick to the exact facts without going into theory. Katsuki mostly stayed quiet but did add a few things here and there. But he also did not talk about their discussion afterwards.

“Detective, does your quirk work if the person speaking believes something even if it is not true?”

“My quirk only tells me is a person is lying or not. If they do not believe they are lying then I do not get a negative reaction. Did you notice something that could pertain to this investigation?”

“That monster had at least three quirks. An emitter type, mutation type, and a transformation type. There are no known cases of a person’s body being able to handle two different types of quirks without the aid of medical support items since the types require separate adaptations to handle the quirk powers. There is only one team of scientists that are currently working on an organic solution to the quirk issues on the human body. My father heads that team. If you want to know how that happened. I suggest asking him.”

“You think your father has something to do with this?”

“My father would never create a monster like that! His life’s work is to allow people who are hindered by their quirks to have a normal existence. What part of that creature looked normal to you?”

“I had to ask since you brought it up. You really think your father could help?”

“Detective, his son was just in a potentially deadly incident with a deranged science experiment. He would move mountains to ensure it would never happen again.”

---

Hisashi had been expecting the call from the police department. His Inko had already called to tell him about the attack. He had been looking at airplane flights to get back to his family when an email came from his son.

His eyes had gone cold at his son's explanation of the attack that that left nothing out including the similarity of the quirk to that of one of his old classmate bully's had and how the monster had been targeting his boy. The email also detailed the separate quirks and physical attributes of the creature and agreed with his son’s conclusion that this was a man-made creation of someone that decided to play god.

“Detective. It is good to hear from you. How may I be of service?”

His son might not have been able to get to the body or the evidence to confirm his theories, but if he played his cards right, Hisashi would be able to get all the crucial information they would need to keep his boy safe. No one was allowed to put his pride and joy in danger.

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe you. You realize Hisashi is going to put everything on hold to find out who made that creature?”

“He hasn’t said anything yet.”

“Unlike you, your father does not let anyone know his theories until they have been tested at least once.”

“What’s the fun of that? By the way, I finally got my Hero Outfit the other day. It was amazing. I can’t believe you actually gave me your visor. I thought it was your prized procession.”

“It is an even better version then mine. The sensors are better at determining when to change modes and it will give you oxygen for a full three minutes. So you better treat it with the respect it deserves.”

“Those bolas are also perfectly weighted. I have to ask, what is with the magic eight ball design?”

“Well you have mentioned not wanting your weapon to look dangerous, and we talked about you using yo-yo’s… it was the toy that worked for the design that reminded me of you.”

“Reminds you of me?”

“Yeah, you always seem to know all the answers. I mean, when I tell you an idea I’ve been stuck on for days, you almost always come back with a new path or concept I never even considered. You’re just like my personal magic eight ball.”

Izuku blushed at the compliment and they went on to talk about how well the support items handled and the ease that Kacchan had used his gauntlets. The gatling gun design had worked perfectly and was definitely intimidating to see them rotate while firing explosions. Even though he had not said anything, Izuku knew that Katsuki had really liked them.

---

Izuku made it to the school and stared at the pristine building that only the day before had two gaping holes in it. Cementoss must have been hard at work to get it back to normal. He wondered about the interior as well as he passed by the freshly planted grass and smoothed grounds. They had worked very hard in completely erasing the battle that had taken part here. Much like Heroes, appearance was everything when it came to reputation.

Entering the building he soon found himself in front of the nurse’s office again and knocked on the door before opening it. Inside he found Recovery Girl waiting for him with her usual casual manor as he took a seat in the chair next to her.

Another kiss and quick check up and he felt better than ever if a little tired. He was handed a pack of gummies and was about to leave again when a package was handed to him. Opening it up to look at it, he realized it was a white medical coat that was an exact match to the one the recovery girl currently wore.

“…What?”

“You will be coming here every Monday and Tuesday during sixth period and on Friday and Saturday during fifth. I expect you to wear that while you are on shift.”

“Here?”

“Yes, as my assistant. My last one graduated two years ago and I have not been able to find a replacement until you.”

“I’m flattered but…”

“I’ve already settled it with your teacher. Shouta already informed me that you do not need those English classes so we will be replacing them with this. I won’t call you out of classes or expect you to work outside of school days but if more situations occur like at the battle training, I want you prepared and able to perform to the best of your abilities.”

“I don’t have a healing quirk. Everything I know is from books.”

“And experience. I had quite a conversation with Hunoko-san about your abilities. Including your run-ins with Pro Heroes. Shameful how some pros do not know skills when they see it.”

“Skills? I just help where I can.”

“Which is what I am asking you to do here, Dearie. This is not glamorous work. The sixth and fifth periods are right after Hero Lessons for most grades. You will be dealing with anything from nausea to wounds during the busiest part of my day.”

Izuku finally nods as a piece of paper is placed in his hands. It was a transfer request already signed by Eraserhead and Recovery Girl. The exact terms had been written down exactly as she had brought it up to him. He would be studying under the premiere Medical Support Hero in Japan for at least a year. He could not wait to let Shifu know about this new development.

“Take that transfer request up to the principal’s office. He should be expecting you.”

“Nedzu’s?”

“Don’t keep him waiting, Dearie, he had been quite busy upgrading the security systems.”

Izuku found himself looking at the closed door of the office not quite sure how he got back into the hallway after their conversation. Looking down at the transfer request he put on a smile as he realized he was finally going to see the principal in person.

It was a good thing he memorized the map to the school or he would have been lost a couple of times. There was only one printed way to access the principal’s office and it required two different staircases and small narrow hallway that could be missed easily if you were not looking for it.
Izuku did suspect that Nedzu had multiple ways to and from his office that were not on the map. He also noted the sensors in the narrow hallway that would probably let the principal know that company was on their way. That was of course if he was not watching the multiple cameras that were spread throughout the school itself.

As he walked up to the door it swung open on its own and a voice beckoned him to enter. Stepping into the room he saw that the only other person in the room was the white furred principal that was currently drinking tea.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Herbal or caffeinated?”

“A fine black tea.”

“Does the caffeine content increase your ability to use high specs?”

“An interesting idea. Something to experiment with at another time. The question still stands.”

“Then yes, I would love to have some.”

A cup and saucer were pulled out of somewhere and the dark liquid was poured into the porcelain vessel. Izuku was able to enjoy a sip of the beverage before Nedzu took the transfer request from the desk where Izuku had placed it when he sat down.

“Shuuzenji is an amazing Medical Support Hero and can teach you quite a lot about the field. But that is not the direction you are actually interested in. Your analysis can put you on the track of an Investigative Support Hero. But your Hero outfit shows that you want to be a Spotlight Hero. So tell me, what kind of Hero do you want to be?”

“I do not see the reason to limit myself in any one area. So many Heroes specialize but not a single one of them is a one trick pony.”

“Talking about tricks, that was an interesting question you asked the detective about his quirk. Especially since you clearly omitted something when you heard his answer.”

“…if I had told the detective what I suspected, I could have turned him to a person that has done nothing wrong. Just because I believe something does not mean it is true.”

“Midoriya, while it is admirable to restrain from pointing the finger at someone before you have proof, Detective Tsukauchi understands his quirk well and never actually uses it to convict anyone before gathering the proper proof. He only uses it as a short cut to determine the reliability of a witness. So tell me what do you suspect?”

“I’m sure you looked into my past and what happen at Aldera Jr High the moment you realized I might be the target of this attack?”

“Yes, another case where you waited to have proof before coming to the authorities.”

“What do you know about what happened to the people involved?”

“Those in authority were punished by the law and the other teachers had their licenses revoked.”

“And the students?”

“They were divided into the other schools in the area.”

“And the ones that took part in holding me down and breaking my fingers had marks entered in all their records to block them from getting into Hero School. What is not on the record is an incident I had with one of my old classmates a couple months after Aldera closed. Makou Kaon was angry and tried to confront me and in the process inhaled the caustic soda that his quirk produced as fine powder from his hands. I think it was the exact same quirk that the creature had the other day.”

“Which is why you knew to soak his hands and air to make the powder inert. Did you recognize any of the other quirks? ”

“No, well maybe, I mean those horns looked like an upperclassman I had in elementary school, but that mutation is rather common. Considering how it seemed so focused on me, I assumed it was someone with a grudge or in relation to my father’s work. Though it could have just been mad that I sprayed water on it. Shinsou was unable to use his quirk on it so it might not have higher brain functions.”

“So you suggested bringing your father in on this case.”

“My father is brilliant. If it was not Makou, then he might be able to pick up clues to point him to the person that actually created that thing.”

“Makou Kaon went missing two years ago.”

“You already knew?”

“When there is an attack on school grounds, we take it very seriously. Especially when one of our students seems to be the target.”

“Will this affect my attendance here?”

“UA is not the type of school that wastes potential. A number of us are excited to see what you will do in the future. But first you must have a future.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Tell me what would happen if the attack did not happen at school? Maybe if it had waited for nightfall?”

“Mom…”

“Yes, as of right now. We believe that school might be the safest place for you. There have already been plans in place to have boarding options to students that come from a distance. This incident will speed up the project and give you the protection of our security and staff.”

“Will I still be allowed to see my mother? What about my training and internship?”

“This is a school not a prison. We just ask that you do not keep a set schedule for your activities and routes. The fire station should have enough security personnel to keep your internship safe. We can also consider allowing your mother a pass to visit you.”

“Would it be possible to have a pass for my Shifu as well?”

“Your Tai Chi master?”

“No, Shifu Fuang Meiling. She has been training me for years.”

“…It will be our privilege to have Dr. Fuang visit UA.”

“I’ll need to talk with mom about it…”

“Take your time, due to the recent construction, the dorms would not be finished until the end of next week. We do not believe there will be another attack in such a short period of time but we have asked a few local Heroes to keep an extra eye out in your neighborhood for the time being.”

“Thank you, I think my parents will agree but we have to consider everything.”

“No doubt. One more thing to consider. Aizawa gave you a notebook yesterday and informed you that it had to be returned. I understand why you were unable to do it yesterday in all the chaos but I rather not have that information so easily available.”

“So I was right! How many bear attributes do you have? I know the size, ears, and paws and I assume your lifespan as well due to the larger size of your organs.”

“Considering your tutorage under Dr. Fuang, I think that I would rather keep my physical state to myself. You have gotten far closer than anyone I have met before. Now that you have met me do you have anything else to add?”

“Considering mutant quirks are active at birth, you had high specs for a long time. It means you could have escaped before getting that scar on your face. You stayed at the test facility for a reason, most likely to learn more about humans and to determine how to gain autonomy. You probably hid the High Specs aspect of your quirks and they were actually testing the bear mutation which is why they had you fight another creature most likely some kind of large feline in the facility to gain that scar.”

“…I would prefer you also keep that to yourself. May I see your tablet?”

“Of course!”

Pulling out the ever present tablet from his bag he quickly opens it and handed it over to the principal. He was tempted to take a look at the notebook in question but he did not want to miss any of the reactions from Nedzu. It was harder to read the expressions from the mouse as he looked through his notes. He had the idea that the more human like mannerism were all purposefully used for the benefit of others.

He took a sip of his forgotten tea that was still a bit warm. He wondered if Nedzu used honey in his tea. It would be an easy way to constantly add the calories his bear anatomy would require. If the caffeine actually improved High Specs, tea would be the perfect way to aid both his traits. It was also a good reason the other did not drink coffee which was higher in caffeine concentration if it needed to be paired with honey.

“I am surprised by the number of international Heroes you have included.”

“A good friend of mine lives on I-Island. She always tell me about the Heroes she meets through her father.”

“That would be Melissa Shield. We did wonder how you were able to get an outfit made by David Shield himself considering his commission wait list.”

“I am very fortunate in my friends.”

“Spiker was correct. Your analyses are solid but they require so many unknown factors. You need to be able to concentrate on what is known from your observations without the speculations. It is great when you are trying to improve or experiment with a quirk. Not so good when you need to fight against one or analyze the aftermath of a quirk incident.”

“Aizawa was hoping she would be able to help me get better.”

“Your work is beyond her lessons. You would have the same problem you are currently having in English. Placing you in her class with be a distraction to the second years that are just starting in this area of Hero work.”

“Then how?”

“Shuuzenji has requested your afternoons in her office. I’ll will be taking over your Tuesday and Thursday mornings in place of those English lessons.”

“Personally, you will?”

“I don’t often take on the education of the students here but there have been cases where the curriculum fell short for individuals. I believe Aizawa is already considering taking your friend Shinsou on as an independent study considering how far behind he is on physical fitness from the rest of your classmates. Not a word to either of them mind you.”

Izuku nodded already realizing that mentioning it to his friend or teacher could easily stop any consideration on Eraserhead’s part to help his friend. He had only been working with Shinsou for a couple of months to really show any true progress. He had also been so busy with his own training that he was not able to really help the other get into better shape. Though Shinsou was continuing to run each day and had made quite a bit of progress in cleaning up that beach Izuku had suggested he use for strength training.

He finished his tea and made his goodbyes to Nedzu as he walked out of the door. Taking the path back down the narrow hallway, he took a seat on the first set of stairs and finally looked at the notebook. To his amazement, Spiker had actually tried most of the experiments in the book and had written the results of each and made comments on the ones she could not easily accomplish on her own.

Taking out his tablet again he quickly copied over the notes made by the Pro Hero for him to expand later. He was somewhat disappointed by the lack of notes in Nedzu’s portion but had stared at the statement at the top of his analysis for a full minute. He carefully tore it out of the notebook and placed it in this bag. That was the first positive comment he had received from a teacher since he had come out as quirkless. It meant more to him than all the remarks that Spiker had added to her analysis.

Nedzu and all his Hero teachers knew what he was and they accepted it as if it was nothing special. It was as if this school was in a separate dimension from the rest of the world. He realized for a moment that he actually felt safe here. He had been attacked just the day before on these same grounds but somehow he knew the Pro Heroes that worked here would protect him. Leaving his mother would be hard but maybe he could convince her to live with Shifu in case they came after her as well.

Putting himself back together, he continued on his way to the staff room. Knocking he wondered if anyone would be inside as the door opened to the questioning face of his English teacher.

“Hey little listener. What brings you here?”

“I came by to have Recovery Girl finish fixing up my ribs. But I was hoping Aizawa Sensei was about since I have something to return to him.”

“Sorry there, but Shouta is out right now. I can drop off anything you need him to have at his apartment for you if it is important.”

Izuku considered it for a moment before passing over the black notebook. This was one of his teachers, he trusted it to be safe in his hands. After all he did feel bad about the misunderstanding from the other day. It was a shame he would no longer being seeing the loud Hero in classes anymore since he was one of the more fun personalities of the teachers he had met so far.

“He asked me to return this yesterday but things got a bit out of control so I wanted to get this back to him as soon as possible.”

“Sure thing. Don’t let that gruff exterior fool you. He would not have blamed you if you waited for the next school day.”

“When I talked to Nedzu it seemed important enough for him to mention it.”

“Nedzu did…”

“Yep, thanks for your help Present Mic.”

---

Hizashi walked back to his desk as he flipped through the notebook in his hand wondering what was so important that Nedzu had an interest in it. He paused as he got to a spot where a portion of the page had been ripped out.

“What did the little Green Bean want this time?”

Looking over at Midnight who was the only other teacher in the room he turned the book around so she could see the large image of Nedzu that covered half the page with an almost perfect typed font that looked more mechanical then written that went into depth on the principal quirks. Squealing the R Rated Hero grabbed the notebook and started to read the analysis of their high overlord.

“This is amazing! We should make copies and give it to the rest of the staff!”

Carefully but firmly Hizashi retrieved the notebook and stared at his friend for a moment. He shivered for a second thinking of the retaliation that would occur if Nedzu found out they had released this information to the whole school. Even if it was written by a student, he had no doubts that Nedzu was watching them right now considering the contents of the book.

“Nope. Not dealing with that. This is going straight to Shouta.”

“Damn Hizashi, don’t you want to have some fun? You’re getting more like your roommate every day.”

“Nemuri, what do you think Nedzu would do if he knew we put this information out?”

“Fuck, you're right. At least make a copy of the picture he drew. I need it for a contact profile image of Nedzu on my phone.”

Chapter Text

Shouta and Sekijirou stepped into the clear glass elevator that would take them to the top floor of the stately building. Everywhere they looked they could see the amount of money that had been spent to impress the Heroes that would come to the support company for outfits and gear. Problem was, they were in debt and down the hole so far it was unlikely they would ever be able to recover.

The contract with UA was a lucrative one. Every year, they had a new batch of Hero students needing outfits and was a source of consistent income for the company. Higari had also wanted to come but Nedzu had him working on making temporary changes to the outfits they knew were subpar. While a separate company was remaking them from the ground up.

Five outfits had been commissioned by the school from the group. Hagakure’s had been the worst since it was completely missing the stealth suit that would have protected her while staying invisible with the girl. But Ashido’s was been made with an inferior fabric. If any of the acid that she produced had touched her clothing besides her shoes, it would have dissolved away the material almost immediately.

Sekijirou’s class had it worse as three of his students had been given outfits that would not make it through a single exercise. They had been lucky they found out before the outfits had been given to them to wear. The Hero course always alternated days for Hero lessons between A and B so they had been able to examine the outfits before class 1-B had even seen them.

Shiozaki had designed a dress of ribbons to match her vision of a saint. The dress they had received was so sheer it would have offered no protection to her modesty or thorns her quirk produced. Kuroiro had requested a vantablack suit, it had come out as almost dark purple that would not have allowed it to be manipulated by the student’s quirk. Rin had wanted a visor that resembled a mythological jiangshi, while it looked to match the theme, it was impossible to see through it.

Nedzu had gone cold with rage when he heard what the company had tried to do in order to cut corners and save money. He had found their financials issues in a matter of moments. Going after with a law suit for money they did not have would have done nothing more than kill the company all the faster. Nedzu had suggested an alternative route. They would recieve compensation from the company in labor.

It was bad management that was killing the company. The support staff that it retained had been working with the materials and tools they were allocated. Most of them were under contract for a set period of time but Nedzu had noticed the decline of employees staying beyond their obligated years.

Large support companies tended to sign on new students straight from Hero Schools as apprentices so they could gain work experience. In return the new hire would then work a number of years equal to the worth of the apprenticeship. That meant a number of there prior students had been hired and were currently working for the group.

After today, that same group would be helping Nedzu increase the security at UA as well as a few other improvements. Aizawa carried the profiles of each of the alumni they were going to be requesting. They were all going to be removed from this sinking ship. After their help with Nedzu’s current project, the principal was already working on getting their contracts picked up by other companies. There was a reason UA was the most prestigious school in the county. They took care of their own.

---

Izuku sat on a broken down fridge watching Shinsou drag a large antique dresser to the street. He had stopped by Dagoba Beach after his run and was looking about at the difference a month had made. There was still a lot of trash everywhere but one large swatch of sand had been uncovered by the persistent work of his friend.

“Sure you don’t want any help?”

“You training is not going to make me any stronger.”

“So what did it feel like when you tried to use your quirk on that thing.”

“…it was like it didn’t exist. I sent a connection out but there was nothing there to grab on to with or without an answer.”

“Has that ever happen before?”

“Once…”

“Come on you got to give me more information than that.”

“My grandfather had a similar quirk to mine. He could mesmerize a person by looking them in the eye. Both my parents work and since he was retired, I was often left with him. He was never afraid to answer my questions even though he knew about my quirk. One day, he had a stroke, died within minutes. I just sat on the floor asking him to get up. Begging him…. that monster… It felt like that.”

“…I’m sorry you had to go through that Shinsou. How old were you?”

“Eight. By that time everyone at school did not want to be around me. He had been my only friend for years.”

“Well now you have us. I will always be here to answer your questions.”

“Why did that creature target you?”

“I don’t know. My father is going to try to find out but I haven’t heard anything from him yet.”

“Your father?”

“He is a scientist. Been working on organic ways to help people who have quirks that their bodies are unable to control. He is the most amazing person I know.”

“Then why heroics? You didn’t want to be like your father?”

“I love my father, but I wanted to be out there in the middle of all the action. When we found out I was quirkless…”

“Wait. You’re quirkless? I thought you had some kind of agility quirk? You move faster than anyone I know.”

“Nope, that is just me. I’ve just been training for years.”

“Along with your medical training and that weird thing you did to Kaminari during the combat training.”

“Chi Blocking. There are certain areas of the body that you can shock into blocking normal functions such as quirk use for emitter types.”

“So what can’t you do?”

“I can’t receive a loan from a bank, go to any school of higher learning after UA, get a job that is consider “too dangerous” such as working with other people, and a number of various things that all come down to a genetic trick at birth.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“There is no protections for the quirkless. We are the disabled populous that society wants to forget about. One out of three people without a quirk do not live past their high school graduation due to the suicide rate in our population. That’s why I’m going to do something about it.”

“I believe you. If anyone can do it. I believe you can.”

---

The host was dying. They had been forced to use the older man due to the limitations in the supply chain and it looked like he would not even last a year. There needed a younger and healthier specimen if they were going to continue production. It was a shame their resources here were so limited in this county.

His last creation had been a miserably failure of programming. He was still going through the data to determine what had gone wrong with that Nomu. They had been using it to search for another host when it had broken free of its directive and attacked UA of all places. Considering what it was conditioned to search for, he highly doubted that the Nomu was on the trail of their prey.

He only have enough parts left to create one more Nomu who would be able to find what they needed. After that, he would be forced to find another quirk user that could match their requirements. The process was never certain and the last one had so much promise before it had come across All Might. Another odd circumstance where the Nomu had received a false positive.

Thankfully that encounter had been far less public and the Number One Hero had not left enough of the Nomu to create a problem for them. Was this as case of another false positive? Surely there were no quirkless at UA. But why else would his Nomu had gone against its orders?

He might suggest breaking into the quirk records to find another host in time. Without All for One who had been able to bypass most of the issues of combining process, they were left with a Nomu that had been created to heal and blend his creations together.

The problem was it was also a symbiotic parasite that needed a host in order to replicate. If they tried using a host with a quirk, it would try to blend it even if there was nothing to blend it to rather than replicate. Unfortunately, most of the quirkless in Japan were too old to be useful like their current host.

The young were harder to find, if they could find them before they were able to commit suicide. The corpses were worthless to him. At least the ones they had taken where never questioned, just another poor quirkless soul that killed themselves.

Tomura believed that the incident at UA meant they would have to expedite the plans but they barely had enough soldiers in their army considering the time it took to create a single Nomu. Throwing money at the issue would not solve anything no matter how many times the boy raged at the waiting.

The newest batch would not take much longer. They were not as elegant as the some of the earlier Nomu he had been able to create with All for One. But they were definitely getting more refined. Maybe the plan that the boy had to get the Nomu out of police custody would work. They needed time and this mistake had placed them straight into the spotlight before they were ready.

---

Toshinori looked at the footage from the attack at UA. The Villain that had attacked the school had reminded him of an encounter he had over a year ago. The black form and the exposed brain were a clear match though it had resembled none of the other features or quirks.

He had been set upon not long after he had captured that slime monster at a trash filled beach at night. His first punch and not even made the creature flinch. He had overdone the next hit and the thing had broken apart as if it had been sewn together. Unfortunately it have landed in the ocean and he had not been able to retrieve any of the parts.

When he had told the story to Mirai, the other believed it have been a quirk manifestation from the description of its destruction. They had both looked for more instances of a quirk that created nightmare like monsters but had found no clues.

He had been in Musutafu to meet of with his good friend Naomasa on a whim so he had doubted the thing that he had fought was a planned attack. This time though UA had been able to capture it due to Midnight being able to put it to sleep. That ruled out a quirk manifestation since it would need to breathe to be affected by her quirk.

He sent the video over to Mirai with a note about his observations. He admitted that his former sidekick was a far better investigator then him. If there was something else about this case, he would be able to get to the bottom of it.

Looking down at his desk, he smiled at the letter from Melissa. The girl was such a joy to talk with and was always excited about one thing or another. Well, as long as if it was not about her friend getting into trouble. She had sent him a letter containing two tickets to the UA sports festival asking him and Mirai to join her since David was in the middle of another contract and was unable to pull himself away for the event.

David had already called him earlier to see if he would take care of his daughter for her trip to Japan. She was excited to see her friend participate in the festival and he could not help but wonder what he was like considering the last time he met the boy he had been unconscious. Considering how much Melissa talked about him, he must be an amazing support course student. She did mention before how a few of their projects had already had their patents approved.

---

Katsuki growled as he pushed himself harder stabilizing himself in the air with his explosions. That thing had swatted him out of the air as if he was a pest instead of a fucking Hero. He had left his Hero Partner to fight against it alone while he was recovering from a single blow. That was not acceptable at all. He had to be better than a mindless creature.

At least he had been there to recover Izuku from the ground. Before they could go back on the attack, Midnight had stuck her nose in their business and took all the glory. If he was going to surpass All Might, he could not allow this to ever happen again.

The next time they came after Izukun. He would kill them all.

---

Uraraka fell to the ground again. She always seemed to miss her mark. At least she did not have to worry about nausea anymore and she did find out she could use her quirks longer now that she was able to conserve her energy. She was still missing something. If it is was not for Tsu, she might not have been able to help Midoriya at all.

Maybe she should take up his offer to help. She had initial be hurt that Tsu had taken his interest in her wrong. In a way she had built up this perfect love confession from a boy that save her life only to be disappointed in the end. She really could not blame Midoriya for her assumptions but it had hurt. Being around him had been awkward after that… then that monster had come out of nowhere.

She had thought she was going to see her friend murdered right in front of her. When he fell through the wall with that thing, she had thought it was over and Midoryia was gone. Then when Tsu looked out and told her that he was still alive, they had to do something. That was when they pulled resources and threw as much of the rubble they could find at the beast in order to give Midoriya time to get away.

It had worked for a bit but then it had grown scales like an armadillo and shielded itself from attack while chasing down her friend. She was thankful for Bakugou who had flown out to save him. Maybe if she had better control of her quirk, she could have been to one to rescue him and return the favor. She never wanted to be in that situation again.

Chapter Text

Walking to school was exhausting. Nedzu had mentioned that the locals Heroes would be paying closer attention to his neighborhood. He had not realize that meant the Sidekick Gusto would be tailing him the whole distance to school. Considering that he worked for Appetite did not help in his appreciation of the honor. Especially since he was pretty sure, he was not supposed to know the other was following him.

Gusto was one of those Sidekicks that would always be a Sidekick. He had the useful quirk of being able to blow out a breath that created a wind barrier that lasted as long as he was able to continuously add air to it. A somewhat weak quirk but very useful in certain situations such as protection. He was also quite tall and his outfit was meant to be seen since he used bright red fans in his motif.

Being watched put him on edge. It was like being back in middle school when if someone was paying attention to him meant he was about to have something bad happen to him. He kept waiting for harsh words to be yelled at him or even a physical attack. But nothing had happen. Which only made him more anxious for something to happen.

Getting to school was a relief until he saw the masses of media out in front of it. He really did not want to go through that gauntlet. Especially if any of the students that had witness what happened pointed him out to the media. Looking around he did not see any of his friends in class who could help him sneak through. His eyes finally landed on one classmate that had possibility.

“Hey, Tokoyami! I could really use your help?”

“The sea of darkness before us?”

“Exactly, do you think you can sneak me in?”

“You wish to be shrouded by my Darkness?”

“Please. Dark Shadow should be able to completely hide me and hopefully keep the press from getting too close to us.”

“The Darkness is complete. Take hold and do not let go.”

Izuku nodded taking a grip on the back of his classmate’s jacket. Dark Shadow consumed him in moments and it was as pitch black as Tokoyami had warned him. He moved forward as he felt the fabric he held on to tighten as the boy started towards the school.

I felt like they walked for a mile as he depended on his hearing and the body in front of him to guide him through the crowd. He felt he was right that the quirk was able to convince the media not to get to close and give them space and he did not run into anyone as they forced their way onto the school grounds.

He got his sight back and was immediately face to face with the yellow eyes of the quirk that his classmate called a demon. Smiling back at him, he could not help himself to embrace the quirk in gratitude. It was interesting that there was actually substance in him arms when just moments before the shadows had been able to surround him completely. It lost substance again as it returned to his host.

“Thank you. Both of you. Dark Shadow is amazing. You know, I did not realize that he was always with you. I thought you have to expel him from your body but he is actually just able to shrink and camouflage himself against your head feathers. It must be really useful to have him without you at all times. I wondered how you were able to have a mutant and emitter quirk but he is a literal part of you so that means he has been with you since birth.”

“Have you discovered all my secrets? Has your light been able to see though my darkness?”

“I just really love quirks. This was the closest I have been to him which is why I was able to learn more about him.”

“What a mad banquet of darkness.”

“Really? I don’t think it is that special.”

---

When Aizawa entered the classroom that day he looked around before stopping at the front of the room.

“Counseling is required for all students involved in the incident on Wednesday you will be getting you appointments during 3rd Period. If anyone else feels they need to talk with a professional, Hound Dog is available before and after school for scheduling. Midoriya, Hound Dog will be expecting you at the end of 2nd Period.”

Midoriya nodded expecting the announcement. He and his friends had all gone through a Villain attack within the first week of school. It had happened out in the main building and there had been a lot of witnesses. Never mind that the school had no history of being attacked, it could still make the new students of entering a heroic field.

His mother was not at all happy about what was going on. She did agree with him that the school would be safer for him and she had been open to the possibility of staying with Shifu. Both of those were a win and he knew that she would be able to convince dad to go along with it as well. He also expected that the rest of his class will be told about the possibility on living on campus while he was with Hound Dog.

He wonder which of his classmates would be joining him. He already figured Kacchan would jump at the chance. Shinsou had mentioned that both of his parents worked so he might be with them as well. Uraraka had talked about coming from quite a distance during the entrance exam. He did not know enough most of the other’s backgrounds to determine how they would consider the offer.

Thirteen soon entered for their next lesson where they took the time to learn about the responsibilities a Hero Agency had when involved in an incident. The lesson was clearly tied to the attack and how to deal with the aftermath since it was the agency that responded who took the credit as well as the duty to clean up after it. Which in all truth made Izuku understand why Endeavor had so many Sidekicks considering he amount of property damage he did.

Vlad King had returned with a class that actually interested Izuku this time as he talked about what they would be learning in their weekly physics class. He had been initially surprised that they would only be getting a single lesson during the week until he realized how much physics was used in the Hero Lessons and PE classes. The physical application of the subject was probably taken into account and preferred over learning through theory.

Izuku got up as Kan Sensei was packing up for his next class and left to find the counselor’s office. He only knew that it was close to the staff room. Aside from his one time talking with the quirk counselor in elementary school which really did not count since it had been five minutes of the man looking at his quirk record and while telling him that he was going to always be quirkless.

After that, he had never had been to a counselor before. Neither the elementary school nor Aldera had wanted to put the effort into working with him. Especially since all his major problems in those schools had come from the teachers. Sure those boys had taken it too far at Aldera, but it would have never gotten that bad if the teachers had done their job in the first place.

He knocked on the door that marked his destination and opened it hearing the muffled greeting from the inside. The small room he entered seemed smaller with Inui Sensei’s large form in it. It was also interesting to see his teacher without the usual muzzle that was part of his Hero outfit and worn in the PE classes. It seemed to soften his appearance but much like Nedzu there was too much intelligence in those eyes to confuse him with an animal.

It had confused him at first to think of Hound Dog as a counselor. It made sense now looking at him. It was like being with a therapy dog. The face would not be able to show any judgement and most people equated dogs with loyalty and unconditional love. That kind of combination would make most kids feel at ease and possibly say things they would not normally say to an adult.

“Take a seat, Pup. This is just a basic assessment. Most Heroes take these quarterly or after a potentially traumatic event.”

What followed were a series of questions that were designed to look for the signs of psychological issues such as sleep, focus, and memory problems. Throughout the whole process, it was hard to tell if his answers were right or wrong so after the first few questions he was able to relax more as the querying continued.

“Has there been anything new you have perceived since the incident now you have had a few days to think about it?”

That was the first direct question about the attack. Izuku sat up straighter thinking. With everything else going on he had not really thought about the attack or the creature at all. With Nedzu and Recovery Girl both wanting to take a hand in his education, moving into the school dorms, and training with Shifu who took the attack as a sign that she needed to work him all the harder. Did he know anything else about the attack that was not told to the Detective or Nedzu? What had Shinsou told him on that beach?

“I think it is not technically alive. The more I think about that monster, it did not show any kind of emotions and would react only to stimuli. It did not consider its own safety going through walls and only used one quirk as a time. It is probably incapable of handling more than one since it would require high brain functions that I do not believe it has.”

“What makes you think that, Pup?”

“It’s the difference between programming and intelligence. There is no thought behind its actions. Tell me, have you had anyone ever treat you like a dog? You can tell from your eyes that you have the intelligence even if you appearance looks similar to an animal.”

There was a short growl from the counselor at his words that only confirmed the other had been treated like the animal he appeared in the past. It was very likely people would discount him as muscle only but you were not able to work as a school counselor for a Hero School without having a master’s degree. He wondered if the other ever used that in his Hero work to gain the upper hand.

“It may have all the right features of what is considered a human but I think whatever was done to create it made it lose its humanity.”

“Well, it looks like you have adjusted well to everything. Have you had prior experience to Villains?”

“Not personally. I’ve like studying quirks. Since quirk use in public is really only openly used by Heroes and Villains, I have witnessed and looked into a number of Villains. I also have been at the aftermath of a number of Villain attacks in my internship with Emergency Medical Responders.”

“Well if you remember anything else or want to talk, I am available for you Pup.”

Izuku nodded and left to room to see Kacchan waiting outside. It made sense that the two people that had the most interaction with the creature would be meeting with the Inui Sensei first. He gave a loud “Tch” as he moved past him clearly angry at being asked to have a session with Hound Dog.

He would take it as if the school was looking down on him and thinking him weak for being affected by the attack. If he was not careful the school would force him into mandatory anger management sessions which would only make his best friend even more unreasonable. He wondered if he should have warned Kacchan about the possibility of this happening.

Walking into his classroom he found the rest of his classmates talking with each other and it was obvious the dorms had been announced considering the excitement from the room. Taking his seat he looked back at Shinsou who was sleeping at his desk.

Beside him, Sero was currently in an animated discussion with Kirishima and Kaminari. Jirou had put on her headphones and was probably listening to music like she always seemed to do when they had a break. Izuku expected she needed to filter out the sound input considering her quirk. Having so many people around her having different conversations was probably very hard for her to concentrate. He might suggest getting support item headphones for her Hero outfit much like Present Mic had.

While he had that thought, he pulled out his notes and started to update Jirou’s information. He heard Kacchan enter the room after a while and looked up as the other sat heavily in his seat. Guess that meant he would be seeing Hound Dog again or else he would have been far more triumphant. He looked around to see if anyone else had been pulled to visit with the counselor but saw that everyone was in their seats in time for Cementoss to start the next literature lesson.

Entering the cafeteria with his friends he first looked over to the staff door they had used not that long ago. From the room, it looked so normal and even the quality and quantity of the food that was being offered was the same they had previously. The whole school had done an amazing job of removing all signs of the attack as if it had never happened.

Sitting at their usual table, the group that had run off with the crowd when the alarm sounded started to ask them for details. Iida had been happy to relate what had happened and how he had come across Lunch Rush and Midnight when he had gone to get help. Asui gave them a few more dry facts for the time that the Vice President had left and could not speak further on. Katsuki and Uraraka had been oddly quiet in the exchange.

Izuku moved the conversation to what they others had experienced and was disappointed to hear that it had been a mad rush to the door and that a few of the General Studies students had been injured. Iida had gone off on a rant about the behavior of UA students.

All too soon, lunch was coming to an end and Izuku left to the lockers letting his friends know that he was expected somewhere else for the day. He let them assume it was to do with the attack rather than a new position as the student assistant to Recovery Girl. He had not even told his best friend about the changes to his schedule though he would probably have to bring it up later. Since he was too smart not to realize what was going on.

Finding his locker, he pulled out the white coat that was his new uniform and tried it on for the first time. It fit perfectly meaning they had used the same measurements from his Hero Outfit to make sure it was a proper fit. Most jackets had to be tailored to fit him due to his small size but dense muscle definition. It was nice to be able to put on something that did not have to be adjusted first.

He entered the Nurse’s Office where Recovery Girl nodded at him before indicating the chair next to her desk and she continued to work on the paperwork before her. As few moments later the form was passed over to him with a pen. Looking down he realized what this was and scanned the document before signing it.

He had to fill out a similar form when he started to work at the Fire Station. Privacy laws in the medical profession were taken seriously and it was especially so in the Hero fields. Heroes with injuries had to have extra precautions taken since even after being healed, Villains would often try to target areas where known wounds had occurred. That also meant he was being treated like a professional and would be expected to help out with major and minor medical emergencies.

Filing the form away, Izuku was handed a set of keys. He would now have access to the room at any time including the locked cabinets of medications and healing implements used in their field. He was also given a user access to the computer on her desk that held the medical records of all the students in the school. He did not have to be told twice about the amount of responsibility he was being given.

He then had a full tour of the facilities and the phone numbers and locations of the nearby hospitals and medical specialists that were called in for major cases that could not be handled on site. He was also told of the secondary field medical offices at a couple of the specialized fields such as the one use for the Sports Festival. He would be getting tours of those facilities later once he felt fully comfortable in the main one.

He was then given the task of completing the inventory of the current stock of resources and to refill anything that was low from the storage closet or to document it if the item was out. It was a basic task that he often did at the Fire Station but it also gave him time to learn where everything was and to ensure that he would be able to get them in a case of emergency.

Halfway through his chore, Recovery Girl received a visitor who needed a quick kiss for her sprained wrist that occurred during her PE class and quickly left again chewing on a gummy. He had watched the interaction but continued with his task since the nurse had not called him over for his help. He assumed most cases would be like this as considering the power of Recovery Girl’s quirk that would be able to handle minor injuries easily.

Once he was finished he locked the cabinet up again and double checked to make sure that all the containers in the room that had the ability to be locked were so before sitting back at the chair he considered his now. Turning towards him, Recovery Girl smiled before handing him a slip of paper.

“This needs to get to Snipe, Dearie. He tends to not stop by the staff room before leaving for the weekend so you’ll need to get this to him out at Ground Delta.”

He nodded trying to remember where the field in question was before heading out. The hallways were empty as expected with the soft muffled voices behind the doors he passed to get outside. The field was a bit further from the where they had their first Hero Lesson but it was not hard to find the gun wielding Hero.

Ground Delta was a large open field with a multitude of targets and the class below were wielding everything from fanciful guns to one that looks like a modified mounted cross bow. This was obviously the field that was used to practice with long distance weapons. Considering it was still the first week of school, a number of the student below seemed to be very new to their weapons considering how often the target was completely missed by the aspiring Heroes.

He saw Snipe walking along the rows of students and made his way over to the teacher. He waited nearby so he would not interrupt him as he corrected the student who was currently handling a devise that was hurling a thin disc that seemed changed with some sort of energy. Once the Hero stood back and watched the other take aim he started over to him.

“Whatcha doing out here?”

“Shuuzenji Sensei asked me to bring this to you.”

Taking the paper, he nodded before opening it to read the words. Izuku waiting in case he was expected to give a message back to the nurse and watched the students at their practice. He recognized a number of the people from last year’s sport festival except…

“I thought Aizawa Sensei expelled his whole class?”

“He did. After that miserable showing at the Sports Festival he made them all retake the entrance exam with the added caveat that if one failed, then they all would. Worked like a charm. Class learned that sometimes you have to work together instead of going solo.”

“So why does it still have them marked as expelled?”

“Gotta earn their place. Marks will go away if they make it to their third year. Right now they are all on probation. Your teacher does not play around. Off you go now and give Shuuzenji-san my thanks.”

Looking at his watch, he ran back to the school to put his coat into the locker before getting back to the nurse’s office to let her know the note had been delivered before getting to the classroom just as Ectoplasm had started class. He would have to remember to pay better attention to the time in the future while working with Recovery Girl.

Chapter Text

There was a knock on their door partly through the late breakfast Izuku and his mother were sharing. He had woken up at the same time and completed his morning run but had allowed his mother to sleep in on their day off.

She had been so worried the last few days since the attack that he felt she had not been sleeping well. Maybe he should suggest both of them going over to the Bakugou’s later on today. Aunt Mitsuki was always able to make his mother smile and maybe she could talk to her about some of her concerns.

Excusing himself from the table he went to the front door and quickly took a look through the viewer to see who could be calling on the Sunday without prior notice. After all there was still a possibility of another attack. Looking at the man of the other side of the apartment his eyes widen and he shouted for his mom as he opened the door and threw himself at the smiling guest.

It had been years since he had been in his father’s arms but he still remembered the warmth and smell of his dad. It felt like nothing had changed at all. He felt the presence of his mother behind them and the pressure of her at his back as she joined the embrace.

“You should have told me when you got in. We could have met you at the plane.”

“I had a side stop on the way in and did not know when I would arrive.”

“Do you know how long?”

“I have until the Sports Festival is over. I’ll be working remotely at night to make sure my team is still on track but I was able to negotiate for the month. That’s why it took me a few days to get here or I would have been on the first flight back.”

“Did the police ever get in touch with you?”

“That discussion should probably wait for until we get inside the house.”

Izuku nodded pulling away from his dad and moved to grab the suitcase he had with him and pulled it inside as he took it into his parent’s room. When he got back out to the living room to continue the discussion, his mother was already filling out a breakfast plate for his father had had taken a seat at the table. Moving to his own plate he picked up his chop sticks knowing his mother would not approve of business talk in the middle of a meal.

As he had expected, his mother moved the conversation to more mundane topics such as local news and how well his father was taking care of himself. It was not until she removed the plates and returned with another pot of tea that they started to talk about what was going on.

“With you here, do we really have to let Izuku stay at school?”

“As much as I would like it to be different, I am not a fighter. My quirk may have offensive capabilities and I will fight if pushed to it, but there will be a school filled with Heroes making sure he stays safe. Once this is over we can reconsider. Besides we have a whole week together, we will just have to make the most of it.”

“If you’re sure. What about the arrangement with Meiling? She was expecting me to move in with her.”

“We can play that by ear for now. If the attacks are actually targeting our son, the moment he is no longer here, the danger would also be gone. Otherwise we can talk with Doctor Fuang and see if she will allow you to bring a plus one.”

“What about the police? You said you would talk about it once we were in private.”

“They did get in contact with me. They were able to send me the bloodwork and DNA reports. Also you were right about the caustic powder. I am still trying to figure out the mess that his reports came back with but it is very likely that part of your old classmate is in there somehow considering the chemical ratio markers in the caustic powder matched perfectly with his recorded quirk.”

“So what is next, Dad?”

“I am hoping to see if the detective would be willing to give me access to the thing.”

“Is that safe. What if he tries to go after you like he did our son?”

“The police have him well in hand. Apparently it has been completely unresponsive and barely moves. If he does try to attack me, it might help us determine the targets behind the incident and give us more insight on what this was all about.”

“When it attacked us, it seemed like it tried to scream a few times but no sound came out. Makou had been in a quirk accident and could have possibly had chemical burns that might make it silent.”

“We can ask them to check but I doubt anyone wants to really get close enough to look at it even with the quirk suppressors. Though from how it was captured, they might be able to put it to sleep again.”

“So what were you doing before you got here? I must have been important if you could not let me know when you could get here.”

“Had to stop by the Commission Office. Since I am working on Japanese soil, I needed to get a limited permit due to fact that I am working in the field of quick studies. It’s the reason why most quirk researchers tend to do their business on I-Island.”

“So can I join in some of your experiments? I have always wanted to see you at work.”

“Sorry Bud, no experiments for me. I’m limited to theoretical and analytical work while in Japan. But I do have a team back in the United States that would like to see that you are doing just fine and would love to hear about how your Hero Outfit turned out at my next group meeting.”

“I should have Kacchan take a picture of me for them at my next Hero Lesson. I’m sure they would love to see it on me since they did such an amazing job. At the last lesson, we had this battle training…”

---

Izuku got through the door of the Fire Station out of breath but with a large smile on his face as he waved at the receptionist before using his ID card to allow him into the restricted area in back. He had had so much fun catching up with his father, he had left the apartment later than usual and had to run the whole way in order to get to his internship in time.

At the station he was thoroughly grilled by his co-workers that demanded to know everything about the attack and what his first week of going to UA was like. They were laughing at the antics of his new classmates when the alarm for an emergency sounded and they moved as a group to the waiting motor pool where they boarded their assign vehicle as Hunoko got in touch with the fire chief for details on the emergency and their instructions.

Removing the phone from her ear, Hunoko turn to the rest of their team and recited the key facts. They would be going into an active Villain attack. The villain had been fired the month before and was retaliating on the entire office building that he had worked at for the last ten years. That meant the Villain would have the advantage of knowing the building layout from experience.

Thankfully the former supervisor of the Villain also knew exactly what the quirk they would be facing was. He had the ability to control aluminum. He was limited by the weight of the object but did have great control of it. Apparently he was using one yen coins due to their consistency being aluminum to fling out at the people in the building with enough force to actually have the projectiles act like bullets from a gun.

Which means there were a large number of victims that would need medical attention. As the medical personnel, they would have to wait outside until the Heroes responding gave them the all clear to indicate that it was safe to go into the building. Until then, they dealt with any of the office workers that had made it out and were in need of attention.

Izuku had been given the task of helping a sobbing woman who had seen her co-worker go down in front of her. While she was not injured herself, she was inconsolable with the guilt of leaving her friend behind and not even knowing if she was dead or not in order to get out of the building safely. He kept the trauma blanket on her and let her cry. After her voice had grown silent Izuku opened a water bottle and placed it in her hands and helped steady her shaking hands as she lifted it to get a drink.

“Take small sips and breath. You did everything right. You are alive and we will make sure to check on your friend for you. Your job is done.”

A hand grabbed him as he moved away to see if his services were needed with another victim. Looking back the woman took another sip of the water a bit of it trickling down her face where the water splashed out from the jerkiness of her movements.

“Genjinro was always so sweet. How could… He used to do tricks with his quirk to make us laugh when we were having a bad day. He could spin his coins in tight circles and make them dance for us. Why would he… I always gave him brand new yen coins when I found them. Yunari was supposed to be getting married in two months. What made him…”

“Why new coins?”

“Genjinro could only manipulate aluminum. The moment any other substance such as dirt or oil attached to the coins, he was unable to lift them from the ground.”

He looked around him for his team leader as he heard this new information. That had not been anywhere in the debriefing. He saw Hunoko talking with one of the sidekicks guarding the front door as she oversaw her team among the survivors. He jogged over carefully making his way between the groups of emergency personnel.

“Lead, I was just told by one of the survivors that the Villain’s quirk only works with items with a 100% aluminum consistency. Any mark or stain on those coins he is using will make his quirk inert.”

“How good is the information?”

“She knew him personally and he would often use his quirk around her.”

Hunoko turned to the Sidekick at the door. Gesturing to his ear piece.

“Call it in. Hopefully they can use it to end the stand still.”

She moved away from the young Hero as she saw him following her directive. Placing her hand on Izuku shoulder, she guiding him back away to their vehicle and motioned for him to bring out one of the large bags filled with extra bandages and dressings meant for shrapnel wounds.

“The good news is that with this knowledge he would not be able to manipulate the coins once it penetrates the body. So all the opening should have a straight path in to the coins and we should not have to worry about contaminates in the wounds. The force he used for the initial impact will determine how deep the coin went into his victims. Have any that he hit made it out?”

“No, from what word we have received back, every victim the Heroes have found have been unhurt or were an instant kill shots. He went after the eyes to get into the brain. We will be removing a number of corpses from this.”

“The man is not a professional killer. Killing victims that stand still in shock is going to be different from facing the Heroes or anyone that runs away. Hopefully more victims are alive and are hiding out until this is over. Why did the supervisor not know about the nuances about his quirk? The man was using it as party tricks to impress girls. He should have seen it a number of times.”

“Not all supervisors know their employees beyond the paperwork. Maybe if he had, this whole tragedy could have been avoided.”

“It all seems like a waste for such a cool quirk.”

“Do you know why all criminals that use their quirks for harm are called Villains no matter how big or small the crime?”

“It the designation that allows Heroes to confront them. Without quirk use, it falls to the police to handle them.”

“Yes, but the moment someone crosses the line and starts uses their power for crime, what is to stop them from using it for major destruction? We live in a society that depends on people who can easily destroy buildings to control themselves. It is that lack of control that makes them Villains.”

Izuku went quiet thinking about her words as he tugged the straps of the bag to his shoulder. He expected the all clear would be announced soon if the Heroes actually made use of the information they were given. Hunoko seemed to have felt it as well when she left to grab the other five paramedics that made up their team.

Ryo grabbed the second bag that was identical to Izuku’s as Hunoko placed them into two teams for when they would be allowed to enter the building. Their job would be to working with the Heroes to help get victims to the lobby where another team would be setting up the field hospital.

A commotion was going on at the front door as it was slammed open and a fairly plain faced man that looked to be in their thirties was screaming and struggling as Backdraft led him out. He wondered if the Hero had made use of his Sidekick Oil Spill’s quirk whose quirk created an oil he could spray out of his fingers that he mostly used to create a slippery terrain for mobility and to make difficult terrain for Villains to get away.

Izuku really respected Backdraft, every time he was on scene at an incident, he prioritized the lives of the people. He was also one of the few Heroes that works rescue missions who had not tried to get him removed from his position with the fire station.

Appetite had tried five times on his own until Hunoko had finally sent his agency a letter detailing the training and certifications her intern had and a carefully worded warning on having longer response times to incidents Appetite was involved in if they could not depend on the skills of their intern.

Izuku had cried when he had heard what his leader had done for him. Of course she would never actually take longer to get to an emergency out of spite but it had been a good threat and they had not heard another complaint from the Hero.

There was a wave from the Sidekick at the doors signaling the all clear and the paramedic teams moved to the building. Their team had been prepared for the call and enter the building before the others could get in. That also meant they would be directed to the most severely injured victims that the Heroes had found. The team split up at the elevators as the sidekick stationed there assigned them to two separate floors.

The attacks had been spread out between three separate floors with the final showdown ending on the top floor where Hunoko was headed with Ryo and Mikawa to back her up. The second team was led by the no nonsense Genko who strode into the next elevator followed by Izuku, Tamaka, and Iwasaki.

Genko pressed the button to the 10th floor where the attacks had started. From his talk earlier with Hunoko, the most fatalities would be on this floor. By having their group sent here meant that there had been survivors as he had hoped that would need their help.

The elevators opened to noise of retching where an office working was currently emptying his lunch into an office plant. The Sidekick nearby watched him without offering help. Clearly being assigned to direct rather than help.

“Mido, give Iwa the bag and take the civilian down to the field hospital. Join us again when you’re done.”

Izuku nodded expecting the order and he passed the bag to the only other female in their team beside Hunoko. Izuku watched where the Sidekick directed his team before walking over to the man that still seemed sick but was no longer feeding the plants. Checking him over to see if there were any wounds or concerns that were not obvious at first. He stepped back having seen the other flinch each time he had been forced to touch him.

“Come this way sir, let’s get you out of here.”

The gentleman walked slowly like a zombie back to the elevators. Izuku stayed next to him the whole time encouraging him to more forward without touching him again as people reacted to trauma differently. He sent the elevator back to the ground while the man leaned against the wall like he had just ran a marathon. As the elevator opened again he saw the field hospital has been partly set up and led the survivor forward.

He found the waiting area that was not currently being used and had him sit down in one of the chairs. Izuku visually checked the man over a second time and still saw no physical issues so instead encouraged him to take large breathes before heading back to the elevators to join his group.

Before he was able to make it a few steps past the man he had been helping the door to the stairway swung open with a bang and a frantic business woman stumbled out screaming. Izuku saw the limp in her gait as she started to run. The Sidekick in the elevator lobby had moved to grab her but missed in his surprise and her agility as she dodged the Hero.

Izuku moved, she was injured and scared. She could easily hurt herself even more by forcing herself to run away from the situation. He had seen her eyes move to him for a moment but she quickly looked away towards the Sidekick who was still trying to catch her, she seemed to consider him the lesser threat. Which worked into his favor and as he moved behind her and made a couple of quick jabs at her back before letting the limp body fall into his arms.

Hefting her into a bridal position he nodded at the sidekick letting him know that he was handling it and he moved her to one of the tables that was set up for the injured. Lowering his burden to the flat surface and looked over at one the field medics who was already setting up for an examination.

“I think something is wrong with her left leg either getting hurt by the Villain or in her hiding and escape. She is physically drained right now but she will probably start struggling again in two minutes. Her breathing and heartbeat seem rapid so I would suggest testing that first and see if she needs a sedative or pain killer first before starting the full body exam.”

He looked at the paramedic’s face the whole time he was delivering his observations and recommendations and saw in his face that he was taking his directions seriously. He nodded letting him get to work and was happy to see that he was first testing her pulse as he had suggested. He had considered knocking her out completely but that could have brought up some awkward questions.

He finally got back to the floor with his team even though he had received a penetrating look from the Sidekick on his way up. He could not tell if it was in response to being about to catch the woman while he had not or if he had seen him use Chi Blocking even though he had been careful to keep the office lady between them to hide his motions. It was still possible he saw something he should not have.

Reaching the correct floor he left in the direction that the rest of his group had gone and had passed by another team working on a stoic gentleman with a long gash on his cheek. He had most likely jerk his head at the right time to avoid the instant kill as the others that had been targeted. Instead, the wound the team was working on was on his chest. They were probably trying to determine if it had hit any vital areas and if moving him to the field hospital would cause more harm.

Continuing past, he finally found the familiar faces of his team working with a young man who looked not long out of high school. The coin that was meant to kill him had been a few centimeters off and lodged itself into part of the bridge of his nose. Unfortunately it was also inserted firmly into the boy’s right eye.

Genko was firmly holding on to the boy’s head while Tamaka worked to slowly remove the coin. They had to be careful to use the same path that it had gone in at. Tamaka had a quirk that could reconnect tissue. The only issue was that it was time sensitive. If they were trying to remove that coin here, it meant that they were in the time window for him to potentially save his eyesight.

As the coin came away, Tamaka placed his hand over the boy’s face and an orange light radiated out being a good sign. If they had been too late the light would have given of a pale yellow color instead. The only question now was if the wound could be fully closed before the time limit was up. It took time for Tamaka’s quirk to work. They would often use dressings and bandages instead just from the expediency of it.

Looking down he found the bag opened and the dressing and bandages at the top ready for once Tamaka finished. Iwasaki was holding down the legs of the boy. While he was not struggling, it was very possible for him to react involuntarily. That left him to assist Tamaka and he grabbed the dressing as he positioned himself next to the group ready for his role when it was time.

As the light faded to a pale yellow, Tamaka grabbed the dressing replacing his hand with it and Izuku got the bandages ready and replaced Tamaka in holding the dressing as the other tightly wrapped the bandages around the victims head. They would not be able to tell if the quirk had been able to save his vision but they could only hope. Right now they would need to get him back down to the field hospital. That meant Izuku would be on escort duty again.

He continued working with his team though out the incident. He found out on his next trip up, that Hunoko and her group had left to get their first patient to the hospital. He had needed immediate help and the field hospital would not have been enough to save the life if it was possible. Mikawa had a quirk called Pause that was a five finger touch quirk that could suspend a body in their current state when activated.

At the third trip up, he was put to the task of making sure that there were no more survivors on the floor. It was a grim task, though at one point he had found a survivor who had hidden herself inside a vent. She had passed out in fear but was definitely alive and was given to a Sidekick to take down to the field hospital so he could continue checking the bodies.

---

Hisashi walked into the police department and stopped at the front desk letting them know who he was and that he was looking for Detective Tsukauchi. He would have to be careful here. His son had already warned him about the detective’s quirk. Such a wonderful and useful power for the police officer, but considering their current goals, he did not want to hinder his son’s chance at being a Hero.

The man that soon came out to meet him was in a long overcoat and introduced himself. Hisashi kept a small smile on his face as he shook hands with the detective.

“It is good to put a face with the voice on the phone, Detective. I just got into town and thought I could give you my first impressions of the documents you sent over in person.”

“It’s good to have you.”

The detective escorted him to a small room and gave him the time to pull the reports with his notes on them from his briefcase. Putting them in order he started with the blood results.

“My son has already told me the details of the case but I am sure as the head of the investigation, there are a number of things he has not been told. Just as I am sure I will also not be privy to sensitive information. I am still willing to help, but I do ask that you let me know if there is something that would put my boy in danger.”

“We have not found anything yet that points to any danger to your son and we are currently working with local Heroes to keep him safe when he is not in school. I assure you, we are keeping his safety in mind.”

“I’m sure your own experts have talked about how impossible his blood work was. Tell me has it had any variation in heart beat or is it completely steady like a machine?”

“I’m not a liberty…”

“I’ll take that as a no. This report points to a circulation system like that of an elephant. I am going to bet you are looking at an artificially enlarged heart that is pumping out at a slower but more powerful rate. I am going to guess that this is where its coloring comes from. Its blood is literally pooling under its skin because the heart is pulling the blood vessels closer to the surface as they expand.”

“How would we test that?”

“A simple MRI should be able to tell you what is going on in there. Now the other report. This one is the real puzzler. This ones show signs of artificial bases. What is more troublesome is that it is clearly damaged. A number of sequences that should be there are missing or non-repeating.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means someone is playing with something that they have no experience with. This is the work of a butcher. If you want more than that I am going to need access to examine the creature.”

“I don’t think that will be safe considering everything. I do think we can get you the MRI if you get us a few days to set it up.”

“Also my son mentioned that the boy who had the same caustic soda quirk as the creature would have chemical burns in his mouth and throat. It would be a good way to confirm the identity since the DNA would not be able to make a human match.”

“We will have to look into it. Are you staying in Japan for a bit so we can talk again?”

“For a bit. My family has had a scare and I want to make sure they are safe. You know how to get in touch with me.”

“It was great meeting you, Midoriya. Let me show you to…”

The detective’s words were cut off as the door slammed open and a police officer with a cat head entered.

“Trouble Sir, we got a situation at the medical examiner’s! We had an initial call of trouble before the communication was cut off.”

“Have the Heroes been informed?”

“Nearest to the site was Death Arms and he is responding now.”

“Midoriya, I suggest getting back to your family. We will let you know if there is something you need to concern yourself with.”

“Detective. My family means everything to me. If that thing has escaped, I need to know.”

“We don’t know anything yet. We will be in touch.”

The last words were an obvious dismissal as the detective motioned for the door. Nodding Hisashi got up from the chair and left passing by the cat like police officer. He needed to get to Inko as soon as possible.

Taking his phone out he tried to get a hold of his son but the call took him directly to voicemail. In his head, he knew that Izuku would have his phone off when responding to an emergency. But the beep asking him to leave a message sounded like a death toll as he left a message asking for a call back and he walked even faster having left the police station.

---

Genko pulled everyone together as he received word that Hunoko was on her way back from the hospital and they would be taking the next most injured out. Most of the injured had been taken to the nearest location but there were only so many vehicles and they had to place the victims into priority of how hurt they were.

They would be transporting the girl that Izuku had found earlier in the vents. While she had no physical injuries, she had a coughing fit when she revived and continued to have a hacking cough. The paramedics were worried that she had inhaled a large amount of dust while hiding in the vents that could damage her lungs.

Izuku had been sent to one of the vending machines in the lobby to get her a hot drink to attempt to sooth her raw throat. Even with the warm liquid she continued to cough but the time between fits seemed to get better so Izuku had ran for another one when the first one was almost gone.

He ducked under a hand as it tried to grab him on his way back from his second trip to the vending area. He was surprised to see one of Backdraft’s Sidekicks trying to get his attention.

“This needs to get to a patient. If you wait a moment I can...”

“You’re Midoriya right?”

“Yes?”

“Boss needs to see you.”

“Isn’t he with the Press?”

“They already packed up. We needed them out of the way before removing the bodies.”

“Let me get this to our patient and tell my lead that I am needed elsewhere.”

He could not tell if his words irritated the other considering the helmet many of the Hero’s sidekicks wore but he did not argue as Izuku started to move toward the woman again. He stared directly as Genko and once he made sure he had the other’s attention slighting bent his head to the Sidekick.

“Again Mido? What the hell? I’ll let Hunoko know what is going on. She is going to put you on a leash next time.”

“We don’t know what he wants yet. This might not get back to the Chief this time.”

Izuku smiled at the patient as he traded her the full cup for the empty one. He motioned for the sidekick to lead the way since he could not see Backdraft at all in the lobby area. He found himself being led outside to the waiting Hero who was currently talking with a police officer. Izuku had figured the two of them would wait until the conversation was over but the Sidekick continued forward going straight to the Rescue Hero.

“Midoriya Izuku?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“An incident has occurred and this gentleman has come to take you to the precinct.”

“What’s going on?”

“We believe you might be in danger. Right now, it would be best to get you somewhere safe in case anything happens.”

It was the officer that answered his questions as the Hero looked on. He wondered if he would be able to run back and inform his team what was going on but considering how impatient the officer seemed, he doubted he would be able to go back inside. Looking to the Hero…

“Do you think you can tell Genko from Fire Station Four where I am going? They are going to worry about me if I don’t return.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

With that the Rescue Hero turned and left to go inside the building. His sidekick following along without another word. That left Izuku alone with the police officer who was already walking back to the squad car with his partner inside. Must not be in that much danger than if he could not wait. He rushed to catch up with the officer and took a seat in the back when he opened the door.

Chapter Text

He had two sidekicks tailing him today. Maybe he should have agreed to the police escort dropping him off at school. He could only assume it was not his safety they were after but the creature. His whole life had taken a bizarre turn from a single incident.

At least when Hunoko had come by last night to drop off his personnel items since he had to leave without warning, Backdraft had not put in a complaint on him. Maybe there was some hope that not all Rescue Heroes where against the quirkless. Of course he had a class with Thirteen and they never seemed to mind that he was in heroics without a quirk.

He had gotten into the squad car and tried to get more information from the two cops but they had both been mostly silent and quite unfriendly. He then turned on his phone to see at least twenty missed calls from his parents. He at first thought something had happened to his father considering he had mentioned going to the precinct office to see if he could get permission to examine that creature.

It was only after he had listened to the first voicemail he was able to breathe again knowing his father was just fine if a bit frantic from his tone. Rather than calling, he sent both his parents a text message that he was fine and was being taken to the police station by a pair of cops. He did not want to get into a conversation with the two officers listening in considering their previous attitudes.

When he had arrived at the station, he had been taken to a small room and was left alone until his parents had arrived maybe ten minutes after that. His father went cold and polite when he was angry. It seemed the police had never told his father that they were picking him up from the emergency he was working. When the detective finally joined them. He found three rather uncooperative Midoriyas.

It only got worse when they were told that not only had the creature escaped, but it had help getting out. That meant it was possible he would have to worry about another attack. After that, all information was privileged so they did not even know how many people were involved in the break out or if there had been another of those creatures out there.

Without the monster in their possession, there was no hope that his father would be able to get access to it in order to learn more. Detective Tsukauchi had wanted to put them under guard but his parents had refused. In fact, while Izuku went to school today his parents were packing up their belongings to move in with Shifu Fuang. They had hoped that with the attention being on Izuku, no one would realize they would not be at their apartment after today.

Izuku had tried to offer to help them but they had insisted that he was safest in school and they did not want him to hurt his chances of being a Hero. He was also going to have to somehow lose the Sidekicks after school today. He had not bothered to try to get away from them this morning during his run or heading to school knowing they would be less likely to suspect something later on that day if he ignored them.

At least the press were not there today. Thankfully no one had talked to the press and they had no clue that any of the students had faced off against the Monster. He also had taken a different way to get to school since he had thought Nedzu’s suggestion of not keeping a consistent route or time frame made sense. Especially since the creature who had attacked him had escaped and may come after him again. Not that he or his parents could think of any reason why the monster would have attacked him.

Considering his father’s estimations that the person behind the creature was more likely trained in medical science rather then genetics or quirk research. That meant it was unlikely someone going after him due to his father. It was also a habit of his father to convince rivals to work for or join his team. He had also never come across a person that had so few morals as to create their own version of a Frankenstein’s monster. So if there was any connection to his father, they had not seen it.

His mother did not make enemies or at least he had never really met anyone that did not like his mother. Even when she and went to talk to the school on numerous occasions for her son, she had never made anyone angry. Most people just left those conversations feeling pity or respecting her for dealing with a quirkless son.

His Shifu was highly respected if polarizing but they had never openly made a connection between the two of them. Most people did not even realize that Fuang had been living in Japan at all considering how closely guarded she kept her privacy. That was why it was the perfect place for them to live to get off the grid. Especially since Shifu and Mom got along really well.

So deep in his thought he had not noticed his classmate trying to get his attention until a hand came towards him. He moved into a rolling crouch expecting an attack. Instead he faced the startled look from Sero you had his hands up clearly indicating he was not about to attack him. Straightening, he rubbed his neck and he blushed.

“Sorry, I guess I am a bit jumpy today.”

“My bad. I should have realized that you were so spaced out when you did not respond. Thinking about the attack?”

“Kinda. You just don’t think about the concept of facing Villains while in school. You know that once you become a Hero, it will be part of your daily life but…”

“I get it man. School is supposed to be this place of safety.”

Izuku looked at him for a moment, as someone with a mutant quirk, he never had to worry about wondering when his quirk would come in. He also looked mostly human and a simple jacket could have hidden his mutations to seem completely normal unlike some kids whose mutations made them outcasts due to their unusual appearance. He had a strong enough quirk that he would never have been bullied or looked down upon for it.

“We had difference school experiences… but your right, school is supposed to be a place of safety.”

“Do you think UA is not safe?”

“No, I think UA is one of the safest places you can be. That’s why I am planning on staying in the dorms.”

“Nice! I got my parents to sign off on it as well. They are so busy and are never at home, this will be one less thing to worry about.”

“Yeah, it is going to nice to have more time around friends.”

“You bet. I know Ashido and Kirishima are going to be in the dorms to. Kaminari plans on staying at home still and I don’t know about Bakugou.”

“Kacchan will be moving into the dorms.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, you two always seem so close. What is your connection?”

“We are just childhood friends. We have known each other since we were in diapers.”

“Has he always been so intense?”

“Always. He is amazing like that. You should see his mom, they are like exact copies of each other.”

“A female Bakugou? That might be a little too much, does she also explode things?”

“Hardly, she had a mutant type quirk that has her skin produce a constant level of glycerin. Kacchan quirk is mostly from his father. There was only a little bit of merging considering your looking at combining an emitter and mutant type quirk. I assume both your parents were mutants.”

“How did you know?”

“Mutant quirks tends to be a recessive gene type. So most pairing between emitter types with mutant or transformation type end up with an emitter type quirk in the child.”

“Man, Ashido and Kaminari must have been playing a joke on me when they told me you were quirkless. That is an amazing intelligence quirk you have. I knew someone that got first place in the exams couldn’t be quirkless.”

“They told you about me being quirkless?”

“You mean they were not pulling my leg? You don’t actually have a quirk?”

“Does that really change anything?”

“No, but how did you get in then?”

“Determination. Did they tell the whole class?”

“Nah, just us. They were worried when you did not follow us out of the cafeteria since you were quirkless and all.”

“Quirkless does not mean weak.”

“I mean, that thing did almost kill you. You had to go to the nurse afterwards.”

“Kacchan was also injured. Does that make him weak?”

“Of course not.”

“So why am I any different?”

“I mean you’re not… but still. You know.”

“I. don’t. know. I’ve been looked down my whole life for not having a quirk. I was at the top of the entrance exam without a quirk. I placed seventh in the quirk assessment without having a quirk. I’ve earned my place in heroics without a quirk. Just because you would not be able to cut it without a quirk does not mean the same to the rest of the quirkless.”

“Hey, I did not mean it like…”

Izuku walked away pacing himself to be at the edge of running. He really did not want to talk with Sero. The boy probably did not mean to make him feel lesser but why couldn’t he be judged by what he could do over a thing he would never have? Just because he did not have a quirk, they had worried about him? What about their other classmates? He did not need to be protected.

---

Izuku ignored the concerned looks Sero kept sending him through the morning classes. Kacchan and Shinsou seemed to pick up on his unease but he had just told them he was fine and not bothered to explain what had happened that morning. He had also picked up on the fact that Ashido and Kaminari had told them that he was quirkless. While he had not really kept it hidden or asked them to keep it a secret, it did hurt to know that they had not let him let the others know in his own time.

That meant only Uraraka did not know out of their whole “friends” group. He really did not want to consider those three friends at the moment though. It was possible he was taking it out of context. Kaminari and Ashido had not treated him differently at all since knowing. Though Kaminari had seemed a bit wary of him at first since he did have to use his Chi Blockling technique on him. Maybe he should find a way to talk with them alone. It could be a misunderstanding.

As Snipe left them at the end of World History to let the students make their own way it to the Lunch area, Izuku felt the stare from his best friend. He never could get anything past Kacchan when something was wrong, not since Aldera at least. Waving their friends to go on without them he had not expected Kacchan to grab him and pin him to the wall letting his feet dangle in the air the moment all of their classmates were out of sight.

“Spill Nerd. What the fuck happened now?”

“Is this really necessary, Kacchan?”

“You’re the one that fucking lied to my face. Try it again now Nerd.”

“Fine, I deserve it. I just found out that Ashido and Kaminari told Kirishima and Sero about the fact that I am quirkless.”

“And? Why the fuck do those extras matter?”

“I was hoping to be able to prove myself before the rest of the class knows.”

“All those fuckers saw what you did in combat training.”

“And yet, Sero still thinks I am weak, a useless Deku. Just like all those classmates in Jr High.”

The explosions at his shoulders startled him enough to push back from the wall forcing Katsuki to release him. He probably should have expect that. Bakugou was always one to get angry for him especially if people considered him weak. Considering Katsuki saw then as equals, that meant if Izuku was weak than he was also. Looking down at the burn marks on the shoulders on his jacket he turned to complain only to see Shinsou throw a punch at his best friend.

His eyes widened as the punch actually connected to the explosive boy and he moved to pin the blonde down before he killed Shinsou in retaliation. As he expected, more explosions occurred before he was able to stop them with a jab and his best friend started cursing up a storm and threatening their purple haired friend as he struggled of get back on his feet.

“What the hell, Shinsou? What were you thinking?”

“I just saw him use his quirk on you.”

“Well yeah, he got a bit excited and he is going to pay for the dry cleaning but that is hardly a reason…”

“He was forcibly pinning you against the wall!”

“…Ok, that might have looked bad but we were just talking.”

“You don’t have to make excuses…”

“Shinsou, this is Bakugou we are talking about. He was just startled. He did not mean to hurt me and you need to tell him you’re sorry for the misunderstanding before I can let him go. I remember someone else that used their quirk on me not that long ago when startled.”

“Fine. I’m sorry I took things wrong, Bakugou. But when I heard the explosion and came in to see you holding Izuku up like that…”

“Fucking should mind your own damn business, Eyebags.”

Izuku relaxed as he pulled away from Kacchan who simply stared at him for a moment before pulling himself off the ground. Rolling his eyes at Shinsou he moved to the door obviously over with the whole thing. Turning to Shinsou he gave the boy a smile, it was nice that the boy was trying to protect him from bullying. He had been the only one besides Kacchan that had ever tried to stop it even if it had been unnecessary.

“Ok good. Well now that this is settled lets go to lunch.”

“Does he always treat you that way?”

“Kacchan? That is just the way he is. Don’t worry he will never hurt me.”

---

Izuku ran to catch up with Kacchan before he entered the cafeteria. Shinsou had followed behind at a somewhat slower pace but still kept his green haired friend in view. Izuku had to make sure that Katsuki would not do anything to Sero. His friend never forgot anything and would probably try to confront the boy if he was not careful.

That was why when they got their food, Izuku steered their party away from the usual table with their friends. Instead they took a seat with Yaoyorozu and Jirou to the bafflement of Shinsou and their other friends. Izuku smiled naturally and asked Yaoyorozu about the deadline for the Hero costume update forms they received on Saturday during the 3rd Period from their teacher.

He was glad for the reasonable excuse not to be around others for a bit since he really want to talk to Ashido and Kaminari separately and keeping Kacchan away from the others was a bonus. He took the opportunity to mention that Yaoyorozu really needed to ditch the book in her costume design. He recited a number of visor technology that would give her safer and faster access to the information she would need for her quirk. They even discusses the benefits of voice activation included in the technology.

Considering how well his suggestion went with the president, he had turned to Jirou and mentioned adding noise canceling headphones into her design. Which then had them talking about her current support gear boots. As one of the few students that thought about support gear, Izuku felt his good mood returning as they got into one of the few subjects that he really enjoyed considering his familiarity with them being friend with Melissa for so long.

Yaoyorozu was also able to add quite a bit to the conversation considering her family’s position in heroics even if it was on the supply side of support items. Kacchan and Shinsou stayed quiet most of the time even when Izuku tried to add them into the conversation they would only shrug or reply with single word answers that ended the conversation. Yaoyorozu also tried to include them.

“What about your support item, Bakugou? I’m surprised you were able to get that rotating effect in the combat training.”

“Nerd made it.”

“Izuku made your support item?”

“Kacchan gives me too much credit. I just helped design them with a friend of mine. I’m currently trying to design one for Shinsou. We are looking into creating the hollow chamber effect to the mouthpiece that will amplify the sound and direction without disrupting his quirks effectiveness. The only problem is I would need to do more research on his quirk in order to actually design it properly.”

“Considering your ability to make support items, why do you not have more in your outfit?”

“I don’t have a big flashy quirk. That means if I deck myself out with a ton of support items, people can say that I am only a Hero because of my gear.”

“That seems a bit silly.”

“I find most people a bit…silly. Once I hit the top hundred I’ll consider adding more support gear. That way I can prove myself before they can say anything.”

“Izuku, the only person you have to prove yourself to is you. If I had let other people dictate my life, I would be learning how to follow my parent’s footsteps in business right now instead of following my dreams.”

“…you make a really great class president Yaoyorozu. I’m glad you decided to follow your dream. You’re going to do amazing things as a Hero.”

“Thank you. So you will reconsider?”

“No. My being a Hero is about more than just me. I need the world to see that anyone, no matter what their quirk is, can be a Hero.”

The talk went back to lighter matters after that as Jirou mentioned her own reasons to be in Heroics came from her wish to use her abilities for something greater then herself. No one was surprised when Katsuki mentioned being a Hero to show that he was the best. Shinsou mentioned that he wanted to prove people wrong about his quirk being for a Villain.

As they were standing up to leave the cafeteria, Shinsou motioned him asking him to wait. He also stared at Katsuki clearing indicated it was supposed to be a private conversation until he make a loud “Tch” and left the room.

“Midoriya, if I let you experiment with my quirk, will you really be able to help me make it useful in Hero work?”

“What are you talking about? It is already useful in Hero work. I just want to extend its range and allow you to keep you position hidden while using it since you want to be an Underground Hero.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll let you work with my quirk.”

“Really Shinsou? That’s fantastic! After school at your training site?”

“You want to start today? Don’t you need to prepare or make plans? Something?”

“I already did all that. I was just waiting for you. Don’t worry, this is going to be fun.”

“Most kids are not excited about being brainwashed.”

“Then most kids are boring.”

---

Izuku was excited as he got back to class and opened up his tablet to go over what he had written about Shinsou. He would have to prioritize the most obvious aspects and then break it down into what exactly his quirk could do. He put away his device as Thirteen enter the room for their next lesson which he barely payed attention to in his excitement of what he will be doing after school. Maybe Shinsou would be willing to share his notes later.

As the class ended, Izuku left with Thirteen quickly before his friends or classmates could ask where he was going. He would have to let them know he was working with Recovery Girl during their afternoon English lessons later. He was still somewhat waiting for the nurse to disappoint him and play it all off as some giant joke that she would willing train a quirkless child to be her assistant.

She welcomed him just as she had the other day as he entered in his coat. Today they had gone over the guidelines for taking in patients and updating their medical records to the electronic system. This also went into the criteria of what should be recorded and soon his head was filled with procedures. Considering the tidiness and cleanliness of the office, it made sense that she would want her records to be as uniformed as well.

Luckily, there had been no students that need their attention that day. Izuku bid her farewell with plenty of time to return to his locker and make it to class before Ectoplasm entered for his Math class. Right as the class ended a hand slammed down on the desk as his best friend did not even bother with the rest of the students this time.

“Where are the fuck are you going, Nerd?”

“While I do not approve of Bakugou’s language, I do think as the class vice president I should ask you that as well. It is not proper to skip out of lessons.”

“I’ve been reassigned during Yamada Sensei’s classes. Sorry, I did not mean to make you guys worry. I’ve been working with Recovery Girl. Apparently, I was able to impress her during our last Hero Lesson.”

After that, he received a number of well wishes and congratulations for his new studies. Izuku did not bother to also explain that he would also be studying with Nedzu. Since his first class with the principal was not until tomorrow he did not want to let the others know he had also gotten the attention of another teacher as well.

---

He got to the beach maybe an hour later. While he had walked out of school with his friends he had made his excuses after seeing the same two Sidekicks in his peripheral vision. That had led to a series of alley ways and rooftops as he evaded his unwanted tails. When he finally felt that he had lost them he had made his way back out toward the junkyard that Shinsou would be waiting for him at. Another thing he did not want to explain to his friends if he could avoid it.

He found Shinsou luging a microwave out to the streets into the nearby dumpster. Izuku and Hitoshi had been able to convince the store owner that used the dumpster that a cleaner beach would help his business and allowed them to make use of it. They still tried to make sure the larger items from the beach only went into the dumpster the day before it would be picked up so that the shop could still make use of it throughout the week.

Joining his friend they walked back to the beach together and went to the clearing that Shinsou had been able to make with his progress. Pulling out his notes from his bag, he opened up to a single entry in Japanese and showed his plans to Shinsou. It explained a series of test they would try today and Izuku mentioned that this was to pinpoint what exactly Brainwash could do and depending on the results they would have a new test of experiments to try the next time.

He had been hoping to get Kacchan to help with the monitoring and recording but after the incident before lunch he decided to leave the hot head out for now. He would have to find out later what exactly made Shinsou think Katsuki was in any form a danger to him. For now he set up his phone to record the test so he could view them later.

Maybe next time he could bring his video recording glasses with him. That way he could see how the quirk worked literally though Shinsou’s eyes. They started with the basics that they already knew Shinsou could do with his quirk to give them a control to measure the rest of the experiments with.

They had only gotten about half an hour of footage before Shinsou developed a nose bleed and Izuku stopped them before he could cause damage to himself from overusing his quirk. While none of the experiments they had done tested his endurance, Shinsou had activated his quirk more than he had even done before. Later Izuku wanted to see if it was the multiple activations or the length of quirk use that caused the reaction.

He suggested that they waited a few days to let him rest before working with his quirk again. When Shinsou had tried to argue since he wanted to get it over and done with, Izuku insisted since he needed to go through all the video recordings to see what they should test next. He also knew that they would have Hero Lessons tomorrow and did not want to him to exhaust himself now when he was already struggling to keep up with the rest of the class.

He made his good byes as Shinsou stubbornly got back to working on the beach explaining that he was still able to build his strength while resting his quirk. Izuku smiling knowing that he had said similar things in his own training when he was too tired to work out, he was still able to work on his medical studies or quirk analysis. He would just have to keep an eye on him to make sure he did not push himself too far or he would also learn the hard way that it could lead to set backs while waiting to heal.

Chapter Text

Rather than enter the school immediately the next day, Izuku waited outside. He already talked to Asui and Uraraka, letting them know that he was not avoiding them the other day but there was someone he was waiting to talk to. He knew that Iida would already be in the classroom and he would make it right with him later. Sero had seen him and seemed like he wanted to come over but Izuku motioned with his hands that this now was not the time to talk. He would have to talk to him eventually but he was still too hurt to talk rationally.

Finally he saw the pink hair and the bouncing steps of his classmate and waved her over. She had stayed upbeat as he she walked over so Sero probably not mentioned what had happened the other day. That would make it easier to talk to her.

“Hey Midoriya!”

“Morning Ashido, I just wanted to talk for a moment.”

“Sure thing. What’s up?”

“I was talking with Sero the other day… he mentioned knowing that I was quirkless… I was just wondering…”

“Oh Yeah! It’s was so cool you were able to go up against that thing without a quirk. You did not even have your Hero costume on to help you. Kaminari thought you were going to take away its quirk when we saw you fall from the school since we were watching you from the window. Kirishima overheard and thought that taking quirks away from people was your quirk like our teacher's. So we had to explain that you did not have one at all. Sero did not seem to believe us but Kirishima thought it was manly as hell. Wait. Was it supposed to be a secret? Oh my gosh I am so sorry, Midoriya! We did not even think you would mind since we are all friends.”

“It’s fine Ashido. I know I did not tell you to keep it quiet. I was just not expecting Sero to know about it since I had not mentioned it to him.”

“Hey, I get it. We should have thought about your feelings. If it helps we haven’t said anything to anyone else. We are good right?”

“Of course, we are friends after all.”

“You got it.”

“Let’s get to class. We wouldn’t want to be late.”

Izuku was glad he had not done anything rash. Ashido clearly did not think of him any less for being quirkless and did not think that it would have any negative effects letting others know. He would have to talk with Sero again now that he understood what had happened. It was likely that the boy had no real experience with the quirkless. He would just have to show him why he could not be discounted.

Getting to class he found Shinsou in his usual spot which meant he had been talking to Ashido outside longer than expected considering how close his friend came to school at the first bell. Aside from his sleep issues, he did wonder if it was similar to his own experience in Jr. High where getting in at that time meant less interactions with others.

Eraserhead entered just as he made it to his seat and requested all the costume update forms to be submitted to the front desk before taking his spot at the wall in his sleeping bag. Just before the short home room ended, a stack of the forms landed on his desk and his teacher requested he take it to his next class. Putting away his tablet he grabbed the papers and followed Aizawa Sensei out the door.

Clearly these were to go to Nedzu if they were given to him to bring to his next teacher. He did wonder why the principal would have a role in the costume updates. He took his same path up the stairs and through the narrow passage and was not surprised as the door opened as he got to the office.

The principal was currently working at his desk with what looked like blueprints. Izuku placed the papers on an empty spot on the desk before taking the same seat he had done the day before. In front of the chair he found a cup of tea on the desk that still had steam coming out of it, indicating it had recently been poured. Taking a sip he waited on the other.

“What is your opinion on the current press releases from the attack? I assume you've been following them.”

“It looks like they are grasping at straws. They only thing they can confirm is that Midnight subdued a monster and that none of the students had to be sent to the hospital. They only have speculation from photos of the damages that were taken from a telephoto zoom lens outside of school property. No actual photos of the monster were released to the public due to the swiftness of the authorities removing it from the grounds.”

“Why do you think we did not make a statement to the press?”

“As an ongoing investigation on private property, it would be up to the police force to release the information when they verify the facts.”

“True but as the affected institution, we are allowed to have press conferences to answer questions that do not hinder the criminal processing.”

“Most likely because you want Midnight to be the only known person involved with the attack. The way it currently stands, UA showed its strength by taking down the Monster within moments of the attack with only property damage and no casualties. By allowing the press to ask questions, it is possible they would find out that students were involved in the matter.”

“Tell me do you have your phone on you?”

“Of course.”

“How many students do you think carry their phone with them everywhere?”

“Probably all of them.”

“We have found a total of fifteen images posted on the various social media from the attack. Most of them are not very good, but a few of them do show the beast when it threw itself out of the building.”

“Do any show… well”

“As far as we had seen, there are no images of any of the students involved in the incident. Though that hair of yours is visible in a few of those photos. That does not mean there will not be more with you or your friends faces on them. So once again, why had we not made an official statement?”

“You are protecting us. We also do not know the reasons for the attack and putting the ones involved out to the public can put us in danger. Because you have so many students with the potential of getting information out, you’re waiting to see what gets out first. After the escape this Sunday, it has become a public safety issue and the police will be forced to admit that they lost the Villain especially if it attacks again. If there are actually images of the monster from the attack out there, the press are going to eventually find them if they have not already…”

“Two have been used in the press so far. Smaller news sites but the other networks will be using them now that they are out. More will probably be used once the Police announce the escape in the conference this afternoon.”

“You plan on sending Midnight to the conference to talk for UA to show cooperation with the police. She is a master of misdirection and will put the focus on a swift capture with no casualties as she had done previously.”

“She has her skills. Just as you have your skills. Aizawa told you to bring those forms with you but they are not for me. I need you to go through them and make your analysis on their changes. You have seen all your classmates in action and have an idea on what they need and currently lack. You have until the end of the period to make your suggestions.”

With that Nedzu turned back to his work. Accepting it as a dismissal, he quickly paged through the forms taking a quick look at the changes before taking out a pen to mark his changes. He started with their class president and was happy she had taken his suggestion to remove the book. The visor she described would work well for her as a replacement including the voice recognition software. He did suggest adding a more sensitive mic as it could hinder her if Villains could hear her talking to her visor for information.

After making the first change, he was able to look at the forms as a way to help his classmates rather than questioning their choices. He could tell that the first Hero lesson and attack had made an impression in his class as there were requests for more protection from a number of them. Izuku was quick to suggest different materials and less cumbersome options considering so many of the kids would need maneuverability over defense.

Nedzu had to say something to let him know he would be late for Ectoplasm’s next class if he stayed for much longer. Luckily he was just going over the forms a second time and had been able to place them back on the desk before running off after thanking the principal for his time and tea. Also, the mouse did indeed drink honey in his tea. Before he left the room, Nedzu told him to skip the Home Room on the mornings they worked together and he would need the extra time.

After math, the students were told to get into their Hero gear and make it out to their next Hero lesson. He noticed as they got dressed Iida did not have his helmet with him, which he took as a sign that is was currently being worked on. As the students gathered at the familiar site of his entrance exam he notice Ashido had a similar but different suit and his eyes widen as he saw the pink outline of a female that join them.

“I guess you were able to get your request in.”

“Yeah. It is the best. I don’t have to take anything off now to use my quirk effectively. I have no idea how they were able to make the shoes work or the whole outfit in fact. Thank you for your suggestion I would never had thought I would be able to have something like this.”

Before he was able to talk more, Aizawa got their attention as he came over with Cementoss next to him. The Pro Hero looked larger out in the field then in the classroom talking about literature. Seeing Snipe out in the field the other day he realized that he was the Homeroom teacher for 2-A. That meant the second year would be focusing on building skills that would work with or without a quirk. With that in mind, of their teachers it was likely Thirteen would be the other teacher for second years.

He already figured that Midnight was teaching the third years. She could subdue a whole room easily and would allow them to work at their full potential without injuries. Cementoss also had a power comparable to the R Rated Hero and most likely also worked as the other third year’s homeroom teacher. Considering Midnight had been present at their last lesson, it was likely Cementoss was here for the similar purpose of keeping them safe since they were all new at using their quirks and equipment against opponents.

“Last time you were given the task of apprehending Villains in a building, today you have to find your Villain hiding anywhere in this city landscape. Cementoss here will be taking part as your Villain. Your job is to find and make contact with him. He is not here to fight you so you do not have to worry about engaging him.”

Izuku felt relieved that they would not be expected to fight their teacher. No one of his class would not be able to match the power and versatility of the Pro Hero in front of them. Not to mention it would take a coordinated attack that they had not really had any experience with.

“Rather than using chance this time around, you will be split up into groups of four with a team leader able to choose their groups. Team leaders are Jirou, Shouji, Yaoyorozu, Kouda, and Midoriya.”

Izuku froze as he heard his name being called as a team leader. He understood why the others had been chosen for leaders. They all had quirks that would be help find their teacher in the middle of the city. He would have to depend on his teammates to actually achieve his objective. He assume they were chosen to also split them up so they could not be on the same teams giving every team a chance to find their target.

“Midoriya choose first.”

His eyes went straight to Bakugou. They had the most experience working together and his skill set would make it easier to get to the teacher once they find him. But they had to find him first. That left him with only one true choice. He would just have to explain his choice to Kacchan later.

“Kaminari.”

Kouda went with Tokoyami. Yaoyorozu selected Todoroki. Shouji picked Bakugou. Jirou took on Uraraka. Back to him, he looked for mobility and knew of those left Sero would be the best choice but he also knew he needed someone that would be able to respect him as a leader. Not to mention the awkwardness of the two of them working together would hinder the operation more. That meant…

“Tsu.”

Satou, Iida, Ashido, and Sero were soon chosen. That had him left with a hard choice. Hagakure would be the perfect person to stealth her way to Cemetoss, but that was only if their teacher was in an easy to access location.

“Shinsou.”

The final teams were…

Midoriya with Kaminari, Asui, and Shinsou.

Kouda with Tokoyami, Satou, and Kirishima.

Yaoyorozu with Todoroki, Iida, and Hagakure.

Shouji with Bakugou, Ashido, and Ojiro.

Jirou with Uraraka, Sero, and Aoyama.

Going first was going to be hard since they had no idea how Cementoss was going to play this game. They also had the least amount of time to plan. As Cementoss entered the city setting his group was given five minute before they were expected to go in after their teacher. They had fifteen minutes to find and make contact with the Pro Hero to pass the exercise.

“Kaminari, you need to find the frequency that the teachers are on. Both had on the same communicators we used last time. Try to calibrate to it now before we go in. Tsu, once we find the area that Cementoss is in we will need to pinpoint his location. It should be easier for the two of us to locate him from the air. Shinsou you will be with Kaminari, while we are not expected to attack, we do not know if he will try to take us out and Kaminari is our best bet to find him. We will also need you in the apprehension since I doubt, he will make it easy on us. Since we were not given communicators, we will need to stay in sight of each other. We should make our way to the center of the city until we can get a handle on where the target is.”

Kaminari was still trying to get into the teacher’s communications when they were given the go ahead to enter the city. They made it about halfway to the center point when Kaminari finally had some success.

“I know you wanted me to get into the teacher’s com but I think I am having so many issues because they are not talking. I was able to find our classmates. I think they are watching from the control room.”

“Perfect. Good job Kaminari. They must not have thought to cut off the coms since we do not have the ear pieces. Are you getting any clues from what they are saying?”

“He is defiantly above us. They think we are getting closer to him.”

“That’s good. Any hint of which way to go?”

“No... They are mostly talking about their own strategies.”

“Let me know if it changes. Tsu, maybe you should head up for view from above. If we are getting closer you might spot something.”

They continued on for a bit more before Kaminari stopped them saying that they were heading the wrong way. Rather than turning around he suggested Asui take to the right and he would go to the roofs to the left. They would return in thirty seconds to see if there was any more intelligence coming from his unknowing classmates. Taking to the closest ally way he made his way up jumping from one wall to the next until he was above the city and moved out at a quick pace. Looking up he tried to see which buildings were the tallest and would have the most cement for their teacher to work with.

Returning he took as dive off the roof and used his bolas to tangling them on top of a light pole to swing him forward safely and dropped him to the ground. Packing his weapon back up, he turned to Kaminari.

“Any new clues?”

“You know you are crazy right?”

“People keep telling me that. So you heard anything?”

“Asui was going the right way.”

“Perfect do we know where she is?”

“She has not gotten back yet but… She found him! And she needs help! We have to get to her now!”

“Let’s go!”

Izuku went back up to the roofs in the direction that Tsu had been headed. Knowing the general direction and how she would have been on her way back due to the time frame. Izuku moved a bit off track assuming she would have tried a different path back it also meant she was probably not too far from them.

He heard the sound of the scuffle as he moved again on a different track. Looking down to the streets he saw Shinsou and Kaminari following his lead even if they were further behind. He saw the issue immediately as Tsu had been turned into the prey in this game as the large pillar cement walls were slowly boxing her in. Looking around for their teacher, he knew that the pro had to be able to see his constructs to make them. He would also need to be in contact with them. In the city landscape the connection to the cement could leave him anywhere on the buildings or the streets.

If Tsu was on the ground now, she must have been forced down that meant their teacher was probably up like Kaminari had mentioned before. Scanning, he finally saw the cement Hero as the other focused on capturing his teammate. His distance from the cement being modified was also the reason that Tsu had been able to hop over the quirk made barriers. Had he been closer, he would have greater power to increase the height and complexity of the cement. He was only a few stories up by which probably meant any further away and his attacks would even less effective.

He could try to get to Cementoss himself but the moment he started for the pro, he would be seen as his perch would give him full access to anyone coming at him. That meant he needed a distraction for him and Tsu. Knowing his other teammates were on their way he slowly backed away hoping Asui could last a bit longer and he went back for the others.

“How far can you throw your electric shocks?”

“Pretty far. Maybe ten meters.”

“So about three stories up?”

“Yeah but I can’t control the direction it spreads from me in every direction.”

“We will have to be sure to get out of your way. Shinsou, I need you with me then. Hopefully, if Kaminari is able to distract him we have a change of using your quirk on him. Since he is just in range for the electric attack he should try to shield himself which will get Asui out of her jam and us an opportunity to get you into speaking range. If you can freeze him, we have a chance of getting close enough to pass the objective.”

He was going to have to look into helping Kaminari with his quirk in the future if he was unable to control it. That would be dangerous to have out in the field. Maybe a quirk support item would be able to solve the issues. But that was for another time as he had Shinsou hold onto his back as he pulled the two of them up to the roofs. It took longer with the extra weight and the taller frame of the other did not make the most graceful of landings but they were up.

They went at a slower pace as they allowed Kaminari to take the lead. They did not want to alert the Pro Hero to their presence. They stopped well outside the range of the electric users quirk and waited for their signal to move out. There was a bright light as the electricity jumped from a single central point and climbed up the buildings. It made Izuku graceful they had given themselves more buffer as the range exceeded Kaminari’s estimations by a good 5 meters. It was no wonder he was able to pass the entrance exam with that kind of power.

As the sparks started to recede, Izuku made his move as he made his way to the cement Hero with Shinsou clinging to his back. The other had no real experience with using the upper skyline aside from the first time they had met, rather than having him break his neck in trying, Izuku was promoted to pack horse for the mission.

They both saw the cocoon of cement that the Pro Hero had wrapped himself in to protect him from the electric charges. Tsu had used the opportunity to take her own path to the skies now that she was able to get away from the cement trap.

They saw the cement dome melt away as the Hero emerged in time to see the two pronged aerial attack. They were still too far away to close the gap but without being on the same building there was a hope the cement quirk would not be able to reached them.

“Hey, you guys never told us, how close do we have to get to pass?”

“Touching distance….”

“Stand still and put your hands in the air.”

Izuku smiled as the Hero froze and did as he was told. It was smart of Shinsou to ask a question that would have the Pro Hero react like a teacher. He was unable to really go faster while hauling a second body. But Tsu had been able to make it to the roof and lay a hand on the inactive Hero. They had done it. He stopped moving forward and instead looked for a way down for Shinsou as he told the other to release his quirk. Finding a ladder the two were able to make it safely to the ground and moved to regroup with the rest of their team.

Tsu and Cementoss were waiting for them as they got out to the main road having made their own way down. The girl with the frog quirk was currently watching their last team member walking around as if drunk.

“What happened to Kaminari?”

“I think he overused his quirk.”

The boy in question let out a loud “Wee” as he staggered around. Why had he not said anything about side effects to his quirk? He ran to the blonde and stopped him in his path hoping not to get shocked in the process. Looking into his eyes was like seeing someone on surgical pain killers. There really was not anyone home though he did react to stimulus. This was dangerous. How often did his quirk use make him end up in this state? Looking over to Cemetoss and his group he made a decision.

“I need to get him to Recovery Girl, Cemetoss. I do not know how long this state will last but if something is not done, he might get permanent damage from this type of quirk use. Shinsou, do you mind letting me know how the rest of the trials go?”

The teacher seemed to agree with his assessment and motioned him to make his way back to the school as he pulled Kaminari into a fireman carry since he could not be trusted on his own feet. As he was heading to the nurses office, he heard Cementoss in the background using his com link to explain to Aizawa what was going on.

---

It had a taken a full hour before the boy stopped making the nonsense sounds and grew still. Izuku agreed to watch him since he was the one responsible for putting the other boy here. He had been so confident he knew all his classmates’ quirks after one Hero lesson and watching the assessment. Why had he not asked about side effects on such a massive attack?

He was supposed to be the leader, and he had sent in their greatest asset to literally fry his brains out as a distraction. What if Cementoss had left the area and set himself up in another part of the city? They would have been back to square one without anything to show and down a team member.

The boy in the bed turned his head and Izuku finally saw recognition in them. He smiled at the other and held up a bento box. The box was eagerly grabbed at as the other started to inhale the food. Rather than miss lunch, Shuuzenji Sensei had him grab a couple of the “to go” lunches that Lunch Rush always had available before taking his watch at the boy’s side. He had already eaten his while waiting on the other.

“I'm sorry for what happened out there, Kaminari.”

“What? Ah man did we lose?”

“Quite the opposite. Your attack forced Cemetoss to take a defensive position and we were able to reach him for the objective. I’m talking about putting you into the Infermary.”

“Yeah, it was kinda weird. Most of the time people just put me somewhere out of the way until the effect wears off.”

“How many times has this happened?”

“Ten or twelve. I don’t really count. It’s just a side effect of releasing so much energy. It goes away in a bit.”

“Kaminari. You are short circuiting your brain each time you go into that state. Your quirk is too powerful for your body to handle. That side effect is your body shutting down to protect itself from your quirk.”

“I always go back to normal. Nothing you have to worry about.”

“What if this was not an exercise? What if you were completely disabled in front of a Villain? Aside from the long term affects you will be getting from using your quirk this way, you will become a liability to Hero work if using your power ends up with you in that state.”

“I couldn’t let you down. You picked me first. No one has ever done that before. I know I am not the smartest and I don’t have the athletic build like Kirishima or Ojiro. But you wanted me on your team before any of the heavy hitters like Todoroki or Bakugou. Then you told Shinsou that I was the most important team member. I could not help but go all out after that.”

“If you had only told me we could have found a different way that did not depend on you frying your brains out.”

“If I had told you, you would not have let me do it. I wanted to show all our classmates that I could do it. Do you want to know what they were saying while watching us? They said I was the weak one in the group. They said I was too stupid to be of any use and was just an extra.”

“...Bakugou was angry that I did not pick him first.”

“How did you…”

“I should know how my best friend talks by now. I doubt he really thinks you’re stupid or weak considering he actually likes sitting with you at lunch.”

“But what about…”

“I had a personal issue with someone else at the table yesterday and needed space. Kacchan and Shinsou were just supporting me by sitting with me. We could have all sat together again if it was not for your current situation.”

“So I did that for…”

“Not exactly nothing. You did get us the win. But I think you need to talk with Power Loader about your issue. The sooner that is fixed, the better your health and your abilities out in the field. You are not the only one getting changes made to your Hero Outfit. Until then, maybe try to monitor yourself a bit to know the point where you will shut down?”

---

They had talked a bit more and Kaminari left to change out of his Hero Costume and make it to English with Present Mic as he stayed behind for his lesson with Recovery Girl. Taking a seat next to the small woman he smiled as a cup of tea was pushed in his direction. Picking it up he realized it was the same kind of tea he received from Nedzu.

“I knew it would be worth keeping you around, Dearie. I tell kids not to do something and they come back two days later wondering why it happened again. You might actually have made that boy think about the consequences.”

“It’s either that or disable his quirk every time he tries to do something stupid with it.”

He had been able to startle a soft chuckle out of Recovery Girl and smiled thinking of his own dry tone. If he was not careful he would turn into his homeroom teacher considering how jaded that individual was. Lapsing into a large smile he realized that considering how quiet it was, it would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Shuuzenji about her time as a Hero in the field.

Chapter Text

Shinsou was only slightly better than Kacchan when it came to remembering people and details. When he had gotten back to class from the nurses office, he had been hoping for a play by play action on the other teams. What he received was a list of who made it through the objective and who did not without explaining what they had done. Even when trying to pry details out of the other it had been a painful process.

That was why he had gotten to the class early the next day to see if Iida would be able to give him more details on what happened with the other teams. As he had known, growing up with a family of pros made him quite observant and more than willing to give him details on the other groups. He was especially adamant that as the vice president it was his job to help his classmate with anything he could do for their studies.

Kouda’s group had not been able to find Cementoss in their time limit. Kouda had apparently blanketed the area with birds to find his location. About halfway through their time without a sighting Kouda had resorted to rats and squirrels to look for their teacher but had still not found the sight of him. Since he was so busy working with his animals he had let the others search on their own without really helping or leading. Kirishima had tried to get them all to work together but without guidance of the leader, he had made suggestions and the others had started their own search leaving Kouda on his own.

Yaoyorozu team had found Cementoss within five minutes of entering the city. She had Hagakure place a tracker on him just before their round and had equipped the whole team with radios to talk with each other. After they had found the signal, Todoroki had easily pinned the other in place as Iida had used his quirk to touch him without too much effort.

Shouji had tried to lead his team but within seconds of starting Bakugou left on his own to find Cementoss. Ashido and Ojiro had tried to work with their team leader but with Kacchan using explosions to stay aloft, Shouji had been unable to use his quirk to find Cementoss. Katsuki actually did find the teacher but was unable to get close to him. He was able to make enough noise that the rest of his teammates had followed him since he was clearly in a battle and had been able to help him for a win.

Jirou had been able to locate Cementoss quite easily. But even though they had Uraraka and Sero for mobility and aerial attacks, they had been unable to get close to him. Once they found him, they were always just too slow to actually pin him down. Uraraka had learned early on that the only thing she could throw at their teacher were natural objects such as trees so they could not be manipulated by Cementoss’s quirk. Aoyama had actually been very useful in distracting the Pro but could not fully use his quirk with Sero and Uraraka trying to get close in case he hit a team member by accident. They had been unable to get to him by the time their fifteen minutes where up.

Morning classes went by quickly as they finally got another class with Power Loader. He had also learned his lesson from last time and actually started the class with any questions since a number of the students had received more support items or full costume changes. So he had to go into the support approval process and how times varied on the return depending if the request can be done in house by support students or had to be sent off to a support company.

Izuku finally had time to talk with Bakugou during Physical Education as Hound Dog had them running the track again. Their teacher really like running. The blonde a fumed a bit when he had started to run next to him but considering they were not allowed to use quirks during the class, he was not able to stop him from keeping pace with him.

“You know I had to choose him.”

“I fucking found the damn Cement Block on my own.”

“Yes, your tactics and ability is amazing. But the goal of the exercise was to find and capture the teacher as a team. Kaminari was the only one with a location support quirk left in the class to choose. I needed him.”

“Why the fuck was I picked forth?”

“Probably because you intimidate Kouda and Yaoyorozu was picking by rank.”

“I had the most fucking Villain points in the damn entrance exam.”

“She is a recommendation student, she probably focused more on the first day quirk assessment than anything else. I was also surprised that Shouji chose you. I knew that Jirou would not have since your quirk puts theirs at a disadvantage. I had a reasonable assumption that I would have been able to pick you on the second round. You must have really impressed Shouji when you fought him during the battle training.”

“Fucker had no chance of winning.”

“You could have still told them you noticed a pattern since you guys had gone fourth and had a good idea on where Cementoss was.”

“Not fucking holding some extra’s hands. They did their job in the end. Took their damn time about it.”

“On your left.”

“How… are you bastards… able to keep that pace?”

“Practice Shinsou. Beach after school?”

“I’ll… be there.”

“Eye Bags finally admitted he is a weakling?”

“I’ve been giving him a few pointers. He is doing a lot better. We just started working on his quirk.”

“Who the fuck has time for that shit?”

“I did not invite you since he still seems a bit skittish around you. I need him to be able to focus.”

“Hand holding the bastard is not going to make him strong.”

“He does plenty on his own. I just think you remind him of the bullies from his old school. Once he gets to know you, he should be able to be more comfortable in your presence.”

“You want him to join our damn agency?”

“No, he is going for the Underground Hero route. He might be willing to work with us but associating with us too much will put him further into the spotlight. His quirk works best when others do not know about it.”

“You want Round Face though.”

“Uraraka has one of the most powerful quirks in our entire class. Once she learns to actually tame it, she will be unstoppable.”

“Wasn’t that impressive during training.”

“From what I heard she and Sero kept getting in each other’s way and the rest of the team were unable to help them effectively. It might also be useful to have someone around that can help with the rescue efforts since your quirk is still too volatile for many disaster scenarios.”

“Working on that shit. Boring as fuck.”

“Yes, but it is necessary if you have to worry about flammable atmospheres.”

“Give me a week to destroy it.”

“I know you’ll get it down soon… On your left.”

“Ok… now you bastards… are just showing off.”

“What is with Eye Bags?”

“Oh, just trying to encourage him to get faster. When he concentrates on us, he does not see the other students that are actually worse at running than he is. I don’t want him to start thinking that better than last is good enough.”

“I will crush him.”

“I don’t need him to be the best. I just need him to get the best tools to reach his goal.”

“Fucking Nerd.”

---

Their table at lunch was just as loud as ever though Kacchan had to leave halfway through lunch. He only yelled at their friends when they asked him where he was going. Izuku had already figured that he had been given a weekly meeting with the Hound Dog after his session last week. It would make sense that he would be given one during lunch to avoid missing classes or having them before or after school.

Most of the talk that day was about the coming dorms and how many of them were already packing for the move in date on Sunday. Of their group only Kaminari, Tsu, and Iida were not planning on moving in. From what the others had heard among the class though Aoyama, Shouji, and Hagakure would also be joining the dorms. That meant a good half of the class would be living together. He did notice Uraraka was quieter than usual. He hoped that yesterday’s poor showing had not discouraged her.

That was definitely an exciting prospect but he was also sad since it meant less time with his father. The two of them had been able to go through so much of his analysis since he had returned to Japan. Last night dad had even let him into his team meeting and he was able to show off the Hero outfit they had made him. He was glad that he had Kacchan take his picture before the class considering how it ended.

They had even been working together to see if there was more information they could find on the missing creature. They had taped the news conference but aside from the photos from the police that were a lot higher image quality then the ones that kids had posted on social media, there was not much new information.

Izuku did suspect that the high quality images were released at Nedzu insistence to stop the journalists from using the ones that might show his green hair. He already had one image of his hair publicized from his incident at Aldera. He did not need a second one getting more attention. Especially if they were able to compare the two together and realize it was the same person. He was mostly glad that none of his classmates had talked to the press about his involvement.

---

At the end of the last afternoon lesson, Izuku got up stretching from the inactivity. As much as he enjoyed his classes he was also excited to get back out to the beach with his friend. He had not seen any Sidekicks this morning so he would hopefully be able to walk with Shinsou the whole way there.

“Midoriya?”

“Hey Uraraka. Did you need something?”

“I was wondering if you were available after school sometime. I know this café nearby that we can talk at. I really want to take you up on your offer.”

“Really? That’s wonderful! I’ll have to prepare a few things before me meet up. Maybe Friday?”

“Great! We can walk there after school then. See you later!”

Izuku waved as he watched his classmate ran out of the room. She had be blushing again, it must have been hard to ask for help. He really should not have been surprised. That Hero lesson the other day must have really pushed her decision.

“Are you fucking serious Nerd?”

“I told you I was interested in her.”

“If you need more time to prepare for date we can meet up another day. “

“What are you talking about Shinsou?”

“I mean, you did just announce to the class you two were dating.”

“Tch. Idiot is doing his damn hobby with Round Face. Nerd wouldn’t know what to do with a girl.”

“I hardly think Uraraka would really consider a romantic relationship while we are all trying to be Heroes. Getting into heroics is one of the hardest professions there is. That goes double for females considering the male to female ratio in Hero work.”

“Are you sure she knows that?”

“Sometimes you really make no sense Shinsou.”

“I make no sense?”

“Exactly. Now are you ready to go to the beach? I got a present for you that I thing you will really like.”

At that, the two of them left the room with a scowling Bakugou following behind. That left a classroom filled with equaling unsure kids about the status of the relationships they had just seen. No one else had left the room at Uraraka’s first words and did not know what to make of the scene.

“I would say that Midoriya works fast but is too dense to realize it?”

“I hardly think that the state of our classmates’ relationships is of any concern of ours, Ashido.”

“Does this mean he is dating Shinsou and Uraraka?” Kaminari asked the pink girl clearly ignoring Iida.

“They are not dating, kero. Uraraka mentioned that it was a misunderstanding the second day.”

“What kind of misunderstanding, Asui?” The girl with the acid quirk asking as she moved closer knowing there was gossip to listen to.

“Call me Tsu. I had told Uraraka that Midoriya might be interested in her since I kept seeing him watching her and had tried to get her alone during our second day in class. But the next day, she told me I had misconstrued his intentions.”

“So he is interested in her an in a different way? Man that is bold.”

“Whatever you are thinking Kaminari, I highly doubt Midoriya is that inappropriate.” Iida said chopping his hand for emphasis.

“Why would Uraraka be interested in Midoriya anyway?”

“What do you mean, Sero?”

“He is quirkless. Even if it was not romantic, what does he have to offer her?”

“Seriously Sero? So unmanly. He is like the smartest one here. He had most of us convinced he had an intelligence quirk like the principal.”

“I still think he has an intelligence quirk. I really need to find out how he was able to disable my quirk so easily.” The electric quirk user said waving his hands in the air for emphasis.

“Wait. Back up. What do you mean he is quirkless? He has been helping with my quirk since day one. Not to mention his knowledge of support items. Without him I would still be running around naked.”

“So you are saying he is some sort of genius, Hagakure? I mean when he sat at lunch with us the other day he did have some great support item suggestions. I even put into for headphones for my outfit due to his ideas. I mean he even made Bakugou’s support gear.”

“He made those manly gauntlets! Man, I need Midoriya to make me some items if I am going to be a spotlight Hero. My quirk is only really good at defense.”

“Do you think that was why Uraraka and Midoriya are meeting up? If he is able to make such marvelous support items why not have him make some super sparkling gear for the rest of us?”

“Aoyama, he is not a support course student and it would be quite rude to barrage him with requests. As Hero course students, we should go with the proper protocol.” Iida said quickly trying to stop that train of thought.

“Though why does he only have his visor and that weird pool balls on a string he carries around if he is so good at making gear?”

“He mentioned wanting to be known as a Hero on his own without being considered a Hero just because of his gear, Ashido. I guess I know why he was so insistent on that now. ” The class president mentioned knowing at least that answer to be correct.

“What a mad banquet of darkness.”

“You know there is a great way to find out if it is a date or not…”

“Ashido, stalking our classmates after school is not at all the way Hero students should behave. As the class vice president, I forbid you from even thinking about such unheroic behavior.”

“Yeah Mina. You don’t intrude on a date like that so unmanly.”

“Wait so are they dating or is Uraraka getting amazing support items? I can’t tell anymore.”

“You know, if she shows up to lessons with new support gear, that will be the easiest way to answer that, Kaminari.”

“That is going to take way too long to find out Yaoyorozu.” Kanimari pouted back at the answer but really could see no way to bring it up.

---

The fog in his head cleared up again as he jerked his feet out of the cold water of the ocean. He probably should have taken his shoes off for that experiment. His red high tops were one of the few brands he was able to find that fit comfortably with his extra toe joint. That was why the boots that were made for his Hero Outfit were custom made.

“We will have to try a different direction if we need to test how far I can move away from you without breaking from your hold.”

“I did not expect you to get that far. Do you think it is because you are not trying to break free?”

“Maybe. Let try again with me trying to get out of it. It is possible to modify your orders so I might try to make a large circle or we can see what happens if we use a path that would put a large items like a car in my way. Hitting an object should break me free of your mind control but it also might force me on a different path because…”

A methodical beeping sounds came from his bag and Izuku ran over to see who was contacting him. Taking a look he grimaced at the time and the alarm that was going off on the devise. Throwing a sheepish smile to his friend he rubbed the back of his head as he started to pack up.

“We went much longer then last time. You did not have a single nose bleed so it might have been an anomaly. We will have to monitor it in future experiments.”

“We have Hero lessons tomorrow and you have that “Not a date” on Friday. I need to get ready to move into the dorms on Saturday. So Sunday?”

“I have my internship. We can do it again after school on Monday. Maybe I can get Eraserhead to give us permission to use one of the school gyms. Not that this beach in not a lovely practice field.”

“Hey, you were the one that had this great idea for me to spend all my time here.”

“You may not realize it but it is working."

“… thank you... I doubt I would even be in the Hero course without you.”

“Of course you would have. If not you would have gotten in after winning the Sports Festival and showed how that entrance exam is so unfairly biased to physical quirks.”

“Says the quirkless boy that got first in the exam. You do realize the school board is going to use that as an excuse not to make any changes.”

“…and your own achievements didn’t get you in?”

“What are you talking about? I was in the middle of a suicide cult that all wanted to go down in flames created by that psychotic friend of yours.”

“No one would have died. He is much too good at controlling his explosions for that.”

“So you say.”

“He really is a good guy you know. Yeah, he wants to be the best. He is also loud and abrasive. But deep down, he will always do what is right.”

“Are you sure we are talking about the same arrogant asshole?”

“Well, its Wednesday and I have a dinner plans with said arrogant asshole. So cough up the glasses and I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“You need to be more careful with your words. For a second there I thought you were cheating on poor Uraraka with Bakugou.”

“For the last time, we are not dating. I’m helping her out that same way I have been helping you. So unless you consider wading knee high in garbage a date, we are just friends.”

Taking the glasses that Shinsou handed him he took off for the nearest building. He was already running late and his parents would have already arrived at the Bakugou’s for dinner. Mitsuki had jumped at the chance of having the whole family over when she heard that his dad had come back to town. He had told them that he would be running late and Kacchan would let them know what he was doing so he had no worries about getting in trouble.

Shinsou really did have an amazing quirk. They had already discovered so many things that he had not known about his own quirk. A few more days of experimenting and he would be able to start crafting the baseline mechanics for the mask Melissa was already helping him out with. They had to be careful not to distort his voice too much since it would hinder his abilities. The more interesting aspect was making an artificial means to allow the effect of throwing one’s voice. While still in the testing phases, it had a lot of promise.

Chapter Text

Well Izuku was never going to be late to another dinner ever again. In a rare moment of weakness, Kacchan had actually participated in gossip and told his parents that he was too busy since he was currently grooming two classmates to be in their future Hero agency. That meant when he got to the Bakugou’s, he had to explain all about both of his classmates. Not that he had a problem with that. He loved talking about their quirks and how useful both would be in Hero work.

No his issue was the fact that he was supposed to ask both of them to dinner next Wednesday since clearly if they were going to be joining their family if he was interested in working with them. He then had to explain that Shinou would most likely not be part of the agency, but by that time both mothers had agreed to have them over and that was that. Of course it was his job to convince them to show up.

He did not mind having them meet his parents but he knew that Bakugou still was on rough terms with Shinsou and Mitsuki would team up with his mom to more than likely embarrass him by telling them childhood stories that he rather forget. He was not at all looking forward to the dinner next week. The good news was, since both would be joining him in the dorms, it should be a fairly easy thing to ask them on the Sunday once they had all moved in.

He waved at a few of his classmates as he passed them on his way to Nedzu’s office. He really hoped that he would be working with the other Hero class at one point. He could not wait to learn all about 1-B's quirks. It was possible that Nedzu would not want to give him an advantage since his class would have to face them in the Sport Festival.

Though there was a good chance that he would meet some of them in advance with the dorms. Since not all students will be taking part of the school housing, it was likely they would combine classes. It would only make sense that the two Hero courses would be rooming together.

Getting to the office a bit early, he took a position against the wall on the other side of the door when the door did not automatically open for him and took out his tablet. He wanted to update the new information he got from Shinsou the other day. He had yet to go through the video footage from the glasses but he could still add his observations.

Right as the bell rang for school to begin the door opened and Nedzu wandered out himself. Greeting his student, he took hold of Izuku’s pants leg and scampered up to his shoulder. Izuku noted that while he did have bear like paws the flexibility was more in line with the mouse traits that helped him cling and climb.

“I wonder if I could convince you to wear a scarf much like your homeroom teacher’s. Down the stairs to your right.”

“I would love to be able to have a go at his support weapon. I always wondered how he was able to get it to move on command. I figured it have to do with some type of mind connection since his quirk had a mental base.”

“Very close. But as you have determined, you would not be able to control his weapon. Take a left at the base of the next flight.”

“I wonder if someone like my friend Shinsou would be able to handle it since he does have a mental based quirk.”

“No reason why he would not, but it took your teacher years to master his support gear. Out the door and straight ahead.”

“Have you ever used support items Nedzu?”

“A few times. I try not to get too attached to items that can be taken or lost. Take a right off the path and move towards the large oak tree.”

“Is that a leftover from your days as a lab experiment or you find it easier to use your environment instead of relying on items that can weight you down when your best advantage over your intelligence is your dexterity?”

“You do ask some interesting questions. The destination is the building to your right.”

“Sorry, I should have remembered our last conversation.”

“Here we are. Go ahead and open the door.”

Hesitantly Izuku turned the door knob to the giant entrance of what looked like a garage. Inside a number of young adults were working on what appeared to be a series of robots not unlike the ones he faced at the entrance exam. They were definitely older then the students that went to the school or he would have thought them to be from the support course. Then one caught his eye.

“Is that Komachi? He made it to the second round of the third year’s Sports Festival four years ago using a mobile cannon that he mounted to his shoulders. He never made it to the third round because the machine needed a stable platform to work and they were fighting on suspension cables.”

“I would have annihilated the competition in the third round with that beauty to. Best damn thing I made from my years at UA. The Tank Hero: Battalion has been using my designs for his support gear since I graduated. Power Loader made sure I got the patent for the stabilization mechanics before leaving the school. Only cannons you can find in the Hero market with only a minimal kickback.”

“Komachi and his fellow grads have been helping us out with a little project. Normally Power Loader goes through what is left of the robots from the entrance exam and reuse them for the next year. This year, because of the incident last week, we are trying something a little bit different.”

“Sentries. You are making fighting and alarm sentries. Are they connected to the school system to verify the students and teachers and to weed out intruders like the front gate does?”

“You caught on fast kid. These guys are connected but independent. The Sentinals are being programmed to sound an alarm when an intruder is located and to hold it off until it can be dealt with.”

“…so what am I doing here Nedzu? I’m not exactly a support course student to be able to help with this kind of work?”

“I wouldn’t say that Quaque Die. I learned a few interesting things after you told me about your connection to Melissa Shield. You have been notated as a co-inventor for her support gear for that past three years.”

“That is all theory work. I don’t actually physically build those things.”

“Right now, that is exactly what these support technicians need. They never actually took the Hero course exams and do not know how to fight these robots or what their weaknesses are.”

“Wouldn’t Power Loader…”

“Maijima would normally take this responsibility, yes. But he has his own problems this year and I happened to have a student that can fill this role and be part of the safety measures to improve security.”

(Somewhere else on campus Power Loader’s “problem” had just blown up the lab for the third time that week.)

The added detail that the security upgrade was because of his involvement with the creature was left unsaid but the principal made a pointed stare that told him all that in a single look without the others being any wiser.

“Understood. I assume I am to report here in the mornings until the project is completed?”

“That should do. Komachi is in charge of the team here and you will be reporting to him. I expect much from any student in my charge. As a personal student, that expectation is much higher. It would be a shame if you are unable to meet the standards.”

Izuku shivered slightly at the implication in the principal’s words that he would be dropped as a student if he was unable to handle this project. Racing down his pupil’s leg he tottered off out of the garage as the sounds of metal working picked up now that the show was over.

“Personal student to the rat are you? You must have some genius level quirk helping you out.”

“I’ve been analyzing quirks since I was four years old. The support item thing has only been going on for the last five. But if Nedzu thinks I can help…”

“Then you are probably more than qualified. Nedzu would never leave something as important as security to his school in the wrong hands. Let’s start with our plans and we can go from there. Right now most of the team is working on salvaging and repairing parts and we have not gotten too far into the development phase.”

For the next two hours, Komachi broke down their currently resources and what had been done so far on the project. They had been on property since Monday going through each of the different robots to catalogue and fix what could potential be useful. They also had a budget for more equipment and resources but they would only have access to them if they could present the full plans and a breakdown of the require materials and costs.

So while the rest of the teams were hammering out dents, pulling apart broken circuitry, and restoring mechanisms, the team leader explains the current plans and designs that they were looking into. Thankfully, they were not expecting him to help with the programming aspect of the robots, but they were interested in the weakness and how to make it more durable.

The biggest discussion was the fact that the weapons would all have to be replaced. Shooting rubber bullets at examinees were one thing. Against that monster he had faced, it would not have even slowed it down. That was the real point of the robots, they were a barrier to give the school more time to respond. They were not supposed to be fatal weapons of mass destruction, they needed to be durable enough and capable of keeping the enemy to one spot until the Heroes were able to arrive.

---

He was late enough to Cemetoss’s class that the teacher actually had to comment on his tardiness. Izuku was well aware that all the teachers knew about his altered schedule but making it to his other classes in time was his responsibility. To be fair the support technicians had all been so fascinating. While Komachi had been the most acclaimed of the group from his showing in the Sport Festival. He had seen a number of the others that had made gear to have stood out in the festival but none had ever made it past the first round.

At the end of Literature, all the students raced out with their Hero Outfits to get ready for another lesson at Ground Beta. This time around he did notice that Iida’s helmet was back in place. The support teacher or students must have been working nonstop to make the changes. Though a few of the other requests would definitely take more time. They would most likely become available in time for the internships after the sports festival.

He really hoped he was able to get at least one Hero to request him from this year’s festival. He knew that all the Heroes would be able to see his quirk status when filing the offers to their agencies. Maybe Backdraft would be willing to give him a shot since he had seen him in person at a number of rescue sites. He was pretty sure he already knew he was quirkless.

Meeting at the grounds today, Eraserhead stood next to Snipe as they watched the students gather. They had all definitely gotten faster about getting to the field since tardiness was still met with glares.

“Last time you worked in groups to search for and find your Villain. This time your group will get larger with a five man teams. Your objective is stealth. For that reason team leaders will be Hagakure, Shinsou, Ojiro, and Tokoyami. Teams will be given a quadrant of the grounds matching the cardinal directions of North, South, East, and West with a building with a flag at the top in each. Anyone trying to move the flag will have their team instantly disqualified.”

Aizawa paused to look at the class and letting them know he was watching and waiting for an excuse to expel them from his class. A shiver passed through a number of students before their teacher continued.

“Getting the flag of your opposite section and making it to the center quadrant will give you a pass and the opposite team a fail. Be the first team to the center for a win. Teams are safe on their own territory, but the moment they go into any of the other quadrants, you can become captured and sent to the center quadrant for a five minute time out. If Snipe tags you. You are out permanently from the exercise. He will only tag you if, you fail to make it to the center for your time out, leave before your five minutes are up, stand out too much since this is a stealth mission, or enter the center area without the opponent’s flag or for your time out.”

Snipe would probably be at the top of the highest building and able to view most of the battlefield. All four flags would be in his sight and he could reach any of the students with his guns. Considering the modification made to them, the distance would not slow him and because of his quirk his accuracy would also allow him to hit his target each time. This was a bad match for a good number of his class who would have to consider abandoning their quirks for the lesson to achieve the objective.

He watched as the team leaders move forward. It was obvious that each of them would be getting a chance to lead a group of their fellow students. Even when some did not currently have the skills to easily handle the rest of their classmates. That was the point to these lessons to gain the skills that would be necessary in Hero work.

Tokoyami was quick to pick out Yaoyorozu as he had the first choice. Ojiro went with Jirou. Shinsou looked at him for a long moment before picking Shouji. Hagakure selected Todoroki. Izuku was surprised to hear Tokoyami call his name out for the team. Which left Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu as the other's second picks. The third picks were Kouda, Kaminari, Ashido, and Satou. The fourth picks were Sero, Aoyama, Kirishima, and Bakugou.

His blonde friend was fuming at being picked last. That was something that never happened before but it was clear that none of their classmates actually believe he could be stealthy. They did not understand his best friend’s determination at all. That left the teams with the following.

North: Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Izuku, Kouda, and Sero.

East: Ojiro, Jirou, Iida, Kaminari, and Aoyama.

South: Shinsou, Shouji, Uraraka, Ashido, and Kirishima.

West: Hagakure, Todoroki, Asui, Satou, and Bakugou.

With the teams chosen, each were given a set of ear pieces to communicate with each other and sent to their different quadrants. Meeting at the roof of the five story building with the green flag waving in the wind. Looking around, there were many paths that the other team could take to get to the flag. The other issue was if they were going for a Pass or a Win. One meant they would have to try to capture everyone that made it into their territory the other could mean they could be a bit more selective and spend less energy in defense.

He already figure most teams would be going for a mixture of attackers and defenders. The best strategy would be to have a defender stationed at the flag, two defenders to protect and capture students coming into the area and two attackers to try to go for the flag in the other territory. Of course their team had a few advantages that would not need that type of configuration. In the end they were here to support Tokoyami.

“As one with the darkness, it is my path to claim the victory.”

“You plan to go through the east quadrant? Both Bakugou and Todoroki have quirks that can be problematic to Dark Shadow. Only Aoyama to the east would give him trouble.”

“The darkest way is the safest.”

“Do you plan on taking Sero with you who would be able to keep up and stay mostly stealthy or did you want Kouda to use his quirk to back you up?”

“The darkness can only hide so much. Sero is too bright.”

“Kouda should be able to provide a companion to help you out then. Maybe a hawk or other bird of prey.”

“… birds…small…simple commands…”

“Maybe you can have one of the smaller bird act as prey to get a larger bird closer so you can gain control of it. We would at least need something large enough that can fly away with the weight of the flag.”

“Kouda?” the bird headed leader questioned as looked toward the animal quirk user before the shy boy nodded.

“…possible…” he mutters and he wandered off to find what was needed.

“I don’t get it why can’t Kouda just wave one down and ask it to help?” The tape user asked seeming a tad hostile. Izuku promised himself to talk to him later if this issue was going to effect their Hero lessons.

“Kouda can’t ask them to help. He is a brainwasher similar to Shinsou. That is why he has to give them simple commands especially if he is not going to be joining Tokoyami in taking the flag. Once he gets one down we just need two commands. For him to stay with Tokoyami with Dark Shadow hiding him and for him to fly to the flag and take off with it back to Kouda when Tokoyami gives it the signal.”

“I have never heard Kouda ask animal questions. How does he brainwash them.”

“That’s true Sero. I’m going to guess pheromones since he has a proximity barrier. He needs to get the animal close enough for him to control it but once he has them, he is capable of extending his dominance on it.”

“What of the rest of us Tokoyami?” Yaoyorozu said finally speaking up as well.

“Defense and capture.”

“It is very possible that we can get quite a few people trying to pass through this area. Shouji is incredibly strong and would be able to keep track of all the students so they might try to make a path through this quadrant to get to their opponents. Yaoyorozu would probably be the best bet to finding and taking them down. So we are going for the win then?”

“Take any that come into our territory down. No mercy from the darkness.”

“Good thing we will have four of us on defense then.”

“Wouldn’t Kouda be busy with making sure the bird with Tokoyami is behaving?”

“He is actually able to mind control animals separately and give then different tasks, Yaoyorozu. Leaving him here at the flag would allow him to command a number of them just for protection and give him the ability to respond with his quirk if we have issues.”

“Then he shall control the field at the base. Yaoyorozu, time is short and traps should be prepared.”

“Before we set up traps in the city, do you want to have one here as a possible defense?”

“What darkness do you speak of?”

“Maybe a large tent to cover the roof. This would leave it in the dark and many of the animals that Kouda can command can have darkvision. Maybe Yaoyorozu could also give Kouda Night Vision goggles as well.”

“Yaoyorozu?”

“Both are easy enough to make. Let me work on that now.” She said as he started to pull out metal supports that would be needed to set the tent up

“Izuku, what plans of attacks does the enemy plot?”

“It is unlikely Shinsou would use Shouji to attack us since he would be needed to protect their own base. Uraraka would be the most dangerous attacker since she can move swiftly and silently. Ashido and Kirishima would most likely be set to guard and capture people entering the area.”

“And the Brainwasher? What of his dark plans?”

“He is the actual the biggest threat. Shinsou can send people here as his puppets. That means that anyone that come into this territory can be working for their team.”

“Know you how to disarm Shouji?”

“Bakugou’s way of overpowering his input is probably the best way that I have seen. But that would hardly be stealthy. Maybe Yaoyorozu can make something that makes a loud noise that you can leave somewhere before it turns on to keep your movement hidden. Something annoying like a high pitched rhythmic beeping to encourage him not to use his advanced hearing. Throwing it in Snipe’s zone as close to their territory as possible is the safest way to keep them from disabling it.”

A loud squawk came from behind them as Kouda appeared with a mature golden eagle. The dulled eyes looked straight ahead as the boy talked softly to it before handing it over to the team leader. Yaoyorozu joined them soon after to hand Kouda night vision goggles and get the whole team to help putting up the heavy dark cloth of the tent. Kouda was then sent to work gathering an army of animals to guard the flag.

The class president created an alarm clock and a heavy shoulder pad that the eagle was placed on. Once Dark Shadow was in play, he would easily be able to shroud the eagle in darkness so no one would know that it was there. By that time their coms received a five minute warning before the exercise would begin.

Kouda was left behind as the rest rushed about the city setting up traps for the unwary. At one point Izuku and Yaoyorozu talked and set up a series of spring traps that would literally send anyone that stepped on the platform to fly into the nearby central zone to be taken out by Snipe. Just capturing a person would put them in a time out. If they were able to make use of the rules it was possible to get other teams members tagged and removed permanently from the game.

The game started very quietly until Izuku released firecrackers that mimicked the sound of his best friend at the top most area of the east quadrant as Tokoyami went in using the distraction as they knew Jirou would otherwise be able to detect him. It would also help if they thought the blonde was making his way into their territory.

By that time Yaoyorozu requested help as her silent alarms had been set off on both side and Izuku went to stop the one from the east since he was in the proximity while Sero was sent to the west. Ojiro’s white outfit gave him away as Izuku called in his position and opponent to his team as he sent his Bolas out to trip the tailed classmate. The other had far better reflexes and was able to avoid falling to the ground but still had the weapon tangled on one of his legs.

That gave Izuku enough time to make it to the other. Going in for a paralyzing strike, he was rebuffed by the fellow martial artist. Ojiro retaliated with his own attack forcing Izuku to dodge away before aiming for another hit. It was clear in moments, that the other was a better skilled martial artist compared to him especially since Tai Chi was a defensive discipline and he was forced to attack. Moving away a little bit he start to try and herd the other closer to the central quadrant where he knew a few platform traps had been set up.

Unfortunately, Ojiro seemed to realize that he outmatched him in fighting skills and did not give him any more opportunities to move away. A flash of movement from the side was his only warning to tuck down as a small bird flew between them. He could also hear the sound of a high pitch beeping which meant that Tokoyami was in the enemy territory. He had to end this soon and the destraction was enough to allow him to take off in the direction of the beeping.

As he had hoped, Ojiro followed him through the streets sensing a weakness in his retreating form. Entering one of the trap area, Izuku activated a smoke charge that had enough fine particles in it to activate his visor’s protection mode. As Ojiro came into the same location he found his sight and breathing hampered and Izuku was able to shove him onto the platform trap that sent him straight into the central zone. A loud gun shot rang out within moments of the flying form leaving the north quadrant and a large patch of red manifested on the other’s Hero costume.

Calling in his action, Yaoyorozu directed him to the west side where Sero had still not called in having no other alarms from the east. Staying close to the ground and close to the sides of the building that would give him cover from their teacher he went in search of their missing team mate. He soon found the block of ice that was Sero. He called in Todoroki’s intrusion into their territory to the rest of his team as Kouda sent out a squad of small birds to look for the elemental user.

“Aside from the obvious are you hurt Sero?”

“Took me out in one shot. I did not even see him coming. So no damage. I am just stuck.”

“I’ll see if Yaoyorozu has something we can use to get you out. Was Todoroki by himself?"

"As far as I can tell but it is possible that Hagakure was with him.”

Izuku could only hope that Tokoyami was almost done since his team had still not called in the location for the west team. Another shot rang out but he had no clue who had been tagged by Snipe and he moved to find Yaoyorozu. By the time he found her, she was able to hand off a flamethrower before lobbing another grenade at alleyway where Kaminari was trying to find his way out of the smoke.

“Do you need me to help?”

“I think I have it under control. That last one is meant to send him to sleep.”

“Nice. You really have an amazing arsenal with that quirk. Let me know if you need me.”

He waved at the girl before heading back to his teammate. Before he was halfway back, Tokoyami called on the coms that the eagle was on his way back to Kouda. Picking up the pace he was glad to hear that the exercise was almost in hand but he did not want to claim victory too soon.

He pointed the flame thrower carefully at the ice encasing Sero to ensure the accelerant would not splash on the boy. The focused heat from the gun weakened the ice enough for it to start breaking fairly quickly and he was able to free the tape user just as the call from his coms let them know that Tokoyami was captured in time out and Kouda had retrieved the flag.

“Up to you Sero. You have the best chance of getting it back to the center area the fastest.”

“Thank you Midoriya. Let’s talk after this.”

With that the boy sent his quirk out to propel him through the air and meet up with the eagle that was now winging in his direction. Grabbing the flag, Sero was able to make a run for the middle quadrant right as an announcement sounded that Hagakure’s team had won the challenge. Not to be distracted Sero pushed on and made it to the Snipe's area for a second announcement that the exercise was over as Tokoyami’s team passed. They had lost getting the win by thirty seconds.

With the lesson over, everyone headed back to the locker rooms to change out of their gear, That was when Izuku learned that Bakugou was the other person tagged by Snipe. Hagakure had proposed a two prong attack where she and Todoroki went one way and Bakugou and Asui went the other. Bakugou and Asui had made it halfway through Shinsou’s territory before the brainwasher had been able to capture Bakugou in his quirk and made him enter Snipe’s area to be hit by the gunslinger.

Asui had been able to make it all the way through and joined up with her team mates to help them take the flag. What actually had helped them the most was the alarm clock that they had used to disable Shouji had also hampered Jirou and the team depending on her quirk were now unable to use it effectively.

As the boys left to head out for lunch Sero stayed behind giving Izuku a look for him to stay in the room as well. Izuku waved off his friends with promises that they would meet up in the cafeteria.

“I owe you an apology, Midoriya. You been going through a lot of things and I think I made it worse the other day.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got jealous man. After you got angry at me, it hurt to think that I actually did imply that you were weak even though I know how well you were able to handle yourself against that monster. Then the other day when you got one of the cutest girls in class to ask you out on a date… I could not help but venting. Mina told me how you felt about me letting me and Eijiro in on your quirklessness and I just blurted it out to the rest of class after you left.”

“They all know?”

“Everyone except your girlfriend... Unless you told her already.”

“I never told Uraraka and she is not my girlfriend, Sero. I’m just helping her use her quirk more efficiently.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“Yeah, Shinsou thought the same thing the other day until I explained the situation.”

“Listen, I really do not like what I have turned into these last few days. Watching you out there today, it made me really think about why I wanted to be a Hero. Can you give me another chance?”

“I can try Sero. It might take a while to trust you again, but I would like to be friends.”

“Hey, that’s all I need to prove myself. Just you see.”

---

After a rambunctious lunch with Bakugou who was still angry about being picked last and having been one of the two people tagged in the exercise, the class had their very first lesson with Midnight. Art was a lot different from what he was expecting. The class was more about costumes, theming, advertising and Hero publications. All things that would be required of them if they were to join or create their own agencies.

He wondered if later classes in 2nd and 3rd year, this class would talk about social media, press, and publicity. He would have been a bit happier about the class if there were less suggestive tones to help him pay attention to her words rather than how they were delivered. At one point he hoped he would get used to her presence and her speech pattern.

Chapter Text

Last night had been amazing. Out of habit, Izuku had started to talk to his father about his current situation with exploring Uraraka’s quirk. He also went into the obvious misdiagnosis and her current struggles separating the two out considering what he had heard about her usage during the Hero Lessons.

That ended with him showing his current notes on her and creating plan of action with him to determine the actual nuances of her quirks and to help her gain better control of them. Working directly with his father was so much better than their weekly video calls. He could tell even his mother seemed more calm and happy with father around despite moving in with Shifu and the dangers to her son.

He always knew that his mother got along with his Shifu and that they would talk and visit each other. Living under her roof, he realized that the older woman seemed to treat her more as a daughter as his mom had taken over the kitchen and turned the whole house including the training room into a home. Shifu seemed happy with the arrangement so he did not mention it except to his father who had only told him that his mother had always been like that. Dad also mentioned he saw a lot of mom’s “sunshine” in him as well.

He was in a good mood again after that past few dark days. He had finally talked with Sero and their group of friends was back to normal… for the most part. He still would have to deal with any fallout from the rest of the class knowing but all things considering they had not seemed to act differently around him at all.

Yesterday no one from his team had mentioned it or made his tasks any less difficult because of his handicap. There was hope that no one would make an issue of it at all. He would have to tell Uraraka about it today. It did seem off that she was the only one not to know that he was quirkless.

The morning classes past quickly but they did have the added bonus of new weight training in Physical Education. He and Kacchan had started by spotted each other as they tried to out due themselves before Hound Dog stopped them from added more weights from their current one that was already making their muscles protest. After that they had been separated out as Izuku had helped Shinsou while Bakugou went to spot Kirishima considering the two of them could not be trusted on their own according to their teacher.

At lunch, the whole group sat together as they talked about their current plans for the weekend. Even without moving into the dorms a number of their friends agreed to help them move in and make a day of it. Izuku would be out for a good part of the day for his internship, he thought it would be nice to come back to the dorms full of life with all his friends.

Only Tsu who helped watch her siblings for her parents would not be able to join them. Iida mentioned asking the rest of the class to join them as well since good Hero students should be willing to help their fellows out. Izuku figured they would get more helpers since his classmates would probably be curious about the dorms and the idea of hanging out altogether might appeal to them as well.

Leaving his friends at lunch, he made his way to the nurse’s office to find the door locked and the lights off. Using his key for the first time he entered the room to find a hastily scrawled note on the desk letting him know that Recovery Girl have been called out to an emergency off campus and he was to let her know if anything major happened in her absence.

On his own for the first time in the station, he went through the supplies as he had the first day but did not see anything that needed attention. Opening up his bag he started to look over his plan for Uraraka as he set a timer on his phone to let him know when he should return to class. He was not going to be late again.

About a half hour into his watch, the door to the infirmary banged open as a naked student walked in with another slung over his shoulder. Deciding that clothing options was the least of his worries he directed the boy to place his charge on the nearest bed as he grabbed his case from below the station and followed them over.

He handed the boy a towel since they really did not need that distraction as he looked over the other student who was uncontrollably shaking as he stared up at nothing. It only took a few minutes of examining him to realize it was not life threatening at least.

“Quirk effect? How long as he been like this?”

“Got hit by Kowa’s paralysis beam about five minutes ago. Should not have caused this reaction. Cementoss said to bring him here. Where’s Recovery Girl?”

“Name?”

“Oh, I am Togata Mirio.”

“Nice to meet you but I meant your friend here.”

“This is Ashiko Hiro.”

“Right. Watch him for a bit and tell me if the tremors get any worse.”

Izuku moved to the computer and entered his code to access the student records. He had an idea on what was going on as he search for the right answer before trying anything with the boy.

“You never said who you were.” Came a call behind his head as he worked.

“I’m Midoriya Izuku. Recovery Girl’s student assistant. She is currently out on another call so you’re stuck with me for now.”

“Didn’t know she had an assistant.”

“I just started last week.”

He found the right record and started to read through the contents looking for the reasons for the sudden reactions.

“How long does the paralysis last?”

“Another five minutes. Cementoss figured it would be better to keep him in that state once the shaking started and told Kowa not to remove it.”

“He was right. But it means I have a time restraint. You can go back to your class now. Let Cementoss know that Ashiko will be fine.”

The boy just gave him a huge smile and shrugged before heading out. At least the towel was still wrapped around his waist and he was not about to ask for that back not to mention there was no tell where his left his clothes from what he had seen of the blonde during the sport festivals. He moved to the medicine cabinet and removed a syringe and bottle of glucose. Advanced hypoglycemia. From what his record stated, he was surprised that this had not happened before considering the third year could turn his blood into armor like consistency that could be detached into shields. He had a good idea on how the quirk worked from his observations but he had needed to look into his medical records to be sure of its properties.

From his current state, he would bet the connection to those shields had be removed under the paralysis and the loss of blood and more importantly the sugars that were used to create the hardening effect in the shields were lost causing the tremors. Taking a blood sugar test out, he quickly administered it to the prone figure and the readings came back with a critical need for the glucose he could provide.

Injecting the body, he place a blanket over the form and moved to put everything away before added notes into the student’s file. He also wrote a note so that the boy would be able to go to Lunch Rush with a request for a few bottles of orange juice to help his blood normalize safely. By that time the five minutes were over and a loud gasp was heard behind him as the patient came back into his senses.

“You are safe. Stay put and just rest for a moment.”

“Who? What?”

“You just suffered from severe low blood sugar in your body. Have you ever had this happen before?”

“Once, over two years ago. After the entrance exam. Vlad King... taught me how to keep connected with my blood… why does everything hurt?”

“Tremors caused by your state. The student that paralyzed you causing this reaction also ensured that it would not get worse by allowing you to move on your own even though you must feel like one giant bruise. Give your body time to adjust.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Recovery Girl’s student assistant Midoriya Izuku. How long does...”

An insistent beeping came from his phone letting him know that he had to leave now to be on class on time. But he also could not leave Ashiko while he was recovering. Maybe he should have allowed Togata to stay… but it would not have been right to allow the other to know about his classmate’s weakness. If Vlad King knew about it, he would have informed the other teachers to be aware which is why Cementoss had sent him over with only one of the students.

Turning off the alarm. His mind raced to for a solution when a small form entered the room. Smiling he caught Recovery Girl up to speed with his actions and current state of their patient before heading out the door. He entered his class breathless and still in his nurse’s coat. But he was on time as Power Loader had not yet started the lesson even though the other was in the room.

Taking his seat he finished the last two classes for the day. As math ended, Uraraka came over excited knowing they would finally have time to work on her quirk. Izuku quickly moved to the door with her knowing he had to put up his coat before heading out.

“I never seen you in your student assistant outfit before. You look so professional.”

“You should see me in my EMT outfit. I could not believe it the first time an adult looked at me when I was giving orders in it and just accepted that I knew better than them. I was shaking in my boots the whole time waiting for them to call me a fake.”

“I bet you are something to see in the field.”

“I am mostly just an extra pair of hands. Getting supplies, assisting the other paramedics, or escorting people away from danger and where they can get help.”

“That is more experience than the rest of the class as seen.”

“That is kinda the point. Right now, everything is about simulations so that once we get out there we can take care of ourselves. You can’t just go out there without training. When I first started interning, I was behind a desk filling out reports and making follow up calls to the different departments we work with.”

As they reached his locker he put up his coat and replaced his shoes as he heard Uraraka doing the same. Leaving the building together he followed her lead to the small hole in the wall café only a few blocks away. It was small but the atmosphere was cozy. They also had nice alcoves in place so they would have the façade of privacy. They obviously promoted study groups and business meeting using their facility.

They both stopped at the front counter to order drinks before finding their own seats with the fortifying liquid to help them talk. Izuku pulled out his tablet and easily found Uraraka’s profile. He translated the main part of it while showing it to her though he had to wait a moment as she gushed over his picture of her in her Hero outfit.

He then had her explain what she was currently doing to work on her quirks and how she used them during the training since he had not been able to experience observing them himself. It seemed that her biggest issue was control. Since she could only push, she would often over extend her force and pass her target or push to slowly to make the force effective. When using the quirk on herself, she was having trouble orientating herself to the ground and would often fly out in the wrong direction or at odd angles unless going straight up.

“You keep thinking the objects you are pushing have weight. In your mind you think something large should be heavy even if you have used your quirk on it. I think you need to make yourself markers.”

“How would I go about doing that?”

“Everything from a pebble to a car should have the same weight so you need to create a marker for each meter you want something to go up at. What you really need to do is use you quirk to move something one meter at a time that way you will consistently know how much force it takes for a meter.”

“So repetition?”

“Exactly. You need to be able to instinctively use your quirk without thinking about it. If you know how much you need for one meter you double it to have it go to 2 and so on. Right now you need to discover your baseline.”

“I don’t know. It is like I am starting all over again. I thought I knew everything about my quirk and now it is like finding out there is this giant hole of knowledge that I just skipped over.”

“I won’t lie, your biggest issue is probably relearning everything that you have worked so hard on. You were comfortable with it because it worked even if you got sick all the time because of it.”

“I haven’t gotten sick since you told me about my quirk you know.”

“Good that means you have been using it properly. I was planning on asking our teacher to see if we are allowed to use the school gyms in your free time since I have been helping Shinsou out. I can see if we can use some of their facilities for you as well. I can’t exactly have you go to where Shinsou trains.”

“Why not?”

“Much too dangerous. He has been training at what amounts to be a landfill. Using a telekinetic quirk there can be hazardous. We can try to find somewhere else if we can’t get permission but we need a lot of open space to test your quirk properly.”

“Hey, can I watch you and Shinsou practice together? I’ve never actually see you use your quirk in person.”

“Oh, yeah I’ve been meaning to tell you about that. I don’t have a quirk.”

“What really? I thought it was some sort of agility quirk since you are able to bounce up walls and dive from rooftops.”

“Nope, that is just years of training. I also can’t just let you come to Shinsou’s training. You need to get his permission since it is his quirk.”

“But if Shinsou lets me join you won’t mind?”

“Not at all. I been wanted to get someone else to have him use his brainwashing on so I can actually observe it in action. Right now I have to use video recordings and that takes time to review.”

“I wouldn’t mind him using his quirk on me. It did not hurt the first day of class after all.”

“Well if you ask him, I’ll go with his decision. But it really does have to be up to him.”

“So if you are doing all those things without a quirk, does that mean you could teach them to me?”

“I mean sure. I guess. It takes years to get it right without breaking your neck. I started so young that I don’t even think about it. Back then, I really did not consider the consequences of falling to my death.”

“Well I don’t have to worry about falling!”

“That is true enough. That might be a good exercise for you to use your quirk while falling. Your activation time for your weightless quirk is almost instantaneous so if you fall you can reactive it a number of times so you can fall safely to the ground in steps.”

“I never even though of that! I have had a number of hard landings working on my quirk since I keep missing my mark.”

The two laughed and continued to talk about the different ways that Uraraka had been trying to recalibrate her quirk since getting the new knowledge. He mentioned talking with his partner Melissa about making boosters for her wrists that could be used to propel her while in the air giving her a better way to fly. She seemed shocked by his offer and first but was happy to give him the chance to design something for her.

At one point she had begged to look at his profiles on the rest of the class which he had been happy to do for her considering no one his age had ever really been interested in his analysis notes. She was disappointed that she could not read anything without him translated but was still enjoying being able to see their rough sketches and stats as he translated a few of the passages when she asked.

It was very late by the time the two of them left the shop. In fact it had gotten so dark outside, Izuku insisted on walking her home. That had made him even later in getting back to Shifu’s. He tried to silently open the door so he would not disturb anyone. He should have known better as three pairs of eyes greeted him as he entered the living space.

“We had this talk before about you letting us know when you are not back when expected.”

“But Mom, you did know. I was working with Uraraka.”

“Since school ended eight hours ago?”

“Yes?”

“You want us to believe you have been training with a young girl for the past eight hours?”

“Well more talking then physically training. We need to find someplace safe for her to use her quirk…”

“What did her parents think of her getting back at such a late hour?”

“Well, she lives alone…so she probably did not tell them.”

“Young man, what were you thinking?”

“I mean we just didn’t realize the time. Nothing happened. I walked her home to make sure she was safe.”

“What about your phone? Do you know how many times we called?”

“Oh, I must have forgot to turn it off silent once school ended. I really did not hear it go off.”

“Do I need to remind you that you were attacked just a week ago and that thing that attacked you is out there and could try to do so again?”

“Mom, I’m safe. I am sorry that I worried you but seriously nothing happened.”

“But it could have.”

“Inko, let me talk with him for a bit. You and Fuang can go to bed and we will talk more at breakfast.”

The two women nodded as his dad steered him toward the room he was using as an office since moving into Shifu’s house. The older man looked at his son for a moment as he gloomily took a seat before finding his own seat behind the study desk.

“You know what you did was wrong. But you also did not do anything to alleviate our worries. You should have let us know the moment you realized it was dark and decided to take your classmate home.”

“Mom is usually in bed at this time. I did not want to wake her up.”

“Except you know she would never be in bed without first knowing you are safe.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that… everyone was making such a big deal about me going on a date with Uraraka just because she happens to be female. I know they were just teasing me but I did not want you guys to get the wrong idea to.”

“Izuku, I have known you every day of your life. Do you really think I would not know if you actually had feelings for a girl?”

“What?”

“You have a very expressive eyes. They often light up when you talk. You have talked about this Uraraka for the last two days and not once did you mention anything about her besides her quirks.”

“She has such amazing quirks, dad. Today, she was explaining all about the amount of objects she can manipulate at the same time and how…”

“Yes, I know. In detail. What I am trying to point out is that you can’t let public opinion hinder your ability to communicate with us. We are here to keep you safe. When you are staying at the dorms, they are more then likely going to have their own curfew. How will they feel about a couple of students coming back to the dorms at midnight?”

“…”

“When you are a Hero, you will have a whole agency of people that will need to know where you are at all times. It is there job to support you. We are your support now. You have chosen a profession that does not give you time away from the spotlight. What you do in your day to day matters because people will always be watching and saying things. Do not let that affect the ability of your support group.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“We will speak in the morning. I expect you will explain to your mother how you will think about her feelings in the future. Fuang has been nice enough to give all three of us a place to live and you will respect her enough to express your gratefulness to her.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Off to bed. You’re the one getting up at the crack of dawn to run around the city. I also believe Fuang is going to be quite brutal in her morning training with you for scaring her.”

Izuku gulp as he scurried off finally realizing what Shifu would do to him in making her stay up till midnight. Hisashi waited at the desk looking at the empty place where his son had sat. Inko would still be up and waiting for him. He would have to let her know that they had nothing to worry about at the moment before starting his actual job that was waiting for him on his computer. More email requests and various test results from his team.

He also was still working on finding more information from the two packets of result he had received from the police on the monster that had escaped. Even without it being in custody, he had no doubts that it would reappear again. Hopefully by that time, he would know more about it and find a way to keep his family safe.

Izuku was a prime example of youth. He took one day at a time and did not think about the consequences. He knew there was danger, but he was not currently in danger. He knew that other Hero agencies were watching him and trying to protect him, but he would make his own determination on when they were allowed to watch over him. He had to learn he could not have it both ways.

As mad as he was at the detective and the police force for putting his son in danger, they were doing their jobs to the letter. That was why he had filed a form to be able to work as a full consultant in his abilities as a quirk expert on Japanese soil. Once he had that, he would have the same rights as the medical examiners to observe and interact with criminals and creatures from this case.

It was a shame he was not a Hero or have a Hero who could sponsor his request. There was far less red tape to go through when one had that designation. Maybe he could have a few words with his son’s principal. Nedzu seemed like the reasonable sort and would have the motivation to see the puppet master behind the monster brought into the light as much as he did.

Chapter Text

His dad had not been wrong. He had his ass firmly handed to him the next morning training with his Shifu after his morning run. He received more bruises from his training with his teacher then all three of his Hero lessons so far. He did make things right by all his parental figures during the rather tense breakfast before he ran out to get to school on time.

He walked into the class with Shinsou as they had arrived to school at the same time that day and he enjoyed listening to the update on his friend’s training. At the rate the other was going it would probably take all year for him to finish the project at the beach. Izuku promised the other that they would have a picnic when it was all done to celebrate his hard work.

Classes started as normal that day and it was not until 3rd period where he noticed Iida leaving at the start. It was possible that Hound Dog was still seeing his classmates from the attack. Since Iida only had a small part of the attack he was probably seen last just to ensure that there was no lasting trauma. With Eraserhead back in the room for the full period, Izuku took the chance to get his attention.

“Aizawa Sensei?”

“What now problem child?”

“I was wondering if we had the ability to reserve the UA fields or gyms after school.”

“Normally the facilities are only available to upperclassmen or under the supervision of teaching staff. We may be able to work something out due to the new dorm system if you need it for training but all quirk use requires a teacher present at all times.”

That was going to be rough. He would not be able to work with Uraraka on campus without a teacher. Eraserhead, like many of the teaching staff, was working two jobs at the moment and probably would not be easily convinced to watch him and Uraraka muddle through a series of experiments.

He wondered if he could talk to Nedzu about it but then he also did not know when he would see the principal next considering he had been given a major project to work on. Recovery Girl might contemplate it considering they were doing it because they were working on a way to have Uraraka use her quirks without harming herself. Maybe he could bring it up today during his time with her in the infirmary later that day.

After sitting through another lesson on literature, the class went to leave to the cafeteria as normal. Entering the room, Izuku noticed at once that a number of students were paying close attention of their group and the chatter around them seemed louder than normal. He was not the only one to notice the change as his best friend let out an expletive and angrily marched toward the food line at a faster pace.

Knowing that something had made them the center of attention Izuku pulled out his phone looking for the news headlines and almost dropped his phone at the results. It was an action shot of Izuku and Bakugou flying towards the camera with the monster rolling below them. Without their costumes, both of their faces were easily recognizable.

“Wow how manly! That is a great photo of you. You both look like you're about to kick some ass.”

Kirishima did have a point. His best friend’s face was captured with his usual show of rage and it was clear that his own face held determination even with a somewhat dirty uniform. It did not surprise him that both their names had been printed in the article along with criticism for the school not releasing all the facts from the attack.

They had most likely found their names in the press releases for the Sports Festival considering all the press and Hero Agencies received packets with the contestants. While he was a bit of an unknown since he had not gone to a public school these last few years, Kacchan was very recognizable and once they had found out which class they were in it would take little research to find his own information.

Considering the lateness that his father worked and how he had actually been at breakfast that morning, he figured his dad was asleep right now. So instead he sent to article to his mom, Shifu, and Auntie Mitsuki for good measure. He was not going to get another lecture about him not working with his support and he was pretty sure his mom would make sure his dad was aware of what was going on in moments. Besides this was more important than people thinking he was dating a friend.

The scream of rage ahead of him let him know that Bakugou’s mother had called her son immediately and was currently ratting him out for telling on them. His best friend will just have to get over it, if they had their names, how much longer until the press found their homes? His parents were safely hidden with Shifu, the Bakugous had no such hiding place.

The thought of actual food turned his stomach so he went to sit at their usual table as he waved the other off to get their own food. His friends hesitated at his decision but had left to get their own food all the same. It was long before he was joined by his best friend as Katsuki stomped over and slammed his tray next to him before yelling.

“Nerd! You tell the fucking hag before me? What the fuck?”

“I had to let my own parents know I figured that yours would want to know as well.”

“Damn nosy perverts need to mind their own fucking business.”

“You do realize being Spotlight Heroes means working with the press. Here take a look, you should know what they have on us so far.”

Izuku handed his phone over to Kacchan as he grabbed it and “tch’ed” his way through the article. There was not a lot about them at least. Whoever wrote the article only knew their names and the fact they were first year Hero course students. That meant they did not take to time to really research them before publishing. He was also thankful that quirk information would not be as easy to find, that at least was privileged until the Sports Festival.

Other new stations might look more in depth on the two of them though… he then realized he had one more person to send the headline to as he was handed his phone back. Moments after sending the article off, his phone rang with a laughing Hunoko on the line.

“Well you definitely know how to make a first impression as a Hero.”

“Not funny, Hunoko.”

“You do realized you are going to have to stay low for a while. Once the press finds out you work with us, they are going to be looking for you at each emergency. Especially if any shots of you come out from the disaster from last Sunday. The press were swarming all over the place and one might have caught you in action.”

“Thanks Leader. Another thing I get to worry about.”

“Hey, chin up kid, the press will get bored with the story in a few weeks and you can come back to work. We will make sure to leave you all the paperwork.”

Before he could reply his phone beeped indicating another call was trying to get through. Looking at his phone he realized exactly who was calling and made his apologies to Hunoko before accepting the call.

“We’ll be there after school with your things. I already talked with your principal and set up a meeting. You two are moving in tonight.”

He heard the dial tone a moment after his dad’s final words. Yep, he had just been woken up and was not happy. Hopefully by the time school ended he would be in a much better mood when talking to Nedzu. Turning to Kacchan he shrugged.

“Looks like we are getting into the dorms early.”

“Really? That is so cool!” Uraraka said taking a seat on the other side of him as she placed a melon bread in front of him. “I saw you didn’t get anything for yourself and well… you really need to eat to stay strong.”

“Thanks.”

“Man, why can’t I get a girlfriend that buys me lunch.”

“Kaminari, we are not dating. Izuku already has a girlfriend.”

“Wait what? I don’t have a…”

“But you told me yesterday that Melissa was your partner.”

“…she is my partner.”

“The two nerds make shit together.”

“Yes, we design support items together. I have not seen her in person since I was ten years old. We are not involved in that way.”

“Hear that Uraraka? That means you have a chance.”

“Kaminari, I do not have a girlfriend and I am not interested in having one. I have three years to learn everything that UA has to teach me and become the first quirkless Hero. I think I have more than enough on my plate.”

“If you want to be more casual about the whole quirkless thing maybe you should not announce it in the cafeteria.” Shinsou pointed out taking his seat with the rest of their missing friends who had all heard his last statement.

Izukus eyes widen as he looked about himself at the tables nearby clearly watching him and his group. Placing his head down on the table he wanted to sink into the floor. He was getting far more attention than he wanted and now they knew he was quirkless. He understood that it would have gotten out at the Sports Festival but he would have at least gone through two rounds before being outed for his lack of quirk.

“Hey don’t panic. I’m sure no one heard you considering how loud it is in here. Besides why wouldn’t you want the others to know how manly you are to get into the Hero course without a quirk?”

“Well… uh”

“None of your fucking business Shitty Hair.”

“Thanks Kacchan. Sorry guys, maybe I’ll tell you another time. Let’s just say I’ve not had the best experience in school.”

Izuku said taking a bite of the bread that Uraraka gave him more to keep his mouth busy instead of talking further on the subject. His friends seemed to get the hint and tried to move on to more mundane things. No matter what, Izuku could not help but think that article was going to be trouble for them.

By then end of the tense lunch his friends all left to go to class as he took his now usual detour to his locker to retrieve his coat. At least none of the other kids had been brash enough come up to their table to ask questions but he had felt so many eyes on him the entire period.

Making his way to the nurse’s office that only reminded him of his other issue. He would need to get one of the faculty’s permission to use the gyms if he was going to be stuck on the campus. He could easily train anywhere though he did hope his parents remembered to bring his weights when they came after school. But there was more to consider than his training.

Katsuki trained heavily with his quirk and would need to be able to practice somewhere. Considering the press coverage, he would not be allowed to go off on his own to work on it. Though if the teachers were not careful, he would do it anyway to spite them. Kacchan always hated being told not to do something and it was usually up to Izuku to distract him into following sense.

Entering the infirmary, he found Recovery Girl wrapping the arm of a boy that had very clear marks of burns from an explosion. He was quite familiar with such damage having seen it his whole life due to his friendship with Kacchan. He must have been in quite the accident if a kiss from the nurse was not enough to completely heal the student.

“Good, you’re here. There was a small accident in the support lab. Abiko here got caught up in it and was the only one that obviously needed treatment. I’ll like you to go back with him to make sure that no one else is hurt. Those third years can be a bit oblivious to their own body’s condition and will continue working when they should be getting help.”

Izuku took the medical pack and doubled checked it for the burn cream considering that would probably the most needed item. The older boy was at the door waiting for him by the time he had finished going through his supplies. As they left to the hallway he smiled at the other and introduced himself since Shuuzenji Sensei had left that out.

“Hello, I’m Midoriya Izuku.”

“Abiko Kaito. So first year? I heard from one of my friends in the Hero course that you were a medical prodigy.”

“Hardly. I just know my way around an emergency. How is Ashiko?”

“How did…”

“Considering his limitations and his Hero Outfit from the day, I assumed he works directly with the support course to fine tune his support gear so it did not interfere with his quirk.”

“Yeah, he is doing just fine. I’ve been building his gauntlets since last year. He had a bad habit of breaking the original design from the support company so I was assigned his case. It actually has a series of tubes that can penetrate his skin and send his blood to his hands so his quirk can manipulate them.”

“Have you considered larger tubes with two step command system in place?”

“Wouldn’t that slow down the flow of blood and increase the time to get to him when every second counts with Heroes?”

“Yes, that is why you will need larger tubes and when it does get released, it might even come out faster due to the pressure build up in the tube. Considering he can already command the gauntlets to start the blood flow you should be able to have it require a second step so that the blood will only flow out when it is needed. That way if he is unable to stop the flow himself, it will do so automatically.”

“Not a bad idea. I can probably have it recognize the tension in clenching a first.”

“Maybe not a fist or all his punches would be bloody. Try something simple that can easily be hidden like having his thumb and pinkie fingers meet as a sign to start the blood flow.”

“Not bad. So Recovery Girl pulled you from the support course? What was your entrance exam project?”

“Oh no, I’m in the Hero course. I’ve been friends with a support student for a while and it just rubs off.”

“Hero course… wait was that you in the papers today? I thought it might be you but since you were working with Shuuzenji Sensei… I figured I had the wrong person.”

“Yeah, that was me. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Getting your name out before the Sports Festival will have everyone looking at you. I would kill to have that kind of press in time for the event. All of the support course students are trying to get in their final touches in to get our gear approved. That is how this happened. One too many shortcuts.”

“I was hoping to fly under the radar until the Festival. You know come out of nowhere and show them what I can really do.”

“No doubt you will get your chance. Now you have even more to work with. Since you know people will be watching you need to give them a show so they will continue to watch. In the support course, we don’t expect to get far in the tournament. Our aim is to make something so spectacular that the audience forgets to watch the leaders and see just what we can offer. I’m working on a grenade launcher. Right now, I am still working on keeping the chemical reactions from going off before impact as you can see.”

“I’m sure you’ll get it. Your issue is probably moisture taking in the impact marks on your clothes from the point blank blast radius, you’re not looking at outside interference with your explosive materials.”

“Damn. You’re probably right I did not even think of the heat at my station creating humid conditions on my supplies. So knowledge of explosions too?”

“My friend has a quirk that create explosions. I would not be a very good friend if I did not know a bit about the output of his quirk.”

“You’re an interesting guy Midoriya. This is us.”

Abiko said as he opened the door to a large spacious room. It was very obvious where the other’s station was from the fresh burn marks and the mess. It was lucky that the damage seemed minimal and did not seem to encroach on the other stations with the students diligently working on a wide variety of projects.

If he was not given a task, he might had tried to walk around and try to exam a few of the items himself. He knew Melissa would love to be in his shoes right now. His eyes went to an older man that still seemed to move swiftly in the room. It was hard to tell without his power armor that he was the Machine Hero: Maximum. He was a Hero that had retired even before his father had been alive. He could repair any machine back to its original working condition.

“Hello Maximum Sensei. Recovery Girl asked me to take a look at your class in case anyone else was injured in the incident.”

“Call me Saijo Sensei. I have not gone by Maximum in a long time. I think Reinako might be having issues considering her process has slowed. The others nearby might have minor burns but these kids are too stubborn to complain and it helps build their calluses.”

“That may be but Shuuzenji Sensei would not like me reporting back without at least making sure everyone is treated for their injuries.”

“Don’t let me stop you. Just be careful around the equipment.”

Izuku nodded and headed to the girl that Saijo had initially pointed out to him. He had been right and the girl was hiding a second degree burn after being hit by debris. She had been happy enough to let his take care of her especially since he allowed her to continue working while he place the burn cream on her back and bandaged it to protect it from contaminants. He instructed her on how to wash and care for it when she got home that night. He was not quite sure that she had listened so he quickly wrote down the information and place it on top of her school bag so she would see it when leaving to go home.

Next, he went around to the different tables to check up on the occupants. Two others had minor burns with only a slight reddening of the skin and burn cream was quickly applied before moving on to the next student. Before he left he did take care of a boy that had a large rash on his hands from the corrosive fluids from shaping metal and gave him a pair of disposable gloves to help him for the day until the skin could heal again.

Nodding to the support teacher, he headed out again to make it back to the nurses office where he resupplied his bag so it would be ready the next time he used it and brought Recovery Girl up to speed on who he saw and their injuries. By that time he was off again to make it to class only to realize he had not been able to ask Shuuzenji Sensei about helping him with Uraraka’s quirk study.

---

Bakugou followed Izuku to the principal’s office after the last lesson of the day quietly fuming. He watched his best friend fortify himself for the interview and did not break his concentration. As much as he loved Mitsuki considering how similar she was to Katsuki, he understood why putting the two together in a room was a somewhat volatile experience. Both did not know how to back down and fights would occur even when the two were saying the exact same thing.

Luckily, his mother was going to be present as well and she always seemed to have a calming influence on the two of them. His father also knew how to get straight to the matter and could potential ease the tension between the two. Though considering his long absence there was no way to determine his dad would be able to control the pair.

The door to the office opened on its own as they approached and entered the now cramped space with their parents, the principal, their homeroom teacher, and even Shifu Fuang arranged around the room. It was clear that they had all started the conversation before they had even entered the room as Auntie Mitsuki stood up as they arrived to yell at her brat for not telling her all the information. At least Katsuki’s mother kept her language mostly clean unlike her son.

Izuku was able to steer his best friend away from blowing up at his mother in front of their teachers by giving Auntie his apologies for not making sure she knew about everything. That made Mitsuki lower her volume at least and hug them both exclaiming about how much she wanted to punch that thing in the balls. Katsuki deflated a bit understanding that his mother was just frightened but Izuku made a note to watch him in case anything discussed would make him flare back up.

“Good, now that the two of you are here. We can discuss the arrangement since it looks like you will have to stay on campus for a bit.”

“I already called the fire station. I figured this would happen so they know not to expect me tomorrow.”

“Son, it is more than likely you would be able to go back until after the Sports Festival. We both know if the press think they have a story now, once you compete on live television…”

“Let’s stick to the present. While I am sure both of your sons will compete admirably there is no need to get ahead of ourselves. As you know, you will both be moving into the dorms tonight. Your personal items have already been sent to the dorms but you will need to unpack them yourself. We are asking you to limit your time off the school grounds for now until the fervor has died down. Even with the press clamoring for your information, it is the danger of the beast we must consider. For that end, we have agreed to give you access to Gym Beta for your lessons with Fuang in the mornings. It would not do to have you lose out on your training during your stay with us.”

“Could I get access after school? I work with a number of friends.”

“Your father has mentioned your hobby and I think it is time to introduce you to our quirk counselor.”

Izuku went silent for a moment remember his bad luck with past quirk counselors. He knew that UA would have one on staff since it was a requirement. It also made sense since quirks did change and mature to require counseling but he had never had to see one after his first and only disastrous visit.

“Spiker does more than analysis work for us. While she will not be able to have you in her class, I believe she would jump at the chance to work with you and your friends. I’ll set up a meeting for the two of you after school on Monday. I would suggest writing out your training plans for your friends… in Japanese for her to go over.”

With that over the principal looked to Kacchan. “You will not be as restricted as Midoriya but try to be prudent with your time away from the school. There will also be a curfew at 10 PM for all students.”

Laughter filled the room as both moms burst into laughter and Izuku could not help but chuckle as well. Katsuki just fumed.

“Shut up. I need all the sleep I can get.”

“Sorry for laughing Nedzu, but Kacchan goes to bed at 8:30 each night. He literally works his body and quirk to exhaustion every day. He is not going to have any issue with the curfew.”

“Very well. Aizawa will be taking you to the dorms and showing you around. Please be sure to go to him if there are any issues.”

With warm hugs from their parents, they left the room leaving the adults behind as they followed their teacher out of the school building and to the newly made dorms. They were handed keys and given a tour of the facilities before being lead to the top of the building where there rooms were side by side.

“We figured placing you two the furthest away from the doors would keep you safer. Try not to burn down the building before the rest of your classmates get here in the morning.”

“Hey Aizawa? With only ten of us moving into the dorms why is the building so large?”

“Class 1-B will be on the 2nd and 3rd floors. You will all be sharing the common rooms on the first floor.”

“Really? That is fantastic! Do you know how many students will be joining us? What are their quirks? Have they taken the same Hero Lessons that…”

The hair on their teachers head flew up as Izuku questions dies off at the quirk activation and apparent irritation on the face of their teacher.

“Ask them yourself tomorrow problem child. You are going to be busy getting your room presentable for the night. Lunch Rush will be over later to bring you two diner. You are expected to make your own meals for breakfast and dinner while living here so don’t get used to the service.”

With that last bit of information, Eraserhead turned and walked down the stairs leaving the two friends on their own. They took no time to open their doors to see what their new homes were going to be like. The room was spacious enough. In fact is was bigger than his bedroom at the apartment.

Taking a look at the boxes around him, Izuku smiled realizing not only did his parent remember to bring his weights for his workout, but they also brought over his mat for Tai Chi. Maybe if there was an empty room somewhere, he could convince the teachers to let them convert it into an exercise space. He could not be the only one who could make use of a dedicated area for that considering they were all Hero students.

---

Saijo Ichi frowned as the door to his workshop was opened after school as the diminutive figure of the school nurse entered. As much as he respected the woman, he was not going to coddle his students. This was their last year at UA and if they were not bothered by their injuries he was not going to make a big deal out of them.

"Look I know what your going to say and everyone was just fine."

"That attitude is exactly what got your retired early in the field."

"Why did you tell the kid my Hero name? You know I do not use it any more."

"He came to UA with that knowledge according to his teacher. Don't change the subject, Reinako could have had lasting damage"

"Small burns won't..."

"It was a large second degree burn on her shoulder joint. Had it healed badly she might have lost partial mobility and I do not want to think what would happen if it got infected considering the contaminates in the air about this workshop. Listen here, you are the teacher and you will fully exam all your students then send them my way when injured."

"Your boy did an adequate job, can't you just send him around?"

"He is a student here and not to be at your beck and call because you are too lazy for basic first aid. I will go to Power Loader if this happens again. These kids are in your care. You need to make sure they will be able to survive on their own outside of the school. That includes taking care of themselves."

Ichi sighed as the medical support Hero left him again. Power Loader was the head of the support department even if he worked exclusively with the first year support kids as a preference. Being told on to him really did not bother him as much as the idea of one of his students actually being hurt. Shuuzenji was right to complain.

Chapter Text

“Get the fuck out of here before you burn shit up.”

“Hey, I can at least help chop things up for you if you don’t want me cooking.”

“Fucking murder the damn peppers and carrots then.”

“You know, not everyone likes food as spicy as you do, you might want to consider holding back on the hot sauces or at least wait till you serve mine before adding more.”

“Fucking pansy ass Hero wannabe.”

“Hey, I like being able to taste my food. Not everyone here needs to kick start their sweat glands in the morning.”

“Fucking Nerd, you’ve been sweating before the damn breakfast.”

“Hey, I wanted to see what I could of the campus. It made for a great exercise and I’ll probably explore a few more areas over the next few days until I build my new routine for my morning run.”

“Too fucking weak to take it all down. I’ll destroy it all.”

“You probably could not have run the full perimeter in my time frame either. I heard that there are areas that you have to practically drive to get to. There is a reason this is a premiere school.”

“Gonna take the whole fucking school down.”

His best friend emphasized as he placed the two plates of omurice on the table having used the vegetables that Izuku had prepared for it and covered the top of his with hot sauce. Thankfully, Izuku looked down at the ketchup topped meal for himself. While he did enjoy a bit of spicy flavors in his food every now and then. Kacchan always took it to the next level.

Digging into the meal, Izuku was thankful that he had Katsuki to cook since his own skills in the area were lacking. Not that he could not make food if he really needed, but he tended to forget to add flavoring of spices. If asked to cook, he would probably boil water to add to a couple of instant meals.

Bakugou had learned how to do it in order to spite his mother who had made the mistake of yelling at her son that if he wanted his food cooked a different way that he would have to do it himself. Two months later he had made the perfect bowl of curry and learned that if he wanted to have things the way he liked he was going to have to do it on his own.

Izuku was proud of his coffee though as he took a sip of the dark liquid. Since his mother preferred tea, he mostly had that growing up but Melissa had convinced him to add coffee to his diet which definitely helped him stay awake in the mornings after his run.

The meal was almost over when they heard a noise come from the entrance as a girl with long horns on the top of her head entered with a large luggage bag trailing behind her. Considering the student was their own ages, he could only assume that she was from class 1-B.

“Salutations to you cherished lads of unknown origin.”

“…The fuck is this shit?”

“I think she might be a foreign exchange student.”

“Acquiesce. United States is homeland for Pony Tsunotori.”

“So that means you speak English?”

“I did not realized that anyone spoke fluently here. No one in my class has been able to hold a conversation with me so I have been trying to improve my Japanese.”

“Out of curiosity, exactly how are you improving it with?”

“Well anime of course.”

“I’m guessing you enjoy historical drama anime?”

“How could you tell?”

“You are using overly formal words with modern speech patterns.”

“Then maybe you can help me learn?”

“I’ll be happy to. But really just listening to those around you will help the most. You can ask me if you hear something you do not understand.”

“Wonderful. Who are you by the way?”

“Oh sorry. I am Midoriya Izuku and this is my friend Bakugou Katsuki. Are you hungry? You came quite early and Bakugou has made more than the two of us can eat.”

“No, I could not. I have just not yet adjusted to the new time zone.”

“We have plenty of rice and I think we have a few carrots we did not use as well. Your body should be able to handle that diet. I assume you are an herbivore?”

“How can you tell?”

“You do have hoofs for feet. Can you handle peppers as well? I know they can be somewhat poisonous to certain types of hoofed animals.”

“No, no peppers.”

“Hey Kacchan do you think you can make her a batch of rice with just the leftover grated carrots and salt mixed in?”

“Do I look like a fucking chef to you?”

His best friend said as he moved back to the kitchen to make her a plate as he took both their empty plates to the kitchen sink. The fact that he was doing it meant that he saw how little weight she had. Izuku had hoped that he would notice since he did not think it polite to ask why she was starving herself.

Considering her reaction to pepper though it was probably a case of she did not know what cuisine was safe to eat in a foreign county to her. He would bet she was sticking to plain rice with raw vegetables and fruits.

She also probably needed to have small meals throughout the day and with their schedule, she was probably only able to eat the typical three meals which would not be sufficient for her body. There were grain bars in the market that she could use to supplement her diet that would be able to fix that problem. He wondered if he should go to Recovery Girl or Vlad King to give her permission to eat during classes.

Due to how simple a meal he had ordered for the girl, Katsuki was soon back at the table with the steaming dish that was exactly as directed and a spoon. Since they did not know the skills of the American with chopsticks, it was the safest bet for her to use. Tsunotori had initially taken a hesitant bite but more mouthfuls soon followed and before long the plate was completely empty.

“I’ll go destroy more damn carrots.”

“There is no need Kacchan. She is not going to be able to eat more. Her stomach is probably smaller than ours and she will need time to digest what she had already eaten.”

“Yes, no increased consumables for inflated stomach.”

“You can just say “You’re full.” When you do not want any more. So tell me, you seem to be have some kind of antelope mutation but I am unable to place the animal? Unless I am mistaken are you have traits from a different animal entirely.”

“No your right. I show traits of an impala. But with a name like “Pony” everyone thinks I am a horse. It also does not help when you live in America and take after an African animal.”

“I thought female impalas did not have horns.”

“They don’t, that is why my other quirk is so cool.”

“You’re a dual wielder?”

“Yep. I can shoot my horns out and control them as part of my body. They instantly get replaced so I can shoot more out.”

“That is an extremely strong mutation type quirk. Only a fraction of a percent can actually control byproducts of their mutation after leaving their body. No wonder you got into UA as an American.”

“My father is Japanese. So I just had to pass the entrance exam like everyone else.”

“That means you can read Japanese perfectly then if you were able to pass the written test?”

“I understand the words too. Mostly I have issues with modern slang and finding the right word to use since your language has so many to describe the same thing.”

From there, Izuku and Tsunotori got into a conversation of the missteps of learning slang. Being friends with Melissa how spoke most comfortably in English gave him a crash course in it and would not have been as fluent in it without her help.

At one point in their conversation, Bakugou left to start his workout seeing that he had nothing to contribute and the sun was up enough for him to use the heat from it on his quirk workouts. They had discussed it last night over diner that it was easier to ask forgiveness then permission when it came to Kacchan’s quirk use. So as long as he was not blatant and too loud he should be able to continue his usual routine.

Izuku moved their talk to the kitchen to wash the dishes from their meal. Since he was not able to contribute much in actual cooking they had agreed to his duties as dishwasher. Even though he had not asked, Tsunotori was quick to offer to dry the dishes as they moved their conversation to how different Japan was to where she lived in the States.

They were almost done with their task when the large form of the 1-B teacher came striding into the living space clearly in a rush. Considering the time frame, the school must have alerted him that one of his students had arrived and he had to get here from his own home which was probably off campus.

Which meant he was probably asleep when the notification came to him. Izuku put the last dish away and grabbed a mug. He moved to the coffee pot that still had some of the warm liquid ready for serving and poured a cup for the grateful teacher as he passed it over. Considering that was the last of the coffee he prepared, Izuku quickly went to work in brewing another pot. If Vlad King was here, then his own teacher might not be too far behind.

“Tsunotori, you were supposed to get here at the same time as the other students.”

“The host for accommodation desired expedient implementation of arrangement to vacate premises.”

“I figured you were staying with your dad since you told me he was Japanese.”

“I was but since he remarried, his wife was not entirely happy that I was around. He apparently did not tell her that I was going to be staying with them.”

“Midoriya, what is going on?”

“Tsunotori was kicked out of her house by her step mother. She literally had nowhere else to go. I am guessing her father did not realize what happened and Tsunotori did not want to make an issue of it since she had plans on staying here anyway. Their relationship seems a bit strained.”

There was silence as the teacher picked through all the implications before sighing and taking a seat at the counter. Izuku passed the milk over to him to add to his coffee. He had noticed the other seemed grateful for the hot drink but seemed to be a bit put off by it. That usually meant that the other preferred it a different way. Izuku also brought out the sugar and held it up to show the Pro Hero though the teacher just waved it off after adding milk to his mug.

“We still have to wait for the other students before we go through the tour and room assignments but it should be fine for you to say down here at this time. Where is your stuff?”

Tsunotori pointed to the single large luggage bag in the room where she had left it against the wall. That was another thing to consider. The school would only be providing a bed, desk, and chair if requested. Anything else was up to the student to supply. From Kan Sensei’s pain expression he figured their teacher realized that she was not at all prepared to live in the dorms.

“Is that all you have or will you be expecting more shipped over later?” the teacher said hopefully.

“Complete accumulation of possessions from homeland. Acquisition of valuables deferred from arduous academy interval.”

“Oh so you were meaning to buy what you needed later?”

“Yes, both my parents have been very supportive. I just haven’t have time since the move was so sudden. We didn’t really expect me to get into UA considering how competitive it is but I could not lose my chance at getting into the best Hero school in the world.”

“Stores should be opening soon, you should probably use the day to get what you need.”

“My biggest issue is that we use a different measurement system in the United States and I don’t understand the Japanese equivalent. My step mother has not been very helpful in teaching me the differences.”

“Oh… you know my parents are coming over with my personal trainer. I think I might have a solution for your issue. I need my mom to pick up a few things for me and I am sure she would be happy to help you out.”

“Would she be able to handle the language barrier?”

“My dad has been living in the United States for years. It is the reason I can speak English so well myself. He would be happy to help translate for you if you really need to but my mom should be able to pick up your Japanese fairly quickly. She is best friends with a woman that barely uses the normal language standards.”

“If you're sure she won’t mind...”

“You’re going to have more issues with her trying to buy the entire store out when she finds out how little you have.”

“She sounds like my own mother.”

“Good I’ll introduce you to them. It is about time for me to head to the gym to see them anyway.”

Turning to Vlad King, he smiled know that the teacher was having a hard time keeping up with their conversation. He probably have very rudimentary knowledge of the language since he never worked internationally or had the need to use it in his Hero work.

“I’m going to have my mother help her out. She needs help shopping to get everything else she needs for the dorm. What time do you need her back for the orientation?”

“Ten.”

“I will endeavor to be punctual in appearance.”

“Let Eraserhead know that the coffee is for the two of you. I assume he is also on his way.”

“Thanks. I’m sure Shouta will thank you to when he gets here.”

With that Izuku headed out with Tsunotori to meet up with his parents and Shifu at the gym. He did hurry them along so he would not be late and be did text them on his way that he was bringing a friend with him that would be needing their help.

---

Shifu had made full use of his day off to ensure he had retained all of his training and had not been able to get back to the dorm until noon for lunch. Training in the school was a much different experience from her house. UA really did not spare the expense. With more space to use, they had the ability to really let loose and had seriously sparred with one another.

His parents had stayed only for the first bout since Inko had wanted to leave immediately when she found out how much time they had to help Tsunotori. His dad had insisted on staying for a little bit longer if just to see how much his son was capable of since he was not usually awake in the morning to see his son training with his Shifu.

The last he had seen of the American was when she was being guided out the door by his mom with his reluctant dad in tow. From what he could tell though, he had been right about his mother picking up on the way Tsunotori spoke and was conversing with her eagerly in Japanese. He hoped she remembered to make sure they also picked up grain bars or rice cakes so the girl would be able to supplement her diet.

Entering the dorm he found a sea of faces at the dining area and the smell of Katsuki’s amazing curry in the air. It was the first thing he had ever learned to make and had perfected it over the years, even his mother admitted that it was better than hers.

He could tell from the number of people in the room that Class 1-B had a similar idea of helping their classmates move in as there were about thirty-five students taking up space in the once spacious living area. He also saw the two larger figures of their homeroom teachers talking off to the side. It was also clear there was quite the divide as the two classes were not mingling with each other. Izuku would have thought his class would be interested to learn all about the other Hero class.

“Oh Midoriya, there you are! You were right your mother is amazing. Your father only had to help out a couple of times for words I did not know the equivalent of but I was able to get everything I needed. She even invited me to dinner with your family on Wednesday. They plan on picking us up with the rest of your friends. Something about safety in numbers.”

“Tsunotori, I am so glad everything worked out.”

“Please, call me Pony. I would like to think we are friends after everything you did to help me out.”

“Pony, then. You can call me Izuku.”

“Hey shit Nerd. You’re fucking late.”

“Oh sorry Kacchan. Shifu wanted to do the complete training today and is modifying my workouts.”

“She put you in fucking shackles again?”

“Just on days we are not doing Hero lessons. Wrist and ankle weights do a good job of increasing my strength and speed especially since I am back to being in classes most of the day.”

“Fucking whatever. Just don’t waste my damn time.”

A bowl of curry was shoved into his hands and he was pushed to the closest seat which was next to his classmates. He waved to Pony who went back to her own class.

“Damn you work fast. You have your sights on one of the 1-B girls already.”

“I just met her earlier when she came by the dorms before I left for my training. Pony was just thanking me for helping her out earlier, Kaminari.”

“Wow, you two are already on first name basis!" Ashido said placing herself in the conversation.

"Well yes, she offered since we are friends. Americans are much less formal about naming conventions. I don’t mind if any of you call me by my first name since we are also friends.”

“How manly, you can use mine as well if you’re comfortable with it.”

Soon the rest of his friends group besides Iida, Shinsou, and Kacchan gave permissions for everyone to use their less formal names. As Izuku shoveled food into his mouth he listened to his friend describe their morning moving into their rooms and how wanted to do a room showing after dinner so everyone could see how hard they worked to add their personalities in the dorms.

“Just because you guys are Class A does not mean that Class B cannot work hard on their rooms as well. In fact we probably have better design sense then a bunch of showoffs that have to get their faces plastered all over the papers.”

“You wanna die fucker? I’ll fucking murder your ass.”

“Kacchan, do you really want to show off your room?”

“Fuck that shit. Fucking let me know when there is something to destroy. Kitchen better be fucking spotless when I get back Nerd.”

“Yes, yes. I know the deal. Enjoy your workout.”

“Burn in hell, Nerd.”

With that his best friend stomped out the door to release some tension and he turned to the new blonde that clearly did not like being ignored. Boy had a death wish if he wanted to challenge Katsuki.

“Nice to meet you. I am Midoriya Izuku and we accept your challenge. After dinner we will see who has the best room from both Class A and Class B. Anyone that does not want to show off their room does not have to but it will forfeit them from the challenge.”

“Hell Yeah! You’re on Class A. I’m Tetsutetsu and I’m going to show you how we do it in Class B!”

“Great! I can’t wait to see what your class has to offer. You must all be amazing to get into the Hero course and it will be a great way to break the ice.”

“That’s no fun. It is not a competition unless there is something on the line to win. How else will we do our best?”

“Mina has a point. How about chores? The class with the winning bedroom does not have to do chores for a week?” Izuku adding as he place his finished bowl down.

“But there is one more student in 1-A living here than 1-B. That would not be fair for us. Oh I’m Shoda Nirengeki the vice president for Class B.”

“Don’t worry, Kacchan already took himself out of the competition. He is a very private person.”

“Yes I am Iida Tenya and as the vice representative for Class A I assure you we would never take an advance during a challenge.”

“Then let’s do it every one! The one with the best room after dinner will give a reprieve to chores for their whole class. I’m Kendo Itsuka the student president of Class B and will make sure we keep this fair.”

“As the Class A student president Yaoyorozu Momo, I will also make sure that we stay fair in this contest. I suggest each class stays on their assigned floors until we are ready for the room showings.”

At that there was a mad rush for the elevators and stairs as both classes were hyped to show each other up. Leaving Izuku to pick up all the silverware and dishes that were left behind in their rush.

“You really are a problem child.”

“A bit of friendly competition will at least get the two classes talking. What happened to divide the room up so much?”

“One of the class B students was complaining that 1-A received the top floors compared to 1-B during the room assignments because apparently the higher up you are the more important you are.”

“Sorry about that Shouta. Monoma can be a bit of a handful. He has been in a bit of a tizzy since A-1 got recognition in the papers from the attack. He feels slighted since only one class was acknowledged. His quirk is better suited for my class though but you know how these kids are. At least one of your students was able to ease the tension a bit by providing lunch.”

“Kacchan has always been able to read the room. He works better with actions then words. Though if they piss him off too much they better watch out for their taste buds since he loves spicy food. That reminds me. Did my mom talk to you about Pony, Kan Sensei?”

“Your parents never made it to the dorms, they had to leave Tsunotori at the school gate. What is going on?”

“I think she is starving herself in order to try to fit in. She has the mutation of a grazing animal. So she can’t eat large meals like the rest of us and needs to have small meals throughout the day. I asked my mother to pick her up some easily carried meals for her to be able to use in class but we need to make sure her teachers are ok with her eating in the classroom.”

“I’ll talk to the rest of the teachers, her quirk needs should have been notated in her records but since all her medical files and transcripts are in English, I had a hard time getting through them. I’ll ask Hizashi to take a look to make sure I did not miss anything else.”

“Also, can you check in on Ashiko? I know that Cementoss is his teacher now but he mentioned you the other day and I think it would help him out since he seemed really down about ending up in the infirmary.”

“Cementoss mentioned an incident in passing but it had sounded minor so I did not think to check on it. Anything else?”

“I barely know any of your class. It is kinda hard to give recommendations on first meetings.”

“If you feel there is anything wrong with one of my students, don’t hesitate to come to me. Shuuzenji chose well when she picked you for medical support training. Shouta, if you can watch over a bit by yourself, I’m going to see if I have track Hizashi down.”

“He is still with Ectoplasm and Ryou in the general studies dorm. They were able to combine the three classes into the one dorm since only about twenty of the kids requested space.”

Vald King waved his thanks at the information before heading out the door. It was one of the things he really liked about Heroes. If something could be done, they did not wait on it but acted immediately. Their time was always so uncertain that why they did have time they used it wisely. That left him with just his homeroom teacher as he continued to clean up the dining area as Eraserhead supervised.

“Do all general studies courses have big Pro Heroes for teachers?”

“Just the first years. It is easier to see if any of them have potential to move up to the Hero course the next year or if any of them show aptitude in other areas of Hero work. Not all Heroes from UA graduate from the Hero Course.”

“I thought it was only the school festival that would let general studies students into the Hero Course.”

“That would be illogical. Not all Hero potentials are able to make it through a physically biased entrance exam. If it was not for the changes Nedzu put in place, your friend Shinsou would be in general studies and you would have barely made it into the course instead of placing on top.”

“That’s why Snipe and Thirteen are in charge of the second years. That is where you really have they work with support items and tactics. It gives the students with weak physical quirks but have Hero potential a way to have equal footing with the overpowered quirks in the first year classes.”

“Had Nedzu been in charge of the school when I went here as a student, I would never have had to prove myself in the school festival.”

“Where do you find spots for the kids that make it into the Hero course?”

“Most classes have students that leave the program on their own. Anyone that can’t take the demanding schedule has no need to be in the Hero course. Teachers can also expel students to the other courses or from the school itself if they will not be able to meet the standards. We do have a contingency in place that will turn Class C into a modified Hero Course if we have that many students with Hero potential but that has never been needed.”

“Is that why Ectoplasm teaches general studies. He would have the ability to use a clone to take over two first year general studies classes while Present Mic would take over the modified Class C Hero Course.”

“Actually, Gridlines the general studies Class 2-C teacher would have switched with Hizashi for the second year and then with Ectoplasm for the third year while the Class 3-C Teacher would take over Class 2-C. Ectoplasm clones are not good enough to evaluate students individually but are better served as substitute teachers for when emergencies pop up.”

“You know I think this is the longest conversation we have ever had Aizawa Sensei. I’m surprised you are actually giving me this information.”

“You are apprenticed under Medical Support and Intelligence Support through your classes with Shuuzenji and Nedzu. It gives you access to more information that pertains to your responsibilities. That also means this information is privileged and we can take away all access if you break this trust. Nedzu wants you to have a larger role in the selection process which means you will need this information during the Sport Festival when you see all the other classes in action.”

“Nedzu really expects a lot out of me doesn’t he?”

“Problem child, you have no idea.”

---

A feast had been delivered by Lunch Rush for diner as everyone in the dorms celebrated their move to the school. While there was still a separation between the classes, the divide did not seem as bad as it was before.

Izuku had even found the time before diner to talk to Ochako and Hitoshi separately about inviting them to his family diner on Wednesday. Ochako had beamed in pleasure and had been quick to agree. Hitoshi seemed shocked by the invite but was willing to come along. That was also when he had been told he could call his friend by his first name even though he was not ready for others to have that privilege.

The room showing was a blast as they started on the second floor of the girl’s side and worked their way up. Walking to the first room on the girl’s side he finally recognized Kodai Yui as the student that the short kid he sat next to during the entrance exam had fixated on. He was glad she had been able to get in despite the distraction of the perverted examinee.

Her room was very red with paraphernalia from a popular Tokusatsu series that had been popular when he was in elementary school. His friends had enjoyed the series but he never got into it because it had been fictional when there were actual Heroes he could be watching in the news.

Yanagi Reiko seemed to enjoy horror stories and had her room filled with posters of scary movies and a collection of creepy dolls. Pony’s room was still quite bare even with his mother's help, but it did seem functional. The only real personal item was a large poster from a current popular samurai anime and a large horse stuffed animal that stood next to the bed.

Ochako had a very functional room, Ashido’s was very loud and pink just like the girl herself, and Hagakure’s was filled cute stuffed animals and very feminine décor. After that they all trouped back down to the bottom level to access the boy’s side of the dorm.

Kamakiri Togaru’s room was mostly plain but he had the most amazing collections of pinned insects. Izuku could tell by the workmanship that it was probably the boy’s personal collection and he had done the displays himself. Considering the lack of damage to the specimens it would have taken a lot of effort and a delicate hand.

Rin Hiryu had a room based in the Chinese culture. Before he had entered the room he had not realized that 1-B had another foreign student in their classroom since the boy spoke perfect Japanese. He did notice a number of Chinese dragon motifs around the room.

Shishida Jurota was a bit of a surprise as the room was filled with bookcases and included much nicer furniture then was supplied by the school. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu on the other hand was not a surprise at all as they opened up a room filled with weights and a personal punching bag.

Shoda Nirengeki also had a very studious room with a large filled bookcase. In the center he had large low table that could probably fit around eight people comfortably around it. He had also used a lot of soothing blue and greens in his bedding and curtains.

Monoma Neito had created a room filled with metallic and reflective surfaces. Even the ceiling had been covered with a reflective material that brighten the room and actually made it seem bigger then it was. His color pallet was very black and white with the single pop of color being the bonsai tree at the nightstand by his desk.

Shouji had was seemed to almost be an empty room, even the standard bed and desk the school provided were not there only a single low level desk and a pile of bedding. Hanta made an amazing transformation to a cozy southern Asian style. Aoyama almost blinded everyone with his decorating with dazzling lights and reflective surfaces.

On the last floor, Eijirou room looked like a red version of Tetsutesu’s green. And Hitoshi’s had been similar to Uraraka’s practical room. Izuku knew what his room was like as his parents had actually gone back to their apartment to bring his posters for him so he would feel comfortable him his new home. Of course since he had been dead set on UA, he had been obsessing over the teachers that worked there.

Opening his room, the students saw the wall of posters of each of their different teachers while across the other wall showcased the current top ten Heroes in the charts including Endeavor. He may not like the man as a Hero, but he did deserve a place on his walls as a reminder.

“How did you find a poster of Eraserhead? Underground Heroes don’t do merchandise.”

“I made it Hitoshi. I can make you a copy if you want one. I made all the posters. I refresh the top ten ones during the yearly rankings and I keep current ones of interest on the other wall.”

“So why the teachers?”

“I just haven’t had time to replace them since getting into UA. I’ve studied each of our teachers leading up to the entrance exam and have been analyzing them during classes. I’m considering replacing them with all of my classmates but since so many of you put in for costume changes, I did not want to start on the project until you were set on your looks.”

He heard the high pitched squeal moments before he found Mina and Ochako pouncing on him for giant hugs.

“Do you need me to model for my poster? I will so model for you. I will be getting a copy of it right. Why didn’t you tell us you were an artist?” the pink skin girl yelled her voice getting louder at each sentence.

“I mean I saw your initial sketch on me in your tablet but this is amazing Izuku. I also want a copy when you finish mine.”

The rest of his classmates soon put then own voices in to receive copy of themselves in their Hero outfits forgetting Class B who looked on the excitable group.

“I would call for a vote but I think I already know who all of Class A will be voting for. I can’t really blame them. Your work is amazing.”

“Hey, thanks Kendo. I was actually really impressed by Kamakiri’s work. That must have taken years to preserve those bugs so well. Monoma’s talent was also really amazing, I mean that bonsai tree, it must be at least ten years old. But we are voting on room design not art. I personally think Hanta, Yanagi, Rin, and Mina were really able to transform their spaces the most.”

When the vote was taken, Izuku still won the best room but he did see that many of his classmates did vote for others so it was not by a large margin. Monoma had whined about the unfairness but had agreed to take on the chores with the rest of Class B for the week. By the time everyone left to get back to their own homes or their now personalized living spaces, there were a lot more smiles and cheer between the classes.

Chapter Text

Shifu had been in a fine mood today and actual let him off with only a few bruises. His new schedule had him getting up at five in the morning to go on his daily run for an hour that ended at Gym Beta where Fuang took over his training for an hour. The new increased weights had already settled and he was getting used to their presence again. That gave him about an hour to run back to the dorm and get ready for school.

Entering the dorm, he cheerfully greeting the couple of blurry eyed 1-B students that were in the dining room before running up the stairs to his room at the top to grab his toiletries for a quick shower. He would have to consider finding a way to prep his stuff downstairs before he left though the run up and down stairs would be a good exercise for him.

By the time he entered the living area again there were more students about and Izuku made his way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. He smiled seeing the bowl of rice in the fridge with his name on it and popped it into the microwave to heat up as he got out a couple of eggs and soy sauce. Cracking the eggs directly into the bowl and adding his seasoning he quickly inhaled the concoction before cleaning his dishes and making it out the door with a wave to the other students in various stages of preparing for the day.

Making it to the classroom his thanked Kacchan for leaving him the rice and promised to try to work with him sometime after school to see where he was on his current process. They been trying to work on a way to minimize the flames from his emissions. Since he was able to increase the smoke byproducts to give him cover, this was the next step to make it safer to work in areas that may have a gas leak or be susceptible to open flames.

It would require a support item since there was no way to completely remove the flame from the quirk but if they were able to reduce it enough they would be able to contain it so it would not interact with the environment and allow him to use the blasts from his quick in those situations. It would allow him to be of use in destroying debris in rescue scenarios.

Probably the one area where property damage could save lives and Katsuki had been interested in working with in since he already knew that his ability to interact with civilians frustrated him more than anything. As he had told his teachers the other day, Kacchan worked better using actions over words. That was why he put his all into the physical aspects of Hero work. Everything else he could care less about.

Iida admonished a few of the classmates that wandered in barely on time considering they were now living on campus and they could not use there closer commute to skip being ready at the bell. Hitoshi mostly rolled his eyes and slumped into his chair as Eraserhead entered and took his customary spot against the wall in his sleeping bag. That meant the school did not have anything to concern themselves with at the moment.

Turning around he looked at his purple haired friend who was trying to get in a nap before the next period. There were days when the boy reminded him heavily of their teacher.

“Hey Hitoshi, something came up and I will not be able to make it out for quirk practice. I have a meeting with someone else and she will be expecting me after school.”

“Is it the horse girl?”

“Horse? …You mean Pony? She is not a horse, she is an impala. Why would you think that?”

“Whatever. The two of you seemed friendly the other day.”

“Just helping her out with a few things. Either way, I doubt you would know Tanaka Miyo.”

“Is she one of the other girls in 1-B?”

“No, she is actually the first Pro Hero I ever talked to. She works in the school as a teacher in the management course and she is the school’s quirk counselor.”

“…but you don’t have a quirk.”

“No, but you do. And Ochako does. And even Kacchan does.”

“You’re seeing her about us?”

“Exactly. Aizawa Sensei mentioned we needed a teacher supervising us to be able to use the school’s resources. Nedzu thinks Tanaka Sensei would be willing to do so.”

“Nedzu? As is the principal? When do you randomly talk with the school principal?”

“When my parents came by the other day after the press decided to have a field day printing my and Kacchan’s face everywhere.”

“Yeah, that was fucked up. But you don’t need to go through all this for me. I’m out at that beach anyway. I’ve actually enjoyed being able to use my quirk for once. I don’t know if I can handle being that open with my quirk with someone I don’t know.”

“How will you be able to be a Pro Hero if you can’t use your quirk in public?”

“That is kinda the point of an Underground Hero, Izuku. Not being in the public eye.”

“Do you really think Underground Heroes slink around in alleyways and avoid any place with civilians? Hitoshi, they hide in plain sight. Why do you think our teacher looks like a homeless bum in his Hero outfit?”

“Bad choices in life?”

“Who really looks at the homeless? Most people are uncomfortable thinking about people in that unfortunate position and tend to overlook them or notice them just enough to avoid them. It allows him to blend in just about anywhere in an urban setting. Look at Sir Nighteye who wears a suit and blends with the businessmen downtown.”

“…does that mean I need to change my Hero outfit?”

“No, right now, you need to stand out as a Hero student as you go through internships and the various school functions. That is how you start growing your network for when you get out there as a Hero. But you do have to consider what you are willing to do to in order to stop crime and save people. It’s the difference from being a Hero as a profession and being a Hero. I am going to do everything I can to save as many people as possible.”

“Ok, just don’t expect me to talk my feelings out with the counselor. Hound Dog already tried that and I am still not interested.”

“Do you have mandatory sessions?”

“No, but I got the open invite back at any time. Apparently I am “functional enough” whatever that means.”

“It means he saw that you are dealing with something and are making progress on your own but can go to him if you hit a roadblock.”

“…he saw that?”

“Inui Sensei is a licensed counselor. He understands when something is wrong and when to intervene on someone’s behalf. His quirk also allows him to pick up more signals then the typical person. If he thought you needed help that he could have provided, you would be in sessions with him now.”

“I am not used to having competent teachers.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Both boys faded into silence as they thought back to their public school experiences. Thankfully it was not long for Cementoss to enter the room for their first lesson of the day. The morning lessons went by quickly and they soon found themselves as lunch where partway through aloud feminine voice interrupts there conversation on their world history lesson and Izuku braced himself as two slender arms pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t know how you did it but Lunch Rush actually had a full meal I could eat today and earlier Kan Sensei took me aside and allowed me to have snacks in the classroom. He told me you mentioned that my dietary needs were not being met by the school and he was so apologetic. I can’t thank you enough Izuku. After everything you did for me yesterday… I mean I owe you so much. Just say the word…”

“Sucking up to the 1-A bastards is not going to get you out of your chores Tsunotori.”

“Izuku is significant companion and requires upmost adoration.”

“You're Monoma right? I feel we got off on the wrong foot the other day.”

“If anything is wrong, it is the fact that they allowed the two students that got in the way of the attack to stay at the school. I’m sure Midnight would have been able to take down that creature with far less property damage without your class getting in the way. Your need for the spotlight put us all in danger.”

“Hey now, that is not manly at all man. You don’t blame victims for an attack.”

“I’m gonna fucking shove your head up your asshole where it belongs you damn extra.”

“What’s your problem kid? What did any of us do to you? I should soak you in my acid and see if that calms your hot head down.”

“This behavior is very unbecoming of a Hero student and I will be talking with…”

A loud snap was heard and the boy standing before then tumbled forward to be caught in by the back of his shirt as he had be knocked out cold. The shape of the class 1-B representative became visible as she scowled down at her classmate.

“I apologize for the ruckus. He does not speak for the rest of our class. We all think it was amazing that you two were actually able to survive that monster.”

With that Kendo started to drag the blonde boy away from their table. Looking around he still felt the tension in his classmates. Looking up at the girl that was still clinging on to him he gave her a small smile and spoke in Japanese so the rest of his friends could understand.

“Well that was interesting but you better get back to the rest of your class before we start another incident.”

“I can’t believe he said that about you. He is a bit funny but I never thought…”

“I hardly blame you for another’s words. Especially since he is obviously just venting since he was scared. People deal with trauma in different ways. Iida is right though, we will have to report this to Hound Dog at least. There are some insecurities there that definitely need looking at. We can talk later at dinner. Maybe I can convince Bakugou to make you his amazing beansprout salad to go with your rice tonight.”

“Still not your damn personal chef shit Nerd.”

“See, everything is just fine. I’ll see you a dinner.”

A last tight squeeze came from the girl before he was released and the American left to go back to the friends in her class. He then turned to Kacchan who was still looking in the direction of where Kendo had propped the body of the soon to be dead boy.

“You can’t beat him up.”

“Fucker needs to be shown his damn place.”

“He will be. Just avoid him for now until I get the pieces in place. Give me a chance at him before using your fists. We know where he sleeps if I fail at getting the message across.”

“If that fucker thinks to come after you again?”

“I’ll shut him down for a week. He has a touch based emitter type quirk and Pony will tell us what his quirk is capable of tonight at dinner. Until then, let it go Kacchan.”

“Fuck, I’ll get the damn bean sprouts after school.”

“Izuku, you can be really terrifying as times. Kero.”

“Sorry you had to see that, Tsu. Katsuki and I have had to deal with bullies before. If you don’t stop it quickly at its source it can spiral into a disaster that has you laying in a hospital bed wondering if you will be able to use your hand ever again. Don’t worry, we are just going to have a conversation.”

“That hardly sounded like you just wanted to talk. As the class vice representative, I really think you should let the teachers handle this.”

“It will only be words Iida. I just never enter a negotiation without knowing what the outcome will be. Once you have that, all you have to do is walk backwards from there. Now if we don’t want to be late for Thirteen’s class we should probably head out now.”

They make it to class without further incident and due to the move to the dorms for many of them, Thirteen uses the time in Home Economics to go over dietary healthy foods with little time commitment needed that the students should look to keeping their bodies in shape. Izuku learned quite a bit from the class and was back to a cheerful mood when he entered the Nurse’s office.

“Welcome back, Dearie. Nedzu wanted me to pass on that Miyo will be waiting for you at her quirk counselor’s office after school. I know he is the principal but you do know you can tell him no if he want you for things outside of school hours right?”

“Thanks for your concern Shuuzenji Sensei but I asked him to set up this meeting for me.”

“Just don’t take too much on yourself. This is only your first year and I would not want you to burn out before I can get you through the Medical Support Hero exams in your third year.”

“You really think I can pass them? I’ve only heard of Heroes with healing quirks or at least with degrees in the medical field are able to pass those.”

“I’ve had a very enlightening conversation with Fuang Meiling. Not only do we think you will pass the exam, but you should be able to blow out all those idiots that rely solely on their healing quirks out of the water. Not every injury can be solved with a quirk and medical degrees mean nothing without practical experience. It won’t be easy, but by the time you leave this academy, you will have that license.”

“Thank you Sensei. How do we start?”

“Do you remember Ashiko? Tell me his list of symptoms and the possible diagnosis that can result in each of them.”

From there, Izuku spent the rest of his time with Recovery Girl going through medical scenarios and determining medical priorities and possible solutions. He realized at one point they both wore giant smiles as the teaching felt more like a puzzle game as each situation that the nurse came up with was more complex than the last. Izuku was disappointed when his phone alarm sounded indicating he had to leave for his last class of the day.

---

Izuku knocked on the door to the quirk counselor’s office and entered at the answering call. The woman inside still had her long unbound dark hair that he remembered from her days as a Sidekick. But she had definitely matured since he was seven and had last seen her in action. Since her Hero work was mostly done in closed courtrooms, he had no idea what she looked like until today.

“Midoriya?”

“Yes. Thank you for your time Spiker.”

“Please call me Tanaka Sensei. I don’t really go by my Hero name anymore. I will say I was impressed by how much information you were able to find on me for only being out on patrol for six months around eight years ago.”

“I actually saw you in action a couple of times with Lanceman. His patrol route was close to my school and I love watching Heroes even from a young age.”

“Well that answers that question. I scoured the internet for videos of my Sidekick days after your teacher handed me your analysis. Since I was just a Sidekick, most of the videos I was able to find were me barely in the background as the camera focused on Lanceman.”

“I used the footage from your three years in the UA Sport Festival as reference for your quirk properties. Since those are widely available and you made it to the final round your second year, it was much easier to see what parameters your quirk restrictions had. Your control had improved when you worked on the streets but the bases of your quirk had not radically changed.”

“I can see why you caught both Nedzu’s and Shuuzenji-san’s eye. So, Nedzu told me I should look into your newest project.”

“A classmate of mine had been misdiagnosed before coming to UA. What she thought as a gravity nullifying quirk is actually two different quirks.”

“That is unfortunately more common than it should be. Since quirks usually appear at the age of four. The first diagnosis is often taken at face value unless the quirk radically changes. That is why all school are required to have a quirk counselor present in cases where students need to apply for a change in the quirk registry. But shouldn’t your classmate come to me rather then through you?”

“Because she had been using her quirks in tandem, she was wasting a lot of energy and would easily overuse her quirks sometimes getting nauseated from its use. Once I told her the issue she has been trying to work on it on her own but she asked me to help her out. Due to the nature of her quirk I was hoping to use the facilities here to get her better control of it but when I ask Aizawa Sensei, he mentioned I would need a teacher to supervise. Nedzu suggested you.”

“What are you planning for her?”

“Nedzu suggested having a training schedule for what I would like to do written out. I also added Ochako Uraraka’s initial analysis as well. The last notebook I used to write my analysis of you and Nedzu is with Aizawa so I got a new one for this project. I also put in the information for Hitoshi Shinsou and my current training schedule with him since we have been working on his quirk already.”

The note book he had prepared yesterday while his classmates were busy setting up their rooms was placed on the large desk that divided them and he slid it towards the business teacher. As the Hero picked up the book, Izuku waited in silence as she read through the pages of neat text and images. His eyes wandered around the room and the mostly bare office that was similar to Hound Dog’s in size.

“This is a good start but you are really plunging her straight into the deep end. Normally as a quirk counselor, we start with the basics and work our way up.”

“Since she had been using her quirk for a while, I wanted her to use the same “quirk muscles” without back tracking too far.”

“While that is faster, it can also increase her issues since she had been using it improperly since it came online. Starting with a firm foundation on what her quirks are capable of will help determine what changes she would need to implement in order to make her quirk use more efficient.”

“Does that mean you will help?”

“Technically this is my job. I would be doing this regardless of your influence but since Nedzu sent you to me, he obviously wants you involved in the process. As for your other friend, his case is not as critical since you are currently calculating the parameters and building the strength and limits of the quirk, though the nose bleed does concern me. It has not happened since the first day?”

“Never, at least not in my presence. He is a bit of a private person so it is possible it has happened and he has not told me.”

“We will start with Uraraka then and move to Shinsou once she is able to work on her own. We will be meeting on Saturdays during the seventh period slot until I am comfortable with their progress. Are there any other classmates I should be prepared for?”

“Bakugou Katsuki and I have been working on his quirk for years. His quirk is explosion and we never had the opportunity to really let him using it at its most destructive. We think there is very obvious uses in rescue operations but we would need to work on it to be safe in those situations.”

“Interesting but not a priority.”

“Hagakure Tooru is invisible and we had started talking about trying different lights and artificial visions to see her in case she has a weakness there.”

“…are you going to go through your classmates one by one?”

“Can I?”

“…no. No you may not. Look, Midoriya, I am going to make this clear. I am willing to let you help me with students that are learning new aspects of their quirks or are having trouble with them. But this will not be the time for you to run roughshod all over your friends just to find out more information on their quirks. Your analysis on their quirks is admirable but these sessions will be for their benefit not yours. You have some great ideas and we will be using a number of them since your observations make them reasonable theories but everything you want to test has to be run by me first.”

“My friends know that I was going to ask…”

“Yes, but they are not with you are they? If you had not come to me about wanting to use UA’s resources, when would we have been told that Uraraka would need to have her quirk registry changed?”

“I never had to deal with quirk registries before but I do have experience helping others with their quirks.”

“Why not? You would have gone through the same process for your own.”

“…Aizawa Sensei or Nedzu did not tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m quirkless. The last time I had to deal with a quirk counselor was back in the third grade where he spent a total of five minutes telling me that I was a hopeless case and would never amount to anything.”

“First, that is messed up. Second, I’m sorry. I realize you are trying to help your friends but we have to do it safely and I am bound by quirk regulations to systematically diagnosis and report changes and updates to the quirk registry.”

“I understand you have requirements from the government but not all quirks can use the same measurements since they are so different.”

“Here is the plan. This Saturday, you will watch me go through the proscribed quirk tests to determine the parameters of both of Uraraka’s quirks. Than you will give me your suggestions for further studies on the following Monday after school when we will meet up again to talk about your experience and where we will go from there. Deal?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“One more thing. You have the ability to amount to so many things Midoriya. One bad quirk counselor…”

“Tanaka Sensei, thank you. I would never had made it into the Hero Course at UA if I had actually listened to people like that. I have the support of so many people that the closed minded ones only make me work that much harder to prove myself to them. I’m going to show the world that the quirkless do have a place as Heroes.”

“You’re going to make an amazing Hero. But only if you keep your nose clean and strictly follow the rules. Nedzu is giving you far more authority then most first years but you need to be careful you don’t overstep yourself. UA is one of the premiere Hero Schools in the world. The international and local news organizations looks to us and we are always under scrutiny. If you’re not careful the public will turn on you. Keep your goals in sight and make your actions and words reflect the fact you are always going to be in the spotlight. Once your quirk designation gets out, the press will watch you even closer. Do not give them a reason disparage you.”

“There will always be people that will be unhappy that a quirkless student took the place of another potential Hero.”

“Then show them why you got in. Present yourself to the world and show them ‘You are here’.”

“Thank you Tanaka Sensei.”

---

“Spill Nerd. You are too fucking quiet. You got what you wanted.”

“I mean I did, in a way. Tanaka Sensei is not going to let us randomly experiment with new moves. I will have to put more thought into things and actually write it out before she will be willing to supervise us.”

“Your damn drill sergeant?”

“Shifu wants to dedicate what time we have in the mornings solely to Chi Blocking. She will not welcome your presence since we have such a limited time together now.”

“Then use your damn head and make it fucking work.”

“I’ve been thinking. Since the press plastered on images everywhere they are going to expect to see us in the Sports Festival.”

“So what Nerd?”

“Well, why don’t we show them how good of a Hero Team we are? That may help getting us time to work on our team moves together. The second round it always a team exercise so we show the audience exactly what we can do in the first round individually and then blow their minds with what we can do together in the second.”

“We will destroy them all.”

“I’m sure they will get over it. They will be able to showcase their own skills in the final round since that is usually a one-on-one competition.”

“Get the damn horse. Her grub is done.”

Izuku nodded as he went up the steps to the female side of the dorm. A quick knock as Pony’s door produced a lot of giggling and the large eyed girl exited the room which was filled with all the other girls in the dorms including the ones from 1-A. He had not realized the others had gotten to know the American student so well.

“I hope I am not interrupting.”

“No, not at all. The other girls were helping me shop online. During the room showing, they realized I did not have much and wanted to show me the best places to buy things that can be shipped directly to the school for me. They even helped me choose an outfit for dinner.”

“You should not worry about that. I’m sure my parents will understand your limited wardrobe.”

“I uh meant tonight.”

“Oh, you do look very nice. I’m glad that you’re able to bond so well with all the girls that live here.”

“Yes, everyone has been very nice.”

After that, they found a spot together on the first floor. Izuku left to grab the food Kacchan had made for them and promised to get to the dishes after he was done. When he returned he kept their conversation light and asked more about Pony’s dietary needs since he knew his parents would want to know what she liked in order to make sure that their dinner on Wednesday would need her preferences.

He also found out more about what the 1-B schedule was like which was similar to theirs only on different days. That made sense to pace the Hero Lessons out so they would be able to have the same lesson on different days. He was able to find out a lot about the different quirks in 1-B as she told him about the different Hero Lessons they had gone through.

He tried to keep his interest in Monoma’s quirk polite but he could not help but get excited at a copy quirk. That type of quirk was so rare to be found. Especially since it was a true copy and not borrowing. He was also able to use the quirk immediately which meant he gained knowledge about it in the transfer. It was no wonder he was placed in 1-B. That kind of support quirk would be amazing in any field. It literally doubled the number of essential quirk users.

From the boy’s attitude he had expected something more battle ready since the boy had wanted to start a fight in the cafeteria. It was possible he had copied one of his classmate’s quirks before approaching their table or he might have wanted to surprise them with the appearance of one of their own quirks. Izuku was curious what Monoma would have felt if he tried to copy a quirk that he did not have. Would he know that he was quirkless?

Izuku moved the conversation to other topics and even shared a bit of his own experience with the same Hero Lessons though he was careful not to give too much away of his skills in Chi Blocking. He really did want that to be a surprise and it was possible for Pony to make it to the finals in the Sports Festival.

They continued to talk even after both finished their meal and it was only the late hour that made Izuku end the conversation to wash the dishes and run upstairs to finish the day out with his weight training and nightly hygiene routine. Thankfully he had thought to get his homework done before dinner.

He would need to talk to Hitoshi about new ways to continue practicing and learning new aspects of his quirk without him being able to leave campus. Especially since Tanaka Sensei did not see the rush in working with him. But if the brain washer wanted to make a good impression in the Sport Festival he could not wait around for her attention. They will just have to make it work.

Chapter Text

Gripping the plans laid out before him he looked at the two prototypes standing in the center of the room. The support technicians had heavily made use of the one pointers from the exam though there were parts from the other exam Villains interspersed through both of the examples.

The one pointers were the most agile of the robots that they had to work with and the most easily to put together when dealing with large productions of the machines. All of them agreed that the goal was to quickly get to the danger, alert the school, and stall rather than to defeat it on its own. Considering the progress they had made, Izuku was impressed by the current product.

“What do you have in the tails? I assume it is the main weapon for the sentinels?”

“We are working on using your suggestion of a quick hardening sticky substance. It will aim for the feet or whatever the thing has to touch the ground and try to capture it from a distance.”

“How long does it take to dry? Can it be programmed to aim for the path that the danger is taking?”

“Not long but if it is fast enough to evade the bot it should be fast enough to still be effective if it steps in the goop that we concocted. We can make a secondary command to have it aim for the most likely route it will take in time for it to harden.”

“Why not just have the second one do it while the first continues to attack the feet?”

“Having two respond to an incident will require more sentinels in order to provide coverage of the complete school grounds.”

“But if only one responds, there is no way to ensure the signal back to the school will be able to get through. When two respond, the signal and hopefully video feed would be able to make it back to give the Heroes an idea of what they are facing and who best to respond.”

“I’ll put Riki on it. Both should be an easy change to the programming.”

“What do you have for the signal and video feed?”

“We had to put it on a separate channel since each robot will be constantly filming. It is a secure cloud based signal that Nedzu gave us access to.”

“Probably wise since it will not use the school’s system in case the communications go down there is still a way to contact the school. What about delays though if it is bouncing through multiple sources? What is the possibility of outsiders hacking the new system?”

“The new system is being handled by Kanda, I would be more worried for the hacker if he tried hijacking her programming. She had been known to add landmines capable of destroying equipment from non-registered access requests. As for the delay in notification, that is negligible and will only prompt a signal when it engages.”

“Not when it responds?”

“We are afraid of the number of false alarms that could happen if we have it notify us at each response.”

“Maybe you can refine the type of emergency that it will notify a response to before engaging. You will want it to respond to any anomaly regardless of the potential innocence of it but not all would need two notifications.”

“A priority list?”

“Exactly. So it won’t notify if it is responding to something minor like a sudden communication outage but once it gets there, it will respond if what it finds there forces it to engage.”

“We are also having issues with the weapons. That solution we made needs to be refreshed every five days to keep it the right consistency for the tail guns.”

“Does it need to be mixed or completely replaced?”

“Mixing it will prolong the viability of it to a month but the canisters will have to be replaced regularly even if we can increase the lifespan.”

“But if you make it a month there should be less waste and can turn it into a project for the support course kids.”

“Once it engages, the canister would have to be replaced regardless.”

“Yes, but at least it minimizes the costs. Could you create a simple docking station? These robots need to recharge after each shift anyway if we can also have it capable of mixing the weapon’s canisters while charging it should solve part of the issue.”

“That will take longer to complete and Nedzu wants to see these two prototypes working by the end of the week.”

“Well if you can make all the changes we can probably do a test run in two days so we can at least indicate a larger budget will be needed for the chemical component at least. Even without the docking station, showing Nedzu you have plans to fix a weakness should impress him enough to continue down this path without too many changes.”

“It will probably take that long to get the robots armed for a test. Would you be willing to be the test subject? None of us are actually in physical shape to give it a true opponent and since you already fought the previous incarnations of it…”

“Sounds good. I admit I am curious how tough these robots are going to be after you guys have modified them. Once these are approved for production how long will it take to crank out the amount needed?”

“We definitely have the parts considering the amount used during the exam, so the shells can be completed fairly quickly. We are already integrating the heads with the video recording and communications equipment since we know that is going to be a priority for Nedzu. So we will at least be able to get a good number up and running with the surveillance and notification online. He will have to help us if they are going to engage and stall an enemy though.”

“I wondered why you switched out the heads. You needed more space for the new features.”

“Exactly and since they were available we thought we might as well use them, they actually did not make a bad fit and the extra protection to the neck should help it last longer.”

“Looks like you just got everything covered. It might be a good idea to start testing out their battery life in some of the more out of the way places on the campus. That way you know how long they should be out before coming back to charge and how long their patrol route can be expected. The good news is that you can have them placed on separate patrols and call in the two closest when it is time to respond. That should reduce the numbers down a bit.”

“I’ll have to run it by the school’s staff but we can probably start some of the tests this afternoon.”

---

“What the fuck are you staring at shit Nerd?”

“Just a project I am working on.”

Izuku replied absently in the seat next to his best friend as he looked out the window at the sentinel that was moving about half the speed of the bus they were on. Considering they were testing its patrol route it made sense that it would not be moving that fast. The slower pace should also conserve the battery to allow it to have longer patrol between charging.

“Holy shit! Is that one of the Entrance Exam Robots?”

The excited words drew the attention of most of the class and Izuku found the windows on his side of the bus crowded as his classmates vied to take a look at the sentinel.

“That is hardly the appropriate language to use as a Hero, Kaminari. The rest of you need to sit back in your seats. It is not safe to be standing in a moving vehicle.”

“Yes, everyone please sit back down.”

Izuku was glad that Iida had stopped trying to correct Kacchan’s word choices but he seemed to still have some hope in keeping the rest of the students from the same path. While most of his classmates settled back at Iida’s words, the rest who had not grumbled but complied at Yoayorozu’s.

“Izuku, I generally say what is on my mind, Kero. Why were you not surprised by the robot?”

“Really? I mean... if you think about it, Tsu, this school is more than just the Hero course. Are you not curious what the support course students do? All of us have already had some experience with the different aspects of Hero work in the little time we have started school.”

“Yeah, but with that manly brain you have, you are a shoe in for just about any Hero Agency. I can only harden my body. That is good in a fight but it is hardly going to impress people.”

“Not at all, Eijirou. You have a quirk with the perfect combination of defense and offence. Not only will you be able to take down Villains, you will also be able to save civilians. That kind of dual ability is actually very rare.”

“True Izuku, but don’t forget that Heroes have to worry about popular appeal.”

“But why, Mina? Shouldn’t it be enough to protect the people from the dangers they are unable to save themselves from? We make such a big deal about the ranking system and the government encourages it but saving lives should be the biggest priority.“

“No offence, but aren’t you just saying that since you are unable to compete with the rest of us due to your lack of quirk? I admit you're great at tactics and can keep up with the rest of us in class but you’re not going to be able to appeal to the public as you are.”

“I don’t want to appeal to the public, Jirou. I want to inspire them. It’s true I do not have a quirk to dazzle people with but the fact that I plan on standing side by side with the best Heroes will let people know that anyone can be a Hero. Quirks should not define what a person can do in life. Being a Hero takes more than a good quirk and I plan on proving it.”

“…and with that we are here. Get off the bus.” The dry voice of their teacher broke through the conversation as the bus came to a halt beside a large building.

A hand on his shoulder kept him in his seat as all the other students filed out. He knew that changing the topic would not fool Kacchan. He was grateful that he waited for the rest of the class to be out of range first.

“The fuck is with the robots Nerd. Useless pieces of shit.”

“They are not for Hero work Kacchan. Nedzu has me working on something for him. I’ve been seeing him two days a week now instead of the morning English classes.”

“The fuck do I care.”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier but I did not want to sound arrogant for getting the principal’s attention.”

“The fucker taking advantage of you?”

“More like an apprenticeship like I have with Recovery Girl. It’s just another aspect of Hero work. Nedzu went through a lot to become a Hero, you know. He was the first nonhuman to receive that designation. I’m trying to be the first quirkless person and having someone like him on my side can help me get through the red tape that you don’t have to deal with.”

“Don’t let those fuckers kill you, Nerd.”

“Don’t worry, I have it under control. I’ll let you know if you can help. What I am doing is similar to what I do with Melissa. Nothing dangerous.”

The two stepped off the bus to join the rest of their class at gawking at the building that featured a number of environments and settings. While his classmates had not seemed to notice their delay getting off the bus, Eraserhead stared at them for a moment before turning the class over to Thirteen who stood at the entrance.

“Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint or as I call it, the USJ. So far, Eraserhead has shown you many of the different types of skills Heroes must build up in Villain apprehension. Here the real Villain is the environment. Each area of the USJ represents a type of natural disaster that as Heroes, it is our duty to respond to. But don’t make the mistake of thinking it is only the area you have to fight. I am known as a Rescue Hero since my quirk is ideal in removing obstructions and getting civilians out of dangerous situations, but it can also be a deadly force when directed at a person. Consider your quirks and what harm they can do to others when using massive force.”

Thirteen stepped back and allowed Aizawa to move forward to hand out the instructions.

“You will be separated into six groups, one for each of the different areas. Two of your teams will be getting a four person team while the rest will be using a three person team. The team leaders will be Uraraka, Kaminari, Asui, Ashido, Kirishima, and Aoyama. One more complication, you will be given the area where your quirk is at the most disadvantaged. Uraraka, you will be in the Downpour Storm Zone where visibility is limited and winds are high. Kaminari, you have the Flood Zone where your electricity will be a curse more than a blessing. Asui, you have the Conflagration Zone where fire is raging constantly. Ashido, you will be in the Mountain Zone where your quirk’s mobility and balance will be tested. Kirishima, the Landslide Zone is your test where your footing will often be unsteady and one mistake can cause another disaster. Aoyama that leaves you the Ruins Zone where everything around you is ready to topple at the wrong move. I suggest choosing your teams wisely. Aoyama, you have the first pick.”

The final teams were..
Ruins Zone: Aoyama with Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Hagakure
Landslide Zone: Kirishima with Bakugou, Sero, and Shinsou
Mountain Zone: Ashido with Todoroki and Jirou
Conflagration Zone: Asui with Shouji and Sato
Flood Zone: Kaminari with Midoriya and Ojiro
Downpour Storm Zone: Uraraka with Tokoyami and Koda

Izuku was happy to be the first pick for Kaminari but was concerned when Hitoshi had been picked last even though Eijirou welcomed him warmly into his group. His friend still had a number of insecurities that he was working out but considering their current task, his abilities would not be helpful… unless he used it on his fellow Heroes.

Izuku wondered if there was a way to have Hitoshi command his teammates into using their quirks when control and precision was paramount. He would have to test that at another time though as Aizawa Sensei continued with the instructions now that they were split into teams and ear pieces were handed out to each team.

“We have scattered a number of simulation robot dummies into each of the zones. There is one dummy per person on your team. Handle them like civilians since each will be able to record types of injuries resulting in their extraction. Some may already start injured others may be a recovery effort over rescue. Consider the Central Plaza the Safety Zone. Get all your dummies safely out of your assigned zone in the fastest amount of time and you will get priority in picking your zone for the next lesson when we come back here on Thursday. Time will be added to your results for additional injuries to the dummies. Disasters do not give us warning for prep time so you are now on the clock.”

With those last words each of the teams ran towards their zones. Kaminari stopped at the edge of the large lake and looked to his team members. Izuku smiled at him trying to be encouraging.

“So what is the plan?”

“I don’t know. But Sensei is right about my quirk being a curse here. Unless I drain myself of all electricity I will fry you all when we get into the water.”

“Do you release electricity passively? What about the robots? Can you sense them?”

“Do you really think they will have some kind of communication on them?”

“If they can store information about injuries then there is a good chance they are capable of sending that information if they are destroyed.”

“Won’t that be like when I tried to find the teacher’s coms and it didn't work since they were not speaking?”

“You never know till you try Denki.”

“Midoriya is right. See if you can find them before quitting on us, Kaminari.”

“Here goes.”

A faraway look took over his friend’s face as he started hopping onto different radio waves. In almost no time he was back with a shocked expression.

“They have a rhythmic beating almost like heartbeats.”

“Can you pinpoint them?” Izuku asked the other, glad that it had worked. It was also ingenious of the school to actually be able to simulate their rescue dummies in such a way. That also meant that Jirou and Shouji would also have that advantage.

“Only two. One if up the water slide. The other is on the ship.”

“I am going to bet that means the last one is in the water or a recovery body. Ojiro, how skillful are you at swimming? Does your tail give you any advantages there?”

“I can swim but while my tail can help me control my direction it does not make me faster.”

“It’s probably better for me to take to the water anyway. My visor is actually a force field. In the right conditions it becomes airtight and I have a limited supply of oxygen. That means I should be able to recover a body if it is underwater.”

“Sounds good. So you get to the boat Izuku and I’ll direct you Ojiro on where the body is. Let’s do this!”

Izuku ran off judging the shortest the distance he would have to swim from the shore to the boat and removed his shoes so he would be able to swim better without the weight. He also deactivated his visor before jumping into the water. He had no intention of accidentally triggering them when he might need to use them later for swimming to the bottom of the lake.
He was happily surprised that his Hero Outfit did not seem to soak up the water and retain it. He was still going to be wet when he got out later but it meant that the weight would not increase too badly staying in the water for a long period. His father and David Shield really thought of everything.

In his ear he could hear Ojiro and Denki pinpointing the location of the body on the water slide. Since the body was located near the top of the slide, Ojiro was using the stairs up to the start of the slide and making his way down even though he had mentioned that in real life there would not be an easily available staircase. Denki had insisted since it would be a faster option and he could make up for it by taking the body down the slide once he found it.

Izuku was about halfway to the boat when the first real complication arose. Ojiro had found the body, but it was wedged firmly between two large rocks and had damage done to it by his first impression. Izuku moved to a back stroke so he would be able to talk to his team as Denki suggested he try to help them.

“Describe the injuries, Ojiro. I’ll try to walk you through anything I can help with.”

“I can’t see the legs but at least one arm is broken and there appears to be an indication of a large wound at the back of the head near the neck and runs down the shoulders.”

“The head wound is the most important thing to protect. It sounds like they are trying to indicate a spinal injury. Would you be willing to turn your belt into a neck brace? You will need to have a way to keep the head and neck from moving too much while moving. Hold the broken arm between your body and it in order to stabilize that part while moving as well.”

“How do I get it out? It is wedged tightly in here and if there is a spine injury pulling would only aggravate it.”

“Can you use your tail to break the rock in front or behind it? Moving the rock over the body should be able to cause less damage in the rescue.”

“Got it.”

“One more thing, I would suggest getting it to the Central Plaza as soon as possible. Since it is a safe zone, it would be like taking the body to a treatment area for professionals to take over in medical care.”

Izuku received no more responses after that though he did hear Ojiro as he let them know he had the body and the legs were not injured in any way just as he made it to his own destination. Slipping onto the boat he made a cursory glance above deck before heading below considering that would be the most likely place for a body in need of rescue. He found the body in the second room he entered and made a quick search of the body to find that there were no injuries on it.

“I found the second body and I am bringing it to the top deck now. Ojiro, did you see the third on your way down the slide?”

“No, aside from rocks and water there is nothing here. I think you are right and the last in underwater.”

“Since the one I found has no injuries it is not as pressing to take it back to the Central Plaza at this time, I can try to dive here and see if I can find it.”

“Good idea Izuku. Ojiro can swim out to the boat to bring the second one in while I take the first robot back to the Central Plaza.”

“I’ll have to go silent with the force field on so you will not be able to hear me but I can hear you if something comes up.”

“Good luck, Izuku.”

“Thanks, Denki. I’ll let you know if I can’t find it.”

Turning his visor back on, Izuku dived into the lake using gravity to pull him down faster before using his own momentum. As he had expected, the force field that was his visor locked down so that none of the water was able to enter and he felt the light passing of air that indicated the oxygen tank had turned on. He would have to breathe shallowly in order to conserve the supply but he should have enough time to explore the area before him.

Luckily the water was mostly clear and he was able to see the bottom of the lake in moments. He moved in a large circle pattern trying to spot the body below. In his ear he heard Ojiro was on his way to the boat to retrieve the second body when he saw the final form caught in what looked like seaweed below.

Swimming down he checked the body for injury even though he knew this one was supposed to be a recovery effort over a rescue. He was a trained medic and it felt right even if it was simulating a corpse. He considered adding a knife to his outfit as he slowly untangled the body from the foliage and made his way up to the surface with the robot in tow.

“I got the third body and I am coming in now.”

“Great! That means we are almost done. We might be the first to finish after all. A couple of the other teams already had brought in their own bodies but no one was done by the time I left the Plaza.”

“I’m almost to the ship so I’ll not be that far behind you Midoriya.”

Before swimming back Izuku attempted to remove any water from the body in his arms but unsure how successful he was considering he was currently treading in water. The swim back to land took longer considering he had to treat the dummy like a civilian and keep its head above the water the whole time. He was very tired by the time he actually got out of the water. Denki seemed to realize this as he helped him out as he both removed the robot from the lake and onto the shore.

“Man, I thought we would be last for sure since I could not enter the water.”

“What are you talking about, Denki? You were able to locate both of the "living" bodies, saving us so much time.”

“Yeah, but I also stood by while the two of you did all the work.”

“Sometimes that is what a leader does. Use the skills and resources you do have even if they are not your own.”

As he talked to his team leader for the lesson, he swiftly checked over the body in case he missed anything from his examination in the water. Izuku then started CPR procedures in case there was more water still in the body. He did not have much hope for resuscitation but felt the steps should still be taken as if this was a real rescue.

“What are you doing?”

“Standard procedure for when you have a potential drowning case. It is possible for a victim to still be alive after being submerged for a long period. I’m getting no reaction so these robots might not be set up for medical simulations.”

“Man, reviving the dead? That would have been so cool.”

“If you want we could try something else.”

“What did you have in mind, Izuku?”

“Do you know what a defibrillator is?”

“Kinda, it’s that thing that restarts a heart.”

“Yes, using an electric shock. Want to give it a try?”

“Couldn’t that also mess someone up by doing it?”

“It’s currently dead. I don’t know what is worse than that. You never know till you try Denki.”

Repeating his words from earlier seemed to give his friend the push he needed and he agreed to give it a try. Prompting him to spread his hand over the chest area where the heart was told the boy to give a quick sharp push with his quirk. Considering how the dummy had just been in the lake and his own wet state, Izuku walked a bit further away before telling Denki to give it a go.

The first test had received no change in the dummy. Izuku had to encourage Denki to not give up and try again. He suggested trying to concentrate a bit more on the area below his hand and to guide the quirk a bit more. At the end of the second trial he heard a yelp from his friend as he jumped away from the robot.

“I can hear its “heartbeat” again.”

“That’s good. It means it worked Denki. You just brought it back to life.”

“I did! Didn’t I?”

“Yep. You did it!”

That's how Ojiro found his team as they celebrated on the sand as he dragged the last robot onto land. At some point the tailed boy had removed his shoes like Izuku had and the top of his costume since he did not have his belt to hold it in place. Getting back to the task at hand Izuku pulled the now “living” dummy up into a fireman’s carry with the mouth facing down in case it had more water to expel. Thankfully the task was not as arduous since he had a bit of a break working with Denki on reviving the body.

Ojiro still had enough stamina to get his rescue back to the plaza but was also glad to hand it over to Denki since it would have taken longer since he was also very tired after the long swim to and from the boat. Izuku was still impressed by his endurance. He had not had much time to interact with the quiet classmate. He only really knew that he was definitely trained in multiple forms of martial arts from his last encounter and his control with his tail was impeccable.

Getting back to the Central Plaza as a team, they found they were not the first group to complete their mission. Both Eijirou and Mina’s group were back with all their dummies. A number of other robots from the other teams were also present even though their teams were absent, probably still working on retrieving the rest of their charges.

Looking at Kacchan's dark expression, it seemed like Mina’s team had beat them to the Plaza. Considering she had both Todoroki and Jirou on her team, Izuku could see why the team had succeeded in finishing first especially since they had less bodies to retrieve and ideal skill set to find and retrieve the robots. He also noticed that everyone in Eijirou’s team beside his best friend was covered in dirt meaning they must have accidentally triggered a landslide in the area.

Ochako soon joined them with her own team as they laid the last body for their team down followed swiftly by Tsu’s team. Aoyama’s team was the last to trickle into the plaza but they did succeed in bringing in all their bodies as well. Considering the other three robots from their zone had been laying out in the plaza, it was likely that the last body had been hidden very well and they had trouble locating it.

“Back to the bus. We will review everyone’s performance after lunch.”

“What about the scores though?”

“After lunch, Ashido. Just because your team finished first does not automatically make you the winner.”

There was a bit of grumbling but Iida was quick to rebuke his classmates for their un-Hero like behavior for complaining and tried to guide them outside the building. Izuku and Ojiro ran to retrieve the pieces of their costumes they left behind and quickly followed the rest of their class out.

“I see why Tooru said not to underestimate you.”

“Hagakure did?”

“I did not think you should be in our class at first when I found out you were quirkless. No offense, but I thought you would be a liability and we would spend more time trying to keep you safe then learning how to be Heroes. I was wrong.”

“Yeah, I am probably going to face that a lot when it gets out. I don’t blame you for worrying. But at least you realize that even quirkless, I can be a Hero.”

“Being the only potential Medical Support Hero in the course cannot be easy. I could tell the other day that you have some professional fighting skills though I did not recognize your martial arts school.”

“Oh, I've been training in Tai Chi for years. I also don’t plan on just being a Medical Support Hero. I'm going for the Spotlight.”

“In that case, if you need a sparring partner, I would be happy to volunteer. You’re going to need every advantage if you’re aiming for the top.”

“Thanks Ojiro! I would love to work with you. You had so many cool moves the other day and I don’t really get opportunities to go against people with mutation quirks.”

After that, they got to the bus and separated as the last two seats available were not together. Ojiro went to the back for a seat next to Shouji while Izuku took his spot between Shinsou and Kacchan who had clearly been saving it for him. He could not wait to see the footage on how everyone did after their meal.

He was especially curious about Ochako’s team since he never really had a chance to see Dark Shadow in action. That zone would be dark enough for the sentient quirk to thrive while having enough light to actually see most everything in detail. It was a shame that there were probably not that many animals for Kouda to use since they were not in an outside environment. But rats and many reptiles would not be deterred by the water and wind.

---

Shouta watched the footage again with Thirteen before getting Shuuzenji-san to view the training video. While they only had voice recordings of when the teams had been using their coms it was not hard to piece everything together. The problem child was going to be an even bigger headache if he was now going to encourage his teammates to perform risky medical procedures on the field and the way the school nurse was laughing was not going to be helpful any time soon. He was not being paid enough for this shit.

Chapter Text

Izuku entered the room with his friends just as excited as they were at lunch when they talked about the different challenges they faced in the Hero Lesson. Tsu was very interested in his visor since it would help in underwater rescues especially if there would be a way to use them on civilians. Izuku had to explain about the technology and since it was a force field would not be able to work on a person in the water since the water would be trapped with no way to drain it when the protection went up.

There were definite possibilities of using it when they got the civilian to the surface, especially if they had to be able to swim for a distance to get to safety. Part of the issue both he and Ojiro faced was getting the body back to land while keeping the head above water. Being able to slip on a version of the visor could allow them a way to swim more normally and faster while still protecting their charge. He would have to mention it to Melissa the next time they talked to see where their patient approval was on that device and if they could start promoting it to companies that water based Heroes used.

Taking his seat he found it interesting when both Aizawa Sensei and Thirteen entered the room with little fanfare as the bell for the next period started. Looking around, Eraserhead said nothing before he pressed a remote to release the results of the Hero lesson to the class on the front board. Izuku’s eyes widened as he saw their team at the top of the list. Their team was followed by Ashido’s, Uraraka’s, Kirishima’s, Asui’s, and finally Aoyama’s.

“How did that happen? We were the first ones to finish the lesson and none of our robots were further injured.”

“Ashido, your team encased all your robots in ice and slid them down the slope regardless of their medical state. While this was a good use of your quirk for the injured robot to keep it from getting further hurt, doing so on the fully healthy dummy was excessive. So while you were able to follow the direction of the exercise, your use of quirks would have been taken badly in a real world outside the simulation.”

“That's not fair! It still should not have lowered our score since we still followed the objective.”

“Your score was not lowered.”

“Then how did another team beat us?”

“Kaminari’s team increased their score by treating the dummies as civilians and performing field medical procedures to increase their survival rate. You should know by now that tests in UA are not always so cut and dry. Just like the Rescue Points that were never discussed in the entrance exam but we still graded you on, consider any test at UA an opportunity to be a Hero.”

As one the class turned to look at Izuku as he felt himself go red in the face and waved his arms about in his fluster. It was clear they all thought he was the reason for the rise in their score considering his background as a field medic.

“It was Denki that should take that credit. He is the one that did all the work.”

“Problem child, do you really think that Kaminari could have revived a corpse without you directing him the whole time.”

“With the right training and experience, absolutely. His control is already very precise considering he is already able to charge phones with his quirk. A little too much power and our phones would be overcharged and destroyed. I just took the same theory with how defibrillators work.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have had a chance without your help, Izuku.”

“As touching as this is, the three of you received extra points for taking the simulation seriously. All three of you treated the robots as if they were actual survivors of a disaster. That means you will be able to choose which zone you will be training in on Thursday. Midoriya is the one who performed the best, it is your choice and you will be the leader.”

“We will take the Mountain Zone. Our skills have the most advantage for that area and I believe we will be able to beat our scores there.”

“Todoroki, you have the choice for your group.”

“Flood Zone.”

Izuku blinked. That would be a hard zone for his group. Ashido’s quirk would be diluted in water and Jirou would have the same issue Denki faced in finding people underwater. Not to mention, none of them seemed to have the ability to go underwater or have support items that could do it for them. Did Todoroki have another way to pass the challenge with his quirk?

The dual quirk user was fascinating considering he had only seen him really use his ice side. Izuku wondered if he was waiting for the Sport Festival to show off his fire side and have an advantage on the rest of the class. He had still not gotten the courage to talk to him since he was so stand offish. Only Yaoyorozu really interacted with him and even she often left him alone to his own devices.

“Tokoyami”

“The Darkness of the Ruins will show the way to victory.”

“Bakugou”

“Fire.”

“Shouji”

“Downpour Storm Zone”

“Iida”

“I protest. It was Yaoyorozu that actually found the bodies. Without her help we would have failed the challenge.”

“You took over as leader when Aoyama got trapped within the building and got both him and the dummy out safely. You will be the leader for the next lesson and that is not negotiable.”

After that, the class was able to watch the recordings of the different teams since no one was able to really see how the others did while working in their own zone. They started clockwise with the last team’s footage going first. Aizawa did not comment when Izuku brought out his tablet and started updating his notes on his classmates as they watched.

Aoyama’s team had been very successful working as a team. The partly French student was actually smarter than he let on and had Yaoyorozu build a device that would locate the robots. From what Izuku could tell it was searching for radio frequencies much the same way that Denki did though the first robot they came to was a recovery dummy crushed under rubble. That meant her scanner was not dependent on the heartbeat that the electric user needed to detect a robot. He would have to ask her exactly what he had been able to use in order to track the “victims”.

Aoyama had used his quirk to destroy the large bit of rubble above the robot so that Iida could pull it out and handed it off to Hagakure who left the screen to presumably take the body to the central plaza. It was a good strategy that worked again at the next body. The third body was inside a building and moments after Aoyama entered the doorway, a cloud of dust and rubble came tumbling out.

None of the buildings in the area were very stable so it was not surprising that the structure had a slight collapse. The biggest issue was the fact that the door was the only opening on the ground level and many of the windows were blocked. From there they watch Iida scout the area around the building and work with Yaoyorozu to create a ramp to the closest window that would be able to allow a body to go through that was at least three stories up. When the pink human silhouette came back into the video, she had been put to work as well climbing up the makeshift ramp and breaking the window to access the room inside.

While they could not hear what was being said, Iida’s habit of talking while moving his arms made it clear that he was in contact with Hagakure as she searched for their leader. Considering the gymnast’s weight and dexterity, she was the best person to send into a crumbling building to scout and find their missing teammate. Yaoyorozu was using her scanner the whole time and inputting her own comments and suggestions though it was very clear she was giving Iida the lead.

Izuku noticed when the tension seemed to leave the two people on screen which indicated to him that Aoyama had been found. Not long after, Yaoyorozu entered using the ramp and returned a short time later with the two other group members and a badly damaged robot. Considering the lack of damage from their leader, it was likely damage had been done to his ear piece and was unable to contact his group. With Yaoyorozu in their group, a new ear piece would have been easy to replace and they could go back to their tasks.

Hagakure had left again with the damaged robot as the other three followed Yaoyorozu to the last location with their leader far more cautious about their environment this time around. The last dummy was hanging from a streetlight and the female produced a large blanket that they stretched below the target as Aoyama shot his beam up and sliced the joint where the light met the pole so the victim would fall onto the blanket below to be rescued. Not exactly elegant but they were clearly feeling the press of time and wanted to save the last one as quickly as possible.

The next team started on the screen and Izuku was somewhat shocked that his best friend seemed to actually listen to Eijirou as he talked to the others about what his plan was. Izuku knew that the two of them got along but there was a trust that he had not shown to their other new friends from what he was seeing. Maybe he would talk to Kacchan about having the redhead join their agency for the future. He would be a very versatile Hero and he did seem quite perceptive.

Katsuki and Hanta took to the air as he would have expected. With the landslide zone any mistake could cause another landslide so being airborne would help keep another disaster from occurring. The team leader and Hitoshi stayed back, letting the other two scout and find the missing dummies. Hitoshi probably felt bad about being on the sidelines after being picked last as well but it was smart for the two to hold back until needed. It was not long before Katsuki was coming back to the pair and let the dummy that he was carrying fall to those below before heading out again without a look back.

Izuku winced internally even as he watched Eijirou catch the robot and hand it off to Hitoshi to take back to the Plaza. It would have been a recovery bot that would be classified as dead for his friend to treat it in such a way. Kacchan would not see the point in handling a corpse gently but their teacher might have a different opinion. It also meant that since he had brought back a recovery robot that the others were probably inside the partly covered buildings since he would have prioritized “living” victims first. Hanta was the next to get back his own clearly “dead” victim.

Leaving the body next to his leader, he went off again. This time the camera changed and it followed the tape user into his area of search. The boy was using his tape to stay on the buildings and away from the ground. He was using his quirk to his advantage to swing to the different windows to peer inside looking for the next victim.

It seemed he found something in one of the buildings before disaster struck and a large part of the building that was supporting his weight crumbled off. Hanta scrambled trying to reattach himself but more pieces of the building came down as he fell towards the ground before he was finally able to attach himself to the side of the wall. The rubble created hit the ground and started rolling downhill towards Eijirou, the last recovered dummy, and Hitoshi who had just returned to take the next one back to the plaza.

Kacchan came out from seemingly nowhere to blast the large rolling debris scattering the pieces in the explosion. Below him, Kirishima turned, covering both the robot and Hitoshi as he transformed himself using his body as a shield for the others against the wave of dirt and building fragments that swallowed them up. As the ground settled, Eijirou’s head popped up from the ground and pulled himself up from the makeshift hollow that had been made. Reaching down he was able to pull up the robot and the very disgruntled Hitoshi who went back to his job of removing the dummies from the area.

Both Katsuki and Hanta arrived not long after that with two more dummies. It was clear that his best friend was going off at the tape user for the incident but Eijirou seemed to say something that quickly stopped him and had both of them moving towards the plaza with their charges. He would have to ask the redhead what had been said to stop Kacchan in a mid-rant. Izuku often let his best friend get it out but since time was a factor, it could have been using his need to win to stop the argument.

Ashido’s team in the Mountain zone worked just as Izuku had expected with Jirou pointing out the direction of the robots, Todoroki finding and icing them completely before sending them down the mountain on a makeshift ice slope to Ashido that would move them away from the slope in preparation for the next one. Once all three of the robots were found and delivered to the bottom, Todoroki melted off the ice and the three took their robots to the Central Plaza. Interesting that Jirou also did not seem to have any issues finding the one robot without a heartbeat.

Tsu, being cold blooded, was stuck outside the buildings in their zone. Getting too close to the fire could injure her greatly though it would not cause her instincts to hibernate like the cold from her first Hero lesson. Shouji was able to use his quirk to hear the heartbeats of their victims that he and Satou rescued from the buildings and took to Tsu to return it to the central plaza.

Their issue came from Shouji’s inability to hear the last dummy that did not have a heartbeat to give away its status. That forced them to separate and systematically search one building to the next looking for the last body. Satou had been to the one to finally find it and the group returned to the plaza together with their final charge.

Watching his own group. Izuku was able to see Ojiro in action as he practically flew up the stairs as Denki directed him to the first dummy. He watched in amazement as the tailed boy was able to balance the body being held close to his own as he navigated down the slide using the rocks to take long jumps toward the end where their leader waited to help. The video had then gotten a shot of him pulling the body from the interior of the boat before turning his visor on and leaping into the water.

There were clearly no cameras below the water as the scene switched to Ojiro, who was swimming towards the boat himself. The camera went back to Izuku as he emerged from the water with the dummy and the class saw him perform the few water expelling techniques that can be done while wading before moving to his team leader.

They then watched him perform CPR before moving aside and allowing Denki to try their experiment. While they could not see the moment that they had been able to put the heartbeat back into the robot, they were able to see their celebration as Ojiro exited the water and all three of them left with their charges to the Central Plaza.

Ochako’s team did not have anyone that could find the dummies easily but with Dark Shadow able to move around easily in the area, they really did not need to. The sentient quirk had fully emerged from Tokoyami the moment they entered the zone as it enjoyed the darkness and was not put off by the cold rain or wind. The team worked in a group going down the street with Dark Shadow flying through the area looking for the dummies as they went.

They would stop when the quirk found someone and would enter together to quickly bring out the robot they could find inside. The robot was clearly weightless as it left the building and Ochako was able to swiftly take it off to the plaza as the other two searched for the next body before being rejoined by their leader. Izuku was impressed by how fast the girl had been and wondered if she had started playing around a bit more with her abilities in propelling herself especially out of the high winds of the zone.

Kouda’s abilities with animals seemed to be at a loss but considering that Izuku had not seen any fish in the lake during his swim, it was possible that there was very little wildlife for Kouda to pull from to help. Maybe he could suggest his classmate keep a menagerie of pets he could use in his Hero lessons. It was a shame the boy was not living on campus but surely the school would be able to help him considering how important it was for him to have animals nearby for his quirk.

They had gone through about half their area with this method before Izuku watched as Kouda bent down and a small lizard scurried up his hand and positioned himself toward one of the buildings. Apparently there were a few animals in the area as the three made towards the building indicated while Dark Shadow continued his own search.

Seeing the quirk move away from his anchor made Izuku wonder how far apart they could be. Their range was quite large but it was obvious that it was not infinite or there would have been no need for Tokoyami to run through the city while his quirk searched. They had found the last body with little issue and all three of them left the area with the dummy ending their training.

As the final video played to its conclusion, the class took what was left of the time in class to talk about strategies and the proper way to treat the dummies since they were supposed to portray actual people. That included an emphasis on how even a corpse needed to be treated with respect since the eyes of the public would always be on them. Thirteen was able to talk more about the dangers of using quirks around civilians and each other since many could be very deadly in the field.

Izuku left with Eraserhead once the class ended as he went to meet up with Recovery Girl in the Nurse’s Office. The Hero was in her usual spot as he entered the room and placed his book bag down before taking his own seat. Expecting more scenarios to continue his education in field medicine he looked to his teacher expectantly.

“So you decided to convince your peers to join you in medical support, dearie.”

“You saw that? Denki has an amazing quirk. I really think there are so many ways to use it in just about any field in Hero work.”

“You do realize those robots are nothing like an actual person. The theory is good but it would take a lot of work before he will be able to use it in the field.”

“True, but you have to start somewhere.”

“Your teacher seemed concerned that the boy would go around randomly trying this technique on others.”

“Denki? I walked him through the whole time. I doubt he would do it on his own without more training. Do you think I should suggest a few things to start his path to using it in real life?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Getting him something like a voltage tester. That way he can start learning how to control his output. Then I can show him what to look for when using his power on a real person.”

“A solid plan. Just make sure you let him know he is nowhere near ready to use it on a person yet.”

“Even though it was a robot, I would assume in a life or death scenario that the family would prefer we at least try to revive them with every possible tool we have.”

“That assumes a grieving family is thinking logically. Heroes can’t save everyone but we often try anyway. We give hope to civilians that everything can get better and if we break that trust things can turn ugly.”

“You used on quirk on someone that did not survive. Didn't you”

“I was young and still coming off my high of becoming a Hero. I knew from the standard examination the chance was so small and the child had barely any stamina left. I could only prolong her life for a few more minutes, just enough for her to say her goodbyes to her parents.”

“Why was that a problem?”

“The family argued that if I had not used my quirk, there was a greater chance of survival and I killed their child in my recklessness. It was complete nonsense. The medical examiner backed my initial diagnosis and I eventually won my case.”

“I never heard about anything like that when researching you.”

“Cases against Heroes go before the Hero Commission and are not publicized until a final judgement is made. It stops Heroes or the claimant from using the press to sway public opinion. It also meant I was not allowed to use my quirk on a civilian until the case was closed.”

“Wouldn’t that make it easier to sweep something illegally done by a Hero away?”

“There are claims that the Commission does protect their favorites but there has been no proof of any actual wrong doing. Oftentimes if a Hero is in the wrong they will be quietly retired off unless the initial incident actually made it to public awareness. In those cases the final verdict is opened to the press to show that justice was done.”

“What did you do about Hero work without your quirk?”

“I still used my quirk. I just could not use it on civilians. That meant I focused on my Underground Hero work for a few months and would be called in to help when other Heroes were injured.”

“You did Underground Hero work? Is that why you can actually sneak up on me? How long did it take you to figure out how much stamina to drain from your captured Villains? Do you need to create an injury to make your quirk work?”

“Most Villains in Underground Hero work deal with violence on a regular basis. I never needed to hurt them since there was always something that could use healing. It takes a lot of control to recognize how much a person can take. Too much and you can kill a person, too little and the Villain can lash back to hurt you or others. Going down this road with your friend, you’re going to have to teach him the signs to look for that will stop him from killing each enemy he tries to capture or civilians that he tries to revive. You opened up a can of worms by putting him on this path, Midoriya. It is now your responsibility to make sure no one gets hurt.”

“Mine? I just shared a possible aspect of his quirk. I have always done that with my friends since their quirks are all so very interesting.”

“At one point it is no longer a question of can we but should we. That little girl was scared and just wanted the comfort of her parents. I prolonged her pain and forced her family to watch their child die before their eyes. I had thought I was doing a good deed by giving both the time to be together in her last moments. Instead it had been cruel to force them into that situation. Would Kaminari have even tried to use his quirk this way without your input?”

“Maybe. As I said he had such an amazing quirk.”

“But was he ready to take it into a direction he has no knowledge of? Your teacher believes that he will become a danger because any wrong move or loss of control can be fatal. Without the proper medical training he can become a liability.”

“I’m already working with three other students on their quirks. Adding Denki won’t be a problem for now but I have always been free with quirk advice and analysis. I can’t train the whole school just because I like to make suggestions.”

“Nor should you. Do what you already suggested. Give them something they can work on in their own time. Make your suggestions but also let them know what they can do to train themselves. You have enough on your plate with me, Nedzu, and now Miyo working on your own education. You can’t do everything dearie, it will only burn yourself out.”

“It always seems I have to work twice as hard as everyone else since I do not have a quirk to rely on.”

“You wear the Rod of Asclepius on your Hero Costume and still think you are behind. I was not able to go to medical school to get my certifications until I had been a sidekick for three years. Why do you think I wear the cross? Nedzu would not put so much trust in you if he did not see your potential. You’re in such a hurry to prove yourself you forget that you are here to learn. Speaking of learning, what would you do in the case of an unresponsive person who is physically whole and where would they fall in priorities with other victims?”

“That depends if the person has clear indications of substance abuse or mentally instabilities that could cause self-harm…”

---

Izuku came out of the showers feeling refreshed. The running during P.E. with Hound Dog had given him time to think even while he had talked to his best friend. Bakugou had been mostly quiet during the class and had kept pace with him with minimal cursing.

Katsuki always could tell when he was working through something and gave him the time he needed to work through it in his head. Of course his patience was not infinite and had finally asked what was on his mind about a quarter hour before the class was over.

His best friend was a person of instincts. It was what made him so amazing in combat scenarios. It also meant that he often cut through all the bullshit and got straight to the point. That was why he had been able to convince Izuku to work on himself first. He was here to become a Hero and not a support technician or a quirk counselor. Putting too many people before himself would only force him to compromise his own training.

He assumed Hitoshi would be going out to the beach again. There had been a bit of an uncomfortable moment when he had to explain to his friend that he would not be able to make it out there for a while. His parents wanted him to stick to school grounds unless they came to pick him up as they would be doing tomorrow. It had not helped that he had explained the situation with Tanaka Sensei and how he would be training with Ochako starting Friday.

His dual quirk user friend was also probably going to be out working on her quirk considering that she would be put through her paces with the quirk counselor and would want to show what she could do with what little help he had given her so far. He had not found the time to talk with Denki yet but then again he still needed to talk with the support course teacher on getting a voltage reader for the electricity user.

His best friend was not a morning person so would cram all his training in after school. That meant he would be outside experimenting with his quirk at the moment instead of taking a shower since he would just have to do it all over again when he was done. Not to mention he would not want to waste the buildup of sweat his body produced during class.

He entered a mostly empty locker room with only the mostly silent bi colored haired classmate left. Since it was the last class of the day everyone else had been in such a rush to change out and leave or head to the showers in the dorm. Izuku had opted for the ones in the locker to give him more time to think and to not fight the other boys for the more limited amount of space back in the dorms.

“I don’t know why the school puts up with your presence but I am going to show the world that you are nothing at the Sports Festival.”

“…I’m sorry?”

“All our teachers have their eyes on you. You even take special lessons with them. But you’re nothing.”

“Todoroki, I don’t understand where this is coming from but my lessons with Recovery Girl are not going to translate to the Sports Festival. It is not the advantage that you think it is.”

“They seem to change the rules when it comes to you. Our team had the best time and followed the instructions without deviation and yet your team beat us.”

“I’m sorry you feel...”

“Then you directly challenge me by letting the class know you can beat out my time in the same zone.”

“Is that why you chose the Flood…”

“My father thinks you people are worthless parasites to society. I thought I could just ignore you and you would go away on your own due to your quirklessness. Why are you still here?”

“I am here to be a Hero. Just like you are.”

“You are nothing like me. I was made to be the best. I have been training every day since my quirk came in. You are a nuisance and I will crush you so you will stop interfering with my Hero lessons.”

“Todoroki, you beating me at the Sports Festival will not stop me from being a Hero. I know your quirk is very powerful just like the rest of our classmates. I have no plans on stopping now.”

“Then I will have to show you how useless you will be against a real challenge. I am not like our classmates that will hold back due to your handicap. The school should have never let you in the Hero course.”

Before Izuku could make another word, the boy turned and left the room. He had not expected that. There was an anger there that he had not seen in a while. Considering he mentioned his father, it was probably more to do with his family than his “lack of abilities.”

Thinking back, the fire and ice user had always been on a team that won their challenge. Beating him today seemed to have stung his pride. Maybe Yaoyorozu could explain what was going on there since she did seem to know their classmate outside of school. Either way, he was not about to back down from a challenge.

Chapter Text

He entered the living area the next morning hearing the roar of other voices letting him know that most of his dorm mates were accounted for and quite animated about something. He felt his stomach drop as silence descended the moment he entered the room. He looked to his own classmates even with Kacchan missing he hoped to get some clues from them. His friends seemed to have been facing off against the other class considering the physical divide in the room.

“Are you really quirkless Izuku?”

He froze at Pony’s words feeling as if he had been stabbed. Even though she had spoken in English it was clear from the other's faces they knew what she had asked. He had thought his friends knew how much he had wanted to be given a chance to prove himself before others knew about his state. His eyes darted to Hanta with a clear question in them. The boy defensively put his hands up in response.

“I swear it was not me this time. Some Hero gossip rag put up a profile of you and Bakugou in response to the news piece about the two of you from the other day. A few of the online forums are starting to share the article which is how Shoda found out about it.”

“Give me a moment.”

Taking out his phone, he was quick to locate the article since it was gaining quite a bit of attention. Mostly it was about him being a liability due to being quirkless and speculated on how Bakugou was only saving his ass since a boy without a quirk was useless against the monster. It was also questioning UA’s decision on allowing a quirkless person into the Hero Course or pretty much the academy at all since he had no place in the school. It was what he and his family were expecting since his name got out.

He shot a quick text to Kacchan with the article as a heads up before sending it out to their parents and his Shifu. He doubted that Shifu would have gotten home yet after their training but not including her would cause an even harder training tomorrow when she found out she was left out.

At least Katsuki came out as the Hero in this one. He would enjoy that at least. But considering the article was also indicating that they were running from the battle he would also probably be enraged at the idea anyone would consider him a coward by fleeing a battlefield.

“So yes, I am quirkless.” He said as he turned to look at the 1-B students that were in the room.

“Ha! I knew it. You talk so high and mighty and you’re just a loser without anything backing it.”

“Monoma! That is uncalled for. Kendo may not be around to keep you in check but Midoriya is in the Hero Course.”

“How does a quirkless nobody get into the most prestigious Hero school in the country, Shoda? I bet he cheated.”

“Yes, of course. I cheated on a test that changes each year and is proctored by numerous Heroes including one of the most intelligent beings in the country. I did such a good job of it that I ended in first place in the exams.”

“How did you pass the physical exam Midoriya? That exam was not easy to pass even with a quirk. My Twin Impact was put to quite the test against those robots.”

“I am trained in martial arts and know how to use my brain in combat.”

“Izuku is selling himself short. He is one of the smartest kids in our class and is super manly.”

“Of course you would say that. You all lost to a quirkless kid in the exams.”

“…you did too, Monoma. You didn’t even make it into the top ten.”

“Neither did you Shoda. I want to know how someone that is quirkless was able to make it into Class A.”

“Because Eraserhead specializes in Solo and Underground work while Vlad King handles Support and Rescue teams.”

“Whoa! How did you find out about that, Izuku? I mean we keep doing team challenges in the Hero Lessons.”

“All the Hero Lessons mirror each other to give us a chance to experience different aspects of Hero work, Mina. Even Heroes that typically are on their own work with other Heroes or sidekicks at times. The school places us where they believe we can learn the most from our teachers and classmates even with the same curriculum.”

“So you’re telling me that the school actually believes you’re going to be a Solo Hero without a quirk?”

“Izuku has been working with Recovery Girl to be an amazing Medical Support Hero you jerks.”

“Mina’s right. He is also an amazing analyst and support item creator.”

“Ochako. Mina. Eijirou. Thank you for your praise but this is not about what I can do. Monoma just does not want to believe that someone without a big and powerful quirk is in Class A.”

“What makes you think that? Is Class A not as big and mighty as it should be?”

“Because if I do not have a quirk that means they saw something in me that you did not have. That scares you more than anything doesn’t it, Monoma?”

“You are nothing compared to me.”

“Then why do you keep trying to put me and my classmates down? Why is everything a competition to you? Why can’t you accept that people have different strengths and weaknesses? You more than anyone should understand that.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Your quirk of course. You have within you the most versatile and strategic quirk I have ever heard of and yet you squander it by thinking only of yourself.”

“I do not know what you have heard but it does not borrow other people’s quirks. It is just a copy. It does not harm anyone.”

“Is that what kids told you growing up? That you were a danger since your quirk would steal theirs?”

“You don’t know anything.”

“You think I do not recognize a defensive personality? Do you really think the “quirkless kid” went to school without being picked on for things I could not control? Think for a moment. This is the premiere Hero School in the country. We are the ones that got in from hundreds of other candidates. The school sees something in all of us. If you are too blind to see that, then you need more help than this school will be able to provide.”

The silence that followed his words lasted only a few moments as a loud curse came from the doorway that slammed open before Izuku caught the phone that came streaking to his head. He was thankful that his best friend at least warned him this time before aiming the device at him.

The last time Kacchan had thrown his phone at him, Izuku had automatically moved out of the way of the projectile's path and the phone’s screen shattered on impact while also making a dent in the wall. That taught Katsuki the lesson of not randomly throwing things at other people's heads.

Afterwards, he had raged at Izuku for not catching it and had been stubbornly using a cracked phone for a month before his mother replaced it. The blond had realized that it was his own fault for not alerting his friend that he was meant to catch the thrown object and had made his own punishment in his typical fashion.

“Hey Auntie Mitsuki!”

“Izuku. Do me a favor and slam that brat’s head against a table until he learns some common sense.”

“You know how he gets in the morning. Once he thinks about it, he will realize they were praising his ability.”

“Damn right they were. That demon child is going to destroy them all. Still can’t believe what those vultures wrote about you. I should go down to their office and kick all their asses.”

“Hardly necessary Auntie but thank you for your support.”

“Just keep the brat from being a dumbass would you.”

“I can try…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not expecting miracles. It’s just Inko has been so excited for tonight and I don’t want my little hellspawn to ruin it.”

“I’ll see you tonight, Auntie.”

Ending the call he handed the phone back to Kacchan to realize the rest of the room was emptied of the other students. His best friend must have made it clear that it was best for them to leave. Knowing how the other had probably glared at them until they left, he would have to talk to his friends a bit about Katsuki’s and Mitsuki’s interesting relationship. Of course if they did not want to be late themselves, they would also have to leave immediately for school.

He would just have to eat extra during lunch to make up for the skipped breakfast. Of course they would be rolling him back to the dorms after dinner with his parents. His mother was probably making all his favorite dishes and would be disappointed if he did not eat a bit of everything offered. Even his Shifu could not help him enforce his diet when his mother brought out the water works.

Turning to the explosive blond he smiled at his friend before heading to the door. Katsuki would get over his anger without his help now that he was off the line with his mother. Somehow they knew the exact buttons to hit with each other to make for the most explosive interactions. Without his mother fanning the fires of his rage, it would dissipate enough to make Kacchan realize what his mother was actually saying was supportive and not instigative.

“Anyone not want to leave while I was talking to your mom?”

“Just the fucking dead guy. Did the bastard try something?”

“More talk. I hope I started to break down his shell a bit. If I was not so mad, I probably would have tried to talk to him without the audience considering I probably embarrassed him in front of his friends. It might work out in the end since it seems most of his class felt he had gone too far anyway. I might be able to make it work so that we have to do barely anything.”

“Is the fucker really worth it?”

“Monoma can copy any quirk, Kacchan. Can you imagine? It doesn't even matter what type it is. He can replicate it. Not only that, he automatically gets an understanding on how the quirk works as well. That kind of knowledge will revolutionize the quirk counseling field.”

“Sounds like cheating.”

“Not at all. While he gets the knowledge of the quirk, he does not get the experience or tactics that make it the most effective.”

“I’ll murder that fucker.”

“Exactly, while he could replicate your quirk and use it against you, your ability due to experience will always be greater. But it does give him a chance to gain insights on your quirk. Monoma would be deadly to most opponents if he is allowed to prepare for a battle.”

“What the fuck are you planning, Nerd?”

“I think the Sports Festival will be a great place to show him why we are in the Hero Course and why he should consider working with us instead of against us.”

“His damned class?”

“They are Heroes in training. I doubt they would go as far as outright bullying him but I required him to feel isolated. He needs to learn that actions have consequences and the sooner he gets over it the more able we can all be friends.”

“With that asshole?”

“His quirk is amazing. He just needs a little bit of polish to get him to actually work as part of a team. He has loyalty in him. It is just twisted in believing that it is a competition between classes. We need to remove that barrier.”

“The fucking Impala?”

“She is too nice for this kind of work but she definitely has some influence with the other girls. If she starts to avoid Monoma the others probably would as well. I can’t demonstrate my strengths to the other class before the festival but if we show how unreasonable Monoma is we might be able to separate him from the rest of his class.”

“Lot of fucking work for a bastard that does not deserve it.”

“I need to have the school on my side, Kacchan. You are here to get the skills to be the best hero in the world. I am here to show that anyone can be a Hero. That means I will need all the help I can get. I can scream and rage about how I am just as good as the others but the public won’t believe me until they see other Heroes treating me as an equal and being vocal in their support.”

“People are fucking stupid.”

“They don’t know any better. I am going to show them differently. The younger generation has rarely met a quirkless person and their parents have only seen their own quirkless parents or peers unable to compete in a world full of quirks. It has made them discount the quirkless and they have passed that on to their children. I'm going to break that cycle.”

---

Izuku stared down at his phone having gotten back to the locker room after their work out in the field with Inui Sensei. Three missed phone calls and a text from the same person. Opening the text it simply said “Call Me”. Looking about at the other boys he moved to the bathrooms trying to get a bit more privacy before redialing the number.

“Thank heavens kiddo. I am going to let you know now we have an issue. As an intern and minor field medic your information with us is supposed to be sealed to the public. Somehow, a copy of your file ended up with one of the local press. We are still trying to find out how it got out.”

“So does this mean I won’t be coming back for a longer time, Hunoko?”

“It means that some of the high ups outside the station are questioning why we still have an intern with multiple demerits from separate Heroes.”

“None of those charges held up when the cases were reviewed… well besides the first one where I did save those civilians.”

“We all know that but since they were complaints made by Heroes, they had to be put into your record.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re going to have to be suspended until your previous complaints are reevaluated.”

“That could take months.”

“It also means that because of the leak your conflicts with other Heroes are now out to the public and I am afraid a few of them might take the opportunity to sway the press from the real story.”

“Has anything been printed yet?”

“No, but if the press has it I bet it will be out soon enough. The public information officer got the call not that long ago with them trying to verify information. Because you have a locked file, they were unable to acknowledge any of the details which only gives the press more reasons to jump at the inaccuracies.”

“What do you need from me?”

“Stay out of the public view for the time being. We will get this sorted as soon as possible and get you back out with our team where you belong.”

“I’m supposed to stay silent as the Heroes that have been trying to remove me from the team use the press to gain public support to get me kicked out?”

“Mido, neither the Heroes nor the public are able to make staff decisions in the Fire Station. We recruited, trained, and hired you. We would not have put that much effort in you if we did not want you on the team even with your insistence on becoming a Hero. It’s about time that we have a Rescue Hero that actually has a background in the emergency medical field. We are all on your side but we have to go through the motions or they will keep trying to interfere with our operations. At least with this new oversight, the director is fully on your side as well. You should have heard him when they started questioning his authority at the station. Trust us. We will get you back.”

“Thanks Hunoko. Let me know when the situation changes. At least mom will be happy. She will enjoy not worrying about me out in the field. I think she thought interns stayed at the station and did paperwork when we started this.”

“Your mother loves and supports you. Give her time. No mother likes to see their children in danger.”

“Tell the team I’ll be seeing them soon.”

“That’s the spirit. I’ll be in touch.”

---

By the time he got off the line with his team lead and texted his parents and shifu the newest update, the locker room was empty as his classmates had all left for lunch. Even the halls were empty as he made his own way to the lunch room. Entering the cafeteria, the silence was deafening. Being with his class all morning had almost made him forget that the whole school had not known about his secret until now. Everyone seemed to be staring at him as if he would disappear or claim that it was all a lie. How else could a quirkless boy make it into the Hero Course of UA?

Izuku ignored them as he went to get his lunch. Whispers followed his movement as the students did not even bother to hide the fact they were talking about him. Grabbing his meal, his eyes went to his friends at their usual table. That was the safe choice. They had all already accepted him for what he was. But it was too much like hiding. He could not show weakness now that blood had gotten into the water and the sharks were already circling.

If Kacchan was in this situation he would puff up and act like the biggest threat in the room. Izuku did not have that luxury. He still needed people to underestimate for the Sports Festival to go off without a hitch. That meant he would have to go with a different route. He needed the student body to focus on something else besides his perceived unsuitability for the Hero Course.

He moved towards a different table. As he suspected the 1-B girls all sat together for lunch. With such a focus on teamwork, Kan’s class would be supportive of their own. Luckily he already had the way into their circle.

“Hey Pony, I know how awkward it was this morning but I was hoping we were still on for dinner tonight. My parents were looking forward to seeing you again.”

“Affirmative. Nocturnal merriment to commence at conclusion of cycle.”

“I’m glad my quirk status did not scare you away.”

“…Izuku, you have been the nicest person I have met since coming to Japan. I don’t care if you do not have a quirk. Besides your mother promised to make me an apple pie.”

“Yeah, mom is the best.”

He shared a smile with the foreign student glad that she had not changed. He had been afraid of her reaction considering the horror stories his father had told him about how the quirkless were treated in America. He knew that they were segregated out in their society so Pony would not have many interactions with quirkless people even though there were far more of them in America then in Japan.

“Hey Midoriya, I’m glad you came by the table. Shoda told me what happened this morning. I’m sorry about Monoma. I talked to him about his behavior, just let me know if I have to beat another lesson into him.”

“Thanks Kendo, but in my experience most people that are intolerant of the quirkless tend to ignore simple words. I’m sure he will eventually get used to the fact that I am here to stay since I am not going anywhere.”

“I’m sure he will get better. He may have a few screws loose but he is here to be a Hero.”

“He would not be the first Hero to have an agenda against the quirkless. I’m a fully licensed field medic but I still have had four different Rescue Heroes try to remove me from disaster sites due to my quirkless status.”

“That’s horrible. I can’t believe any Hero would do that to you.”

“I guess I’m just used to it now since I’ve been dealing with it my whole life, Kendo. I’m just glad my class is very accepting of my status.”

“Hey, we are rooting for you too. Don’t think that just because one of our classmates does not think you should be in the Hero Course the rest of us feel the same. I think it is really admirable that you want to be a Medical Support Hero.”

“Izuku is endowed with extravagant capabilities, Itsuka. Is superior Hero to Monoma.”

“I agree.”

“Yui?”

“You probably don’t remember me Midoriya, but I was in the same room with you for the written test during the entrance exam.”

“Yes, you are the one who can manipulate the size of objects. You kept modifying the size of your pencil during the exam.”

“A nervous habit. You were sitting next to the kid with the round growths in his hair that kept distracting me through the exam by saying such horrible things about me. When I went to complain about him after the exam they told me that it had already been taken care of. It was you that did it. Didn’t you?”

“Mineta had no right to be a Hero. He had an amazing quirk that was perfect for apprehension but his behavior was more like a Villain’s. A friend of mine works on support items and I happened to have one of her hidden video cameras on me. After showing the footage to Midnight, they took care of the rest.”

“Thank you for that. Pony is right. You are already a Hero. Please sit with us. Lunch is almost over and you have not eaten anything yet. I’m sure your girlfriend will love you to eat with us.”

“Girlfriend? Pony and I are just friends after all we just met. It helps that my father works in the United States and I grew up speaking English with him.”

After that he spent an enjoyable time talking with the girls of 1-B. Hero student girls were so much different from the ones in his elementary and junior high school days. Of course he did have to thank Ochako, Mina, and Tsu for their friendship to be more comfortable conversing with females. These girls actually thought talking about quirks was interesting and were more than happy to talk about their own.

In a way, Izuku was happy that they were letting him know all about their quirks. Part of him realized that their openness was because they did not consider him a threat in the upcoming Sports Festival. They would learn the lesson to protect vital information in time when he uses it against them. Now, he was just interested in moving the conversation to the rest of their classmates.

---

A newspaper fell across the table next to the head of the host with a bang. Looking up he met red eyes looking through him as if the other was already bored. He had been sure he would have more time to himself considering how often Tomura left him to his own devices. He was starting to get more impatient after all this time when it was more critical than ever that he delicately extract a single parasite from the colony.

He could only remove the body for short bouts of time as any period away from the suspension liquid that made up the host's tank seemed to shorten the lifespan of the subject even further. At this point each extraction could be the last and they would lose everything they had worked for.

He would not be doing this at all if he had not needed to build another tracker Nomu in a hurry. They had finally gotten access to another strong quirk that could be used for the new tracker. He was still trying to figure out where he went wrong with the last one. That was two false positives. First with All Might and now with UA. Did the process of the parasite combining quirks functionally change the original sensory quirk?

“Whatever it is Tomura, I have to continue working if we are to find the next host in time.”

“It looks like the last one was not as much of a failure as we had thought.”

“Pardon?”

“Kurogiri found out that UA has admitted a quirkless student and to the Hero course no less.”

“The Hero course? Impossible.”

“Apparently the target is some sort of prodigy and has been working for emergency medical units in Musutafu for a couple of years. That means he is young, healthy and nearby.”

“You think that we will be able to grab him after the debacle from the last incident? Won’t the school be on high alert?”

“That is why I think that it is finally time to see your grandson in action. No one will be expecting an aerial attack.”

“Mago is not ready for combat. While he is capable of flight, his other quirks are not fully developed. I’ve had to attach a filter to his face just to stop him from coughing up more of his blood and vital organs.”

“You were given permission to bring your last remaining family member back from the dead after the accident doctor. Do I really need to remind you that you agreed to use him for our cause in return?”

He watched as the boy used his quirk on the scalpel that was on the exam tray with his other instruments still waiting for him to extract the newest parasite for his work. He would put it on the list for Kurogiri to buy at the next resupply. He really wished his friend had never encouraged that boy's destructive use around his expensive tools.

“It is one thing to use him and another to throw him away. They will not be so generous and allow another Nomu to escape custody if they get their hands on him.”

“Scouting then. Have him give Kurogiri the coordinates when he is away from the main school and the two of us can warp in and snatch the brat. We can take the tracker with us now that we know that it is functioning for backup since we know your newest one will not be ready in time.”

“The subject’s youth will help in the conversion process. I do worry about his size but it could work to our advantage to have a small and more dexterous Nomu that can be used for stealth missions especially since he will be getting the sensor quirk. His original quirk will make him very useful since he comes with his own capture weapons.”

“Once we have the boy, we should be able to increase the production since you claim the only thing holding us back is the host.”

“A young and healthier host will definitely make the process faster but it will take time before the new colony will grow to a harvestable size.”

“Enough of your excuses. You promised to give me my inheritance and I am getting tired of waiting. When Sensei died senselessly to that travesty of a Hero you told me there was still a way to get what I deserve. Either start producing results or I will find my own way.”

“Time is what we need, Tomura. Without All for One, the process has slowed to a crawl but each Nomu that I am able to create gives you another fighter for your cause and me another step closer to the answers we all seek.”

“Send out your grandson. We’ll bring back your new toy and then you will have no more excuses. Sensei may be dead, but I will finish his purpose and bring about a new era without Heroes.”

Chapter Text

His hand silenced his phone as the alarm blared into life waking him up. Staring at the time he signed as he rolled from the bed and took a few moments to himself before getting dressed and heading out the door for his morning run.

The Bakugou’s had dropped them off just before curfew in the large van they mostly used for work. Kacchan had stubbornly stayed awake even though Izuku could tell that he probably dropped into bed the moment his door had closed and when no one was watching him. It showed that their new friends' opinions mattered to him even if he was still reluctant to accept them as potential allies in the future.

Last night had gone better than he could have expected. He still ate far more than he should have but he forgot how well his father knew how to entertain and keep the evening from getting too awkward. His father deftly showed his ability to guide the conversation and bring up new topics kept the talk flowing as they enjoyed his mother’s delicious cooking. There were a few uncomfortable moments that could not be avoided but nonetheless he felt the results had been well worth the temporary discomfort.

Aunt Mitsuki always enjoyed retelling the most embarrassing stories about the trouble he and his best friend always seemed to get into. Not that she would explain the trouble usually started with Katsuki’s temper or someone that just wanted to cause problems for the “quirkless kid”. But there was no doubt that she was proud of her son’s accomplishments.

His mother had been gushing over his new friends the whole time as she constantly thanked them for being her son’s friends while asking probing questions about their personal lives. Somehow even though he learned more about his new friends in one night than all the days in school, they did not seem to mind the constant interrogation… if they even realized it was happening. Somehow he doubted they understood that she was in a protective mode as she charmed his friends with her smiles and words.

Uncle Masaru was silent as always but Izuku could tell that he was sizing up each of his friends. The patriarch of the Bakugou always had a way of understanding unspoken words. He was also able to tell a person’s character within moments. That was why he was so ruthless in his business deals for his wife. They always made a great team with Mitsuki able to focus her creativity on the design work she loved while her husband took care of the details. As much as their son resembled his mother, his ruthlessness really came from his father.

Shifu Fuang had decided to use the opportunity to learn more about their training outside of school. She seemed particularly impressed by Hitoshi’s strength training plan at the beach. She was less interested in Ochako’s work in relearning her quirks and was shocked that Pony was not training on her own. A pointed look in his direction at the time let him know she expected him to fix that. She did not seem impressed by him already working with her on her Japanese language skills instead of more martial pursuits. Which meant he had another friend he would be helping train in the future.

He did have plans for her but they had mostly resolved around increasing her awareness. That would help her in her Hero work as well as in her home situation. As much as she talked about how good her father was to her, Izuku felt that her father had offered her his home and support without actually expecting her to make it into UA.

Much like his situation, she had only been able to talk with her father on the phone after the divorce and his move back to Japan. While they may have started with regular conversations, those had grown farther apart as he was always “busy” until they spoke maybe twice a year before she upended her life and moved in with him. Even living with her father she had rarely seen him meaning he knowingly left her in the charge of his new wife and family.

He may have never met the man, but he doubted it would change his initial impression of the situation. Of course one did not tell a new friend that her father did not want her around and had moved on with his life outside of the expected obligations. That meant he would have to slowly open her eyes to the reality of the situation and increase her own support at school. He definitely thought she would make an amazing Hero once she was able to understand how things were not so black and white. Removing the language barrier would be the first real start to her growth.

Ochako’s first session with the quirk counselor was coming up and he could not wait to see how the official trials worked. He had never been a part of the process before he was excited to see the inner workings of the quirk registry and how the system worked considering the number of people he had met with misdiagnosed quirks. It would also give him a baseline on what could be expected of him and where to push the boundaries of quirk experimentation with his new teacher.

She had changed since that meeting in the streets as a Sidekick where she had been happy to show off her quirk to a crowd of fans. Her manner was more professional and by the book. That meant if he wanted to deviate from her usual program, he would have to show her the logic behind each experiment and suggestion. He had already been hard at work reworking his notes on Ochako to add in preliminary focus and concerns that he felt would be the most beneficial to their quirk trials. He needed to be able to prove to Tanaka Sensei that he could be trusted with his classmates.

Hitoshi was another issue. He was just starting to get Katsuki’s respect and was finally opening up to the possibilities of his quirk. With him being stuck in the school for the foreseeable future, he worried that his friend would feel abandoned again. Without Tanaka Sensei supporting them, he would not be able to help Hitoshi with the school’s resources but that did not mean he wouldn’t be able to still meet up with the boy to continue working on his quirk at the dorms.

He had already discussed with Kacchan about letting some of their other friends up when they took over the roof of the dorms for training. With both of them on the top floor it had been an easy spot to meet up without the prying eyes of their classmates. Katsuki was unable to use his quirk due to the noise that would draw others up there but he was able to go through his strengthening exercises and workout routine.

Izuku enjoyed the extra space for his Tai Chi routines that he kept up with even when he was no longer able to make it out to the classes with his mother. He might have to get a rope ladder for Hitoshi since his training had not gotten to the point where he would be able to scale the outside of the dorm easily. With his dorm located on the top floor with them they should not have an issue hiding their activities from the others.

He had run faster than usual with his mind on other matters and saw the building where Shifu would be waiting for him for his practice later. For now he would have to keep going past and back track later to arrive at the gym on time. His teacher would not be amused if he cut his run time short even if he had been able to complete it faster than previously. He would just have to expand his route out again to make up for the additional speed before Shifu decided to add more weight to his wrists and ankles to slow him down again.

---

For the second time, Izuku was glad he had been able to convince Aizawa Sensei to give him use of his Hero Outfit for the test this morning as he rolled away from the substance that hand landed before him a moment before he would have stepped into the mess. They had originally started with him just against a single robot. It had performed beautifully by staying away from the “enemy” and moving every time he had tried to close the gap between them.

His bolas had been able to hit their mark on the single tire to bring the robot down thankfully without any damage to the shell or the technicians would have had to repair it before they could continue putting it through its paces. That meant they had reinforced the body while assembling the parts to make it more durable than the exam robots the parts came from.

After that they upped the difficulty by removing his weapon and he was sent to dodge the attacks. Luckily he had already figured out the patterns that the Sentinel used to move and the actions that would trigger certain commands to its programming. Not that there were not close calls but it had become a game of cat and mouse where he was able to avoid the distance attacks until it had run out of ammo.

He had been given a small breather as they replaced the canister and set up the second Sentinel so he would have to face off against both of them at the same time. While he had been able to study the commands of the single attacker, the programming of the second was different which meant actions would cause different commands and he had to keep track of which robot had which programming as they sped around him never letting him near.

Finally he saw an opportunity as one of the Sentinels was maneuvering in an awkward position that would not allow it to get away fast, Izuku had used a burst of speed to close the distance but it had recovered in enough time to keep him at bay as it formed a line of that substance between them and he was forced to leap over it as the other robot had made its own attack sending the liquid at the exact spot that he would be landing.

He was unable to adjust his trajectory but he was able to flip himself around as he unclipped his field medicine pack that was designed to be removed from his outfit and sacrificed it to the goo as he landed on his hands and flipped out of the way of the next attack moving fast to keep from being herded by the sentinels into the direction of the front gate.

His stamina was getting low and with both robots moving constantly he could not tell which one was which as he recovered from his last gambit. He was getting slower and was forced to use more random sprints and maneuvers to stay away from the attacks.

He jumped away out of the path of another attack to hear a crunch under his feet and he found himself stuck in the substance that had been left behind from one of the first attacks. While it had hardened, it had not been able to take his full weight and had sunk into itself and stalled him enough that both of the Sentinels had been able to splash the black tar like liquid on him, trapping him in the goo.

“Good work Midoriya. I was afraid you were going to drain the canisters again but I think they still have about a quarter tank left.”

“You guys did a fantastic job on them. I would try to make the patterns a bit more randomized but the dual programming is going to slow down most people. I was not expecting teamwork on their part.”

“Riki did that on his own. Since he was reprogramming them to respond together he added the cooperative commands. They are limited but certain actions will prompt both of them to act in tandem.”

“This substance you guys created is also amazing. I was not expecting even the hardened stuff to be dangerous.”

“That is all Chino. She wanted the stickiness to last as long as possible so the hardening is only on the top layer. If anyone tries to pry it off they will find more body parts stuck in the goo as well.”

“So just one more question. How long does it last? I still have classes today.”

Laughter flitted around the area as all the technicians working on the project had taken positions around the field to watch their labor at work. Thankfully Chino moved forward with the solution that would break the goo down though he could still see stains on his outfit as he was able to pull away from his trap. Thankfully it only seemed to be a cosmetic issue since he would still need his outfit later during Hero Lessons.

His medic pack came out much worse considering his weight had pressed it into the substance while it was fresh and took far longer to extract since it had been engulfed completely by the liquid. Thankfully when he opened it all his supplies were still intact but the support class would have a time bringing his gear back to life. He gingerly put it back on knowing there was nothing else he could do with it at the time.

Picking up his bolas he returned them to their usual spot as well. They had considered allowing him the use of his weapon during that last fight but Izuku knew that he would have taken down one within moments and the real test was to pit him against the two. No matter what, the robots had a definitive pattern and movements which he would have been able to see through easily.

“I’ll admit for a kid with an analyst quirk you did better than I expected. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you had some sort of dexterity quirk. I didn’t know the body could move some of those ways.”

“Komachi, don’t you read the papers? My secret is out.”

“You’re telling me those tabloids had it right? Well I guess they can’t always be wrong but you still handled those robots better than any of us could have.”

“It helps that I fought their predecessors in the entrance exam.”

“True, but I can only hope that these would prove to be a larger challenge than robots meant for Jr High kids to beat up.”

“Trust me they are. I think Nedzu will be happy with the results considering the time frame he gave you and the fact that you guys are using literal scrap.”

“It’s Power Loader that is going to be the real judge. He is coming to inspect them after school. Once he gives the all clear we will start creating Nedzu’s Robotic Army.”

“You make him sound like some sort of super Villain.”

“You’re a first year student. Give it time. We lowly technicians are just glad he has no plans to take over the world.”

“Tell me a bit more about Riki’s programming. Was he able to include the gesture recognition I suggested?”

“Yes but the gestures have to be quite large for the robots to recognize the command and we could only add so many of them before it started to confuse the signals.”

“Being able to silently control the robots can be useful if dealing with intruders. Once they fulfilled their programmed tasks or are out of ammo, there are ways they can still be useful in slowing down the enemy. The teachers will not have access to control programming in the field but a few simple gestures can be easily taught and can sway the battle in their favor.”

“It’s already done kid. We just need to test it in the field and determine how well the sentinels can recognize the commands at different distances by different body types. But that can be done another day. As you reminded us you still have classes to attend and we have to recharge and replace these prototypes for their viewing later. Get going before you’re late, kid. I assume we will see you back after school for the showing?”

“Wouldn’t miss it even though you guys did all the work.”

“Stop selling yourself short, kid. Half the ideas in that thing came from that brain of yours.”

---

Trekking back to class it was the shadow that first alerted him that something was wrong. He took a rolling leap to the side as the large form flew past him with a screech. He took stock of the exposed brain and overly large body before sprinting back towards the workshop. He moved in a zigzag pattern hoping to make himself harder to catch.

Confronting the monster alone would be suicide and if the technicians saw him, hopefully they would get in contact with the school to send help. He dived forwards in another roll as he felt the air pressure around him change and felt the artificial wind the creature generated on his back as it narrowly missed him again and it bellowed it’s frustration at not capturing its prey.

Izuku knew it had gotten much closer to grabbing him that time as he had felt the icy touch of its claws on his back before he had gotten away. It was a testament to David Shield’s material that made up his costume that saved him from getting scratched by the beast. It was somewhat intelligent or at least guided by instinct to be able to adjust its attacks to try to capture him.

With it flying right above him this time he got a better look at his newest attacker. The gas mask attached to its face and the giant spread of wings let him know that this one also has an odd mix of quirks. Looking at the wings he could not help but to think they looked familiar but his mind could not place them as he got to his feet again to continue his run.

If it was anything like the last one it probably had a transformation type quirk as well. He suspected the claws on its hands and feet were able to extend which is also why his forward roll had not been as successful as his sideways leap. His mind faltered for a second as he finally recognized the quirks he was facing.

It had quirks that were similar to Tsubasa and Izaki from back in elementary school. Tsubasa had moved away when his father had gotten a new job in Tokyo halfway through the first year but Izaki had been with them until he had gone to a different Jr High School after Aldera closed. While Izaki’s ability only worked to elongate his fingers, Izuku would bet that whatever had been done to combine the quirks into one body had been able to twist the original quirk into the current form.

That also meant this was the second creature that was made up of people that he knew. One was a coincidence but two was a pattern. It was bad enough that the media was already on him about his unsuitability to be in Hero School, but if they learned he had some connection with the creatures that kept breaking into the school ground? They would be out for his blood.

The good news was if this really was the quirks of Tsubasa and Izaki in that monster, then he had a chance. He had studied both when in school and had experimented with them multiple times. That meant he knew their weaknesses. It also explained why the attacker had stayed in the air. It attacked by swooping down at a trajectory that would allow its wings to build up wind to use to gain height again without expending too much energy.

That was also why it needed to up a certain height before it could attack again. Which meant he had time between attacks that he could use to escape. If he were able to get it on the ground it would take time for the creature to make it back up into the sky. Tsubasa’s bones were hollow and light like bird’s were. They would break easily under too much pressure and a single break in the wings would throw off his trajectory and send it crashing to the earth.

His bolas would not be able to reach the creature while it was too far up into the air but as it was making it decent for an attack he could knock it off target at least if not break the forearm of one of the wings to permanently ground it for a time. The problem was he had only one shot since he would have to release his bolas to reach the monster before it could get too close to him with his extendable talons. That meant he would have no weapon afterwards whether it worked or not and he could barely see his target getting closer in the distance.

The creature was large enough that the technicians would be able to see him if they were still outside and while it was not silent like the last one, the support workers made a lot of noise building the robots and could potentially drown out the noise of the monster. He would have to hope his luck was with him and they were still examining the two prototypes outside for damage from their earlier battles.

There was also the possibility that Cementoss would notice his absence in class and send someone to look for him. It was a shame the Sentinels were not online yet as they would have been able to recognize the intruder and relay that information over to the school. Though their attacks were not meant for an aerial enemy. He would have to suggest some adjustments to fix that issue once he was safe again.

He saw the movement from the side of his left eyes as the creature made it’s attack again. It realized he had the best chance of catching him with a side attack as it limited his movements and prevented him from continuing forward if he was to evade the beast again. That meant he was forced to attack himself as he took a stance and started to swing his weapon. Luckily the bolas did not seem to faze the creature at all as it never slowed or deviated from his path.

Izuku released his weapon and sprinted below the monster in a gamble to use his own body as a distraction. He dared to look up as he heard the loud crack of the bolas hitting the target and the even louder squawking of the beast as it tumbled to the ground. He wasted no time in changing his direction back to the workshop and dashed in a straight line knowing he needed every second to count since the other could recover at any time.

A roar sounded behind him far too soon but he did not hear the sounds of wings flapping. Taking a quick glance back he found the terrible form of the creature chasing after him on all fours with one wing tucked to his back with the other being dragged behind it on the ground. That meant his attack had succeeded in keeping the beast on the ground but the distance between the two of them was swiftly being swallowed up as the enemy moved faster than anything natural. It also did not seem to even notice the pain from its damaged wing with its focus only on its prey.

Reaching the testing ground he remembered his lesson from earlier and kept away from the hardened patched of the black substance that was scattered about in the area. He could not afford to get too close to the others now that the monster was still a danger but hopefully he was close enough they could see his predicament now.

His eyes went to the thick line of black on the ground and changed his course towards it. Leaping over it again he hoped that the weight of the other would break through the muck and slow him down for a bit. A moment later another howl of frustration came from the beast as the talon that stepped on the black substance cracked through the shell and started to adhere to the foot. As the creature thrashed in the black patch to free itself the wing that had been dragged the whole time got caught as well as snarls started to emanate from the creature.

Movement passed by him as the two prototype Sentinels sped past and started to shoot more of the black goo at the monster. Sighing in relief he felt safe for the first time since he felt the presence of the beast. If the sentinels had been sent out that meant Komachi saw him and had reactivated them to help. Looking at the Sentinels and then at the monster, he raised his right arm up with his hand flat hoping that he was one of the people programmed in for the robots to take commands from.

In moments more black liquid came from the tails of both Sentinels as it covered the creature in a thick layer of the dark goo. Izuku fell to the ground as his knees collapsed once his adrenalin had stopped pumping and his body went into shock. He just stared at the thing as it struggled on the ground.

“Well, if that does not get these prototypes full funding nothing will. You hurt kid?”

“Just winded. Did you get in touch with Nedzu?”

“Yeah, called the moment we heard the commotion outside. I ordered the Sentinels out as I was dialing. We were lucky they were not in their charging stations yet and could be activated for patrol.”

“I need you to call one more person for me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah my dad. He is going to want to take a look at this guy and it is a shame we don’t have any of the dissolving solution on hand since we used it up earlier so the police can’t haul it away immediately.”

“…I’ll have Chino start on a new batch of the solution now since it takes two hours for her to make it. Will that give him enough time?”

“It will have to.”

Chapter Text

Midnight was the first teacher to make it out to the field. By that time Izuku had already spoken to his father who understood the situation immediately. They had cut off the conversation short once Izuku assured him that he was unharmed and that they were under a time limit. He was somewhat thankful for his father’s practical ways or else he would be on the phone right now in order to calm his mother’s worries. Not that he would not have to do that later anyway.

Komachi had come back with a bottle of water and had seemed surprised to have his phone handed back to him, probably expecting him to still be on it. Izuku’s own phone was tucked away in the locker room with his school bag that he had left there when he had changed into his Hero outfit like he always did.

He never considered it practical to carry his phone with him but maybe he could stash it in his medical pack and incorporate an earpiece to his costume that would give him access to it remotely. It would also come in handy if faced with another situation like today when he did not have any allies nearby.

It never occurred to him that he would do Hero work completely solo considering his partnership with Kacchan. With the use of Sidekicks and support staff in the industry, very few Heroes actually worked on their own. The few examples he could think of always had alternative ways to call for help or worked in a position that did not often confront Villains.

As his art teacher approached he noticed the signs of her using her quirk as the bright cloud of vapors started to emit from her body. That was probably the purpose of sending her out first since the last one had gone down so quickly to her quirk. It was a shame that her quirk would probably not work on this one.

He watched carefully as the struggling creature continued to try to break out of the black substance. The jerky movements had continued to entrap more of its body into the liquid but still it continued to try to break free. It was very clear by now that the monster was not registering the pain it was inflicting on itself and did not bother to try to protect its injured wing as it fought for its freedom.

A few moments later, the small cloud around her expanded covering the creature though he noticed that she was careful to not allow it too close to him. Izuku continued to rest on the ground taking small sips of the water that was almost gone knowing he would not be able to stand up yet. It was clear watching the continuing thrashes of the beast that was now fully entrenched in Midnight’s quirk that it would not be taking effect.

“It probably has a gas filter in that mask on him that is preventing Somnambulist from putting him under. I wonder if they put it on him so he would not be taken down by you like the last one. Maybe you can get Snipe to take him out with a tranquilizer dart.”

“Are you concerned that I won’t be able to take off his… protection?”

“I’m concerned that he can elongate his talons and has no pain receptors. He acts more like a wild animal than a thinking person. I also have not witnessed an emitter quirk come from that thing and worry that taking the mask off would release whatever other surprises it has considering that last one had one of each type of quirk and the probability is high that this one would have the same.”

“All good points. I agree that there is no need to unmask a potential danger on school property. I don’t think a simple tranquilizer would work on him though Midoriya.”

Turning to the new voice, Izuku saw his homeroom teacher with the principal sitting on his shoulder coming from the direction of the school. He was luckily able to stop himself from laughing at the sight of his disgruntled teacher playing as transportation for the smaller figure. He had no doubt there would be other teachers coming as well to handle things with law enforcement and the press if word got out to them somehow.

Nedzu would not want the whole school alerted of the situation before he could build the narrative to his best advantage considering how shortly it had been since the last attack. Looking at the fact that the situation was controlled at this point, he expected most teachers would be continuing their classes in order to keep the rest of the school away from the danger.

Now that they knew there was more than one of these things, it was possible there were more of them out there to be worried about. Thankfully he doubted that this one had help, if it did have a partner it would have attacked by now before the Heroes could make it to the scene. Even so he did feel safer now that his teachers were there.

“It depends on what kind you have available. Considering what my dad said about the last one, an elephant tranquilizer should be able to take it down. We already know that Somnambulist works on them if it has a clear path to enter their bodies. That means they do have a similar physiology to most people… just warped.”

“Aizawa, if you would let the police know we will need their assistance and supplies. Also inform Snipe he will be required after all.”

His teacher made a brief nod at the principal that leaped to the ground as Eraserhead moved off with a phone in his hand. The intelligent rodent moved forward to stand next to Izuku as they both observed the beast for a few moments. It was interesting that the addition of new people to the mix did not seem to have any discernible change on the creature who continued to try to break free without success as it paid little attention to the Heroes that arrived.

“I’m surprised you don’t have any tranquilizers on hand.”

“We did but the support class gets a bit reckless before the Sports Festival and tends to appropriate things that are not bolted down.”

“…they must have had an interesting design for you to help their scavenging.”

“A new take on liquid to gas delivery. He is trying to use vapor to deliver the same effect as the liquid drug but it requires a higher concentration to produce the desired outcome.”

“Did it work?”

“Not yet. There was an issue when trying to replicate the effect in a portable projectile.”

“I’m sure he will get it if they are that far along already for you to give him a helping hand.”

“I expect big things from all my students though Power Loader was highly disappointed once he woke up after the latest prototype went off during class.”

“Is he trying to use a grenade base? That is going to limit the situations that it can be used in.”

“The theory is good and it is a start for something more versatile.”

“I’ll be excited to see him at the festival. I assume he will be showcasing it during the third year competition.”

“Perchance. So when were you going to tell me you already summoned your father?”

“I assumed you realized he would be the first one I would contact considering his expertise in genetic modifications. He did not get a chance to examine the last one even though he had offered that service to the police.”

“The detective is not going to like his interference.”

“This is school property. If the principal wants an expert opinion of the thing that broke into private property, law enforcement can’t override their decision. Especially since it is a safety issue and the priority would be to ensure that students are not in further danger.”

“I have read a bit of your father’s work. I do believe he can be an asset to the situation. But, his cooperation is going to be difficult to explain to the Hero Commission who only authorized him for limited research for his own work. This is quite a bit outside his permitted limits.”

“He is still allowed to do analytical and theoretical work and since the police have already consulted and accepted his findings, this is technically part of his work now.”

“The Commission often has their own eyes in law enforcement. It would be better if his presence was to support you while we fully cooperate with the police.”

“In that case I better change out of my Hero outfit.”

“A good suggestion. A weaker appearance can be an advantage when you want others to overlook the obvious.”

“In that case just announce that I don’t have a quirk. That should allow me to be able to walk around with a rocket launcher and they will still somehow all think I am a useless weakling that needs to be protected.”

“For now Midoriya. But you will only be able to hide behind that status for so long before they realize how competent you really are. Once that comes out of the box you will never be able to put it back in.”

“Speaking from experience sir?”

“Stop by the nurse’s office on your way back. She is going to want to examine you and you can probably use a few of her gummies by now.”

---

Getting out of Recovery Girl’s office had taken a number of promises to the older woman. He then had to assure her that he would not allow Nedzu to put him in further danger from the Villain after he had finally convinced her that he had no interest in being harmed by this newest attacker. He did feel far more refreshed now that he was back in his school outfit with a few of Shuuzenji Sensei’s specialty candies digesting in his stomach.

He would have to get her to let him in on her secret on infusing energy into those store bought sweets. There was nothing about her quirk that would allow her to modify the gummies which meant she either had someone that makes them special for the school or she uses a more mundane chemistry based system to incorporate the ingredients to improve stamina. If it was the second, he hoped to be able to see her process and get the formula to the enhancer.

By the time he got back to the field with the monster, Snipe and Cementoss had joined the other teachers as they watched over the still struggling body. Izuku wondered if the creature had made progress getting out of the substance if they had to bring in a teacher whose quirk could easily immobilize the other if it was able to break free from the trap.

Of course considering the lack of cracks in the material and the beast’s continued mired state, it was most likely a precaution since the school did not need more property damage. They also had to worry about the students that could potentially be in danger since the newest break in had not canceled classes for the day. Nedzu was probably trying to ensure that the students would not have the chance to take any candid photos this time around for the press to have a field day with.

It was likely that he would announce the newest capture after the students were released for the day to imply that the current situation was completely under control and had no impact on the daily running of the school. That would also be why Midnight was sent ahead. Since she took the credit from the last take down, this was just her continued success and the ability of the school to adapt and restrain the enemy before it has a chance to hurt any of their students.

It left like the principal was setting up pieces of a play that only he had the script for. All the teachers and technicians on scene had a part to play. But since no media was present it was likely a show for the police when they arrived. His own role had been decided when Nedzu mentioned his cooperation with law enforcement. He was to play the victim with the bad luck to be attacked twice while his over protective father hovered and demanded answers from the police. If they played their cards right, they might be able to wheedle some of the more classified information from the one that had escaped their custody.

He had already called his mother with the details since his father was currently weaving through traffic in the Bakugou’s borrowed van in order to arrive before the police. He assumed that the police had only been contacted once Nedzu had ordered Aizawa Sensei to call about bringing the tranquilizers.

They would have wanted to assess everything before involving any outsiders. That was the reason why the detective was not already here taking over this newest incident. Even with the head start it would be a close thing for his parents to arrive before law enforcement.

Izuku had hoped that his bolas would have been able to provide some of the skin and blood samples to avoid getting them directly from the monster. It was no luck though since the skin of the creature was so tough and had not created any lesions during the impact. With his teachers here, he would not be able to get access to the beast without a good reason due to the danger they would want to protect him from.

It was a shame that Komachi had come back so quickly or he would have been able to obtain them after he had finished the first call with his father. Thinking about it further, it was probably best that he had not gotten close to that thing in his state. His parents would not have been happy at his recklessness especially if he had gotten hurt after escaping the first time.

Thankfully his priority was to get his parents to the site as soon as possible. Even if they could not get the parts of the creature to examine, there was a good chance that they would allow his father to look at the lab reports again as a consultant even if he did not fully trust them after the way they handled the last enemy they had in custody.

And this was the enemy. Two attacks, both of them in a way that seemed to emphasis capture over murder. Yes he had been hurt in the first incident, but when the creature had gone after him it had not gone for the kill even when it had taken him through the wall. Kacchan had been swatted away and not given a second glance. It was possible that he had gotten the ire of the creature after soaking it in water but it had also made no move toward any of his classmates even after Ochako and Tsu had thrown rocks at it.

This last one had targeted him while he was alone and had aimed for his back and shoulders with its extending talons. While they would have pierced his skin and caused massive amounts of damage it would have left him alive for it to take off into the sky again. It also continued to watch him. The body was struggling wildly to get out but every time he looked at the creature, those inhuman eyes stared right back at him.

If this thing really had parts of his childhood friends in it, how much did they recognize him and why would they want to hurt him. Tsubasa had been the first person outside of Kacchan that had allowed him to experiment with their quirk. He had been able to get the boy off the ground and gliding within a month. They had been able to build up his strength to later allow him to fly for short distances or hover off the ground. Unfortunately that was all they could get to before he had left school when his family had moved away but the wing patterns and more precisely scar tissue from an old injury were the exact same.

Izaki’s finger stretch quirk might make up part of the creature but it was unlikely to be the major component of the monster’s makeup since it required the lighter body for flight. He could only assume the starting base was his friend Tsubasa who had been turned into this thing before him. With Makou, there had been an actual rage towards him that could have made the monster attack. Why would Tsubasa want to hurt him? They had ended on friendly terms and he had helped him with his quirk. Did that mean it wanted something from him?

It was hard to tell the emotions of the trapped beast. But it also acted more like an animal than an actual person. That was probably due to relying on its basic instincts. It was likely whoever made it was also able to control it in some way. The exposed brain seemed to indicate a play at mental conditioning while they probably removed its pain receptors considering its unusual behavior towards its broken wing.

Whoever did this had not been looking to create intelligent beings with these monsters. It also seemed to serve a different purpose than the last which had high defensive capabilities with the transformation quirk along with the area disabling effect of its emitter type power quirk. That one had been meant to withstand physical attacks and work in close combat. They had been lucky Midnight had been the first to the scene with her ability to disable the creature without allowing it time to play to its strengths.

This flyer was built for speed and capture. While the wings had been a weak spot that he had exploited, being able to fly would also mean that the rest of him was also fairly susceptible to physical attacks. It would be easier to determine its purpose if he could figure out what other quirks it had hidden considering that mask had to be there for a reason.

The question was, why him? The madman that was building monsters was clearly in the market for quirks. Why would a quirkless high schooler be of interest to anyone with this level of ability? His father may have called these monsters hack jobs but there was a lot of money needed to create these things and there had to be a purpose behind it all.

The towering figure of his gym teacher came from the school with two smaller and familiar shapes in tow. Seeing his parents made the tension that he had not realized that he had been holding his shoulders lessened as he heard the first sounds of wailing as his mother rushed forward with tears in her eyes. It felt so nice to have those arms wrap around him that he melted into the embrace allowing her to fuss over him.

“One week.”

“Mom?”

“Just give me one week without having to worry about you. School has barely started and you have been attacked by monsters twice, ran into an active emitter situation, continued to be harassed by the media, and keep sneaking off with your friends when something is clearly after you. My heart can’t take this, Izuku.”

“I think your mother is asking you to be more careful, son.”

“I have not gone off with friends since the last one escaped and Hunoko has me on leave until the review is completed. I promise no intentional life endangering antics but I can’t exactly hide in my room all day in the middle of one of the safest locations in Japan.”

“This ‘safe location’ just had intruders break in twice. I just don’t know if this is really the best place for you anymore. There are other Hero schools that are not so high profile to elicit Villain attacks”

“I assure you we are working to stop any more disruptions Mrs. Midoriya. As principal, I take my responsibilities very seriously and can promise that we are working on updating our security at this time so that this will not happen again.”

“Will that really stop whatever is causing these things to attack?”

“Mom, I am surrounded by some of the best Heroes here. I really can’t think of any place safer. Pulling me out will only make it easier for them to catch me if I am really their target. We don’t know if it is actually after me or not. It is possible it went after me since I was on my own and it took the opportunity.”

“Well you are definitely not going to give whoever is doing this any more opportunities and why were you out on your own. Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Midoriya is working on a special project with me. You are aware that he takes personal lessons from both Recovery Girl and myself.”

“Then where were you while my baby was being attacked?”

“Mom, I’ve been working with eight other people in that workshop behind us. They were the ones that called the teachers out the moment the monster appeared. In fact, they sent out the project we are working on and saved me before it could lay a finger on me. I was not in any danger.”

“Don’t you dare try to trivialize this, Izuku. You think that being attacked is normal? That just because you are not injured everything is fine? I can and will remove you from this school if they cannot even think of your basic safety.”

“…mom?”

“I’m going to see Chiyo-san. At least she will tell me the truth and not try to downplay how much danger you were in.”

A firm hand on his shoulder stopped him from following the diminutive female back towards the main school building. As always he had been caught up in his mother’s machinations. If he had not already known her quirk was a telekinetic type he would have been sure that she had some ability to influence the emotions in others.

“Give you mother time. You just gave her a scare and she needs the comfort of someone that has your best interests at heart.”

Hearing his father speak to him in Latin allowed him to focus his awareness back to the present as he became aware of the UA staff. They were polite enough not to stare at him or the retreating form of his mother, but they were paying quite close attention nevertheless. Dad would also know that Nedzu was fluent in Latin and would be able to understand each word interchanged between them.

“Thanks Dad, I guess I messed up again.”

“Don’t blame yourself for the evil of others. You got out of the situation in one piece and captured another subject for the cops to mismanage into another escape.”

“You don’t have much faith in the police Mr. Midoriya?”

“They have yet to prove their competency in this matter. I am a scientist. That means don’t believe in anything until I can see the actual data and replicate it.”

“I have worked with a number of the police on this case and assure you of their abilities.”

“Yes, but you have a Hero License that gives you the chance to interfere and guide the investigation. I get redacted lab work. Then when I give my consultation of the information that is available to me, I get stonewalled from further results or chances to prove my theories.”

“We are all subject to the laws, Mr. Midoriya. You cannot blame the police for following protocol.”

“But I can blame this situation on you or the school, Principal Nedzu. I am not going to quietly sit by if you wish to take risks with my son’s safety again. There should have been a Hero here supervising this work and we both know it. You knew of the possibility of more danger considering that you’ve encouraged your students to live on campus and yet my son is on his own once again without anyone to protect him in sight.”

“I assure you, your son has been under surveillance the whole time he has been out in the workshop and I would have intervened immediately had there been any danger that required assistance. It is unfortunate that there is a blind spot in our monitoring systems between the two locations and that is currently being remedied with the aid of your son.”

“So you have no footage of the incident between that monster and my son?”

“None at all until the sentinels made it to the scene.”

“I want a copy of the video and I want full copies of all lab work from this one and the last beast to compare.”

“You have no right to demand anything Mr. Midoriya. If we need your input again we can request it through the official channels.”

“But I can request them from a private entity. The police are not the only people that can hire outside contractors for consultations.”

“Ah Detective, good to see you. I assume you brought the elephant tranquilizers we requested?”

Izuku had stayed silent at the verbal match between his father and the principal. He was glad that his dad had not mentioned removing him from UA like his mom had. He did feel a bit sorry for Detective Tsukauchi who had interrupted their conversation in a way that made his father go cold. Nedzu being the sensible rat that he was, ignored the tensions and moved on to more practical subjects. Mostly involving bringing Snipe over to inspect the proffered ammunition and sedating the beast.

The tranquilizers worked just as Izuku expected them to as the movements of the creatures slowed to a stop before it slumped completely to the ground. He did have to hold in a laugh when one of the police got his hand stuck in the substance when he went to check on the status of the monster. He really should have known better but at least the other was completely out and not a danger to the officer. Still it was funny to watch him continuously try to remove his hand even after being explained that the solution that was needed to release him was still being distilled and would take time.

While the detective was dealing with his men over that situation, Nedzu gave his father permission to get closer to the creature and even poke and prod it as the law enforcement protested but were forced to allow him to examine it. Nedzu explained that all theories would be shared with the police and that two sets of eyes would hopefully mean a faster resolution.

At one point he had a group of people that included his father, the principal, his homeroom teacher, and the detective surrounding him as they asked for his account of the attack. Considering his last testimony, he included his speculations of the potential people that might be part of the genetic makeup of the creature. He hoped that Nedzu was right in trusting the detective because he clearly saw the glint when he admitted potentially having a connection to the thing.

He had been able to let them know a bit about Izaki but Tsubasa had been so long ago he could not really delve into his personal information beyond his quirk and the fact his grandfather was a doctor that had left with the rest of the family to Tokyo all those years ago. He did stress the expectation of it having an emitter type quirk that it could still be hiding. The mask was also very puzzling since neither this monster nor the last wore clothes. He recommended being very careful if they decided to remove it.

By the time the interrogation was over, Chino had finished the dissolving solution and they were able to free both the officer and monster from their sticky situation after Snipe administered a second dose of the sedatives to make sure it would not reawaken in transit. The police had been quick to pack up the beast and head back out. His dad left to collect his mother once all law enforcement was off the property and he was allowed to head back to the school with Hound Dog. Apparently he was going to receive a trip to the councilors after each incident.

---

Hisashi looked at his Inko as she took her place beside him in the car. It had been luck that the Bakugou’s were using Fuang’s house to store their car while they were staying in a hotel to be away from the press or they would not have been able to get to the school before the police showed up.

“What do you think?”

“Meling is right about Chiyo. She will do anything to protect our boy. I don’t trust the rat.”

“Then it is a good thing that he knows you are willing to remove our son from the school if they do not show the proper sense of security for their students.”

“Did I really have to play the bad guy role? Izuku will never forgive me if I actually took him away from his dream school.”

“My work in America is still going to last for a few more years. We need to keep them on their toes in order to keep our son safe. Nedzu now knows that we hold him directly responsible for Izuku’s wellbeing. Izuku was right, the principal might be a rat but he takes a lot of qualities from his bear mutation. He considers UA his territory and that includes the students under him.”

“He knows what we are doing.”

“Of course he does. That is all part of the game and he wants to control the pieces. UA has always kept its autonomy by using a multitude of small measures. Izuku is a golden opportunity for him to shake up the system from the inside. That was the point of putting him through all his training. Nedzu sees that far more clearly than most since he had always dealt with similar biases against himself.”

“Will he actually support him if this really is about our son?”

“I don’t know that yet. Nor do we know if these attacks are about Izuku at all. For all we know it could be a scientific rival of mine. This complicates things but it is not time to throw away everything we have worked for.”

“If our son gets hurt from these games you and the rat decide to play, do not expect me to be complicit again.”

“I’m putting every resource at my disposal at this problem. No one gets away with targeting our boy. If the school will not take his safety seriously again, we will look for other options. Meling has a few contacts we could use if push comes to shove. We also have the Shields to fall back on if things go south. Trust me, nothing will happen to Izuku.”

Chapter Text

“…it should not be too difficult to add an earpiece to the visor but it would mean that your phone will have to be in close proximity and it might remove a minute from your air supply.”

“I was already planning on moving the phone to my medical pack so the distance should not be an issue but why not make it bulkier on the outside to include the tech and balance it on the other side with more supply there?”

“But that would make it ugly. You want me to build something ugly?”

“Most of it is already hidden in my hair no one will see it.”

“I will see. I will know you are wearing something ugly that I made.”

“What if we connect the whole thing together like a circle? Once the force field kicks in it is a nice tight fit but can be a bit loose without it. That way I do not have to worry about it when I am running and dodging.”

“That has some possibilities. I might include something to protect that hard head or yours since you refused any other kind of protection. I’ll need to measure your forehead though, your current visor should not be loose at all. It is possible your hair padded the numbers you gave me when building your tech. I have more accurate calibrators to make sure that we get the right measurements.”

“Sounds great. When are you expecting to arrive? I can see if I can get my parents to let me meet you at the airport.”

“I forgot to tell you that we had to change plans when dad could not get off work. I’m flying into Tokyo to see my uncle in a week from now. We will be traveling together for the Sports Festival. We will have plenty of time to catch up after the festival. I have a few more things I want you to test out anyway.”

“I already told you I don’t want any other Hero equipment besides the bolas.”

“But a grappling hook is not a weapon. It’s utility and can help you escape if you get into a tight spot again.”

“I don’t want something that I can do on my own. A grappling hook may be a faster option but it is more dramatic if I do it with my own strength and skills.”

“That’s just silly Izuku. You are hamstringing yourself by insisting on doing everything on your own. Many Heroes use support equipment, it does not make their skills any less.”

“Yes, but they don’t have to prove that they can still be a Hero without their equipment.”

“Who cares what people think? Shouldn’t you use everything you can to be the best Hero regardless of the public.”

“The public are fickle and can be swayed. I’m more worried about the Hero Commission. They are the ones with the overall authority to officially make me a Hero. Once that happens I can explore adding more gear to my outfit.”

“It’s a shame they won’t let you wear your Hero outfit during the festival. I want to see it in action.”

“It would not be fair considering we are competing with the other classes that do not have that advantage besides I’ve sent you plenty of footage.”

“Videos are not the same as seeing it in person.”

“Talking about videos, are you planning on recording the Sports Festival?”

“Absolutely. It will be the best chance to see you at your full potential and the official cameras won’t focus on you the whole time. I’m bringing my newest set of glasses that have a much longer battery life on it so I should be able to record the whole thing without recharging it.”

“Do you think you can focus on a few others as well?”

“What do you have in mind?”

---
Izuku made his assurances to get back in touch with Melissa again as soon as he ended their conversation. He had heard the bang of the dormitory’s door and tromp of footsteps on the stairs and knew he would need to focus on something else at this point with his best friend on their way.

Kacchan was probably not happy that he had not joined them in class after English. He had texted him that he would explain in the dorm after school during their lunch period but had not received anything back. That meant his friend was too angry to reply.

He wondered if their teacher had said something to the class about the incident. Inui Sensei had not said anything about keeping the events to himself during the counseling session. In fact they had spent most of that time discussing his feelings on the monster that could be made from people he knew and if the attack affected his plans on becoming a Hero.

He moved out into the hallway not wanting any of his personal belongings to have an accident during one of Katsuki’s rages. While he was expected to see the angry form of his best friend he was not expecting to see his whole lunch group with him as well. He had heard the footsteps but did not think Kacchan had gotten to the point where he would actively work with others. He was definitely growing up. Maybe his sessions with Hound Dog were helping him break out of his shell a bit more.

“Hey guys. Sorry to worry you again.”

“The fuck is going on nerd?”

“Just an unexpected visitor this morning.”

“Same fucker that put a hole through the wall?”

“No, but it probably was a friend of his.”

The explosion went off at the same time as the expletives his best friend let out as he let him know what he thought about a second attack. It seemed he was madder about not being with him rather than the fact it happened again.

“Are you trying to tell us another one of those black beasts came onto school grounds?”

“Don’t worry Iida. Midnight got there very fast and no one was hurt this time.”

“I can’t believe it happened again. That last one escaped and a different one attacked the school. How many of these things are there and what do they have against UA?”

“I don’t know Ochako. But Principal Nedzu has increased security and they were able to capture this newest one in moments of it getting on property. I doubt they would find another way to enter the school after this last break in.”

“So you took on another one of those monsters all by yourself? That is super manly!”

“I am not a match for any monster, Eijiro. I just ran away when I saw it. But because I was a witness I had to talk to the police and do the mandatory session with Hound Dog afterwards. I would have much rather been in class.”

“Why were you outside? Aren’t you working with Recovery Girl? Kero.”

“I haven’t told you guys, but I’ve been working with Nedzu to help update the security. He found out about my connection in a couple of support item patents and wanted me to oversee a project for him. I’m hoping it will lead to other opportunities but I did not want to mention anything in case it fell through.”

“Why would it fall through? You’re like the smartest guy in our class.”

“Thanks Mina but I’m not a support technician. I’m just good friends with someone that does all the real work. None the less Nedzu decided to give me a chance and I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“No wonder you don’t have time to work with me anymore.”

“That’s not it at all Hitoshi. I’ve been grounded. I did not tell you because I was trying to convince my parents to give me a bit more flexibility but after this last incident, it does not look like I’ll be allowed to leave without supervision for a while.”

“I mean it does seem like you naturally attract trouble, Izuku. It’s actually a good thing you were not at lunch today, that jerk from 1-B came by to ask about you. He was clearly looking to cause trouble and made it clear that your quirk status was true to the whole school. Iida was able to shut it down with the help of their class representative but not before he made a scene in front of everyone.”

“Thank you for letting me know Hanta.”

“Bastard is fucking faking courage.”

“No, I think he would have made a scene even if I was there, Kacchan. He does not consider me as an actual Hero class student. He felt humiliated from the other morning and wanted some payback even if I was not there.”

“That’s not fair though. You work so hard and you’ve proven yourself multiple times.”

He smiled at his friends as they seconded Ochako’s words. He had other friends growing up aside from Kacchan but none of them really understood him like his best friend did. These classmates he had only met a few weeks ago seemed to have accepted and liked him for who he was rather than what he could do for them or worse begrudgingly in order to hang out with Katsuki. Hero school was so different from public school.

“So did you guys still do the Hero lesson at the USJ? I know Aizawa Sensei was out with me but since classes were not canceled…”

“Our trip to the USJ was postponed until next week. Thirteen had us in the classroom and went over the standard Hero response to different types of rescue scenarios. I took full notes so that you would not be behind in class.”

“Thanks Iida. I’m definitely going to need them. Can’t let my team down next week. Right Denki?”

“You got it. We are going to be on top again.”

The conversation moved to more playful bickering as they discussed how much better each of the different teams were going to do and made their way down stars as a group. The living area was mostly empty except for a couple of the 1-B girls that were working on homework while watching TV. From the looks of it the homework was mostly forgotten as they laughed at the variety show that was currently playing.

Izuku had considered asking Kodai and Yanagi if they wanted to join their group for dinner when the TV broke out into an emergency news bulletin. The dorm went quiet as the familiar faces of their principal and art teacher replaced the show on the screen. Everyone in sight of the television focused on the broadcast and moved closer to hear what was going on.

The announcement was exactly what Izuku had predicted with Midnight taking the credit for another take down and praising the improvements to the schools security. It also seemed as if Nedzu was implying that the school allowed the break in just so they could capture another one of these monsters. There was also a plea to the public to keep an eye out for the original monster that had still evaded custody and to notify Heroes if they saw anything suspicious.

It did make him wonder how these monsters were able to move around without attracting attention. They were all extremely large and very noticeable. They could not exactly walk to their destinations in the streets. The last one was able to fly but even the skies were normally carefully monitored by Heroes. How were they able to stay out of the public’s eye?

---

He wanted to throw something at the insolent boy before him. How dare he completely override their agreement? He had told him that his grandson was not ready and now it was being carted off by the police.

“What do you mean he was captured? He was supposed to stay in the air and get you the coordinates.”

“Your conditioning is not working. It attacked the boy on its own.”

“Impossible. It can’t attack unless commanded. That is the first thing that is programmed in.”

“Well it did anyway. Your failures are really starting to pile up, doc. I’m starting to doubt you can continue this work at all.”

“The last subject is already showing signs of successful integration. The process is getting smoother and faster. But the merging process does not bring every attribute of the donor bodies. It takes time and the side effects can destroy the subject before it can be of use.”

“There might be another way.”

“What insights can you bring to solve this? All for One could remove and add quirks for periods at a time to ensure the subject would still be viable to continue the transformation. No one else has a quirk similar to him that we have found.”

“Kurogiri found out more about that quirkless kid.”

“And? This child is of no consequence. We need a subject now. Surely we can find an easier target?”

“What if I tell you his father is working on something that can be to our advantage?”

“His father?”

“Yes, one Hisashi Midoriya. He had been in the United States working on a way to enhance a person whose quirk has a damaging effect on them. To some success I am told.”

“How?”

“Cloning and grafting. A very slow process considering the time it takes to clone the specific parts. But we don’t need to clone parts that we already have. We just need to get him to remove them and graft them to the right Nomu.”

“Bringing in a scientist is dangerous especially if he is high profile.”

“But it will be much easier to gain his cooperation if we hold his son. Then we get a new host for the parasite and an assistant for you.”

“Very well but what about my grandson?”

“Kurogiri is already working on that. The Heroes never actually took off the mask you placed on the Nomu which means the tracker is still on him. We are just waiting for the chance to pick him up and leave a gift this time for the police.”

Chapter Text

Izuku had a mostly sleepless night. He had been so happy in the company of his friends as they ate dinner together and later did their homework at Iida's insistence as they caught him up on what he missed in class. At one point, the friends that did not stay in the dorm did eventually leave to get back to their own homes. Kacchan had of course left right after dinner for his workout and he doubted he would see the blonde again that day.

The rest of them had continued to hang out in front of the TV where they joined Pony and her two other female classmates. He still had not been able to break the tension between him and the boys of 1-B but that would only take time now that the girls were on friendly terms with them. Considering how close knit that class was, he doubted the standoff would last for long.

He remembered standing up to go back to his dorm for his nightly weight training and to go through his Tai Chi routine when the TV started the second emergency broadcast for the day. The police had lost the newest monster in the middle of transporting it from the station to a more secure location. Whatever had taken the beast had also hijacked the armored vehicle and the officers assigned to the transfer.

His father should have insisted on getting the blood and tissue samples of the Villain rather than just the reports. Izuku doubted that the police had time to extract the specimens to send to the lab for analysis. Now there would be no way to find out if that was really Tsubasa in there. He had not even had time alone with Kacchan to let him know that some of their old friends could have made up that monster.

As much as he was learning to trust his new friends, it was still too early to bring them in on some things they had uncovered about the Villains. Considering how the horror of the first attack still affected some of his friends he did not want to add more pressure on them. A small part of him recognized the fact he was afraid he would lose their friendship if they found out he had connections to the beasts that kept attacking the school.

He had left his concerned friends claiming he had to call his parents about the news. He did get in touch with his father so they could both commiserate on the missed opportunities to learn more about the enemy. Both his parents had taken time to reiterate his restriction to the school grounds even though Izuku was sure that the freed Villain would not be able to fly all that soon after the damage his one wing had taken.

By the time he got off the phone with his parents he still had his weights to work with and slept walked through his Tai Chi. His body was so used to his regular routine he was able to do it without thinking too hard. It was also nice to be able to put effort into something he could actually control.

Unfortunately, even after the exercise his mind had not stopped rethinking the different scenarios on what he could have done differently at the incident or what it could all mean. His eyes finally closed to give him only a couple hours of actual sleep before his alarm went off dragging him from his bed and out the door for another day.

As he exited the door to the outside he found the grumpy face of his home room teacher there to greet him. He probably looked just as sleep deprived as he felt but still put a smile on his face as he looked up to see what Eraserhead wanted from him before school.

“Something I can help you with Aizawa Sensei?”

“I’m walking you to the gym. You can run your laps there.”

“Is this about the escape yesterday? I don’t think it will become a danger that soon due to the condition of its wings.”

“They found the armored vehicle at two in the morning.”

“Great, were the officers alive? I was worried when I saw they were taken as well.”

“None of them survived the encounter. Only the transport was intact… inside a secure room in the center of the medical facility they were taking that thing to.”

“…how did they get it in the room?”

“We assume some sort of quirk considering the only door is not wide enough for such a large object to get through it.”

“That must be how they are able to move around unnoticed. I was wondering how no one sees them until they attack.”

“What it means is that all students must travel in groups from now on, including you. You would have all been informed during the morning home room today but since we all know your schedule I was volunteered to keep you safe. This is a one time service as I am not your babysitter. I expect you to work out something with your Shifu to arrange the escort to and from your dorm for the extra training.”

“Sensei... how did those officers die?”

“…they each had their limbs removed from their bodies in what looked like brute force while they were still alive. They died from blood loss.”

“The first one could have the strength to do that but considering there were four of them they would have resisted.”

“There was not enough blood in the vehicle to be where they died so it is hard to say if they did put up a fight. There were no other marks on any of the bodies.”

“Some sort of message?”

“Most likely flexing their power. Villains do not like having their plans foiled and they have failed twice on campus. At this point we are worried they might try something really reckless.”

Izuku stopped asking questions as he could tell both of them would have been better off in bed right now. It was also clear that while Aizawa Sensei had answered his questions it was done somewhat reluctantly and he did not want to push him for more information. They were silent for the rest of the trip to the empty gym.

Seeing the gym devoid of life, Eraserhead only sighed as he made himself comfortable against the wall and motioned him to enter fully into the gym. Knowing that his teacher would probably only stay until Shifu got there he started to warm up his body before taking off running around the gym.

Running in a building was far different from being outside as it was completely flat and the flooring was consistent. It was not long before he got into a rhythm and kept a steady pace. It gave him time to observe things as he usually did, but the only thing that was there to observe was his teacher.

He could tell that he was paying attention to everything around him even with his eyes closed and slumped against the wall. It was similar to how he behaved in the classroom when he did not want to be disturbed. The bags under his eyes were more pronounced which meant he had probably not slept at all and considering how much he knew of the incident from last night was also fully entrenched in the situation.

It made sense considering he was an Underground Hero. They tended to interact the most directly with law enforcement. That meant he had most likely been at the site of the escape and had stayed on with the investigation until he returned recently to take care of his duties as a teacher. He should ask Melissa to bring some of her father’s coffee blend from I-Island. She always claimed that it was able to revive her dad after inspiration struck and he would stay up to work on one support item or another.

Fuang came in a few minutes before their scheduled time to meet. Izuku continued to run as the two adults talked to each other in voices soft enough that he could not hear them. It was clear from their movement and facial expressions that his teacher was explaining the situation to his Shifu who nodded occasionally but did not say much of anything.

Eraserhead was gone by the time his laps were completed and Shifu walked over to him to start their training. From the look on her face, Izuku knew he was in for another grueling session. Aizawa Sensei must have made her worry about his safety. That meant his mom would soon know what had happened as well considering how close a relationship they had. He was not going to be allowed to leave campus until he graduated at this rate.

---

Classes were more subdued than usual. Not even weight training in the physical education class where there were normally loud conversations going on while everyone worked out alleviated the tension. The dual emergency announcements of another school break in and the subsequent escape felt the class feeling worn out as they jumped at every shadow. The morning announcement of having all students move in groups only seemed to increase the sense of danger in the room.

Izuku tried to stay cheerful for his classmates throughout the day knowing that a large part of their worries were directed at him since he always seemed to be in the middle of the danger. It was Kacchan that was finally able to break the mood as he confronted the issue head on while the teachers were in the middle of switching classes and proclaimed to the class that he would destroy any Villains that dared mess with him… in slightly more colorful language.

His words had an uplifting response from the rest of the class that followed his energy to also vow to take on the enemy as they were all Hero hopefuls. While these confrontations had come sooner than expected they were all here to learn how to protect people and defeat villains. This was just another learning opportunity to become a great Hero one day.

As the class left for lunch, Izuku stayed behind for a moment before approaching the one person that had not yet grouped up with any of the other students yet. Considering he always ate by himself outside, the others had probably not thought about the quietest student in the room.

“Hey Koda. Did you have lunch plans?”

“…lunch…quirk…outside.”

“Would you like some company? Since we are not supposed to be alone now. I’ve been wanting to get your help but you're always quirk training so I never get a chance.”

“…help?”

“Yeah, you seem to have really mastered the command of your quirk. Hitoshi’s is so similar to yours but he started training so much later that he still has issues with it. Do you think you can give him a few pointers?”

“…crowds…bad…animals…afraid.”

“No worries, just me and Hitoshi. That should not scare off your animals. I could use a little less noise myself today.”

“…Bakugou…angry?”

“Kacchan is not always with me. Since this is about quirks he will have more fun with the rest of the class. He is only really into quirk training that has a physical component. The mental quirks like yours and Hitoshi’s will only bore him.”

“…yes?”

“Great! Come on. No time better to start then the present.”

"...danger?"

"I'm sure it will be fine. I doubt we will see another attack so soon and the school increased their security."

By the time the two left the classroom the hall was empty as to be expected. Koda always thought carefully about his words so it often took him longer to respond. Considering how powerful his mind control was, Izuku really could not blame the caution. Much like Hitoshi, Koda’s quirk removed the free will of the subjects and since it was vocal instructions, anything he said would be taken literally by the animal.

Considering how the boy worked endlessly on his quirk, Izuku would bet that there were quite a lot of animals killed or permanently damaged before he had been able to gain full control on the power. Children received their quirks around the age of four and while many were harmless or would grow with the child to become stronger. There were some quirks that were far too powerful for anyone much less a toddler to handle.

Koda had a mutant type quirk which meant he had been born with his powers. It was possible his pheromones had developed later but he would still have his Anivoice abilities which meant that the normal babble of a baby could potentially affect animals within hearing range. Considering the way he interacted with the animals he controlled, there was definitely an underlined trauma attached to his quirk use.

Koda had brought his own lunch from home but stayed next to him as he went through the cafeteria line for his own meal. The crowds in the large room seemed to make him uncomfortable. Izuku did notice that they had caught the attention of both Shouji and Tokoyami who were the closest to Koda in the class. This was probably the first time either had seen their quiet friend in the lunchroom.

Rather than force Koda to wade through the people in the room Izuku sent off a quick text to Hitoshi to join them and a second to Katsuki to let him know what was going on. He would be able to relay the information to the rest or most likely tell them to mind their own business. Though it was possible he would actually let them know what was going on since he was starting to open up with their new friends.

Hitoshi appeared with his partially eaten lunch just as Lunch Rush pushed his tray of food over to him. With a wave of thanks to the food based Hero he moved towards the doors that would allow them to get Koda away from the rest of the school population. Once away from the noise, his purple haired friend did not say anything but the look he gave him still asked the question.

“Koda offered to help us with your control issues. His quirk requires him to release the buildup of his pheromones which is only really safely done outside so we need to join him at lunch.”

“Why not after school?”

“…distance…training.”

“While Koda’s quirk buildup can be released on school grounds at lunch he has to go quite far to get to less populated areas to fully release it. While there are places on school grounds that could potentially work, there are not many animals nearby that he can manipulate. The more animals there are, the less his power can overwhelm them and potentially damage them.”

“How do you know so much about his quirk?”

“Observation. It is really quite obvious if you know what to look for.”

Koda just nodded his agreement clearly much happier as they made their way out the doors of the building and onto the grass. Izuku guided them to the same tree that Koda always used for lunch and saw that many of the animals that visited the boy were already waiting for their daily ritual.

“But my quirk has nothing to do with animals or pheromone buildup. How will this help me?”

“Koda has meticulous control. He also understands animals very well. It does not take him much energy to get them to do things for him but he asked them to do things that they would naturally do. You always expend so much of your quirk getting me to do things when I think you need a softer touch.”

“Explain.”

“I think a demonstration will help you improve more. That was why I wanted to be Koda’s in for your training.”

Both of them looked to the boy in question who looked so very harmless as he was currently feeding one of the many squirrels around them. It did not take long for Hitoshi to agree but they still had time to finish their meals as Koda continued to pamper the wildlife around them. It was so clear to the friends that this was important to the boy that they only watched quietly as they ate.

Only after each of the animals had received personal attention from Koda did he turn to them as if realizing they were still there with him. With a nod he indicated he was ready as he turned to the scurry of squirrels that were still around them. He also spoke in the clearest tones they had heard from the boy.

“Climb the tree, please.”

In a heartbeat Izuku felt the tiny bodies clinging to him and he forced himself to stay still. His eyes moved to Hitoshi who only watched with a perplexed look on his face.

“I mean your hair is green but you are hardly a tree. Why would they climb on you?”

“Because to them I am a tree. Why would they hesitate or question something they would already do.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Koda is overriding their understanding of what a tree is and replacing it with me. Because I am a tree, it does not conflict with their natural tendencies.”

“You mean Koda is able to remake their understanding of the world while they are under his control?”

“Precisely. You picture your instructions when you give the commands to a person held under your control. Koda puts in added substitutions to make the command sound natural as if it was something the animals would do on their own.”

“Not many people would normally climb a tree.”

“They would if you gave them a purpose behind it. Like rescuing a cat or plucking an apple from it.”

“Ok, I think I get it. It would be easier to take you more seriously without the furry critters hanging off you though.”

“Koda?”

“Predator in the air. Climb down to safety.”

Without hesitation the warm bodies were at once off him and surrounding Koda again as he pretended to be the protection from a raptor that was not there. Turning to Hitoshi who continued to stare at the squirrels in thought he waited.

“Ok. I understand but do you think I can actually do that?”

“There is only one way to find out.”

---

Izuku had to rush to make it to the nurse’s office on time but he could not help the huge smile on his face at the latest breakthrough with Hitoshi’s quirk. It had taken quite a few tries but that last time his friend had been able to partly change his reality so they knew it was possible. At this point it was going to be more training to make it as seamless as what Koda was able to do but he had complete faith that Hitoshi would be able to do it.

The even bigger breakthrough though was when Hitoshi actually took up Koda’s offer to brainwash him as well. It was the first person beside himself that he had willingly done so for practice. It was good too since Izuku really wanted to see how different people were affected by the quirk. Especially the energy input to get them to follow directions.

He had no thoughts of Hitoshi being able to control the amount of subjects that Koda was able to but there was definitely room to hold people longer or increase the numbers that could fall under his quirk. It was natural for a person to fight against the compulsions which was why it was always a fight for Hitoshi to keep a person under.

If they could enhance his quirk to the point that the person in control did not realize they were being influenced it was possible to do so much more. Hitoshi would be able to convince a Villain to stop running because they thought they were safely hidden away. Maybe reveal their secrets if they thought they were with someone they trusted. Maybe calm a crowd of civilians to calmly leave a dangerous area.

There were just so many different uses for his quirk in Hero work once he was able to master it. It would not be flashy but he was going for an Underground Hero anyway so it should not matter. Koda was another who was not going for the Spotlight Hero role.

He cared about the animals he used too much to want to put them into deadly situations. But with his skills any agency would be nuts not to want him on their team as a Support Hero. Considering how powerful his quirk was and the mental component of his abilities was the most likely reason he was in 1-A. His goals aligned better with 1-B but it was also possible the school was trying to mold him into the Underground Hero path which he would excel at if he was capable of being more independent.

Opening the door to the infirmary he smiled at his mentor as he took his usual seat by her desk. He nodded to the female student that was sitting on the infirmary bed eating gummies as Recovery Girl examined her right ankle.

“You need to give yourself time to recover, girl.”

“I need to make the most of this Sports Festival. This is my last chance to make a name for myself.”

“Didn’t you intern with Lanceman last year?”

Izuku’s comment had both women looking at him oddly. Did Recovery Girl not realize he would recognize most of the students from their previous performances from the Sports Festivals? It was really only the Management Classes that he would have no clue about. As well as most of the general and support students also took part in school festivals. Unless they stood out or made it to the second round they would get very little on air time to learn much about them. Often their names were not even mentioned at all.

This girl never got to the third round in either of her times in the Sports Festival and it would be doubtful things would be any different this year. She is a natural Support Hero and would probably stay a Sidekick once she graduated since she was not the leader type.

Her time as an intern was usually working with the sidekick Blockade dealing with keeping civilians safe from the inevitable property damage of Villain battles. Her ability could make a fluffy cloud like creation about the size of a person that she was able to manipulate the density of to save people on free fall and place a barrier between herself and others from danger. It was a shame that she herself was unable to move it once created and her touch dissipated the quirk so she could not interact directly with it.

“How did you…? Yes, but after getting out of the hospital when Stain crippled him, he retired completely.”

“He still would have contacts with other Heroes since he has been working in a field a long time. He can probably help you get your foot into an agency if the Sports Festival does not work out. Many of his Sidekicks have gone on to other local agencies that could help you out as well if you still keep in touch with them. I know Blockade is now working with Idaten. What I am trying to say is that there are always opportunities that you can use once you graduate. You’re clearly pushing yourself too hard and can cause permanent damage if you’re not careful. Recovery Girl’s ability only increases the natural healing of your body. At one point the body is unable to recover from the continuous trauma.”

“Is it really that serious?”

“Midoriya is making the situation sound more severe but he is not wrong. That is why I told both you and your teacher that you were supposed to stay off your leg as much as possible.”

“Midnight did not know that I was training after school. Even since Lanceman got hurt this summer… I’m just afraid that I’ve lost everything I worked for. I need to make an impression strong enough for another Hero to give me an opportunity.”

“Why not just work on your quirk without the physical training?”

“My quirk does not change and depends on my ability to get to the right place for it to be effective.”

“So you saying your quirk has not gotten faster the more you use it? Or that the density variation has not increased?”

“How would you…? Of course they have but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Sounds like your quirk does have room for improvement then. You should focus on what you can do. After all, you're not going to make an impression on anyone if you can’t even get on the field due to injuries. Besides you should not look at the Sport Festival as a winner takes all event. It is not about winning against your classmates. It’s about showing off what you can do that can will make Heroes want to work with you.”

The girl stayed quiet after that and soon left the room to head back to her own class. Once they were alone he turned to the nurse expecting her to continue with their lessons. Instead he was met with a stare as she looked at him. He wondered if he had done something wrong when she took her seat at the desk.

“How would you like to work with me during the festival?”

“Cloudbank is not the only one hoping to prove themselves during the festival.”

“Nedzu would never allow you to be removed from your year’s sports festival. Not when you have to give the Student’s Oath as the top examinee from the entrance exam. I was talking about the next two days for the second and third years.”

“Oh, I have a friend flying in to see me and we were planning to spend the weekend together… but if I can bring her with me it should be fine.”

“I’ll have to get it approved but I think this will be a good experience for you. Also, Kanon is reckless but she is not stupid. She would have followed my directions this time with or without your help.”

“Maybe but there was a desperation in her eyes when you told her to take it easy. The Sports Festival is much like the entrance exam in that it is easier for those with powerful quirks to get through it. Kanon has a great defensive quirk that will be fantastic for rescue work but it is not that flashy. If she is smart she will make use of her quirk in a way to show how useful it would be in the field.”

“And what are your plans for the festival?”

“To get first place of course.”

Chapter Text

Izuku had opened the door to the dormitories at the sharp knock the next morning from Shifu. He had been bruised all over and stiff from the practice with Kacchan from the night before. It had been a while since they had been able to work on their synchronized moves. Thankfully they had done them so much in the past that it became a second nature to both of them with only a few accidents.

There were no second chances at the Sports Festival so they had to make sure that they landed all their attacks the first time. The roof was a great place to practice just as they had hoped though they knew that the rest of their dorm mates would have been able to hear the few times Katsuki’s quirk went off even when they made sure they were irregular and not frequent. They would still not be able to do it often without the others suspecting their activity.

He would not have agreed to it at all if it was not for the mood Katsuki had gotten into when he explained about the newest monster on the loose. As he expected, Kacchan had not really remembered Tsubasa all that well beside his quirk but he had remembered Izaki far too well. He was the betrayer.

Izuku had been surprised that it had not been brought up during the interview with the detective since it had been the first case where they had met. He would have thought Detective Tsukauchi would remember the boy that had put him into the hospital or at least reviewed the old case after meeting him again so recently. Even now he could feel a numbness in his hand as he remembered the incident even though he knew there had been no lasting damage after the physical therapy.

While Tsubasa would have no reason to want to hurt him, Izaki had already proven that he was willing to cause damage. Was there more of the boy in the beast than he had figured? They had not seen each other at all after Aldera was shut down. But considering how his crimes had been caught on video, it was possible he had run into far more severe punishment compared to Makou. It was likely he also blamed him for his problems.

Izaki had been pulling his friendship with Izuku near the end of middle school with many of his other friends. He had been in Kacchan’s class while Izuku had been friendless on his own. So they would often see each other during their joint lunches and would hang out with Katsuki when the blonde would wait for him to get out of school. The boy had thought Kacchan’s tolerance of his presence meant something more than it was.

Knowing the two of them were aiming for Heroes, he had wanted to join them after school. Izuku had given him a chance since his quirk had some possibilities but the boy had been lazy. He was more interested in watching Kacchan work on his quirk than practice his own. With that kind of attitude he would not even make it as a Sidekick much less a Hero. That confrontation had gone poorly especially when his best friend backed him up and banned his classmate from their sessions for being a distraction.

After that, Izaki’s indifference to the quirkless acquaintance had turned to actual hate since Katsuki broke off completely from the boy and he had blamed Izuku for the distancing. Kacchan paid no mind to it and even when they were all together in Jr High continued to ignore him. Extras did not matter to him after all. It was not worth his attention.

It was a decision he regretted much later after the attack since neither had been able to consider the weak willed classmate as a danger. Izaki had gained courage from the actions of their teachers and students that had discounted the quirkless kid. It had taught both of them a lesson on understanding those they considered civilians and what made a villain. More importantly, what made someone turn into a villain?

After their training, he entered the common room when his best friend went off to bed. It was lucky their friends were used to the blonde using his quirk all the time when they asked him about the noise. Izuku let them assume that the number of explosions was from an argument they had which seemed accepted by the students present. The reasoning would keep people from trying to interfere with their practice at least. It would also give them an excuse for the next time they needed to use the roof for their work.

He had needed the run to limber up his body before his work with Shifu. Even then he was not as flexible that day and Fuang was not pleased by his condition. He promised to be more careful at the next session he had with Bakugou. Maybe he could get a mat for the roof to cushion them when they inevitably fell to the ground. It would at least help with the bruises. Once he got the proper equipment he could use it for some gymnastic practice as well to keep his skills up.

Kacchan was in a better mood during class that morning though that was to be expected since he was able to blow off a lot of energy the other day. He always forced himself to excel in school work but he had no real passion for any of the subjects. It was just something he could do that made him better than the others. With UA at least since most of their subjects dealt with Heroes in some way he was more interested in the topics but it was still nothing that got him as excited as working with his quirk and becoming stronger.

It probably also helped that it was the first time they really hung out without any of the others about them. Izuku had been so dedicated to helping his classmates and making friends that he realized that his best friend had been left out of their usual activities. His focus had been so scattered lately it was no wonder things kept falling through the cracks.

It did not help that there was no real time to slow down. He was set to meet with Ochako and Tanaka Sensei after classes today in the gym and he already knew that Kacchan would want more time with him to work through their moves tomorrow. He still had to work with Melissa on redesigning his visor and fit in completing Hitoshi’s gear now that they had a better idea on his abilities.

Melissa had been especially excited to meet Katsuki and Hitoshi in person after hearing about them so much. He wondered if he would be able to convince Aizawa Sensei to give them access to their costumes so Melissa would be able to see how well they worked in person. She would not be able to finish the tech they had planned for the brainwasher in time but they were hoping to test a prototype out to make sure they were on the right track.

---

Nedzu had approved of him working with Recovery Girl and even got him a couple of tickets for Melissa to the second and third year festivals. Izuku felt the nurse had insisted on that from the principal to keep her assistant focused on the infirmary while his friend enjoyed herself at the activities. At least he had not needed to ask for another set of tickets for her uncle since he doubted he would be leaving her on her own while he was busy working side by side with the school’s Medical Support Hero.

Shuuzenji Sensei had him looking through the medical files of a number of his upperclassmen during their quiet hour together after giving him the news. He was to be assigned out on the field for the two days of the older student’s festivals. His job was to assess the injuries of the participants, administer on the spot aid when needed, and help transport the more serious cases to the stadium’s hospital where Recovery Girl was going to be stationed.

Previously the nurse had to rely on the students to come to her on their own or the medical bots to transport the injured who could not make it to the informatory on their own. This meant many would not bother getting the small injuries looked at and would continue in the festival without treatment. Students knew that her healing quirk would take some of their much needed stamina for the later events and had the misconception that she was unable to heal them in a more traditional method.

His was to provide a secondary option for those that were too stubborn to let the nurse help them and encourage those that needed her care to go to her. Though from the way she talked about the stubbornness of some of the students he might have to deal with, it was possible he would need to find those tranquilizer grenades that were being made by the support student that Nedzu had talked about to get them to her office in the stadium.

Because he would not have access to the medical database, Recovery Girl had wanted to familiarize him with a number of student’s previous medical histories that had potential of being an issue during the event. Looking through the files, it was clear that UA’s Hero course training was demanding and mistakes were often costly to the student’s health.

They could afford the injuries done to their students in most part due to the Medical Hero on staff that was able to heal them quickly enough to get them back on their feet for the next grueling challenge. A benefit many of the other Hero schools did not have and allowed UA to demand a higher caliber of skills from their graduates.

It also left a vast history of medical procedures and incidents from most of the Hero course students. He would be more shocked if anyone actually left the school without visiting the nurse at one point of their student careers. While this delve into the records was illuminating it was something he had expected since the entrance exam and the large number of examinees that had been hurt during the practical.

He still hated how biased the exam was for kids with powerful quirks, but it also showed the lengths the school was willing to go to produce the best Heroes. Hopefuls who could not accept that Heroes had to put themselves in danger or could not handle the pressure of an attack would not have been able to pass the entrance exam no matter what kind of quirk they had.

While there was nothing fatal in the test, the robots still could cause pain and hurt the examinees. Actual villains would not be as kind as he had observed from the two separate attacks from those monsters where death had been a potential outcome. As harsh as the system was, it meant that the school was better able to prepare the students for the harsh realities of the Hero work they wanted to pursue. That meant there would be plenty of work for him at the Sports Festival.

---

After school, Ochako had parted with him to stop by the girl’s locker room to change into her gym outfit. She was not allowed to have her hero costume for the quirk assessment since Tanaka Sensei wanted to get the baseline on her quirks which meant she would only be able to use what was natural to her. Still she was allowed to get more comfortable since she was going to be doing some physical tests.

He left to go to the gym with his recording glasses and his tablet ready for the upcoming trials. Even though he was not allowed to take part in them he did want to see what the government deemed the proper way to analyze quirks. It would help him find out what the tests were looking for and maybe insight on how so many people he had met were misdiagnosed.

He nodded his head in greeting to the quirk counselor as he entered the building where she was waiting. She acknowledged his entrance with a wave and motioned to the bleachers on the side indicating where he was to set up without a word. Taking his place he looked about the gym with unconcealed disappointment.

There was nothing in the gym except for the two of them. Shouldn’t an assessment have some sort of equipment or monitoring devices? How could you measure anything without something that could track data and provide readings? He would just have to wait and see how this would play out since there was nothing for him to work with.

Ochako arrived not that long after and he waved at her letting his friend know he was there to support her. Rather than wait for instructions from the teacher, she came over and placed her school bag next to him with a smile.

“I decided to bring my stuff with me so we could go back to the dorms together afterwards.”

“Sounds like a plan, Ochako. I’m sure our friends can’t wait to hear all about this.”

“Before the two of you start making plans about the future, maybe we should focus on the now?”

Both students looked up at the adult that had appeared in front of them and gave her an obedient “Sorry Sensei” in reply. The girl gave him a small smile before returning her attention back to the counselor.

“So where do we start Tanaka Sensei?”

“As part of your application, your quirk registry is added to the documentation and it shows that no changes have been made since you registered your quirk at 4 years of age.”

“Yes, my father has a similar quirk to remove the weight of items that he touches. The counselor in elementary school thought that it was a derivative of his quirk.”

“What made you think differently?”

“Well, Izuku told me…”

“No. I don’t want to know what you have been told about your quirk. Why do you believe your quirk registration is wrong?”

“I experimented with my quirk after being made aware that I might be using it improperly. Apparently, you are not supposed to feel nausea and pain when you use your own quirk.”

“You never mentioned these symptoms to your counselor?”

“He told me it would get over it in time because it was a manufactured condition since I was afraid of heights.”

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“I’ve been going to my parent’s construction sites since I was a baby. I am not afraid of being in high places at all.”

“Why would he think you are then?”

“There was an incident in school. My parents always made ends meet but barely. Because of that I could not afford the newest technology or the nicest accessories. Girls can be mean sometimes. I had enough one day and used my quirk to float one of my classmates up to the top of a tree. She made it down just fine after I released her but the next day I was pushed down the stairs. I could not prove it was them because there were too many students in the hallway, but I knew it was them. After that I kept away from the stairs when I could if those girls were nearby. It got the point where people thought I was afraid of them.”

“Ochako, I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Izuku, you are only here to observe. But yes, I can see how your counselor thought you had a mental block. Why didn’t you let him know the truth?”

“I did but one of the girl’s fathers was on the school board and the counselor refused to believe that she could have any part of bullying, so I was obviously lying to get her in trouble since I did not want to admit my fear of heights.”

While Izuku had not heard that story before, it made so much more sense why his friend had put so much emphasis on money. He knew that she wanted to help her parents out by becoming a Hero since they were poor. From a young age she had been made aware of how money could increase her status. Helping her parents with their company had probably cemented her viewpoint since smaller companies would have to fight for every job they got often by reducing their prices making their profit margins tight.

As a Hero, she would be the one demanding respect not just for herself but for her family. They could use her name to increase their bids since a Hero would be backing their business. It was also possible to get direct job offers if someone wanted to gain favor with their daughter. Izuku would also bet that any contracts for repair work that would be needed after her villain battles would be sent to her parents’ company. That was probably the main reason they had gone to the expense of having her go to school at UA when there were more affordable options closer to home. She was an investment.

“What experiments have you done so far?”

“Mostly separating my powers so I can use them independently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I affect the gravity of items without using my five-point touch first.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at the news since that was the first time he had heard of this new aspect of her abilities. A quick look at Tanaka Sensei kept him from speaking without permission again but he could not stop his mind from going through all the possibilities that statement had meant in regard to her quirks. On his tablet, he opened his profile on Ochako and started a new page of notes that he would integrate with the rest of her information later when he was able to go over it.

“Can you demonstrate?”

The teacher said as she produced a small red ball from her pocket. Izuku’s eyes stared at it for a moment realizing that it had mechanical components meaning it was able to calculate something. From Ururaka’s expression, it seemed that she was familiar with the object. That meant she had been tested with it before.

“I don’t think I can use that. It has to be very light for me to be able to manipulate it.”

“Try anyway.”

Ochako only nodded as she concentrated on the ball that the teacher held out on her open palm. They were staring at it for about a minute before Tanaka lowered it after it had not budged a centimeter in any direction. Curiously, rather than seem dismissive of the effort, she pulled out her phone and opened it to an app that was already running on the device.

“Looks like it did register some type of force so your power is trying to effect it.”

“I’ve tried a number of things but anything even slightly heavier than a piece of paper will not lift for me unless I remove the weight first.”

“Show me.”

A few seconds later had Ochako digging through her bag for paper before Izuku stopped her by placing his hand over hers.

“Wait let me. I know I am just here to observe but if we are testing her ability to not use her five-point touch ability first, she probably can’t handle the paper before the test.”

“Good thinking.”

Izuku blinked. As he really looked at Tanaka Sensei fully. There was a small smile on her face as she nodded at him to do what he suggested. That was when he realized her shortness was because she really did want him to pay attention and not because she was against his presence. Her cold exterior was not all that cold anymore now that he knew what to look for as he pulled his own bag out for the paper inside.

Scooting a bit away from his friend he held up the paper the same way he had seen the teacher do it just a moment before with the ball. In moments the piece of paper was in the air. Exactly one meter up. He smiled knowing that her precision was spot on. She had been practicing what he had suggested not that long ago. He wondered if she had progressed to other various markers in height.

“How long can you keep it up?”

“Maybe an hour. I’ve not tested it for duration but there is no strain for large periods of time as long as I concentrate on it.”

“Do you have to look at it to concentrate on it?”

“Not after the initial lift. Once my power attaches to it, it is kind of like a string connected to me.”

“So you can manipulate it as long as it is connected to you?”

“As far as I can tell.”

“Can you move it to the sides?”

“Only when I angle it from the ground in an upwards motion. I can’t push it down at all.”

She said as she demonstrated the movement with the paper still in the air. The object slowly floated upwards one way and then another. Considering the speed in which she was able to shoot the item into the air he wondered if she could train herself to do such at higher speeds as well.

“When you release it are you able to angle it towards a target?”

“I haven’t tried. Maybe?”

Like a string being cut the paper was released from her power and it started to float down gently. It stuttered a couple of times on the way down as it was lifted up and pushed toward the direction of the center of the room before it continued to make its way down. The answer was clearly yes but the material was still subject to the natural laws of gravity when her power was not influencing it.

“Your right, that is a quirk that is independent of your weight removing one. Is there any history in your family for it?”

“Some slight telekinetic quirks but nothing big. Most deal with pushing objects away or personally hovering a few inches off the ground.”

“Take the ball and test out your initial quirk. Don’t use the second one and we will see how that goes.”

Ochako reached for the ball this time to activate her quirk. Izuku watched quietly as she went through several trials first using one then the other quirk. All very mechanical and he could tell that many questions did not really apply but she seemed to be going through some sort of form on the teacher’s phone as they went. Based on the questions they seemed to take in the expected variables of telekinetic and matter transformation quirks.

It made sense in a way. Both of her quirks would be considered as parts of those families and the questions were made to see where she would fall into the different traits. There were also a number of family background questions and how they related to her quirks. It was a rather slow process that dealt with questions interspersed with demonstrations to the small ball that continued to be used.

It was all very clinical that really did not explore potential. It was like trying to fill out essay questions with yes or no answers. The nuances of her quirk and the limitations or modifications were not even considered. Nor was the way her quirks worked in concert with each other. As much as Tanaka Sensei called her weight removal quirk her initial quirk, Izuku doubted it.

The fact that her other quirk was so dependent on weight gave him an opinion that it was probably the one that developed first. It was simply invisible without the proper requirements to be used. In fact, it was probably her overuse of her quirks that created her ability to use the first one on her own by unknowingly strengthening the abilities of it through repeated burnout.

Not that he would mention that to her. He did not want her to go back to her old habits just to get stronger. But it was possible she could increase the items she could use her gravity manipulation on without rendering them weightless first. Also because her limitation was weight, he would bet that she could manipulate a large number of light weight items at the same time. Which had a lot of potential.

He stayed silent and he continued to watch, building more notes and recommendations in his profile for the girl. He could not wait to go over his thoughts with both his friend and the counselor on Monday. He would get with Ochako first of course before bringing anything up to the teacher. After all, he really wanted her to have a hand in her own training.

She had already gotten so far with the few suggestions he had already given her. He did not want to discount any of her hard work. She was just as amazing as he had told Kacchan that she was and was the perfect person to add to their Hero Agency… if they could convince her to join them. It was possible she had her own plans on what she wanted to do in the future and many agencies would probably be vying for her attention when she graduated. He would have to make sure they gave her an offer she could not refuse.

Chapter Text

While everyone else had the day off on Sunday, Izuku was still hard at work. Just because there were no classes today did not mean he could take a break from his routine with Shifu. She had company with her today though as both his parents had come along to watch him being pummeled to the ground and thrown around the gym floor.

Afterwards all four of them went to the house for a late breakfast where the father and son talked about the quirk assessment process. To Izuku’s amazement he learned how the system had not changed much since his parents had their own assessments. Considering how quirks have evolved and become more specialized over the years, he wondered why they would continue with an outdated practice.

“Think about it Izuku, the idea behind the current system is to categorize quirks. The government wants to place quirks in neatly labeled boxes. They don’t care about potential unless it deviates from a projected path.”

“The government built the system to make use of strong quirk users by having them become Heroes that can protect the public. Why wouldn’t it be interested in everyone’s potential?”

“How does a regular person learn how to use their quirk? The laws state that quirk use in public areas is illegal. That means kids from a Hero legacy or those with a wealthy background are the ones able to make their own private training areas and have an advantage over the average person.”

“So you are saying that the quirk laws make it harder for people to actually learn to use their quirk to the highest potential because they don’t have access?”

“I’m saying that the government actively discourages people from utilizing their quirk.”

“Why would they do that?”

“It is easier to control people that don’t consider the weapon that they are born with when faced with adversity. How do you trust your neighbor not to harm you when they have a potentially dangerous quirk? That can turn a heated argument into a murder scene.”

“But that is what the Hero system is for though, to stop those Villains before they can hurt others. All Might is considered the most effective Hero because his presence in this country alone keeps people from turning into Villains.”

“Which is a fear tactic. Don’t do something bad or else All Might will get you. They turn him into the Villain boogieman. Does that really solve the issue of Villains or does it mean they are just better at hiding?”

“If they are hiding that means they are not doing bad things then, doesn’t it.”

“Or it means that they are gathering power for an even more devastating strike. You have fought against two monsters since getting into UA. Each time they have been captured and escaped from custody. How do creatures like that go to ground without a trace?”

“They have help. Whoever made them and is controlling them.”

“Do you really think those creations were made by a single entity? We are looking at kidnapping people off the street, illegal medical modifications, hiding their presence before and after attacks, and knowledge of police movements.”

“But what are they after then?”

“I don’t know, but the fact that there has been no demands or a public appearance of this Villain organization scares me. The good news is I am not the only one scared by this enemy.”

Hizashi smiled and he pulled out his wallet and slid a card over the table to his son. The clear plastic card had been given to him the day before and he still could not believe how fast the rodent worked. He was now certified as a Hero Support Technician. He had been given the right to be involved legally in the ongoing investigation.

“Does this mean you’re staying in Japan, Dad?”

“Unfortunately, I still have work to do back in the States. My team is good, but a prolonged absence will make things harder on them, especially since I can only move the project forward through reports. But it does mean that I will get to formally request reports and have my suggestions officially put in writing for the case.”

“Did they get the samples? Was that really Tsubasa?”

“No, they were moving that creature to the facility that would have taken the samples and run the tests. It had escaped before we could have learned anything.”

“Then next time?”

“What makes you so sure of a next time?”

“Well with the bodies of the guards returned in such a spectacular way, I assume that this organization is just ramping up.”

“I’m afraid you’re right about that. Just be careful. It is not your job to go against the monsters of this world yet. Try to leave it to the actual Heroes in the future.”

---

Shifu was able to produce an old mat for him to take back to the dorms after he explained the issues of their practice space. Once again the family was thankful for the use of the Bakugou’s van to get it back to the dorm. He faced another problem when he got back to the school as his parents dropped him off behind the dorm with his newest acquisition.

Luckily Kacchan had just finished his afternoon workout and was available to help. Still, Izuku would rather not drag such a large object through the dorms as the rest of the students would realize quickly what he was planning. It took a bit of explaining, but he finally got Kacchan’s permission to bring one other student in on their secret training area.

Ochako had been happy to help remove the weight of the mat and sent it up to the level of the roof where Kacchan used his quirk to fly up and push it over. Once it was in place, she released her quirk and allowed it to fall right where they needed it.

Of course after that they had to bring her up to the roof to look around at their set up as sparse as it was. Aside from the mat they only had the weatherproof box at one edge that was filled with weights and doubled as seating when needed. There was no real way to protect the mat from the rain but since it was old he was not worried about the conditions. Not to mention if Kacchan was going to use it regularly with him, he doubted it would last long enough to worry about the weather ruining its shape or mold growing on its surface.

With Ochako up there with them, it did not take much to suggest she watch the two of them practice since they would need to break in the new equipment anyway. Katsuki was always interested in a good spar. He may not have the same kind of formal training but his ferocity and power always made him a good opponent.

They both silently agreed not to use their other skills as they took their places on the mat. Izuku had only really used his abilities in Chi Blocking in school once to save Denki from hurting himself and the others in the room. If it was not for an emergency he would not have even done that. Even now most people in his class thought Denki was exaggerating the incident since they knew he was quirkless.

Chi Blocking really was not a thing in Japan considering its origins in China and the exclusive nature of its past users. It would make it easier for him if his class did not know what to expect from him at the festival. Even Ojirou at this point only knew that he had martial arts training and not what version of Tai Chi he actually practiced.

They stared at each other for a moment before Kacchan rushed forward as he aimed his fist to the center of Izuku’s body. Because of his quirk activation being focused on his arms, he always fought similar to a boxer. Making use of his upper body strength and taking advantage of his longer reach to get to the smaller boy.

With the first throw being lower, Izuku was forced back as he pivoted to the side and used the momentum to turn into a high kick that was easily blocked by the blonde but gave Izuku time to throw himself backwards putting space between them again. Matching the grin on Katsuki’s face they ran at each other again.

---

Ochako watched in amazement at the two boys before her. She would have thought that Izuku would have been down by now considering how ferocious the blonde always seemed in Hero Lessons. But every time she thought to worry for her green haired friend he would pull out a weird move that would put him back in control of the fight.

It was as if the smaller boy had no fear as he took on the attacks head on and always seemed to block or dodge away at the last moment. Bakugou was also amazing as he seemed to have endless stamina, never once slowing down from his onslaught of attacks. She blinked once again as Izuku performed another move that took him away from the danger by falling to the ground with a roll before leaping back to the fray.

“I thought he had him that time.”

A small squeak of surprise came from the girl at the voice behind her. Turning she saw nothing at all but she had recognized the voice so that was not unusual.

“Tooru?”

“That is really something to see isn’t it? I never thought to use gymnastics that way.”

“Gymnastics? It is not some kind of martial arts?”

“There is some of that in there as well but some of the moves come straight out of competitive tumbling. He is mixing the two together.”

“Really? I was thinking about taking martial arts for myself while I was watching them. I’m not confident I could take on Bakugou without some sort of combat training like Izuku clearly has.”

“Not a bad idea for you since you need to get close to people to hit them with your quirk. Mashirao might be willing to help if you ask. He knows just about every kind there is out there.”

“You really like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but our fighting styles are nothing alike so it does not help me much even though he showed me a few attacks. Izuku definitely has moves I could use though. Think you can lend your boyfriend to me so he can teach me his style of martial arts?”

“Tooru! You know we are not dating. But I’m sure he would be happy to help if you ask. You know how he is.”

“Hey, do you think they will take their shirts off if they go longer? Mashirao does that sometimes when he really gets into a workout.”

Sometimes Ochako really wished she could see her invisible friend after such a shameless question even though the laughter let her know that it was only teasing. She wondered if her face was as red as it felt as she turned back to the two boys that were going through another round of attacks. Though it did seem as if they were starting to get to their limit as their speed had started to slow down.

She felt the weight by her side as her friend took a seat next to her to watch the two in more comfort now that she had let her presence be known. It was nice having her there to talk to since she was often with the other mutant students during their breaks aside from Mina who stayed with their group or Jirou who was often at Yaoyorozu’s side. She did wonder about one thing though.

“So why are you naked?”

“I came up to investigate the noise. It seemed safer not to announce my presence with floating clothes.”

“Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“Not really. It is not like anyone can see me and the box we are sitting on is quite smooth so it does not bother my skin.”

“How did you get up here anyway?”

“I live on the top floor. I just climbed up from my window.”

“Are you going to let the boys know you’re here?”

“What is the fun of that?”

---
Izuku met Kacchan’s eyes before darting them over to the girls with a nod of his head as he ducked the punch aimed for. (Looks like we have extra company.)

Eye twitch. (What the fuck does Invisi-bitch want?)

A slight raise of his shoulders with a nod to the ground as he slid to the side aiming for his friend's blind spot. (Probably curious about the noise. Even without you using your quirk we have most likely been making a bit of ruckus for those that live on the top floor.)

A small sneer as his eyes went cold facing off with Izuku by turning his body to keep him in sight. (Do we have to stop her from telling the others about our training spot?)

Small shake of his head as he swept low with a kick trying to off balance his friend. (Not necessary. Hagakure likes secrets. She won’t talk about this. She will make a good Underground Hero.)

Katsuki held still for a moment before increasing his speed and power as he jabbed two quick punches at the other. (We are not adding Invisi-bitch to our agency.)

An answering sweet smile as he was forced to block the attacks with his arms while positioning himself for another attack with his elbow. (She is not for us. She will make a great ally for information gathering but we can’t support her in the spotlight.)

Kacchan made a loud "Tch" exasperated with the conversation which only made Izuku smile wider as he faced the other head on at his new charge at him. Beside there was another student he was interested in pulling over to their future agency. Izuku could not be everywhere and from what he could tell Eijiro was a calming presence to his best friend. His quirk was also extremely useful in that he could convince him to partner up with them.

Of course this current demonstration was really all for Ochako. He wanted her to see what they were capable of and having Hagakure in on their training would not harm anything. In fact she might be a perfect partner for Hitoshi. Villains would definitely respond to the brainwasher if he was able to find out their secrets. He might make that suggestion to Shinsou the next time they were practicing with his quirk.

Chapter Text

Back in classes the next day, Izuku made a point to keep his head on the lessons rather than the meeting with Tanaka Sensei after school. He had met with Ochako with his completed notes and had gone over his updates and suggestions while the rest of their dorm mates where relaxing after dinner. She had seemed bemused by the amount of directions he thought her quirk could go.

The aspect he had definitely wanted to impress upon her was her capabilities in long range attacks that did not need use of her five point touch. Her mechanism of activation was a very obvious tell and once in the spotlight it would make her weakness apparent to her opponents. They really needed to see what her range was on such a powerful ability and then how to best utilize it for Hero work.

He was hoping to have her use it as a secret weapon that can be used when the enemy least expected it. Since it was dependent on weight only there were quite a lot of possibilities that could make it a very powerful tool. He also had hopes that she would be able to develop true flight eventually but that could be developed later once she had more control of her gravity abilities.

She had mentioned learning a martial arts on her own which allowed him to avoid bringing up her need to build up more speed. More importantly, Izuku’s defensive style of Tai Chi were not a good match for her to learn. She had seemed disappointed at first that he was not willing to teach her his style but when he pointing out that her quirk required more physical contact she then agreed with his assessment.

He recommended Judo as a more compatible form since it used a lot of grappling techniques. Unfortunately the only other martial artist that he could tell in the class studied Karate though he did figure that Ojiro might have more knowledge the other forms of martial arts. After all every time he saw their tailed class mate in action, he would pull in other moves that could possibly from other disciplines even if his main style was Karate. He might also have suggestions on where she could learn Judo as well since he did not have any contacts in that area.

After the relatively peaceful time in classes, it was an interesting transition as he opened the door to the nurses office that afternoon to see the room filled with multiple male students all seeming to be talking at once. Their afflictions were quite obvious from the red rashes that covered most of their bodies.

A pair of gloves were thrown his way as he made his way over to his mentor staying clear of the patients. Recovery Girl was applying a thick cream to one of the boys that seemed to have the worst reaction of the group from the look of his skin. Without his shirt on Izuku could see the large patches of rashes that were clearly agitated from where the student had scratched as the irritated skin.

“Poison ivy?”

“Lacquer tree from their description.”

“On school grounds?”

“Hardly. These fools were practicing in the woods over the weekend getting ready for the Sports Festival. Symptoms started to show this morning but they all tried to ignore it until it was so obvious their teacher sent them my way.”

“So the oils are embedded into their skin at this point. Why haven’t you used your quirk on them?”

“I can’t afford to potentially contaminate my lips with the main event going on this weekend which will need my talents.”

“I thought the rashes were not contagious as long as you remove the poisons from the skin.”

“Where do you think the toxins go once my quirk activates?”

“Oh. It gets released back onto the skin when it is expelled from the body doesn’t it.”

“Exactly dearie. So these fools get to suffer though medications and a few uncomfortable days. Grab a jar for yourself and start helping me out. I think Nakiro would appreciate getting seen to by a male considering the way he has been sitting since he got here.”

It was not hard to pin point the second year that Shuuzenji Sensei was indicating. He was currently chatting with a couple of his classmates though he was fidgeting in his seat far more often than the others who were politely ignoring the situation.

“Nakiro-san?”

“That’s me. What’s going on bro?”

“Recovery Girl asked me to help you out next. Seems like you have the next most severe reaction.”

“Sure thing.”

Izuku was able to direct the boy to one of the beds in the room that has a privacy curtain. He left the boy sitting there for a moment as he retrieved the lotion and put the gloves he had been given on. He indicated for the other to take his shirt off since it was clear the rashes went under his clothes.

“Well at least you did not make it worse by messing with your rashes.”

“Not the first time this has happened. I’m from the county myself. Though this is the first time I got it from a tree. I thought it was just the Ivy you had to watch for.”

“How did you get that sap all over you?”

“Genjiko was the one that got it the worst. He was the one that went through a couple of those trees.”

“The one that Shuuzenji Sensei is taking care of? He is the one with the ability to manipulate liquids right?”

“That’s him. Pulled the sap right out of the trees in order to stop his momentum and started using it as a weapon.”

“No wonder all of you came in with multiple patches. But why did you get hit so hard with it?”

“Well who do you think was the one that sent him into the trees? His retaliation hurt like a bitch.”

“You used your quirk to repel him? Are you able to reverse the impact force when you absorb it?”

“How did you know? I’ve been keeping that move a secret for the festival since I was not able to get into the third round last year. It’s still not as controlled as I want it yet.”

“I’m guessing it is using the same directional force that you absorb. So when you release it as a weapon the force will be the complete reverse. That means if you want a certain direction you with need to be hit in the opposite direction of where you want the force to go.”

“Damn. Is it really that simple?”

“What are you talking about? That is not simple at all. You will have to be able to calculate every time you get hit on how you will use it as an attack.”

“Well yeah, it is going to be a lot of work, but at least I know what I am aiming for. I can’t be a Hero if all I can do is take hits.”

“Have you found a limit to the force you can absorb?”

“Nah, but it’s not exactly something you can easily test.”

“Why not just keep absorbing impacts you are comfortable taking without releasing the force until you find your limit?”

“Bro, where have you been hiding? I could have used you advice last year during the festival.”

“Couldn’t have been helped. I’m just a first year. But I did not think you did all that badly at last year’s festival. You definitely impressed me by getting your team out of trouble each time you were attacked.”

“That is just taking hits but I was too slow to do anything else. No this year I’m going to make it to the third round and surprise them all with what I can do.”

“You don’t seem to understand how much defense is worth in heroics.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You had a pretty bad mix of quirks on your team. The only reason it was able to get as far as you did was on your quirk alone since you were able to give your teammates time to react. Time is something of great value in Hero work.”

“Huh, I never thought of it that way.”

“Well, while you are thinking, you need to drop your pants. I can pull the curtain but you definitely have more rashes on you and I've finished treating your upper body.”

There was a bit of awkward silence before the other complied. Thankfully he was able to keep his underwear mostly on and the banter had dried up at the new position. Izuku did not try to make conversation as he clinically applied the medication.

When he finished up with Nakiro, he left him to change out his gloves and go to work on the next boy who thankfully only have a few patches of affected skin. Though unfortunately one of the patches was on his face. By the time he finished with his second student all of the rest had been handled by Recovery Girl and they were released back to their classes.

Watching the half dozen boys go, he wondered at how much their quirks had changed from only a year’s difference. He was also very glad that Genjiko was working to be a Hero. Anybody that could pull sap from a tree could pull blood from a human body. Would the strengths that his own class had now be multiplied so quickly in only a year?

---

Ochako was back in her gym clothes as they went back to the same location where they had met Tanaka Sensei the other day. Izuku had ran to the dorms before meeting the two. He had a flash of an idea and wanted to test it out. Even if they were just going over strategy, it would give his friend more tools that she could safely practice with.

He entered to see both of the ladies talking about the results of the assessment. The results had already been submitted and it came back with the same results that had been expected. Ochako was now officially a dual quirk user. They deemed her quirks to be part of two different families of emitter quirks that had not merged in her genetics.

“Didn’t expect you to be late Midoriya.”

“Sorry, Tanaka Sensei. I got something for Ochako.”

“I already told you we would not be doing any “experiments” until they were approved by me.”

“This is not an experiment. I just thought it is something the assessment was not able to measure.”

“And what is that?”

“Her area of affection. I noticed the first day of school that she touched her clothes to make them weightless but was then able to touch the clothes of someone else and it made both their clothes and body weightless. That means she is able to narrow and widen her influence.”

“So you want to expand on the assessment?”

“Exactly. I had a plan made out over the weekend and was prepared to give it to you but I realized there is no point in testing until we actually know her true limits.”

“You are starting to sound like an actual quirk councilor. What do you have in mind?”

“I can only assume touch is the main factor for her Weightless quirk. So we should use this.”

Izuku pulled out a deck of Hanafuda cards. The plastic cards were light but durable enough for this kind of test. He wanted the items to be light but still too heavy for her to use with her telekinetic quirk alone. Given a chance he would have bet she would have been able to remove the weight of the Zero Pointer from the entrance exam on her own or at least a portion of it enough to disable it from the balance change.

“Cards?”

“I wanted something that could be consider a single or multiple. It is simple enough we test if she can make the entire deck weightless, a single card, multiple cards without it being the full deck, and then a card that in the middle of the stack alone.”

“You think she can do the last? Five point touch quirks expand their influence from their tips removing parts that her hands are touching will be impossible.”

“Probably not but there is always a possibility that cannot be removed until she tries. How many tests did you try the other day even though you already knew the outcome because of past experience with quirks of her nature? Quirks have been evolving, changing, and becoming more complex. We have to be able to go beyond the expected parameters if we want to actually be able to determine their true limits.”

“What is your take on this Uraraka? He makes a point even if this is a bit unusual.”

“I want to try. Izuku has given me so much insight on my quirk. I want it understand it better and actually use it the way I should be.”

“Fine, but we will stop the moment Uraraka starts to get tired. I do not need her overusing her quirk.”

The tests were simple. The single and the deck were both easy tasks for her quirk. Modifying it to a certain number was harder. He had ask for only three cards and she made half the deck weightless instead the first try. Her second try it was reduced to ten cards but it was still an improvement.

As Tanaka Sensei had figured she was not able to remove the weight of anything that was not touching the card she had made weightless already. That meant there was a domino effect in play. Going with that theory he place the deck in his hand and asked her to remove his weight through the cards. She did not even have to concentrate to pull off that move.

It took a bit more convincing but they also got Tanaka Sensei to place her hand on his back and asked her to chain it again with the extra person. It took a bit more work but Ochako had been able to do it as both of them felt their weight removed. Before she could release them Izuku suggested she try releasing only Tanaka alone so see if she was able to narrow the impact after the fact. She tried hard to separate out the teacher but was unable to do so in the end.

They were not done though since they had only focused on a single quirk so far. He had her remove the weight of the deck of card again and then asked her to try to manipulate them as singles. To his classmate’s surprise that trick did work as she had a single card fly up.

“I don’t get it why can I do it now when I could not before?”

“Your quirks are separate. This is just further proof that you are a dual quirk user. You can’t treat them as the same thing with the same rules.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means we have more things to assess.”

Chapter Text

Inui Sensei had come out to his practice with Shifu soon after it began that morning. Rather than stop the session, the school counselor stayed to watch him spar with Fuang. The large teacher was still there even when he left to get ready for his school day. He had even offered to take him back to the dorms so Fuang could go on her way.

He had only two sessions with the counselor and both times it had seemed that he was given a clean bill of health. Why would Hound Dog want to talk with him today? Was there something that they had learned that would need his immediate attention? Did they not trust Fuang to keep him safe from another attack?

“Did something happen?”

“Tsubasa was killed in a car accident three years ago with the rest of his family. All three of them were given to the grandfather for cremation. The grandfather left his general practice clinic at the time and it is believed he has retired out in the country.”

“Are they sure? The damage patterns from his wings are an almost exact match. I would have been sure that he was the same boy I knew.”

“We have found the cremation documentation on all three of them from the accident. The incident was a head on crash. The two adults died instantly while the boy was thrown through the window at the impact. Emergency services had tried to save him on scene but was marked dead on arrival at the hospital.”

“So it really isn’t him. What about Izaki? What did you find out about him?”

“Izaki was reported as a runaway not long after the incident at Aldera. We are still trying to find out if his likeness or quirk had resurfaced anywhere.”

“Have the other boys from the incident been looked into? Are they still accounted for?”

“As far as we can tell, Izaki and Makou are the only two that have gone missing. But we are taking a second look at other disappearances in the area.”

“Was there something else?”

“Not that we had found yet.”

“I’m surprised you were tasked with giving me this information. I figure either Nedzu or Aizawa Sensei would be giving me the details.”

“I offered since I wanted to talk with you a bit. You react so well under pressure and I assumed it was due to your prior work with the Paramedic Team you are attached to. It is more than that though. You compartmentalize things.”

“It’s something Dad taught me. It is especially useful when analyzing quirks.”

“But you also use it to remove yourself from situations. That is why you are able to keep your feelings out of the details of both incidents. More importantly, why have you never mentioned the incident at Aldera before in our talks? I had to find out from the principal since the case is sealed due to your age at the time so it was not in your school transcripts or student profile.”

“…I did not think it mattered. I thought Tsubasa was the main component to that monster and he was not part of that incident. We were friends.”

“You were a victim of intensive bullying that landed you in the hospital. Two of the assailants have potentially been turned into monsters. You did not think this was important?”

“What do you want me to say? Am I disturbed that people I have known growing up are now mindless killing machines? Yes. But I would never have wanted to have this happen to them.”

“I never meant to imply that you wished them harm.”

“I was the one that permanently injured Makou before he went missing.”

“What do you mean? His medical records showed a quirk accident caused severe scarring and ruined his vocal cords.”

“I could have stopped him though. He got hurt trying to attack me again. He was susceptible to his own quirk. I lured him into a narrow dead end alley and I goaded him into using his quirk. If I had just kept my mouth shut he might not have tried to use his quirk on me and end up as that creature.”

“You can’t blame yourself for the actions of others. It sounds like it was his own bad decision. It is natural to think about how things could have gone after the past. But you can’t let it drag you down the next time you face off against someone wanting to do you harm.”

“Why do you think I compartmentalize my thoughts? I can act because it is the right thing to do. I felt guilty sending Makou to the hospital especially since he blamed me for all his problems but I still did it because I knew that his quirk was too dangerous to confront in the open in a residential area where bystanders could get hurt.”

“What about your own safety?”

“I calculate my odds as much as I do for others. I understand the risks but sometimes inaction is just as bad as recklessness. In the end I have to live with my decisions.”

“Just know I am available if you need to talk about it. I’m surprised you have not been to a counselor before considering the attack.”

“I’ve not had a very good experience with most doctors due to my quirkless state. My parents agreed to give me the choice when it was brought up. Shifu Fuang is not a psychiatrist but she did help in the aftermath since she understands.”

“Nedzu wants you working on a new project. They found two more DNA structures from the first monster. Nedzu believes there were a total of four people that contributed to its creation and he assumes the second may be the same. They are still trying to determine the missing people by the quirks but the Armor Ball transformation quirk matches a Sidekick that was assumed dead from Nagasaki around the same time that Izaki went missing.”

“That means that whoever is doing this is not regional at least. Sounds like they are targeting people that can be written off though if they were able to stay hidden for so long. If you’re talking about Roller Ball then the age of the subjects does not matter since he was in his late forties at the time of his disappearance.”

“That is what the principal believes. He wants you to go through the missing persons case files of those that disappeared around the same time as your old classmates. He thinks it might give you some insight on which of the missing might have been involved in the creation process.”

“I can try.”

“You are to work in your dorm during your usual period with Nedzu this week and he will see you in a week for your results unless you find something that needs his immediate attention. Then you are to go to your homeroom teacher. Be sure to not miss your second period and keep the case files safe in your room.”

“Thanks Inui Sensei, for more than the assignment. I don’t think it is necessary to start counseling but I am glad to know you are willing to help if I ever do need it.”

“Don’t put it off if you need the help. That is what I am here for.”

Izuku clutched the thick packet that the counselor had given him as they finished the rest of the walk to the dorms in relative silence. He was excited to see the contents of his homework from Nedzu but kept from digging into the materials until he could get it to his room no matter how tempting it was.

He gave the teacher a smile and wave as they got to the front door and he entered a room filled with students having breakfast since it had taken longer to get back from the gym than usual. He gave a warm greeting to his friends that were awake as he made his way up to his room. He still had not found a solution to keep his hygienic products available on the ground floor which made a good excuse for him to continue on without stopping.

Grabbing his toiletries bag he looked longingly at the packet he left on his desk before heading out again for the showers. His classmates knew his routine and would expect him to follow it. Thankfully they knew he was not expected in the first period with them and would not think it odd that he stayed behind.

---

His mind was filled with the names, quirks, and faces of the missing as he sat on the bus on their way back to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Izuku had assumed the packet was so thick because the cases would have multiple pages. Instead most were a single page description of the person that had disappeared. It was as if there had been no effort to find many of them at all.
An elbow to his side brought him back to his environment. Rubbing the spot he gave a small smile to Hitoshi who indicated the building ahead that was their destination. His friends had seen that he was working on something in his head and had given him time to put his head in the right framework for their Hero Lesson.

Already knowing their teams, they were quick to gravitate to their teammates as they exited the transport and entered the building to be met with Thirteen. Aizawa moved to the front as he closed the door behind them after everyone was accounted for.

“You already know your objective. Last time you were faced with rescuing civilians in the aftermath of a disaster. Today you will be taking on the same task while the disaster is occurring. The training wheels are off today.”

At his last statement, a loud noise followed and the class could see the nearby ruins zone moving as it mimicked the ground rolling during an earthquake. There was also a sound from the domed building to their right of a violent wind and rain storm. Thirteen had a definite sense of drama as they had waited for the perfect time to turn on the different zone effects.

While he knew this would make their task more difficult, he was sure that there were still harder modes available at each of the different zones. This was meant to be a challenge not a death trap. Maybe when they advanced to second or third years, they would increase the difficulty by adding Villains to the mix as well since oftentimes Villains would try to take advantage of the chaos of a natural disaster.

Luckily his plan had not changed much with the new turn of events. Denki was still their best bet to find the robots they were to rescue in an avalanche. He would have to see what the electric quirk user’s balance was like on the unstable grounds. He already figured that Ojiro would be able to handle himself since had the advantage of his tail that would be able to keep him on his feet during the disaster.

The whole class moved as a group to the center plaza which gave him a better view of the large whirlpool that took up a good majority of the once placid lake in the flood zone and the constant shifting of dirt and rubble from the Landslide Zone. The heat from the Conflagration Zone could be felt from this distance. Their own zone was a mass of ice and snow sliding down the slopes. Half the fight will be getting up to peaks to start the rescue operations.

Aizawa released all the groups at the same time to complete their zones once the communication devices were handed out. Izuku took off with Ojiro at his side as the tailed boy kept pace with him. Denki was not as fast but Izuku did not worry about that for now since he knew that the boy was still able to see where they were going. Besides that was what the ear pieces were for.

“We need to see what we are dealing with first but I am going to bet we will have to continuously struggle with avalanche conditions for this test. Denki have you been able to pick up any heartbeats yet? It is possible that the disaster can sweep victims to the base. If there are any we should try to dig them out now before snow continues to pile up on them and it will become harder to rescue them.”

“None, but that could just mean I am not close enough yet or they are dead.”

“We can try someone else then. Do you remember how both Jirou and Yaotorozu were able to locate the robots that were not sending out heartbeats?”

“They did?”

“Yeah, we saw it from the footage in class. I think they are tracking the status upload from the robots.”

“The what?”

“I’m guessing that the dummies keep track of their condition, injuries, and location and upload them in real time to a central monitoring system that the teachers had access to. That is why we are able to perform independently in dangerous scenarios while the teachers can ensure our safety from a distance.”

“So the teachers know what everyone and the robots are doing?”

“Well, yes. They will also be able to save us if there is an issue during the simulation. But part of a good rescue mission is to not increase the number of people needing to be saved.”

“So you need me to hack the monitoring system? My quirk does not work that way Izuku. I also don’t know enough about computers to even know where to start with something like that.”

“No, I need you to locate where the signals going to the system are coming from. The goal is to find them first. We can assess their conditions in person.”

“…I think I got something. It’s coming from ahead on the left. But I can’t hear a heartbeat coming from it.”

“So that makes it a recovery mission. Ojiro, are you able to dig with your tail?”

“It would be easier on hard packed snow or ice since I could break up the ground and move the large chunks with my tail. The snow looks too soft to be very affected by it.”

“It only looks that way from here. You’ll see when we get closer that the snow will be fairly packed at the base from the weight of the pressure. We probably won’t have ice at this point since that would need melting and refreezing for that to occur.”

“Guys you are moving off course you need to head back to the right a bit. Maybe three meters from the base of the zone.”

“How are you in the cold Ojiro?”

“Knowing we were going to the mountain zone I added a layer under my clothes to help keep warm.”

“Man, I should have thought of that.”

“Denki… Why not use your quirk to regulate your temperature?”

“My quirk?”

“Electricity is a form of energy which means it gives off heat. Running your quirk through your body without releasing it should help you increase your body’s temperature to a comfortable level.”

As they made it to the start of the snow covered area, Denki was able to guide them to the first robot. Luckily the snow was packed as he had assumed so their feet did not sink into the ground that much. The electric user was able to join them just as they got to the body only a couple feet hidden into the snow.

Ojiro had been able to break up the snow with his tail and move the larger pieces out of the way while Izuku had made use of his arm shields as makeshift shovels to clear the rest. Thankfully his team mate had the idea to make a barrier with the larger chunks of snow to prevent new waves of the snow from interfering with the digging. It had not taken long to pull the body from the hole they had dug and take it to a safe area outside the affected zone.

Izuku had checked over the robot and saw that this one had died of a broken neck and been battered and bruised from the fall down the mountain. Rather than waste the time on the dead he directed the other two to leave it for later now that it was dug up and would return later for it.

They had another issue. Denki had been able to regulate his body but he was not moving well in the snow especially since his increased temperature was overflowing out and melting the area if he stood too long in one place. Izuku figured once he had more practice with the skill it would be better but they would need his ability to find the rest of the robots and he would be far too slow on his own while trying to figure out his energy flow.

“Have you located the next one?”

“About halfway up off to the left. This one has a heartbeat but it does not sound right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Kinda frantic I guess.”

“Sounds like it might have a medical issue. And the last?”

“Close to the top of the highest peak. That one is also sending out a heartbeat but it is too far away to tell if it is also giving off a weird sound.”

“Ojiro, would you be able to get to that one on your own? You have the best chance to make it there the fastest. We can follow you if the situation once you find the robot needs more assistance but it is likely the travel back and forth will be the most difficult challenge since that one was probably not caught up in the avalanche like the others.”

“On it. I’ll let you know if I need help.” Ojiro said as he started up the mountain towards the peak that had been indicated.

Izuku watched for a few moments before turning to his remaining teammate. He was secure with Ojiro’s ability on the mountain. His movements used a lot of springing forward with his tail constantly out to keep his center of gravity consistent. He should have no trouble once he actually hit the constantly moving terrain of the avalanche.

“What about me? Should I take the last one to the central plaza? I’m not going to be of much use.”

“No, I want you with me. If they are hurt, I might need extra help to get them out safely.”

“Are you sure I’m not going to slow you down? We are being tested on the speed of our mission.”

“I’m not worried at all. Since you are going to be taking a ride with me.”

“Seriously? You’re going to carry me?”

“I’m serious. I need your help to find this robot since I don’t have an easy marker like Ojiro had and that means sight lines since you won’t be able to follow my progress once I am out of your view.”

“I can still track you from your ear piece.”

“But you won’t know the terrain and obstacles between us from that alone. The one we are going after was probably caught in the avalanche. That means there is a great likelihood it will be below the snow again.”

There was silence for a moment before Denki clearly turned his communication device off, obviously not wanting anyone to hear his next words. “…I might shock you. Snow is not as bad as water but my quirk is somewhat chaotic at times. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Izuku did not turn off his coms since he needed to be able to hear Ojiro if he called through but was sure not to use the channel as he replied back. “Then just make sure not to touch skin as you hold on. My hero outfit is insulated against most natural and man-made sources like electricity.”

“You have all the answers. Ok, just don’t regret this later.”

Izuku waited until the other turned his coms back on and had him hold on to him from his back. While he was taller than him it was still easier to move around with him over the tall and lanky Hitoshi. Not for the first time did he wish he had gotten his father’s height rather than his mother’s. The going was also easier than the straight upwards climb of buildings.

Even with the shifting snow before him he was able to keep both of them from sinking in and be dragged down by the mass. It was also helpful that Denki did not weigh all that much more than his training weights. Though his weights were easier to handle since they were balanced around his body. Izuku was also thankful for the warmth that came through from the other’s body. While his suit did help regulate his temperature, cold was cold.

Ojiro had used his coms to let them know that the higher up he went the faster the avalanche simulation was making his own momentum slow in the process. Izuku had expected as much and was glad not to have to pull himself to the top with Denki on his back.

“It’s weird, Izuku. The robot should be maybe 10 meters ahead of us at this same level. But we just have the sheer rock face upwards. Do they expect up to burst through the mountain?”

“I’m guessing there is a ravine around here. The avalanche probably pushed them off a cliff. The good news is, if they are on this level they probably landed on an outcrop or this would be another recovery mission.”

“But we will still have to scale back up a cliff with them if that is the case.”

“Depending on how far down they landed, it might be easier to lower them to the ground. I’m more concerned with their heartbeat. If they are injured, it might not be possible to move them easily without hurting them in the process.”

Their conversation was interrupted as Ojiro called in that his current trajectory was blocked by the intense wave of snow coming down the mountain. Izuku suggested moving to one side until he was confident of his way up. Forcing himself too much would only tire him and eventually his stamina would be drained before reaching his goal.

Izuku had been lucky to keep up his pace when they finally hit the new area that Ojiro had initially mentioned and could see that the slope was steeper and narrower to aid in the increase of difficulty. He had to modulate his movements to stay in the air with his burden longer. With him so concentrated on the ground below him, it was Denki that pointed out the cliff face that was ahead of them.

When they had reached their destination, a large rock was able to give them shelter from the ever-moving snow and a chance for Denki to get back on his feet. Looking down it was easy to spot the robot they had come to rescue. The outcropping jutted out of the cliff face like a long narrow pole about the size of two adults, but he doubted it would be large enough for both him and Denki with the body. Bending he retrieved the rope from his boots and tied a loop into it as he found the sturdiest rock closest to the cliff face to attach it to.

“I’m going to repel down to check out the situation. I think it will be easier to lift the body considering it is closer to the cliff edge then the ground but until I figure out their medical condition, we can’t make plans for that. I need you to ensure that the rope is stable and does not detach itself. I can climb down on my own but this will be faster and I will not be able to carry the body back on my own.”

“Just be careful. That looks like a long way down and I have no way to help you from here.”

“If we can, I will need your help to pull the body up with the rope. I’ll stay in touch with the earpiece so you will know what is going on.”

With that he took a firm hold of the rope and tugged on it making sure it was sturdy on the rock before carefully moving down the cliff to see if it was able to handle his full weight. After a few moments to make sure that the rope was not going to come loose, he started his controlled fall as he allowed the rope to slip through his hands at a steady rate. He watched the outcrop below making sure that he would be able to land directly on the small target.

The rope was long enough to take him to the outcrop with plenty of length left. That meant he would have more than enough to make a cradle with the rope as long as the robot could be moved. He kept a grip on the rope and he moved away from the cliff wall toward the body. He did not know how strong the structure was to hold the two weights up and if it broke off he wanted to be able to use the rope to get him back up.

Getting to the body without any issue he felt confident enough to loosen his grip on the rope but still tied one end to his belt just in case. He did a quick examination of the body and realized that there was only a large bruise on its stomach where it would have landed on the outcropping. There were no other physical injuries that he could tell including broken ribs or internal bleeding.

That meant the erratic heartbeat was an indication of hypothermia. The good news was that he had brought a heat source with him even if it was waiting above. The rope cradle would be able to handle its burden without harming them but even still Izuku went to work binding the chest with bandages from his medical pack and bound a few extra rope lengths to support the chest.

Once he was sure that it would be secure, he had Kaminari pull the robot up and he scaled the wall next to it to keep it from hitting the side of the wall. From the sound of exertion coming from Denki as they talked, he thought to mention building up his upper body strength at a later time. The body was finally over the cliff and he was quick to direct Denki to hold the robot in order to save the heat of his quirk.

The next problem was getting everyone down again. It had been easy enough to carry one boy up a mountain; it will be much harder to take two on his back. Looking at Denki he made the quick decision to attach the robot to the boy’s back with the rope. He then tied the other end to himself.

“We will have to go down separately. I want you to go first since you're carrying a burden and I’ll make sure to help you if you get caught up in the avalanche. Try melting the snow around your feet if it gets too hard. It will make it harder to walk but it should allow you to keep your footing. If you fall, try to remember to fall forward.”

The going was slow as Izuku had expected but Denki had taken his task seriously and moved cautiously especially as the first time he had stepped out of the protection of the rock he had face planted onto the moving snow. Izuku had grabbed the rope between them so he did not slide down the mountain and was able to get back on his feet by himself.

Ojiro had let them know he had found the last robot not long after they had started back down. He was on his way as well and they were expected to meet up together further down. Izuku assumed that Ojiro would be able to catch up fairly easily considering his robot was healthy and he would have an easier time going down the mountain since it was heading the same direction as the snow.

Denki still had to redirect their team mate a few times as he quickly came down the mountain with his burden in his arms. When they were finally together again, Izuku rechecked the body tied to Denki and was relieved to see that it was no longer in danger and the electric user was able to sense that the heartbeat was back to normal.

That had made it easier to transfer both robots to Ojiro who took one under each arm as Izuku got Denki on his back again for the rest of the way down since it would be faster. They stopped to collect the last robot before heading to the Central Plaza. Denki retrieved the injured robot from Ojiro at Izuku's suggestion and continued to produce more heat for it as they traveled.

Getting back to the Central Plaza he waved at Iida’s group which seemed to have found all four of their targets before them. Though from the heavy breathing that was coming from Aoyama and the dusty outline of Hagakure, it was probably not that long ago. He noticed a few other robots from the other groups but no one else seemed to have a complete set.

He did smile at Hitoshi as he came into the plaza to unload his burden of a robot inside a wet blanket. Considering his group was in the Conflagration Zone, it was a smart move to keep the fire from damaging the body as it was moved inside the zone. Tokoyami’s whole group came minutes later with the two robots they moved to place with the single one that had previously retrieved. Ochako gave him a thumbs up in happiness at their finished task.

He felt the temperature drop for a moment and turned already knowing the source. As he expected, Todoroki and his two teammates entered the plaza with their last robot. The dual quirk user stared at him and the other two groups that had completed their tasks before their group before returning his gaze back to him. He had almost forgotten about that incident with the two colored haired boy the week before.

With everything he had been dealing with, he had no time to investigate the matter with Yaoyorozu. Before he could go over and talk to the boy, his pink skinned friend moved away from the group and ran over to him flashing a large bleeding gash on her arm. It had not taken long after wiping the blood off to realize that it was shallow and would heal quickly without the need for stitches or glue. A very wet Tsu and her team mates enter the plaza with the last of their robots while he was bandaging the injury.

Kacchan followed not long after that with his own group that all smelled of smoke though his mood definitely darkened to see he was the last group to finish. Izuku would bet that they had trouble locating their last robot considering none of the members in his team were able to find them through a quirk.

As the class were heading back to the bus, a hand touched his shoulder as he was returning his medical equipment to his bag. Turning his head he expected one of his friends. Instead he came face to face with Todoroki. He just stood there silent for a moment. Izuku wondered if he was expected to speak first when…

“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?”

Chapter Text

“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?”

Izuku did not know where this was going but since the other was not attacking, talking was much preferable. The boy seemed so serious and he had clearly waited until the two could be by themselves. He decided to go with the academic approach since cold facts might be easier to use with the mostly silent classmate.

“A bit, it came from the mistaken assumption that you could breed a child with a desired quirk from two people based on their quirks alone.”

“Mistaken?”

“It has been proven that the genetics behind quirks cannot be predicted by the parent quirks alone. While we know that emitter quirks tend to be dominant traits there are no actual basic rules to how quirks will manifest. Often when two people with powerful quirks breed one will over power the other as the dominant gene. Sometimes the secondary genes will modify the base quirk in smaller ways. You do have rare cases of merging, mutating, and dual quirks but it is not guaranteed and no way to predict how the quirks will interact.”

“How long has this been known?”

“Maybe four generations ago, so around 100 years. I mean people kept trying in vain thinking it would make their family more powerful. But nothing really came of the practice so it was abandoned. Not to mention the social stigma of forcing marriage on quirk alone since it was often wealthy and powerful families buying the marriage partners from poor families just to add their quirk into the family genepool.”

“Father never really cared about social conventions. He needed her quirk in order to make his own stronger. He created me to do the one thing he was unable to do because his body is not able to take the full force of his fire quirk. Defeat All Might.”

“Well, that’s… strange.”

“You don’t think I can take down All Might?”

“No, not that but that is also unlikely. I meant your father trying to strengthen his quirk genetics by adding in a powerful emitter of an opposite family. No wonder you have so many issues with temperature control. I told you most children will take on a single aspect of one of the parents’ quirks with maybe minor traits of the secondary. You may be a rare case of dual quirks but you still suffer from the drawbacks of both. Your father would have been better off trying to find a bride with a quirk more like Kirishima’s since a transformation quirk will almost always be secondary and might be able to provide more protective traits to the gene pool.”

“You don’t think I can control my quirks?”

“Oh you can. You just keep forgetting to use your fire quirk to compensate for the demands of your ice quirk. Only half of your body is able to handle the effects of your ice so you need to put more energy in keeping the other half safe while using it.”

“Every memory I have of my mother growing up was of her crying. The last time I saw her was when she poured boiling water on me permanently leaving her mark upon it because she could not stand looking at his side of my face. That is why I refuse to use his quirk.”

“But you have used your fire quirk. You’ve warmed the air and even thawed out your ice many times.”

“I haven’t produced his flames since my mother was sent to a mental hospital that day she scarred me. Not until today.”

“You needed to use your fire during your lesson?”

“The other two were not able to help me rescue the robots...”

“Did you seriously not use Jirou’s ability to find the robots?”

“One of them did tell me where they were located though the communicators. I think the other brought them to the plaza after I got them to the shore. I did not bother with the details since it was clear I would be the one getting the group through the task.”

“These are team challenges and you were the team leader.”

“I was able to finish the mission on my own. The rapids were easy enough to transverse with my quirk using the sides of the slope. I froze the lake to get to the ship for the next. The last one was the issue.”

“No wonder you had to use your fire. If you froze the whole lake you would have had to make you ice at least half a meter thick to compensate for the whirlpool. Anything less and the ice would have broken up.”

“It was a full meter before the water stopped trying to break up the ice. Once I started thawing the ice at the coordinates given, I could not use my usual method to remove the ice without completely destabilizing the ice.”

“You needed a more concentrated heat source. But if you are so against using your flame, why would you just not use the longer route to thaw the area and rebuild the ice after getting the last body?”

“Because I wanted to beat you more than him for a moment. When I got back to the plaza, I found that it was for nothing since you had already beaten me. I used his flame and it meant nothing.”

“You used your flame and it meant everything.”

“I still lost to you again.”

“Rescue work is not about winning or losing Todoroki. You may have used it to try to show your quirk superiority to me, but in the end you put the rescue over your hatred.”

“That was a robot, Midoriya. Why would I care about a robot?”

“Why would you care about a stranger? Heroes rescue people they do not know every day. Why should it matter who you are saving?”

“I could not even save my mother.”

“How old were you when it happened?”

“Six. But it was my responsibility to keep her safe.”

“What do you mean? How could a child be responsible for that?”

“It used to be my big brother Touya’s job before me. Every time father would get into a temper, he would take his aggression out in training. Touya did not have the same fire protections that I do. He could produce a fire hotter than his, but my brother’s body was made for an ice quirk. But he was the only one of my siblings that had taken after his quirk so he was being trained anyway. I think he thought that enough training would force my brother to build up a resistance.”

“That would have never worked. You can build up small resistances but if his body was meant for an ice, it would never have gotten to the point where he could safely completely wield his quirk without injuring himself. Did he die?”

“There was a quirk accident. He badly burned himself and was placed as a suicide patient in the same mental hospital that my mother was later sent to. I have not seen him since.”

“You have other siblings, could they not help?”

“They both took after my mother’s quirk. That meant they were worthless to him. I have to keep away from them unless they gain his attention. Touya had a better relationship with them but he had been able to protect them. I can’t let them be sent away as well. Ignoring them like father does keeps them safe.”

“It’s interesting how all your family took after your mother’s quirk in some way. It means you father really made a mistake with her. He chose someone with a quirk more powerful than himself.”

“I agree. I think that I can use my mother’s quirk to become the Hero without my father. I can reach the goal he could never make.”

“You mean the All Might thing?”

“Yes, if I can prove I can beat All Might without his power, he can no longer have a hold on any of us.”

“Another reason why ice was not the way to go. All Might’s power can easily break through ice just as the wave of his force can dissipate fire. If you want to beat All Might, you’re going to have to do it in popularity.”

“Popularity?”

“Yeah, it is not going to matter how strong your quirks are or how well you fight. Heroes don’t fight each other. They compete using popular opinion from their interactions with the public and the great deeds they do in Hero work. Your father is so high in the lists because he is consistently bringing in the most dangerous Villains. It’s sensational and he depends on the renown he gets for capturing well known Villains that will keep his name in the news for weeks.”

“So why can’t he beat All Might.”

“Because All Might gives people hope while your father gives them news articles. Most people are not emotionally attached to Endeavor. They think he is cool, strong, or powerful but if they are in danger, they think of All Might first to save them. That is what it takes to be a Number One Hero.”

“What about you? How will you become the Number One Hero?”

“I’m not. My goal is not to give people a security blanket and tell them everything is alright. I want people to believe in themselves.”

“You mean vigilantism?”

“No, I want people to be able to do the things they want to do no matter what quirk they have and to be defined outside their quirks. You have two siblings with ice quirks that grew up in a Hero household. Why are they not Heroes?”

“They were never forced down that route. I think they wanted to stay away from father as much as possible. One works as a teacher and the other is going to medical school.”

“Are you being forced? If your father was not influencing your decisions would you still be here working to be a Hero?”

“…no. I want to be strong enough that I can save my family if I have to face him directly.”

“What if that requires you using your fire?”

“It’s his fire. I can’t…”

“It’s not his fire. It’s yours. He may have passed his genetics to you but it is not his. He cannot control your fire, only you can do that. It is also his greatest weakness. You already told me he went through a quirk marriage just so he could make a better quirk because at one point he can’t control his own fire. If you really want to protect your family shouldn’t you use everything you can at your disposal? You could have beaten my time today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mina may not be able to use her quirk normally in a water environment but she has above average agility and is very capable. You could have sent her into the rapids area to take care of one of the robots while you concentrated on the other two. Jirou is more than a robot finder. She can project sound in a devastating blow. Had you brought her with you, she could have broken through the ice for you in far less time. You are wanting so much to prove yourself that you are overlooking the actual lesson.”

“And what might that be?”

“It’s the lives that matter. Working together and using all your strengths so that you can look back and say you did everything you could. Some of the robots we rescue are just recovery missions. You can’t save them all, but to the family, it means everything to get them back. How will you get your family back? At least yours are not dead. There is still hope to rescue them.”

“What do you know about it? They have been discarded for now. If I get them out of there then he will be able to hurt them again. My mom was able to escape once, I can’t let her go through that again.”

“You think he would hurt her?”

“I think that I can be discarded as well if I go too far out of line. Right now he believes that he can break my rebellion so he has put his attention on me. What if he gives up on me and wants to try for another child?”

“That’s why you made clear that you had to win the Sports Festival.”

“He will be watching the whole time. If I can win the festival with my ice alone, he might be willing to continue with how things have been going.”

“Why focus on me then?”

“You make no sense to me. I can defeat anyone in our class but you always raise above my expectations. I can’t tell how well you will do in the competition and there is a chance you could defeat me because I can’t predict your actions.”

“Do you really think none of our other classmates could give you a challenge?”

“They have never been out in the field. They have never had to react instantly to danger. After the first break in, father had you and your friend looked into. He believes your friend is the one that got you two out safely because of the fact that you are quirkless but after the second incident…”

“How did you know?”

“It was not hard to put it together. You were out all that day and the news released the report of Midnight taking down another monster similar to the first. I know she was at school that day so it only made sense that you had survived another Villain attack.”

“So you believe I can win against you in the Sports Festival.”

“No, once we go into the third round there is no way you can beat me. The school does not allow any support equipment unless it is a medical device or you are part of the support class. You have no way to defeat me.”

“Then why the warnings and anger?”

“Because you will probably find a way to make it through the first two rounds and that will make my father angrier than watching All Might save the day again especially if you come out on top. If he believes I am flawed in any way, the consequences could be drastic.”

“So what do you want from me?”

“Drop out of the festival. Work with Recovery Girl or pretend to be sick, it does not matter. Just don’t interfere with my win.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I had to try. Just remember I gave you a chance but I can’t have you getting in my way.”

“Thank you Todoroki.”

“For what?”

“Believing that I am a threat. You are also wrong about our classmates. They are far more proficient than you give them credit for. We all have something to prove at the Sports Festival. I have too many people that have worked hard to get me where I am today. Giving up now would not just be letting myself down but all those people that believed in me. I’m aiming for the top with everyone else in our class."

Izuku could tell that his words had confused the other. He was also quite shocked by how much the two had talked about. It was unexpected to have such a quiet boy talk about things that were extremely personal. He always knew that there was something wrong about Endeavor but it was hard to believe that the number two Hero had such a vile side. He would have to think about this new information carefully. After all, it was a Hero's duty to meddle.

Chapter Text

Izuku had thought that after their conversation that Todoroki would have been warmer to him but the emotional wall the boy always had reformed on their way back to the bus. Aizawa Sensei had given him a silent question in his look to them at their tardiness. He had just shook his head in response not knowing what to really tell his teacher. He was hardly going to be spilling the other’s secrets in front of the whole class.

He doubted he could wait that long to inform his teacher what he learned. The biggest problem that he could figure out was that it was harder to prove mental abuse to a court in order to remove his classmate and siblings from their father. While the other had mentioned the brutal training, he doubted there would be a medical trail of quirk exhaustion to prove the excess. He also did not show any signs of physical trauma on his body beside the burn scar on his face.

Endeavor had been a Hero for a long time, he would know how much damage a body could take in practice before it would actually cause permanent physical harm. His own Shifu was tough on his training and would often come away from them aching and bruised but it never took long to heal from the sessions and he would come off stronger than ever. It was likely that the Fire Hero was smart enough not to leave any lasting marks on his son, especially since he knew that he was no longer isolated from the public eye.

It did make him wonder how much Yaoyorozu knew about what was going on in the Todoroki household. He started to doubt how much of a connection the two really had even if she seemed to be the only one he deemed worthy of talking to. It was more likely he just recognized her authority as the class representative and the strength of her abilities from the recommendation exams. That meant he probably did not have any friends at all to support him.

At least with Kouda, he had a good reason to be alone with his animals. Most of his other classmates had formed their own friend groups aside from the fire and ice quirk user… and Aoyama. That boy was the other enigma in his class. His quirk was strong and his personality was perfect for public relations but he never stood out in their Hero Lessons. It was as if he hesitated each time there was a moment to shine on the field even though he took every opportunity to “sparkle” in the classroom.

Aoyama always sat alone at lunch and he never seemed present in the common areas of the dorm. It was odd behavior for someone that seemed to enjoy a stage and to be in the spotlight. With Todoroki, the frigid personality he projected kept people away and none of their classmates really tried to make friends as they respected his silent request for privacy.

The force beam quirk user had none of those social markings as an introvert. So why did he never put himself forward outside the classroom? Even now sitting on the bus, he was alone even though he would interject into the conversations around him.

“What the fuck is so interesting about the Laser Loser?”

“What do you know about him?”

“Why the hell would I care about an extra?”

“That is the thing, I have profiles on every member of our class including their preferences, personalities, and backgrounds. I barely have anything written about Aoyama aside from his quirk and support device. He is always talking in class but it is never about anything personal or gives insight towards his character. We have been together since the start of class but I have no clue what his favorite color is and I’ve seen his room at the dorm.”

“You have got to be fucking with me.”

“I’m not. My knowledge of accents is not good enough to even place his background when he uses French words. I can at least tell it is consistent so he was in a household where someone, most likely a grandparent on his maternal side, is or was fluent in the language and he was able to pick up the localized mannerisms from them even if he is not completely fluent himself.”

“Damn Izuku, sometimes your brain is just scary.”

“What do you mean Hitoshi?”

“Fucking Nerd.”

“Hey, I just think there may be more to him that I have been missing.”

“Fucker is going to be destroyed.”

“He is not a fighter. But he did not get into the Hero course by being average.”

“What did the Icy Hot Fucker want?”

Izuku was not expecting that question from his best friend. He was aware that Kacchan would have noticed the two of them talking. It was not like him to question the actions of others. Did he recognize Todoroki as a powerhouse in their class? He could not lie to his friend but he could move the topic in another direction.

“His father is going to be at the Sports Festival with most of the other local Heroes. Being the son of a Pro is going to give him an advantage when it comes to gaining the attention of the crowd. I’m going to steal his spotlight.”

“You want to embarrass him in front of his father? That’s kinda cold Izuku.”

“Actually, I am wondering if I could find a way to keep him from going to the festival.”

“Even if Endeavor does not show up, Todoroki is not the only kid in class that is the son of a Hero.”

“I’m going to keep all those fuckers down.” The blonde said as he stared at him for a moment longer clearly asking another question.

Yeah, he had not fooled Katsuki at all by bringing up the festival. They would talk when they were by themselves in the dorm. If the other was going to take an interest in their classmate, he was happy to let him into the situation. It was possible he would have an idea on how to deal with this new information. But he also did not need more miscommunication between them with Hitoshi so he continued on anyway.

“Good point Hitoshi, I wonder if I can get all of Iida’s family to be there considering they work in Hosu.”

“Why do you want the Hero parents of your friend there to see you beat them?”

“Who best knows his abilities? My quirkless status is going to be very evident and there is nothing I can do about it. If the crowd sees the progeny of known Heroes taken down by me, there is less likely going to be calls of cheating or chance. I am also hoping the Iida’s would advocate for their son when he is beaten.”

“Not you?”

“In a way. If they acknowledge the strengths of their child they will also have to recognize my own abilities.”

“You really think Endeavor will recognize your strength? He will probably be the first to call you a cheater when you beat his son. He does not seem to be the most reasonable.”

“Why do you think I would rather he not be there? But if he does cause trouble, then I’ll just have to take him down as well.”

“Seriously? You are crazy to think you can take down the Number Two Hero as if he would even give you a chance to fight him.”

“I’m very serious. I’m not going to back down from a fight because I am at a disadvantage. Besides, I don’t plan to fight him alone.”

---

During lunch, Izuku had brought up the fact that his parents would be supporting him in the stands during the Sports Festival and that he really wanted to introduce them to all his friends. It shocked him to find out that of their group only his parents had gone out of the way to buy tickets. He had already known that Bakugou’s parents had a work conflict with the date and were unable to change it to be at the festival. Everyone else’s families were going to be watching from home. Tsu did mention Yaoyorozu’s parents were going to be there.

He really should have known better considering tickets to the event were too expensive for most people and a single one was often worth a month’s salary to the average person. Even then the festival is still sold out each year. He did question why Iida’s family would not be in the stands considering since they were Heroes, they would have gotten free tickets.

He found out that while the Iida family did have tickets for all three days as Heroes, they would only go to the last day when the third years showed off. The first and second year tickets went to Sidekicks who would make recommendations for the agency on apprenticeships. It was apparently something the family did each year as a way to reward excellence from their Sidekicks.

It was also a practice that other agencies did as well in order to ensure that not all the major Heroes were gathered at the festival at the same time. Though only the Iida’s went to the third year festival every year due to their policy on Sidekicks. Most other agencies would only appear if they were interested in a particular graduate or had an opening for a new Sidekick. Idaten was always open to new graduates. It was one of the reasons they had the most Sidekicks out of any agency in Japan.

Apparently, his brother had offered to be there to represent the family but Iida had turned down the offer since Hero work was more important than watching the games. Izuku mentioned that since this was his first public appearance as a potential Hero, his brother being there was a way of showing a strong front to the other Heroes as well as supporting family.

He had lessened his words by letting his friend know that his whole family must have a lot of faith in him winning if they had given him a choice on their presence. It still gave him the effect he had wanted as the other seemed lost in thought for the rest of their meal. Ingenium was one of the younger Heroes and he was not part of the top ten but his family went back for generations of Hero work. Hopefully he would be as reasonable as his brother was with an aspiring quirkless Hero.

They left the cafeteria to continue their Hero Lesson by watching the videos of the other groups to see the outcomes. Iida had made a great team leader using Yaoyorozu’s device to find the robots and the rest of his team’s talents to quickly complete the objective. Aoyama seemed to have the most difficulty with the area but his quirk was still amazing in breaking down rubble or making new entrances into collapsed buildings. It was no wonder they had been the first to finish the task.

He watched his own group after that and was finally about to see how much work it had taken Ojiro to traverse the mountaintops to find his last robot. Todoroki’s group was just as it had been described to him by the boy. Jirou was the only reason there had been teamwork at all between as she monitored the dual quirk user’s progress and instructed Mina to help.

Tokoyami’s team came next even though they had a better time than Todoroki’s group. It was mostly from bad luck since the ruins area was like an earthquake, one of the robots they were in the process of saving had broken free of its perch from their movement on the unstable roof and fallen limply from a building before they could have reached it. Dark Shadow had moved to save it but it had still hit the side of the building twice before the shadow was able to catch it.

Tsu’s team were unable to reliably use Shouji’s ability to find the robots due to the loud noise of the rain and were forced to comb the area. Luckily once he was close enough to a target he was able to pinpoint them for his group. Satou had impressed him with his ability to withstand the strong winds and to keep his team safe from the flying debris while they searched for their robots.

Kacchan’s group was at a major disadvantage without a person on the team able to locate their targets. He still made use of all his team mates with Eijirou using his quirk to power through raging fires to search for the survivors while Katsuki and Hanta took to the air away from the raging inferno. Hitoshi worked as support, being unable to enter most of the burning buildings without getting hurt but still helping bring the robots in once they had been retrieved from the fires.

He left his class for his duties at the infirmary to find it locked up for the second time since working there. He knocked first in case she was inside and used his key to enter the room. He found a note informing him to continue going through the student files to prepare him for the festival as well as to refer any emergencies to the closest hospital if it was needed. That indicated she was in the middle of something time sensitive and would not be around for the rest of the day.

It was a shame since he wanted to talk to her about some of what he had learned from Todoroki during his lessons. It did give him a golden opportunity though. His focus had been on the medical files of the second and third years since those would be the people he would be working with, but he would still be able to access Todoroki's medical history.

He would be able to see every hospital visit and major injury that the boy suffered before coming to UA. He already knew the first incident that he wanted to review. The boiling water had left him heavily scarred on his face. The most interesting part was that it was on his fire quirk side. That meant it should have already had protection against the hot liquid. There never should have been a scar. So why have massive scarring?

The answer had been in the medical records. Ice. There had been no chance for the body to recover and ice had been concentrated over the burn deepening it further and causing the discoloration. The mother that his classmate adored was the only one capable of doing this to him considering how quickly she would have to introduce the burn to ice before it healed on its own. She may have been provoked by his father, but she would have known the effects of adding ice to a severe burn especially if her husband was not as careful with his quirk in his rage and had been burned in the past.

Of course it could have just been a tragic mistake. Many people had the mistaken assumption that ice could mitigate the damage of burns but it was hard to believe that someone who lived with a living flame did not know the effect of ice on burns. It was the timing that puzzled him. Todoroki would not think of his mother the way he did without genuine affection. There should have been actual love between the two so why would she go to such lengths?

Then he remembered, his brother had been her protector. Her son had been caught in a quirk accident and sent to a mental hospital. Was there a connection? They had been placed in the same institution. Had she done this to be reunited with his oldest child while at the same time removing the reminder of her husband from her youngest? How much had the accident affected the family? Todoroki had been six years old but his other siblings were older and had been in Touya’s protection as well.

His classmate blamed all his trouble on his father, Izuku would bet the rest of the family did as well. That meant the family probably blamed Touya’s accident on Endeavor. The man had been training his son with full knowledge that the quirk they were strengthening was also hurting him. What kind of father would knowingly hurt their son that way? The rest of the family would have known as well and witnessed the training.

Izuku moved away from the incident and looked for other records in the file. Mostly immunization accounts and yearly wellness checkups. Nothing that showed abuse or even physical accidents you would expect from a young boy. There was one small account that he almost missed from when the boy was eight. He had been placed on antidepressants. General practitioner doctors could prescribe these drugs without a second opinion but it was unusual in one so young without at least the opinion of a specialist.

He would bet that had been Endeavor’s doing. Todoroki had mentioned not using his fire quirk since he had been burned. His father had probably tried a medical solution after two years of his son refusing to use his powers. Considering it was not mentioned in his next report, it seemed that solution was abandoned after it had not convinced him to use his fire.

Nothing else had been of any real interest as he looked through the rest of the records even when he browsed through it all a second time. He could not help but wonder about what might be missing from his classmate’s medical files. Knowing he would get no more answers from the documents, he moved onto his actual task and started looking through the second year’s profiles for the rest of his time before turning off the lights and locking the door up behind him.

---

It was during gym class that Izuku realized he had another person to go to in order to figure out the best approach to Todoroki’s situation. He did feel a bit guilty asking for Hound Dog’s time when the initial offer had been to work out his own issues. But much like medical professionals, counselors were expected to keep discussions private for the most part. It seemed safe enough to ask his opinion on what to do.

Izuku had thought he would have to set up a time for their discussion. He was not prepared when he made his request to the teacher at the end of class as he went to the lockers to meet him in his office once he finished changing. Before Izuku could let him know that it was not about their earlier discussion, he was already gone.

He found himself back in the same room for the third time at UA. He vaguely wondered if that was a record as he made himself comfortable in the chair across from the Pro Hero. He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts wondering how much he should explain about the situation and how much he just assumed from the conversation and his own investigations… Then again he would be in violation of his agreement for working with Recovery Girl if he talked about the medical records.

“If you’re not ready to talk, we can set up another time. I find most people that find the courage to come to me often need immediate attention or else they will avoid the issue.”

“It’s not that. I’m trying to figure out how to put things into words. And what exactly to tell you.”

“You can tell me anything. I’m here to listen and try to help you with your options to move forward.”

“What if it is not about me moving forward?”

“One of your friends? Are they having issues with the unexpected dangers and stress of becoming a Hero?”

“No, not really, and he already knows what being a Hero would entail. I think it is more that he is being forced into a direction he is uncomfortable with.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he is being mentally and physically abused by his family or more accurately his father.”

“He told you this?”

“In so many words. He has so much rage against his father that he is willing to handicap himself just to spite the man.”

“Is he hurting himself?”

“No. He is not doing self-harm, but he is isolating himself and believes that he is protecting others by his actions.”

“Protect them how?”

“He believes he is responsible for keeping the attention of his father away from his siblings or others that might displease him in fear that they will get hurt. He had apparently been doing this since he was six.”

“Is he being physically hurt?”

“He calls it training. But from the way he talks of it, it does not sound like typical training. You saw me with my Shifu this morning, I trust her to know where my limits are but I also have faith that if I ever call for a stop, she will. I don’t think his father knows when to stop.”

“You mentioned emotional abuse?”

“Yeah, he has this idea that he has to put up with this treatment in order to protect his family.”

“Does he have any reason to believe they are in danger?”

“Both his mother and oldest brother are in a mental hospital. That is apparently the punishment for failure.”

“Did you try to convince him to come to me or any other Hero for help?”

“His father is a Hero. I doubt he had much faith in the system in general.”

“…is there anything else you have to add about his situation?”

“Not really, I think that he has been living with this for so long he is trapped in a way. I think he knows it is wrong but part of him thinks it is right or that he actually deserves it. I just don’t know. My area of medicine in the body. I know how to clean and bandage a wound. I don’t know how to tell someone they are worth more than life is giving them.”

“I’m glad you came to me with this. You realize I will have to investigate this myself and you part ends here.”

“I want to help. He did come to me after all.”

“You said you were not friends. Why did he come to you?”

“…I think in the end. He was trying to protect me too.”

Chapter Text

Izuku was used to being sidelined. In school before coming to UA, it had been due to his quirkless state and it was too dangerous for him to participate with the other children in physical activities. Working his internship at the fire station, he had to wait for the danger to be over before his team was allowed to go in. Now that he was a student at UA, he had been in multiple attacks and barely could convince the police to allow him to contribute to their investigation. If it was not for his teachers, he and his father would have been left out completely.

He understood he was young and still learning things but there were still some things that he should have been trusted with. He believed Hound Dog when he promised to look into Todoroki’s situation but he knew there was more that he could do. With the Sports Festival only a couple days away he barely had any time to keep his classmate’s father from showing up.

Investigations took time even with the threat of physical harm to a child. The Hero Commission would be involved in the procedures as well due to those implemented in the charge. Izuku would bet that the commission would hold up the process until at least the end of the internships.

That left the boy far too long in his father’s care now that he knew about his home life even if he would be gone for at least a week at a Hero Agency for school. That was of course if he was not forced to intern with his father. He had no doubt the boy would comply with his father’s demands if he insisted on him taking his internship at the Endeavor Agency.

That meant that he had to separate the two in a more natural manner. Endeavor was often called upon to help with large takedowns that would need the firepower that the Hero could produce. He was always leaving his territory if there was an infamous Villain to capture since they always brought headlines. Izuku had no way to create a circumstance that would have another Hero agency calling the Flame Hero in for help and pull him away from his family.

If there was a way to convince the Hero of a likely Villain that could be taken down for the media it might rival being at the Sports Festival to terrorize his son. It would have to be a big enough name for Endeavor to even consider it though. He already have many Sidekicks that worked hard to find and capture any small fry Villains. That meant to even get his attention it would have to be someone that the agency would need his strength to capture.

Most Villains could not evade capture for long so if there was a hint of a big enough one, Endeavor might drop everything to get to the prize first. The few that had been able to stay away from prison were all very good at staying in the shadows until they went public with more crimes.

Stain was probably the most well-known of the Villains currently evading Heroes. But his movements were erratic. He had some inner rules that he seemed to follow but would often be random in his choice of locations to appear and the Heroes he hunted. He had already taken down three Heroes about a month ago in Sendai and had gone underground again before he could be captured. Until he started his killings again, it was doubtful anyone would be able to find him.

Of course there was another high profile Villain that might tempt the Hero away. Moonfish had broken out of a high security prison around the same time as the Flying Monster that had attack UA. While Izuku’s focus has been on the threat to his life, the media had been talking nonstop of the Villain’s breakout.

The man was a complete lunatic but unlike Stain, Moonfish would not be able to hide his tendencies, at least not without help. There had to have been help. The Villain’s craving for flesh was what had led the Heroes to him for his last capture. While Izuku had been waiting to hear the news of more bodies found with pieces missing, there had been no word on the street. That meant someone was either controlling him or cleaning up his mess before the authorities could find them.

If he was being controlled, there was very little hope of finding him unless he went out on a rampage again. If his deaths were being hidden, there would be some traces of the missing people. More importantly, why would anyone help break out a known serial killer?

He was betting that the person behind the disappearance was using Moonfish as a targeted weapon. The villain would have probably allowed direction from another if it fit his needs. From what he saw in the news, the villain’s cannibalistic feeding was a compulsion and would grow more erratic without a release for his needs.

Much like the profiles hidden away at his desk, those being killed by Moonfish would not be the type to be missed. That meant juvenile runaways, the homeless, and the criminal element. If someone had wanted the Villain for a purpose then the latter was the most likely victim profile to focus on.

It was a good thing he already followed the work of numerous Hero agencies all over Japan. That meant he would be able to see where the greatest dips in crime rate occurred since Moonfish had left the prison. It had taken most of his night but it had been worth it when he had finally narrowed it down to three different cities. Of the three, only one had a direct travel route from the prison.

All three locations would take a half day's travel to get to and would force the Flame Hero to stay overnight. It was unfortunate he would not be able to narrow the data down further to the exact city that the Villain was hiding in but he was not going to do all the work for Endeavor. It would be better if the information came from his own team and they did the groundwork needed. With maybe just a bit of help.

He was not a hacker that could even consider sending the information directly to the Endeavor Agency. He also could not put it on the Hero Forums where any good agency would have interns digging for clues. He needed to be able to target one specific person and did not want to consider a random person on the forums searching for information on their own. The tip line for the agency would also find its way back to identify him.

He doubted any of the Hero Teachers would help him get in touch with Endeavor, especially if Hound Dog let those who were direct teachers to Todoroki know about what he had told him the other day. Nedzu might have been an option if he was not already told to go to his homeroom teacher with any information until after the festival.

He had to wait for school to end and headed to the dorm with Kacchan. That had been his first real time alone with his best friend as their other friends were all preparing for the festival in their own ways. He had been disappointed to see Hitoshi leave the school on his own to the beach for further strength training.

As much as he missed working with his friend one on one, it was also hard to see other people with more freedom than he currently had. He was not used to being cooped up for so long and it felt like forever since he watched a Hero battle in person. Watching someone’s recording of the event was not enough, especially since they never seemed to be able to focus on the best spots during the fight. He had to admit, he would have not thought he would have so many issues with the forced isolation.

“Just fucking go.”

“I can’t Kacchan. If I am the actual target of those monsters then I would be putting anyone I am near in danger. At least here, people understand the danger and there are protections in place.”

“So fucking spill. What did Icey Hot really what?”

“He wanted me to drop out of the Sport Festival.”

“Fucker thinks you can’t take it?”

“Quite the contrary. He is unsure if he can beat me and wants to keep our competition outside the public view.”

“Fucker is calling out the damn wrong rival. Is that bastard unwilling to face me head on?”

“You are strong, Kacchan, but Todoroki only understands the results. He has not seen you really shine in the Hero Lessons due your bad luck in teams. He probably only sees you as a loose cannon rather than a threat. You’re going to prove how amazing you are once you go up against him on the field.”

“Damn right. Fucker won’t see it coming.”

“Exactly, I think he has underestimated a number of our classmates. They are going to prove themselves more difficult than he realizes.”

“So what is the fucking problem? You’re not going to listen to that bastard.”

“He told me a bit about his background. I think it was his way of trying to convince me to pass on the festival.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”

“I think Endeavor is abusing him. He is so afraid of his father he was willing to try to talk to me just to avoid conflict.”

“So what are you doing about it?”

“…how did you know?”

“Are you really asking that, shit Nerd?”

“I want to get him away from his father. I have no plans on not being in the Sports Festival. But if we can arrange for his father to not be there. We might both get out of this alive.”

“What’s the fucking plan?”

“I was hoping to give him a bigger fish to catch.”

“You found something?”

“I think I’ve narrowed down Moonfish’s location.”

“What is the fucking problem?”

“I can’t exactly go to their agency and let them know where to go.”

“Send a damn letter.”

“Do you know how many letters the agency gets? I need him to be gone before the festival. That won’t happen if I send it to him as a tip.”

“Then don’t send it to the Flame Bastard.”

“…you mean a Sidekick? You're right, they would not get as much mail and would be more willing to read something sent to them immediately. Especially if I send it as fan mail. I even know which one to send it to. Firefly comes from Matsuyama. She would be interested in saving her hometown. But that still does not solve the issue of hiding my identity.”

“Just don’t be you, Nerd.”

“Make a new identity… but it would never hold up if they try to find the person behind the letter.”

“Why the fuck does that matter?”

“...oh they would have the information anyway and it is not like I plan on doing it again. But how to get it to the agency on time.”

“Your fucking drill sergeant?”

“Shifu? True most people don’t know about her and as a Chinese national she would not show up in any of the government databases.”

“Uncle had to apply multiple times to the damn Commission to work here. How the hell did she get in so easily?”

“She is quirkless. The Japanese government does not consider her a threat. Her money was enough for the foreign resident pass and she has not had to deal once with the Hero Commission”

“What about you, Nerd?”

“I mean with enough money, I could go just about anywhere myself but it does not mean safely. I don’t mean protecting myself against others, I mean against the laws of foreign countries. The Japanese government may not like the quirkless but there are protections for us naturally in the laws since they have never been updated like many other countries to exclude the quirkless.”

“Fucking mess up.”

“It might be easier to get Mom’s buy in first. She would be able to convince Shifu to do it. There is a drop box at most Hero Agencies so it should be an easy process to get it to them in the morning tomorrow. Hopefully that would be enough time to draw the Hero out of the area to miss the festival. I’ll need to get some supplies in order to…”

“Shut the fuck up, Nerd.”

Izuku quieted and he realized they were close to the dorms and would be around more of their classmates soon. He may have no issue giving away Todoroki’s secrets to his best friend, family, or teachers, but he did want to give the boy some privacy. His plans to foil his father should also probably not be aired out in public.

---

He had to explain the situation with Todoroki twice more that night. The first time was to his mother as he was looking for his colored pencils. The second time was when she had pull both Shifu and his father from his bed to repeat it again.

His father, being the practical person in the family, tried to convince him to let the teachers handle it. The coldness in his mother’s voice at that suggestion had quickly turned the tide. She had also insisted he was to invite his classmate to their next dinner when the Bakugou’s were back from their trip. That would also be their last dinner before Dad had to go back to the United States.

Izuku tried to explain how he was not really friends with the quiet boy, but apparently that was not an excuse and she expected to see him at the table next week. That was going to be an interesting trick he would have to pull off for that. That might be more difficult than trying to get Endeavor out of the picture. But considering his mother was willing to go with his plan he would at least make an effort to get his classmate to come to dinner.

He put aside that complication for after the Sports Festival. Right now he had to write a fan letter to a sidekick that would convince them to drop everything and go to Matsuyama with her boss. After a few false starts he decided that he could put in more errors by taking on a child’s persona. Accidentally forgetting a last name and putting your return address in wrong. How can you blame a child for that?

That also gave him the ability to write the whole thing in Hiragana since a young child would only know so many Kanji characters and it would be easier to hide his handwriting. It did kill a small part of him to make clear spelling and grammatical errors as well as erase and smudge the pencil marks on some of his words.

His best effort was the image of Moonfish he made that was similar to his early efforts as a four year old Hero fan. You could tell it was him but at the same time no one would be able to consider it art. Before finishing he did make a small doodle of Firefly in the same way with a far more heroic pose on the envelope.

He needed the sidekick to read the letter immediately and keep the envelope for the address that would point them to Matsuyama. He slid the letter into the completed envelope and placed the whole thing into a second envelope before removing his gloves. It was a good thing they came standard issue in the medical pack he kept in his room for emergencies.

He had pulled them on before touching anything for his project and Shifu would have to remove it from the second envelope to place it at the Endeavor Agency’s mail box so it should be safe for all parties to handle. He had even been paranoid enough to stick his gloved finger in water to wet the seal for the envelope so nothing should be able to point back to him. Now it will be up to them to take the bait.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt better getting up the next morning. He did as much as he could feasibly do for his classmate and the rest would be up to chance. He had a Sports Festival tomorrow and Melissa would be coming in early that morning with her uncle. The extra ticket that his father had bought for David Shield was given to Shifu so his whole family would be there.

He wondered what his friends would think of his family. Only Hitoshi and Uchako had a chance to meet them with Pony but he really wanted them to get a good impression. He already knew his mother was going to want to meet more of them during their family dinners. Eijirou especially now that he was becoming a big influence on Kacchan.

Of the rest of their friends, Iida was assuredly going to be part of his family business once he became a Hero. Tsu was destined for a Marine Hero path which did not mesh well for their plans to be in the middle of the action in Tokyo even if the bay was in proximity of the city.

Mina, Hanta, and Denki would all become fantastic Heroes and could potentially be added into their future agency since they got along with Kacchan. It would take more work for them to impress his best friend though. He did have a good chance of getting Denki in their ranks after his show of teamwork and creative use of his quirk. Maybe he could bring it up if the boy showed better control of his quirk during the festival without being coached into it.

Izuku eagerly got out the door at the knock to find his parents and Shifu waiting for him today. Looking at his father, he seemed to be asleep on his feet and he inhaled liquid from a coffee cup. Considering the man got up early for yesterday’s discussion and then worked all night with his team, he doubted his father had gotten to bed at all yet.

That meant his mom insisted on going with Shifu to the Endeavor Agency. Dad would never allow his mom to go by herself, at least not after their conversation yesterday. Mom always seemed mild mannered but with his father gone, it was usually his responsibility to keep his mom from politely threatening anyone that dared to make fun or hurt anyone she considered in her care.

There was a reason Kacchan always respected his Aunt Inko when she told him to do something. Auntie Mitsuki was great to rant and rave with and could make you feel better in moments. His mom knew how to get results. With the teachers starting the abuse investigation, they could not be caught interfering with it. Hopefully, Endeavor took the bait and left town for the Sports Festival. He had no doubt his mom would make an opportunity to meet the Hero if he came to the festival after all.

“Are you sure you should be driving, Dad?”

“We took public transit. I don’t want Masaru’s van going on camera stopping near the agency.”

“Camera?”

“Hero Agencies are going to have security cameras outside their building and especially looking over at a civilian mail drop box.”

“Does that mean Shifu…?”

“That is why the two of us are going to block the view of the camera while she drops off the letter. It is too early in the morning for there to be a lot of foot traffic to hide her and since we are doing this, it will be best to give them as much time as possible to convince themselves of the tip and make their preparations. Even if we are trying to get this man away from his son, it will be better still if we can get a homicidal maniac off the streets.”

“You really think I found him?”

“Don’t you? You made a logical assumption and while it does have holes in the logic, it is a decent trail for them to follow. Villains will not always announce themselves in the open. You may find yourself doing quite a bit of detective work to discover their whereabouts. Moonfish was convicted of his crimes and was set for capital punishment. His recapture will not change that sentence and may speed up the dates in case the justice system feels that he may escape again. He has many reasons to stay low or even leave the county.”

“But you don’t think he has?”

“I agree with you. If there is a mastermind behind the man, he is likely to still be in Japan and there are only so many things one can do with a rabid dog.”

At that point in the conversation, the group had made their way to the gym and Izuku took off to do his laps while his family took a position on the bleachers. He had not even finished his first complete circle around the gym before he realized his father had fallen asleep. That was probably for the best as there was still plenty for him to do that day and here, he had at least two hours to rest up.

---

He was disappointed that he had still not found any patterns or recognized any of the quirks from the missing files. Maybe Nedzu was putting too much faith in him or maybe he was not using his energy wisely. Be now he would have thought one of the missing would be part of the collection. Moreover he was trying to figure out where the fourth quirk had been hiding.

He had no doubt that it did have four quirks considering Nedzu had confirmed the information but why was there no pattern? Why these four people? What he had observed was the caustic powder emitter quirk, the armadillo transformation quirk, and the horn mutation quirk. Could it have a secondary mutation quirk for strength? …wait

He dug through his pile again and pulled out one of the oldest cases in his pages of a small child with tiny protruding horns. It was a three year old that had gone missing from a grocery store. His mother had been frantic for days but there had been no sign of the child. The interesting part was the child’s mutation was Bull. It would have come with horns and strength.

Mutation quirks grew with the body so it was actually very possible that this was the missing horn mutation quirk. Getting genetic samples from the parents could possibly confirm the identity and at least solve that mystery for its parents. It was a shame he had gone missing before the age of four where his quirk would have been registered with his genetic sample. He placed a note on it for further analysis. This new possibility still did not make him any closer to the answer of the last quirk.

An invisible quirk? There were many quirks out there that did not produce any outward signs. That did not seem right either. Invisible quirks usually came from emitter or mutation quirks though the vast majority of them were emitters like Hitoshi… Mental quirks? Were it not for the rarity of mental quirks they probably would have been classified as a quirk type on their own.

Nedzu had mentioned that Aizawa’s Scarf needed the user to have a mental quirk. That meant there was something completely different about that type of quirk that the regular emitter quirks did not have. Was that the reason the creature only had one of each type of quirk? Somewhere in the process that quirks from the same families could not merge?

Going back through the stack he only came across two mental quirks and both of those were dead ends. One was direct eye contact telepathy and the other was touch based age identifier. Neither beasts had tried communicating with him in his mind. The other did not seem the type of quirk a mad scientist would want to create a monster. He did mark them as possibilities and since both of them were adults, their genetic samples should be on file to test against the one from the first attacker.

Such a shame there had been no samples from the second beast. The wings mutation quirk and the finger stretch transformation quirk were easy identifiers though none of the mutation types in the missing files had wings. That meant the emitter and mental quirk were missing… if it also had four quirks in the one body. With the mask on its face, Izuku assumed that it had a quirk that produced something from the mouth like fire from his father.

The most likely of the pile was a girl who could spit out a stream of dangerous corrosive acid far stronger then what Mina produced. There were two others with similar backgrounds, one exhaled a purple smoke and the other produced pure alcohol from their saliva.

He marked them as potentials without any hope of testing their genetic materials unless they were able to capture the flyer again. That of course meant getting attacked again and he could use less excitement in that area for the moment. He would like to be allowed outside of school grounds on his own preferably before graduation after all.

---

Hero Lessons started out disappointing that day. Considering the pattern of their other lessons he had been hoping for a lesson with Vlad King. Instead Aizawa Sensei had them use their abilities to maneuver through a series of unstable platforms individually. For someone that had been using the upper roads since a young age, moving back and forth through the moving structures barely gave him a challenge.

Some of the other students seemed to be just as dissatisfied with the exercise as their quirks excelled at this type of challenge. Though he did notice quite a few including Hitoshi were quite unbalanced by the situation and were constantly falling to the padded ground below the structures. Eraserhead would just send them back up for more punishment each time.

It was only when the first large rubber ball came out of nowhere to literally plow into Tsu and force her off her platform that the actual fun started. His friend was lucky enough to launch her tongue at the platform and return to it before she would be forced to land on the cushioned floor below. Up on the raised platforms there was no way to take shelter from the attacks and the choice was to dodge or attack them head on.

Izuku was trying to discern a pattern as he dodged the volley of projectiles. Kacchan was having a blast attacking the balls that came his way. After the first few that he deflected away he actually started using Explosion to aim the balls at other classmates, starting a new tactic that spread to the other Hero students. He had joined in as well using his bolas to redirect the balls at other targets.

It was only after they had left to change back into their school uniforms that he realized that it had been fun. Somehow the stress from the constant attacks and the upcoming festival seemed erased for those few moments in class where they were more focused on the objective while at the same time knowing they were perfectly safe. There had been no time limits or consequences for mistakes.

All around him, many of his classmates were smiling and even Todoroki had not seemed as cold as before though it was still hard to tell his emotional state. Was that the real purpose of today’s lesson? He doubted Aizawa Sensei would tell him if he asked but it had been… nice?

---

The Endeavor Agency had been in an upheaval since that morning when Firefly had received fan mail from a young child from her hometown in Matsuyama. Unfortunately, little Hiro had not thought to use his family name and his address are mostly illegible and could refer to multiple areas in the town. Moreover, since it had been delivered to the postbox in front of the agency there were no postal marks on the letter to help narrow down the search.

What they did know was that it had contained a clear depiction of Moonfish along with the message. Considering that the only images that were released to the media on the capture and escape were of his civilian appearance, there was a good chance that this was an actual tip unless that young boy had seen some of the capture footage from amateur sources online considering due to the violence and gore it was not aired on TV.

There were very few hints in the message as well considering the age of the boy had left them with more questions than answers. At best they were guessing the little fan had seen the escaped villain from his bedroom window one night and had written to Firefly after his father did not believe him. Heatwave had taken possession of the letter as the lead investigator for the Moonfish case and read it again.

Deer Firefly,

Daddy say heros will save me from bad guys. But how whan bad guy come at nite? Daddy say i too big for bad dreems but i am big and now true from fake. Maby you save me? I made drawing so yuo find bad guy.

As a basic procedure, he had sent it up to his supervisor with his request to investigate the tip. Firefly had even offered to go with him since she knew her hometown well. He had expected the swift reply, what he had not predicted was the presence of Endeavor himself in the investigation with his son’s big day tomorrow. Everyone in the agency knew that the Boss’s son was going to blow all the competition away tomorrow and that the Hero was anticipating the event.

Heatwave was going to do everything in his power to help Endeavor capture Moonfish in order to get him back on time to see his son win the Sports Festival. With Firefly and three other sidekicks on their way to Matsuyama, there was no way they could fail their boss now. He just hoped they would be able to find a lead as soon as possible. If not, maybe he could convince the workaholic that family was worth putting some things on hold.

Chapter Text

Izuku had tried to convince his parents to allow him to go with them to pick up Melissa from the train station with her uncle that morning to no avail. He would be able to see her when they arrived at the festival though and they had promised to show up early so there would be time to talk for a bit. Without his session with Shifu that morning, he was unable to go for his run since he was not allowed to leave the dorms for the gym without an escort.

That meant he had spent his morning going through his Tai Chi routines on the roof as he prepared himself physically and mentally for the Sports Festival. It was true there was nothing really stopping him from sleeping in for once but after his strict regimented schedule his body had woken him up anyway and he was unable to go back to sleep.

Finding the extra time on his hands after his workout, he looked through the Hero forums online for any new footage or news for his analysis notes. He smiled as he stared down at the candid photo taken last night from Matsuyama where the Flame Hero seemed to be prowling the streets with his Sidekicks Firefly, Heatwave, and Torchlight. That meant the Endeavor Agency had fallen for his lies and followed up on the tip.

There were no articles about Moonfish, so he doubted that the Villain had been captured yet since the Hero would want to make a big production of it for the news. That meant there was still a chance he was too far away from Musutafu in order to make it to the Sports Festival. Of course if they had found any trace of the Villain, he would be sure to stay in the city in order to be the first to get to him before another Hero could steal his thunder.

Maybe the Villain would be elusive enough to keep the Fire quirk Hero and his Sidekicks busy for the whole weekend. Though that could also mean that Moonfish would have more victims in the meantime. Hopefully considering how visible the Hero was, the bad guys would have second thoughts about risking more murders to their already substantial amount.

Luckily his own presence was already disappearing from the news. That meant that Hunoko’s worry about the Rescue Heroes trying to slander him had not occurred, or at least no yet. He could only think that his name would be trending in the forums again after today if everything worked out well.

---

Kacchan had refused to come with him to meet his parents. He was not friends with Melissa and at times seemed to almost resent the amount of time he spent with her. Unlike their new friends in school who were all trying to be Heroes, she was going to be a support technician and kept bringing him into her projects.

In a way, Katsuki was probably worried that he would quit trying for the Hero path to be a technician like his support item partner. His best friend had nothing to worry about but as typical, words only did so much to convince the other boy. Not having the two meet until after the start of the festival would probably be for the best.

He had not invited his other friends, they were just not that close enough yet to be part of his reunion and he already had plans to introduce everyone later. Of them, Hitoshi was the only one he might have invited along but he had not bothered asking, already knowing how much the insomniac needed every moment of sleep in the morning.

It was still a good thing that he would not have to prove himself to move from the general course to the Hero course but he would have to impress a few Underground Hero types in order to get an offer. As a group, they were probably the hardest bunch to accept amateurs into their line of work. They dealt with the most cunning and slippery of the Villains which could be deadly to anyone not prepared to take them on.

Hitoshi would have to prove that he was ready for the streets in order to get invited into that elusive club. If anything he was hoping Aizawa Sensei would be willing to give him a chance since their teacher already knew his capabilities and would be able to keep him safe.

Nedzu had made hints at that interest already, but nothing had yet to come of it. Maybe a small push would be necessary? But knowing their teacher, if he felt like someone was trying to force him to act in a certain way, he would make it a point to do the exact opposite. In some ways he was very much like Kacchan.

The sound of his name broke him out of his thoughts as his head swiveled to try to find the person that matched the familiar voice. A girl broke out of the crowd she was weaving through to wave and rush forward. That was the first time he had seen her since they were both little, and they had both definitely grown. But he would have recognized her anywhere. That small smile and excitable light in her eye was the exact same one he remembered.

He shortened the distance running toward his friend now and they collided together in a giant hug as Melissa started talking about how much fun they were going to have while Izuku started talking about his plans for them on campus. At one point as they talked over each other they heard laughter in the background and turned to the rest of their party.

Izuku went speechless as he saw the tall figure behind his parents and Shifu laughing loudly along with his mother as his father seemed to be watching everything with a twinkle in his eyes. Was that All Might? How was All Might here? Why was he wearing civilian clothes and glasses? Was he trying to hide his identity? Did he really think people would not recognize a Hero that towered over most people and had a very distinct laugh?

“All Might is your uncle?!?!?”

“Shush. He is supposed to be incognito today.”

“Does that normally work?”

“I think people are too polite to say anything. Usually it is just little kids that make a fuss…”

“At least he slicked back his hair so his bangs are not noticeable.”

“I still think he should have worn sunglasses and a baseball cap if he really wanted to hide his identity.”

“With his body build, he would be better off in a trench coat and fedora.”

“Come on, I want to introduce you.”

Izuku spent a terrifying minute as Melissa pulled him towards his Hero Idol. That at least answered the question on how Melissa was able to get All Might to Aldera in order to save him. A save that he had not yet thanked the Hero for. He had figured with Hero’s coloration that he was only partly Japanese, but without knowing his civilian identity, there had been no way to verify his background. He had not expected him to be related to David Shield of all people. Did David marry into All Might’s family? His friend never talked about her mother after all.
Getting in front of the group he bowed stiffly at the waist, still a bit awkward. A hand touched his shoulder and squeezed, giving him the courage to look up at his idol.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“Don’t mention it, young Midoriya. Melissa here has told me much about your current efforts and I am glad I was able to lend a hand.”

“She has told you everything? So you think I can do it?”

“Young man, if half the things she has told me are true you have a very bright future ahead of you. I am proud to be able to play a part in it.”

“Even though I am quirkless and it has never been done before in Japan?”

“I would think you have already proven that it is possible for quirkless people to follow their dreams. UA only enrolls the best and the two of you are already making a name for yourselves in the support world. Yes, young Midoriya, I believe you can do it.”

Izuku could not help the smile on his face as he met the eyes of his father who silently gave him a thumbs up while his mother wiped away silent tears. Shifu just gave him a blank look as if to say she told him so. He had always gotten the support from his family and friends for his dreams no matter how crazy the world thought he was for them. Having the number one Hero endorse his dream was completely different. It felt like he could really do it and there was no way to stop him now.

“Thank you, All Might.”

“Just call me Yagi. I’m just here as Melissa’s uncle today. Wouldn’t want the press getting worked up over nothing.”

He sent wide eyes at Melissa who just nodded happily encouraging him to keep up the lie. Even if anyone would be able to tell that the man in front of them was All Might. Shit, Kacchan was going to be pissed that he did not come to this meeting after all. He was going to have to warn him not to make a big deal out of it.

He did not even want to contemplate what Todoroki was going to think of having the number one Hero with his parents during the event. Not after the boy had gone out of his way to inform him that beating All Might was the reason he was “made”. It would be rude not to invite him to meet his friends when his parents did and Melissa was definitely going to want to see them.

How was he going to explain that connection to them? Would they just accept that truth that All Might was here for Melissa and had nothing to do with him? Kacchan would believe him since Izuku could never hide something so big from him but the rest of his class? Melissa was also not in the festival, and she was here for him would that not also mean that All Might was here for him as well? Maybe he should take Todoroki’s advice and skip the Sports Festival.

---

Izuku had rushed off to the waiting area for class 1-A after escorting his family and friend to their seats in the stands. Dad had thankfully gone to the added expense of getting his family a box to themselves. It was not the most expensive seats in the stadium but it definitely reminded him of how much his father did actually make at work.

Mom liked living comfortably in their apartment. It was small enough for her to keep clean and had no need for extra hands to help her. She also had liked how close it was to her best friend and had always refused to move from it. Even now that she had been displaced from their residence, it was still her home and once the danger was over was surely going to be back in their apartment.

Shifu had already confiscated the best seat for herself and his mom had taken a seat next to her leaving the last seat in front for Melissa while the two men sat behind them. Izuku had made a point to show Melissa where his class would be coming out of to get on the field, even as she pulled out her new pair of glasses.

He had a few moments to inspect them and was surprised by how light they were now. It was almost impossible to tell what they were now unless you knew where to look. He wondered if the other would be willing to leave them behind when she went back to I-Island for his own use.

As much as he wanted to continue talking with his friend, he had his own duties to attend to. As he had expected, Kacchan was already in the room when he entered. Unfortunately, Iida was also early so there was no way to talk to his best friend alone about the new situation. He was about to motion for Katsuki to follow him out of the room so they could talk when Iida had come striding over.

“Thank you for your suggestion Midoriya.”

“My suggestion?”

“Yes, my brother is here to support me today for Idaten. Apparently, he really wanted to come but did not want to pressure me into having family here. I would have thought patrolling his rounds as a Hero took precedence but he was thrilled when I told him that I would appreciate his support.”

“I mean you’re family Iida. I bet your parents would have done the same if you asked.”

“Come here two days? I could never ask them to take so much time away from Hero work.”

“Iida, you’re going to become a great Hero, as long as you don’t kill yourself from overwork first.”

“Pardon? I highly doubt…”

“No, Iida. Heroes cannot be Heroes all the time. Even All Might is unable to save everyone. Pick your battles and know when to give yourself a break.”

Izuku would have liked to say more to his friend but the door had opened again and more of their classmates were entering the room to join them. He left Iida to take a seat next to Kacchan who had watched the interaction without comment and was currently stretching his body getting ready for the event ahead of them.

Staring at Izuku for a moment he rolled his eyes and continued flexing his arms. Internally, Izuku agreed. Iida was not going to change just from words alone. He just hoped he would be able to change his mentality before it sent him to the hospital.

---

Their class entered the field first as Present Mic announced their class over the intercom as their cue to greet the crowds. Looking around him, Izuku was able to spot his family and waved at them cheerfully as he moved towards the center of the field where the platform and Midnight stood. Having Present Mic as the announcer made sense since he did something similar in his work on his radio show.

Midnight’s role as the Emcee seemed like trouble waiting to happen. Nedzu must take into account her ability to subdue crowds and handling of the press as greater marketing potential over her lascivious personality while working with students.

Izuku waved to the girls in 1-B as they were called onto the field next and most of them returned the salute. He did notice the less than agreeable gesture from Monoma, but at least the boy kept his mouth shut, though that could have also been due to his proximity to their class representative. Kendo seemed to be making sure the boy would not make a spectacle of himself this early in the day.

Izuku frowned as the general education classes were called out as a group rather than individually. Many of those students had gotten into UA by trying for the Hero Course and had not made it due to the amount of their points in the entrance exam. It seemed wrong to lessen their ability to get them into UA in general. Had it not been for the Rescue Points, Hitoshi would probably be part of the group that was entering the field together.

It was worse when the support course was treated the same way. After all his work with the support technician graduates for the past two weeks, he knew how hard those students worked to create their devices but also how much they depended on the sports festival to make a name for themselves with support companies.

There was no call for the management classes as expected since they had their own part to play in the festival that was not on the field. It did make him wonder if UA would allow them to participate in the competition if they wanted to. Could their appearance be snuck in with one of the other classes?

He heard his own name being called out by Midnight and moved forward knowing that this was going to occur the moment he saw that he had come in first during the entrance exam. He nodded to Katsuki that stood next to him before moving to the stage.

The freshmen student pledge was always given by the student that scored the best at the entrance exam. Next year, it would go to the winner of their year’s sport festival. He planned to be up here again for the next two years. Looking out at the crowd around them he smiled ready to introduce himself to the world.

“I am Izuku Midoriya. You may have heard of me. I am the first ever quirkless student ever to be admitted to a Hero course. But I am not here to talk about myself. Every student before you is here to be a first. Whether it is first to the finish line or the first to hold your attention. Everyone here has something to prove from the Hero classes that are currently learning what it takes to be a Hero, to the general education classes that take up the challenge of specialized learning and will be far smarter then us Hero Kids by graduation, and finally the support classes that wish to become the technicians of the future. We are here to break all your perceived notions and make our own paths by going… Plus Ultra!”

He smiled out at the students before him, willing them to join him in his enthusiasm. His own classmates were shouting their encouragement that seemed to grow to the others as they seemed to realize he saw their strengths. He wanted them to take up the challenge and give it their all no matter what class they were in. This was UA, and even those that were considered the weakest were still amazing.

---

Toshinori had a smile frozen on his face as he clapped along with the crowd. Melissa was out of her chair cheering for her friend’s passionate words. He had not understood that the boy was in the Hero course of all places. He had been so sure that he was going to be showing off support items with the rest of the technician types.

Unless UA had changed the rules they would not allow a Hero student to bring in support items on the field unless it was a medical device. Even if it was something the student had made on their own. He did not want to voice his doubts in front of Melissa or the Midoriyas but surely they saw the uphill battle the child would be facing when everyone around him would be using quirks to win.

It was amazing enough that he had gotten first in the entrance exam but UA had been changing under Nedzu to include different types of Heroes into their fold. Young Midoriya may have proven himself capable in the exam but this time he would be competing directly against others that were at a distinct advantage.

It reminded him far too much of his own quirkless past. He had worked so hard to become a Hero but it was not until he had been given a quirk of his own that he was able to break through and become All Might. Without Nana, there would have been no hope of him becoming a Hero but that was of course before he had met David. Maybe this boy had a chance to do what he could not have done, using support items instead of a quirk to put him on a level playing field. It was a shame he had no hope today in the competition without his gear.

---

Torchlight had turned the volume down on the monitor that was playing the Sport Festival as he worked. He had recognized the boy the moment he was called to go on the stage and did not want the boss to walk in on the enigma on the screen. The whole office had heard the first time Endeavor found out his son had a quirkless classmate and he was in a foul enough mood that he did not want to tip him further into rage.

Everything had been going so smoothly the other day. They had even found proof that Moonfish had been in the area before nightfall. There had been an alleyway that was far too clean and when they investigated it found pieces of a person or multiple people. Some of the parts might be more than one person but the lab work had not come back yet and the evidence was small enough it was hard to tell that it had once been alive.

After that he had been regulated to the hotel with his traveling computer set up while the others started looking for some other cleaner than usual alleyways. Endeavor had stayed on against Heatwave’s advice to go back to support his son while they did the leg work. Their boss seemed so sure that the Villain would be found any moment. But the longer Moonfish evaded them, the darker his mood had gotten.

Waiting for the next communication from their team, Torchlight had turned on the UA Sports Festival to watch Endeavor’s son roast his competition. Instead he got a puzzle. How did a quirkless kid get in first during the entrance exam? Had UA’s standards really gotten that low these days that anyone could pass the exam?

It was a good thing that the Hero was still out on the streets looking for the Villain instead of watching this right now. Knowing the boss, he would have quite a lot to say about him taking a spotlight that his son deserved. Endeavor was just so passionate about everything. With any luck the labs would come back quickly with a clue to Moonfish's whereabouts and he would be able to catch his son's matches in the third round.

Chapter Text

Izuku knew that many eyes were on him as he positioned himself at the center of the obstacle race. He had expected something similar to this and was more worried about his peers than the actual obstacles in the race. Hero students were a competitive lot and the support and general education students would want to prove they had a place at UA.

He had already acknowledged in front of everyone that he did not have a quirk. Now he had to show them all that it did not matter. He had to be able to start strong and finish strong… though not too strong. He had already warned Hitoshi and Kacchan that a first place win in this round was often a double edged sword.

Katsuki would no doubt still try for the prize no matter the consequence but Hitoshi only nodded and seemed to contemplate his choices. He had also suggested that the brainwasher try to limit his control to just one person at a time and for the duration of a single challenge in the race before going to another victim.

That would minimize his abilities until he got further along and it would also keep his competitors guessing about his abilities. It would also give the Heroes more time to see his quirk in action. He also did not want a recurrence of his quirk exhaustion nose bleed in the first round. That would not impress anyone working in underground heroics and might make them think of the boy as a liability in the field for not knowing his own strengths.

For Hitoshi, all he needed to do was get into the next round with less people to compete against for attention. After that it was up to him if he wanted to go onto the next round or not. Izuku already explained that their teacher only went to the third round his freshman year. After that he deliberately stayed out of the third round since his quirk was better kept as a secret for Hero work. He would support his friend in whichever decision he wanted to move forward with.

Looking forward he knew the first challenge would be to get through the gates into the course itself. Thankfully while the passageway was narrow, it was also tall and as the signal sounded for the start of the race he jumped upwards with the aid of the body of the support kid in front of him to take to the air. Landing on the side of the wall he pushed himself further upwards and forward ignoring the trapped students below him as he made his way out of the tunnel.

He felt the cold as Todoroki’s quirk filled the area, trapping many of the participants in their tracks. Well about the ground he was able to reach the exit just after the bi elemental user which meant by the time his feet was on the ground again it was covered in ice.

With years of martial arts and gymnastics in his background he was able to keep his balance and used the slippery material to slide forward using a gliding motion. While it would have been faster with ice skates, it was doable enough to keep him on his feet and moving forward. Behind him, he heard the familiar cursing of his best friend as he flew past him, obviously annoyed at the tactics of the fire and ice user. It did not take long for many of his other classmates to catch up and overtake him on the ice.

Ahead he already saw the giant forms of the zero pointers from the entrance exam. Todoroki kept moving forward without hesitation even as he froze the one blocking his way in place. He was unable to call out a warning to the students that had thought to use the same path through before it fell on them but he was glad to see that both of the kids in danger had quirks that would survive the impact.

Todoroki was lucky that he had not inadvertently killed someone even with Midnight and Cementoss standing by to take charge in case of true danger. The fact was, the boy did not know anything about Tetsutetsu to understand that he would be able to survive the collapse of the giant robot.

In his first attack in the tunnel, he had aimed at freezing his competition in place which was harmless, this one could have caused death or serious injury. If Todoroki really wanted to be considered a Hero, he was going to have to start really thinking about his actions on the field. He passed both Eijirou and TetsuTetsu as they were digging themselves away from the debris glad that they had used their quirks to protect themselves from actual damage.

With more open ground he was able to avoid the icy trail and run on firm grass which allowed him to pick up his speed even if more of his other classmates and some of the class B Hero students had pulled ahead. He wished he could spend more time studying their abilities as they showcased their quirks against the zero pointers. He heard the loud explosion ahead in time to roll to the side as more debris fell from the sky at Kacchan’s latest attack.

Coming out of the roll and back to his feet again without a pause, he saw the large mostly intact piece of metal fly through the air in time to change his direction slightly. There were rules that he could not bring support items with him onto the field as a Hero student but there was nothing against finding your own once you made it onto the field.

Grabbing the makeshift shield from the air he angled it to protect his head as he continued forward. He only had to use the shield a few times getting through the robots as he placed it between him and flying debris as students attacked robots around him or the one time he had used it to push the support kid that was unable to control the scooter he had made out of the path of a raging robot. There may not be rescue points at the festival but he was not about to let someone get hurt when he could do something about it.

By the time he made it away from the robots he grinned seeing the next challenge ahead of him. Even with many of the students ahead of him he was able to find a relatively clear path before him and balanced the shield across his back before taking his shoes off to tie the laces around his neck and moving forward.

The rope below him was thinner than a balance beam but he was not going to be doing flips on it. It also was taunt enough to take his weight easily without too much movement as long as he did not sway to one side or the next. Once he was sure of his balance, he was able to pick up his pace until he was almost running past many of his competitors that had a harder time getting across. By the time he crossed the ravine and put his shoes back on he only saw the forms of Todoroki and Bakugou ahead of him.

Grinning, he continued to dash forward wanting to make sure that his advantage on the other students did not slip. Even then in the race to the next obstacle Iida was able to power through his head start along with a couple of the speedier class B kids to pull ahead. He had to thank Iida later for the advance warning as the boy had stumbled onto a mine and the pink smoke and detonation had shot him upwards.

That sight had made Izuku pause for a moment before he grinned widely and used his shield as a shovel to dig under the mines nearby and collect them together. He was here to impress the Heroes in the audience. He could not be sure his ease with the ropes would be enough to gain their attention, but this was sure to make them sit up and watch him. Hopefully it would work… he did not want to endure Melissa’s teasing if it did not.

Feeling there were enough mines to make a great impact, Izuku used his shield again to fall on the mines and create a giant explosion pitching himself into the air and towards the finish line. He looked below at all the students that had been able to get in front of him while he had been busy digging up his ammunition.

If he could, he would have liked to be able to stand up on his platform to make an even bigger impression to those watching him fly through the air. But he kept his goal in sight and his body on the metal plate in a streamline position to give him the most aerodynamic flight to control his speed and direction. He felt the path heading towards the ground again even as he overtook both of the front runners. That meant he was currently in first place on the field.

If that did not give the public something to think about his next move did as he using Todoroki’s back to propel him forward and smashed the metal into the ground to cause a new explosion that pitched him forward and the two colored haired boy away and he grinned to Kacchan who only scowled at him for his unneeded aid as both friends ran towards the tunnel where the finish line laid.

With Explosion moving him faster, Bakugou was able to make it to the tunnel first and out the other end as Izuku trailed behind him moments later to take second place. Todoroki exited the tunnel next and had sent a death glare in his direction but Izuku took it with grace knowing he was the one to ensure that the boy would not place first in the round.

He caught the fist that was headed to his stomach and used his other hand to disable his best friend and send him to the ground. To anyone else it looked as if both boys had fallen to the ground in exhaustion from the race. Though if the camera had given them a close up at the time, Shifu would have recognized the move. Izuku pulled his arms back and rested his head on them as his best friend cursed but was paralyzed by his attack.

“Didn’t need your fucking interference.”

“I was not helping you. I wanted Todoroki to understand that I was not going to let him walk all over me and I could care less about what his father thought of me.”

“Fucker is not even here, Shit Nerd.”

“True, but do you really think he is not going to watch everything that his “masterpiece” does in the festival?”

“I was about to beat his ass.”

“I know but I am not able to fly like you, I had one chance to make my point and could not miss it even if the two of you were not finished competing. If it helps he will most likely make it to the third round which are typically one on one matches.”

“I’m going to murder him.”

“Not if I do it first.”

“We can destroy him.”

“No, I want him in the final round. I don’t want his father to blame his team for his loss.”

There was a feral grin that Kacchan gave him that let him know he was being a bit ruthless. He was starting to understand their classmate, hell he had even put in a lot of effort to keep his dad away from him today. That did not stop him from wanting to prove his point. Not once had the boy used his fire quirk in the race. If he really thought that he could win using only half of his abilities, then he was going to be in for a surprise.

A shadow fell over them just as Kacchan’s body relaxed, letting him know that his body had been released from its paralysis. Looking up he saw the frowning face of their vice class representative as he berated them for laying on the ground. For a moment he considered forcing Iida on the ground just as he had done to his best friend but repressed the urge not wanting to give away his techniques.

Before either of them could reply, Eijirou took a similar position next to them laughing and talking to them excitedly about their performance. Iida seemed to realize that he was fighting a losing battle as more of their friends joined them to lay on the grass. He was happy to see that most of his friends had come in the top twenty except for Denki who did not have anything to boost his mobility but had still come through in the end.

Looking to his side he found Hitoshi had taken his own seat next to him a little worse for wear and thinking a bit too hard. He did not know how well his friend did being busy with Iida but he seemed to join them shortly after Eijirou which meant he did very well for having to use the abilities of others to get forward.

“Have you decided if you want to go to the third round?”

“I’m not sure. I think I did enough to get someone to at least notice me. Not everyone can just create a giant explosion to send them to the finish line.”

“No Underground Hero would give you a second look if you did what I had done. I’m aiming for the spotlight, I have to be seen. The Heroes you want to impress are looking for much quieter skills and abilities.”

“How will I pick a group if I don’t want to pass the second round? I can’t do that to my… friends. It seems wrong to do it to the Class B kids. Are you sure it will even be a team challenge?”

“It is always a team challenge. UA has never deviated from their actual formula even if the challenges change each year. Why not just pick the ones that will not be looking to go to the finals?”

“Who? Why?”

“You’re not the only one that would not want to go further in the competition. Kouda for one would probably be willing to help you stand out without going forward. So would Hagakure and Yanagi.”

“Yanagi?”

“The telekinetic girl from 1-B. Her room was the one with all the horror movie posters.”

“Why would a telekinetic work underground?”

“Same reason Kouda is not going to start building an army of wolves ready to destroy all enemies. Her personality is better suited for support and underground.”

“You’ve talked to her, what, twice?”

“I mean she lives with us in the dorms and is friends with Pony. It is not hard to see what path she is going for.”

“I don’t know why I bother wondering about you.”

“I’m more interested in you. You got through pretty fast so you must have been able to use your quirk repeatedly. I was worried about you being stuck in the ice with the other students. I think most of the General Education kids are still stuck there or they would have been more of a competition.”

“I got stuck alright but I was next to the class 1-B vice representative. He was attacking the ground at his feet and I got him to redirect his attacks to get us both out.”

“Smart. Did he fight you at all since he would be helping a competitor?”

“I did that thing you taught me to do with Kouda. So while I told him to free us, the image I sent was of how the larger area of ice to break would free him faster. When I pulled back I don’t think he really noticed since he was so focused on getting back to the race.”

“That is really good information, Hitoshi. That would definitely help you in the future, what about the next part?”

“The only two people free of the ice that I knew by the time I got out of the tunnel were Mina and Ojiro. I went with Ojiro since I did not think Mina would be able to get me across safely with my added weight.”

“He was the better choice anyway. The ice would have frozen Mina’s acid as it was being produced and slowed her down considerably.”

“I found Aoyama at the robots and got him to blast his way through.”

“Did he have issues with his quirk? I assumed they allowed him to wear his medical gear but even with that one he can easily tire himself with those blasts.”

“He did not seem to have a problem. Not even when I released him from the control did he complain about stomach pains.”

“Fascinating, I wonder if you are able to help control his blasts so they are less damaging to his system. What about the fall with the ropes?”

“Uraraka. I had her use her quirk to make me weightless and throw me across before releasing me.”

“Wait, you had given her a command to release you after you made it across the challenge? That was a father range then we have ever tested before. Everything worked out well? How did she hear you?”

“Well I told her while she was in range but gave her a trigger for her next action. I should have been more clear on the instructions because I got my gravity back a full meter off the ground.”

“You were able to give instructions with a trigger effect! That is amazing, we had not tried to do any of that yet. Do you understand how useful that would be in Hero work not having to be in range of the person being targeted before having them do an action?”

“I mean I’ve seen Kouda do it before with his animals."

“Yes, but those animals are not likely to randomly release your weight back to you over a chasm if they fight off your control.”

“…so that could have gone badly.”

“But it didn’t and now you know you can give someone instructions that require an outside trigger. That is just so cool Hitoshi. You are amazing.”

There was a cough as the boy turned away as his face went red for a bit. Izuku wondered if he went too far knowing that Hitoshi still had issues with people thinking his quirk was villainous. Though he never heard anyone in their class teasing his friend or giving him trouble about it. It did not take long for the other to compose himself and turn back to the conversation clearly trying to ignore the moment he had taken for himself.

“I got Tokoyami to get me past the mines.”

“Really? I thought he would have issues with Dark Shadow considering how bright the sun is today.”

“He did not seem to have any issues with the sun as he flew both of us across.”

“Wait, you controlled Dark Shadow and not Tokoyami? Your brainwashing works on a quirk?”

“I was trying for Tokoyami but when his quirk replied I was able to set up the connection. It took a few moments for our classmate to calm down when he lost control but luckily by that time Dark Shadow had both of us in the air and moving over the mines.”

“Why take Tokoyami with you? Weren’t you worried he might be able to break the connection?”

“I knew the two of them were connected and did not know their range. I figured bringing him along would be the safer bet and getting the quirk to hold him made it harder for him to break his control with pain. Once we were in the air I think he was more shocked by being able to fly with Dark Shadow.”

“It’s probably the first time he has done that. Dark Shadow is not able to grow that large to lift him up for flight during the day due to his photosensitivity. Ravens typically do not have dark vision and would be mostly blind at night from the air.”

“Ravens?”

“You must notice that Tokoyami has the head of a raven. His eyesight is enhanced due to it but it would also hinder him at night while his quirk is at its peak levels.”
“Are you saying that Tokoyami is more capable in the day while his quirk is more capable at night?”

“In a way. But if Dark Shadow was to grow large enough to fly you and Tokoyami over the mines, it means his photosensitivity is probably a more mental barrier than a physical one. How did he react after you released him?”

“…he attacked me. Sent me straight into one of the mines before hiding back inside his host. By the time I was back on my feet, Tokoyami was gone and I made my way through the final tunnel by myself.”

“You're right, I think you would definitely catch the eyes of at least a few of the Underground Heroes with your performance. Some of your choices were pretty flashy but could also be used in stealth conditions. Make a good impression in the next round and you should be set for the internships.”

“What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. Kacchan and I know exactly how to draw everyone's attention.”

Chapter Text

Inko was grateful for the strong hand next to her that allowed her to grip it as she watched her wonderful and reckless boy run toward danger with the largest smile on his face. He seemed so happy and determined even as he placed his life in danger at each obstacle. She felt Meiling tense in her hands as they watched her fool of a son jump on top of a pile of mines.

For the first time she wondered if Melissa was a bad influence on Izuku as she heard her exclamation and her excited rambling to her husband about support items that could be made to mimic her son’s makeshift propulsion vehicle. Hisashi was no help as he seemed to support every dangerous decision their son made and she even had heard him laughing multiple times as his antics.

Melissa’s uncle was thankfully silent though the few times she had looked back to her husband she had found the tall man’s gaze directed at her son in thought. This was the first time the two had met and considering the connection between his niece and Izuku, it was no wonder the other was interested in how well he did.

She was more than thankful when her son finished the race right behind Mitsuki’s boy. She felt the tears flowing down her eyes thankful that the event was finally over and she relaxed for a bit until the next task her reckless boy will throw everything at.

“He could have won that. He gave the win to the blonde by not sabotaging him with the other boy.”

Inko felt her tears dry up at the actual puzzlement in Yagi’s voice. Looking at her husband, she found him in deep conversation with Melissa who was pointing out the sleep deprived boy that Izuku had brought to their home not that long ago. Now that she had time to look at the other contestants, the girls that they had met that night were also doing very well in the competition.

“Izuku would never harm Katsuki. Those two have been best friends ever since Mitsuki and I forced them together just after they were born. They are determined to start a Hero agency together after graduation.”

“It takes years for Heroes to open their own agency. Hawks has the record and he had help from the Hero Commission to do so.”

“If there is one thing I believe in, it is the fact that once my son makes up his mind on something, he will do it.”

“Hero work is dangerous. Watching you…”

“Yagi, I may be emotional watching my son put himself in danger but I trust him to know what he is doing. Watching him grow up I kept waiting for him to change his mind and try something easier or give up on this altogether. One thing I will always remember is the day that we found out that he would not be getting a quirk and he asked me if he could still be a Hero without a quirk.”

“He must have been four at the time. You did not want to dash his hopes.”

“I said I was sorry and cried on him for a good half hour before I was able to pull myself together and call his father who was the first person to tell him he could be a Hero.”

“So his father was able to train him?”

“Hisashi is a scientist who mostly lives in the United States for work and could only talk with Izuku weekly. We started him in gymnastics and Tai Chi lessons. Meiling here is his actual trainer.”

“She is not a retired Hero. How would…?”

“She is the closest thing there is to a quirkless Hero considering how none of those actually exist.”

“The real thing is very different from training. It takes more to be a Hero than determination or a physically honed body.”

“I know that more than you realize. My boy grew up understanding the laws of the land both spoken and unspoken. Hisashi figured it was easier to let him see society for what it was then what most children make of it.”

“That must have been hard for the both of you.”

“We would never have been able to hide the truth from him for long with his curiosity. You know, he only broke the rules once, interning for an emergency medical team he abandoned his assignment and saved a mother and child from the path of a drunk driver.”

“He could have died. That is why Heroes are trained explicitly for those situations. Because any civilian will most likely become another victim.”

“Yes, he was reprimanded and has not toed the line since. When I asked him why he had done it, did you want to know what he said? He told me that his feet had moved forward on their own. His body could not stand by and watch such a tragedy play out when there was something he could have done.”

“…some of the best Heroes I know say that exact same thing. But aren’t you still worried for his safety?”

“I may not always like his methods or why he would insist on working so hard to come in at the top when he could have gone for a safer route in the middle of the pack. But, I have learned there is almost always a reason for his actions.”

“He wanted to show the world that he could be a Hero without a quirk. He just showed them that he was able to beat most of those hero students today without one.”

“Melissa?”

“He is going to be the example for the quirkless and show them that they are not helpless.”

“Melissa, do you? Are you?”

“Don’t worry, Uncle. I-Island has been good to me and father is able to protect me from a lot of the bias against my quirkless status. But not everyone is as lucky as I am. Izuku is going to be able to prove that there is nothing wrong with being quirkless.”

The tall man went silent again lost in thought. Inko shared a look with Meiling knowing that this was probably the first time the man was confronted by Melissa’s troubles from being quirkless. She may have said that she was protected but it was also easy to tell that Melissa was not immune to the discrimination of others that her own son had to go through.

---

Midnight announced the end of the first round with all of the Hero students passing to the next round along with a couple of the support students that had been able to make it as well. Much like the entrance exams, the sports festival always tended to favor those with flashy and powerful quirks.

The purpose was for the students to impress the Heroes or support companies while getting additional income for the school through sponsorships, television broadcasts, and tickets to the event. Physical quirk usage was just more impressive and watching kids going through tough challenges kept viewers watching and spending money. There were reasons why the Sports Festival outshone old fashioned events like the Olympics.

Though after his discussion with Aizawa Sensei, there were other ways the school was able to get their students into Hero work. It was unfortunate that Todoroki’s initial attack made it almost impossible to really judge the ability of the general education kids and the few support students that had made their way across the obstacle course had been the lucky ones to bring items that would help their mobility navigating the field.

He watched with the other competitors as Midnight explained the next round. Much as he expected, it was a team challenge with a cavalry battle. Looking to his side at his best friend they had locked eyes before nodding at each other. Even with the twist of Kacchan’s headband being the largest point value and an instant win for any team that had it. He was confident they would be able to overcome their opponents.

As the Pro Hero gave them a time limit to choose teams, both of them stayed where they were as the students around them rushed to find the best teammates. Many of their classmates seemed to look in their direction for a time or two before turning away. Izuku expected as much. Bakugou’s win in the first round would make him the target of all the other teams.

It was Ochako and Eijirou that approached them first. Izuku only smiled at their offer to team up and explained that they already had a full team. Both had seemed disappointed but quickly left to find other teammates not at all commenting that it was just the two of them standing next to each other.

“You didn’t want Round Face?”

“She is not with us completely yet. It will also be harder to handle her quirk without practicing with it. Maybe next year we will be able to use both of them.”

“Not the dead boy?”

“Monoma is a separate project I am working on. He would not fit well with our plans. Besides, we need to see how he reacts when we put him in his place.”

A feral grin from Kacchan was his only answer as the boy surveyed the mostly formed teams. They had to rebuff a few more students that had come to them in desperation and one rather persistence support student. It was Katsuki that had told her to “screw off” since Izuku had been rather tempted by the jet pack she showed them.

He was going to have to remind himself to look her up after all this was over. If she had been able to make a fair replica of the support item used by Air Jet, there were a lot of possibilities for her. Melissa would also be interested in her work since neither of them really dealt with quirk replication support items.

She had finally gone off and found a spot with Ochako, Tsu, and Tokoyami. That was good, he would be able to get information from them on her other support items since he was sure that the jet pack was not her only “baby”. Looking around he found that all the teams were completed with plenty of time for him to study them.

Ochako had a great team with her. Both Tsu and Tokoyami had amazing skills in long range attacks. With the support student on their team, Ochako would be able to remove the weight of her team and use that jetpack to fly them around the field. They would be the team to watch out for.

Todoroki also had a powerful team with Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Jirou. Iida would be able to get the team moving swiftly across the field especially when Izuku saw Yaoyorozu creating roller skates for their group. Todoroki would be the most likely one on top with the most ability for long distance attacks and defense. Jirou was also a powerful attacker that could keep others away from them and with Yaoyorozu on the team, she would probably find a way to amplify her powers much like her boots in her Hero outfit did.

Hitoshi had taken his suggestion and made a team with Kouda, Hagakure, and Yanagi. If they were smart they would construct their team with Yanagi at the top as the lightest with Kouda in front to take on her weight if needed so both Hitoshi and Hagakure could break formation to attack the other teams while Kouda was able to use his abilities with animals to create great defense. Izuku had a feeling that Hagakure would be on top as they would not think about breaking the group up even though only the rider had to be protected from the ground. There were no rules about the horse staying together after all.

Eijirou was laughing with his own group of Mina, Denki, and Hanta. That crew knew each other and their abilities well considering they were all good friends. It would depend on how they would build their formation to the best effect. Sero would almost certainly be on the top since his quirk would be perfect for long distance attacking. He was more curious on who they would put in front of the formation. Mina would give them speed, Eijirou would give them defense, and Denki would give them higher attack.

Unfortunately, he doubted that Denki was ready to be an attacker considering he still had trouble focusing his quirk in a single direction. That left Mina and Eijirou and while if Izuku or even Katsuki were given a choice, they would have preferred Eijirou’s defense that could be used much like a battering ram. But his laid back personality would probably defer to Mina’s excitement without a true leader in the group. They will have issues once Mina tries to use her acid for mobility with Denki playing another horse. Hopefully after the first shock Mina would keep to just throwing acid out at opponents.

Aoyama made up the last team with 1-A students with Ojiro, Satou, and Shouji. An odd assortment that probably dealt more with the comfort of familiar people rather than trying to make a better team with people from the other class. Though part of that would be due to the unfamiliarity of anyone’s quirks outside of their class to know who would mesh well.

Either way Ojiro would have to be in the back of the horse to be able to use his tail to the best effect. Aoyama would probably be the rider considering that he would not be able to help carry the weight of Shouji or Satou easily. That would put Shouji in front since without the sugar that Satou was not allowed to bring on the field, he was left with only his strong physical form. Aoyama had long range attacks with his quirk but the team would be the most effective in close combat and he doubted many of the other groups would give them that chance.

The girls of 1-B had broken out into two teams with one of the guys filling out the last slot. His work in dividing the class was doing its job. They were a lot less cohesive and had chosen teams with people they were the most comfortable with rather than the best for winning.

Their class representatives were together on a team with Kodai and Komori. Had Yanagi not joined with Hitoshi, Izuku would bet that she would have been part of that group instead of Shouda. Komori was the one to watch with her quirk that could make mushrooms in the same team that had Kodai who could enlarge them at a great rate. The other two were better at close combat and would be a trick to get past their defenses.

Kendo would probably be the rider to use her quirk in defense of their points while at the same time being able to enlarge her hands to try to steal more points. Shouda would most likely be in front to use his quirk to the best effect with Komori and Kodai in back to make it easier for the two to collaborate.

Pony had a team up with Tokage, Shiozaki, and Rin. That one was powerful enough to potentially rival Todoroki. Tokage was the perfect choice for a rider with her quirk that could literally detach her head to save the team’s points or send a hand out to steal others. With Shiozaki being able to defend and attack he would bet they would put her in front to give them the best chance of holding off multiple people. That would put the two foreign exchange students in the back to fend people off with both of their amazing long distance attack abilities.

The next group seemed to consist of 1-B’s mutant quirk students with Kamakiri, Shishida, Bondo, and Fukidashi. Though from what the girls had told him, Shishida actually had a transformation quirk. Izuku could only assume the transformation was so strong that even when he transformed back the first time he had been left with imprints of his transformation which would account for the extra hair and prominent underbite.

That had still left his appearance different enough for others to have the same bias against him as they did many of the less human looking mutant quirked people. It was also the reason why many of the mutant quirked people in his class tended to be on good terms with each other. Kamakiri would probably be on top in that team to defend their points with his quirk with Bondo taking the lead horse spot in order to trap people to grab their headbands.

Tetsutesu’s team was built up with Honenuki, Awase and actually had the other support kid. He had not seen what items they had during the first round but remembered he had come in last place for the cut off so it was possible they had something more than mobility support on them. Honenuki would definitely be the front horse with his powerful quirk and Awase had requirements for his quirk to be effective. That meant Tetsutetsu would be the rider of that group since the group would not trust the support student to protect their points.

That left Monoma with Tsuburaba, Kuroiro, and Kaibara. Kuroiro was at a disadvantage with the non black playing field and the lack of shadows as the time neared lunch. Kaibara would be a close combat fighter so it was Tsuburaba that would be the real challenge. If they were smart they would have made him the rider for the group but Izuku did not think that the ego from Monoma would allow him to be anything but the rider. He would also probably copy Tsuburaba’s quirk which would give him double the issues getting to the blonde.

But then again, you can’t protect yourself against something you don't see coming. He almost felt bad for the others on his team, but they had known what the boy was like before joining him and could only blame themselves for the fall out.

Chapter Text

The rules to the cavalry battle were simple and he was nervous that some of their plans might not be accepted by the school. He did feel confident that Nedzu would find their machinations amusing enough to keep them from being disqualified. Midnight was probably going to be up for anything that would increase the drama for the viewers and the competition as a whole.

With only eleven teams there would be a vast shortage of available headbands to make it to the top spots. Knowing the way the final round went in the past, he would bet the top sixteen students would make it to the next phase to have even matches for the winner’s podium. That meant a team would only have to take one other headband to make it to the next round. Hitoshi would have to be careful to make sure he did not accidentally make it through in his aim to impress.

Looking around at the formed teams he was glad that his analysis on the team formations were accurate for the most part. Kamakiri’s team did surprise him by having Shishida on point over Bondo but it was possible that the boy would be transforming and would need the front position for that. Or it could be Bondo was much like Yanagi and Kouda and preferred a more behind the scenes support role.

Now that he thought of it the one time he saw their rooms, Shishida had filled his room with books. In his attempts to divide the class up it had made it very hard to get to know the boys of 1-B that lived with them. While the girls were willing to socialize, the boys were usually hanging out in one of their rooms or off in their own corner of the common area. It meant he really had not gotten to know their personalities. That group definitely became more interesting to him even if they did have the least amount of starting points.

Kacchan stood them to him with their headband on having decided not to take position until they were about to start. It gave both of them time to study the field and the positions of each of the different teams. Izuku already figured most of the teams would be gunning for the highest point headband. While not necessary to win the game it definitely would give them prestige for gaining it. As shame they had no intention of letting anyone take their points.

As Midnight called out for the competitors to prepare for the next round, Izuku bent his knees to make it easier for his best friend to make it up to his shoulders. The position was somewhat precarious as the blonde set his feet on his shoulders and crouched using Izuku’s head to keep balance. Feeling his best friend take a firm grip of his hair he raised his body back up and grounded his stance to steady the two of them for the coming battle.

His eyes swept over the other teams knowing that they had confused them with their formation. His eyes barely touched on his prey before Midnight announced the start of the event and the two of them became the center of attention as students ran towards them from all directions. Kacchan kept his tight grip on his hair before releasing it and signaling Izuku to the start of their first maneuver.

Katsuki sprang from his shoulders and blasted into the air with a loud and forceful explosion. It was easier for him to propel himself in the air with his quirk if he had extra elevation from the ground but it still required an initial powerful blast which was while Izuku had jumped to the side and the student who had tried to run up behind them got hit by the shockwave instead.

Izuku used the confusion to make it to Tsuburaba who had glanced at him for a moment as he ran by and had turned his attention to other threats having dismissed the riderless quirkless boy. He had just passed Kaibara before he made his own leap upwards to Monoma. He had expected the gyrating arm that shot up at him but the shout from Kuroiro was enough warning for Monoma to realize they were being targeted.

Had it been Tsuburaba in the rider’s role, an air wall would have appeared in his way preventing his progress. But while Monoma had the other’s quirk, he was not the true owner of it and reacted as if he did not have it. He lifted his arms to protect his headband. That was all the invitation that Izuku needed as he snaked his own arms around the boy and threw them both backwards.

Twisting their orientation in mid motion he slammed the blonde into the ground and looked up in time to counter the gyrating leg that was headed towards his face by using the body of the boy below him. Kaibara had enough control of his quirk to turn it off the moment his classmate was thrust forward as a shield.

Izuku gave all four boys a smile as released his prey and he slowly got to his feet. He gave them a mocking salute as they finally realized they had been removed from the game permanently with the loss of their rider. Izuku looked up to see his own rider’s status, not bothering with the headband that no longer graced the 1-B boy’s head.

Most of the teams had focused on Bakugou when he had made his move, Hitoshi knew to focus on Izuku. So when he had seen the green-haired boy move towards his target, his own group was in range at the right time for Yanagi to use her quirk to remove the headband and float it over to their team to collect the points.

While Izuku had noticed the quirk usage, he was not greedy enough to care about the few hundred points the cloth would bring to their already staggering number. Stealing the first headband of the game did move them into the second place spot and would impress a number of Heroes. Now it was a matter of being able to keep those points from the others while giving the audience a taste of their skills.

There was a ripple of change in the environment as the other teams started to comprehend what had just occurred. As a whole, they had thought the objective was to take headbands from one another until time ran out. With a team taken out of the playing field within the first minute of the game, the stakes had become much higher as they realized this was now a trial for survival.

Izuku had no time to gloat, while their initial strategy to split up had not disqualified them from the round, he did not want to push his luck and moved towards Aoyama’s team. The French boy was currently in a battle with Hanta who was using his tape to try to connect to the headband while their teams moved closer.

Many of the other teams had found other opponents to try for once they had lost the largest price. That was of course except for the other team that could take to the air. Luckily Kacchan had seemed to have given them the slip without losing the headband and Ochako and her crew were currently regrouping away from the current battles.

Wanting to keep out of range of Ojiro’s tail, he targeted the side that Satou was on. His caution was unnecessary as the focus of the whole group was on the combatants in front of them rather than the dangers behind them. By the time they were alerted of his presence he had already jumped onto the broad shoulders of the boy with the sugar quirk and used Aoyama as another stepping stone and he threw himself into the sky.

He had tracked his partner the whole time that he was in the air by listening to the path and intensity of his explosions. So it was not a surprise to him to find Kacchan ready for him to take a hold of his waist as they soared up again away from Hanta’s reach. Izuku already figured that his best friend would be keeping an eye on Eijirou to see how he would do in the challenge. He was interested in adding the boy to their future agency but would not be able to accept him until the redhead was able to prove himself.

“How much trouble did Ochako give you?”

“Round Face was not even a fucking challenge. That damn goggles makes pure shit.”

“That was her first time working with boosters. If it is anything like Air Jet’s she would have been wiser to leave her own weight as normal and make the others weightless so it would work at its optimal specifications.”

“Fucking worthless”

“We will have to worry about her if she gets the hang of that equipment. Right now she is using too much force and can’t be as maneuverable as you are but it should not take her long to figure out the issues. Not with the support girl on her side. Dark Shadow can also prove a problem since the quirk is experienced with flight and could potentially take control of the steering for the group.”

“I’ll fucking destroy them.”

“Aim for the support device if you have a change and they become too much of a bother. It will force them to depend on Dark Shadow alone and his photosensitivity will hinder his ability to multitask.”

“You killed the dead boy too fast.”

“I could not have him show off to the viewers in any way. That group being eliminated in seconds without a true fight is the only thing anyone is going to remember. It will be almost impossible for any Heroes to really analyze their capabilities and they will probably not send any offers to them. Monoma is also going to have to face the fact that he was taken down directly by someone he considers an inferior. I could not let anyone else take my prey or he might claim I got lucky in my match ups or would not make it without your help.”

“Fucking Bastard.”

“Yes, but I did not want him to have any excuses that he could use to minimize my abilities again.”

“Get the fuck off.”

At his words, Izuku released the grip he had on his friend and landed safely on the ground before bracing himself as Katsuki landed on him with still a bit too much force but they were still working on that stunt and he was sure not to let the pain from the impact show on his face or his body language.

Grabbing Kacchan’s feet as soon as he felt the other settle himself on his shoulders he started to run for their next target. Izuku would never let his best friend know that the position reminded him of those fathers that would place a child on their shoulders at the park when they were too tired to walk on their own. The fact that it was a good analogy was not lost on him as he gave time for Katsuki to recover and build up more sweat for his explosions.

Without the gauntlets that he and Melissa had created, there was no backup container that he could place a supply of sweat that could be used for prolonged flight. That meant he was only able to take short flights before he had to build up more on his skin. Taking breaks between flights was the trickiest part of the competition for them since they were more vulnerable from the other players here. But that did not mean they would let anything stop them from dominating the field anyway.

That's why they were now baring down on another group. Izuku would have preferred not to go against Honenuki but his best friend had chosen their landing site with precision on the weakest and easily group to pick off while he recharged. The group had already lost their headband to Kamakiri when Shishida had transformed and all three of his teammates had been forced to cling to his back and be taken along for the ride.

He would have really liked to have seen the transformation for himself but the beast he had seen from his view above with Kacchan gave him something to think about. From what he had seen of Shishida, the boy had the speed and strength to match many Pro Heroes. If he was as smart as Izuku guessed, then he would be an amazing Hero in the future. Though much like Satou, there seemed to be a side effect to the increased strength that also diminished his cognitive abilities.

The loss of the headband seemed to either demoralize the group in front of them or energize them. Either way, when it was clear that they were being targeted by the first place team, they helped by moving forward to cut the distance. He felt the body above him tense and knew that his best friend was anticipating the confrontation. The earlier move would have left too much like running away for him, this charging head first into danger was definitely more to his liking.

As a recommended student, Honenuki would have very good control of his quirk and know how to use it tactfully. They had already shown that disabling one of them would not capture both of them and he was probably afraid that trapping his legs would have Katsuki fly away along with their headband. That meant he had to stay his hand until it was to their advantage.

Izuku would have to move fast. Honenuki would most likely use his quirk to separate them when Katsuki was too close to get away on his own. The things that actually interested him was the large gun-like object that the support kid held and was aimed at Kacchan. Considering the bulk, it had to eject something quite large but lightweight enough to allow flight. A net gun maybe? Both something like that would only be able to be used once until the ammo could be reloaded…oh.

As he had predicted, the gun went off and the large net that seemed to be made out of some sort of fishing wire shot out and headed straight for Kacchan. Izuku kept his focus on Honenuki and jumped at an angle before throwing his best friend from his shoulders and towards the charging group. Without the body above him the net flew harmlessly above his crouched head and he dashed forward faster without the added weight.

Katsuki had taken the impromptu flight in stride and brought both his hands forward for a gigantic howitzer impact at blank point on Tetsutetsu’s chest. Both boys flew back from the explosion as the steel covered body of one fell to the ground while Izuku caught the other swung his back over his shoulders to the last position he had vacated.

As impressive as the howitzer impact was, it also used a lot of sweat and both boys would be grounded from the air a bit more time. Looking at the scores it seemed that while they were busy with the 1-B teams, other groups had made their own moves as Todoroki was now in second place with both Hanta’s and Aoyama’s headbands. Aoyama team was still trying to get headbands but the team Eijirou was on was eliminated completely by Todoroki.

Izuku guessed that Hanta had been able to finally snag the headband away from Aoyama and it was likely they had used his climb to Kacchan as the distraction needed to get the prize. It was like that group to let the losing team go so they would still have a chance at the next round. Todokori in turn had stolen both headbands from Hanta before eliminating them completely from the competition.

Ochako also made it to third place having removed the headband from Kendo and much like Hanta, had left the team intact. After that was Kamakiri’s group with the addition of Testutestu’s points. That left the only other team with points as Tokage’s who only had their original points. That meant Hagakure’s team was currently ahead of them and had been able to keep their points as well as the ones they had previously stolen.

Kendo, Aoyama, and Tokage’s teams would be the most desperate for the instant win that their headband could supply them with. Kamakiri would also want to be able to increase their points to ensure their continuation in the game. Izuku did not want to move on Kamakiri or Tokage, with Hitoshi in fourth place, it was likely that they would be moving on to the next round if the points stayed the same. He would not have taken his advice about his teammates if he actually wanted to advance.

He instead went to move toward Kendo, figuring he had already been the reason for Aoyama to lose his original points. They were friends but this was a competition and she would probably be more upset that they did not treat her as a true competitor due to friendship. It was the tightening of the hair in his hair as Kacchan bent himself down avoiding the searching hand of Dark Shadow as it took a swipe at their headband.

Rather than attack the stretched out hand, Izuku moved both of them directly below Ochako’s group as Katsuki released his brightest flash bang blinding the team above before lifting off himself in a shot to face them by himself. As he had suggested, his best friend wasted no time destroying the jetpack that allowed them to move about so efficiently.

Looking up he felt somewhat bad at the reaction to the light from the support kid. Her quirk probably had something to do with sight to have her in that much pain. As expected Dark Shadow hid himself away from the light and would take time to recover. Kacchan was turning to make another pass at the team, probably to take away their headbands when he was suddenly blasted away from the group.

Izuku ran to meet up with his partner when his path was suddenly blocked and he was forced to jump back as a wall of ice stretched out in front of him. Izuku would have been fine leaving the boy alone, having plans for him in the finals. But he could hardly back down from a challenge especially when it seemed like he had not been invited to the party.

Hearing explosions from the other side of the wall, he knew that Katsuki had recovered from Jirou’s sound blast. He was lucky that the ice wall in front of him was not smooth since it had been made in a hurry and there were plenty of paths upwards for him. He was able to jump his way up the wall to the very top where he was able to assess the situation.

Ochako had already moved away from the battle though he did notice a few body parts that belonged to Tokage. She was probably aiming to take a headband while Todoroki was distracted by larger prey. Katsuki was doing a few aerial maneuvers as he kept away from the focused sound attacks from Jirou with Yaorozu’s support. Iida kept their team in reach of the explosive blonde and Todoroki had launched a few ice attacks as well but the speed did not seem to match Jirou’s sound waves.

But still the assault from both attackers was going to wear Katsuki out and their attacks were stopping him from getting too close. If he was able to take down one of them, Kacchan would be able to make a direct attack on the group. Finding the best slope for a speedy descent, he was barely able to stay on his feet as he slid down the ice focused on the opposing group.

Luckily, Kacchan saw him in motion and helped by staying in one area where the group had their back to him as he made his way down. That meant by the time he was out of the ice fields and back on solid land he was able to run straight for his target without them knowing he was there. He grabbed onto the device that Yaoyorozu held and yanked on it just as Jirou had used her quirk again which unplugged the device from her ear jack and the field was deafened by the uncontrolled battering of the sound wave that was no longer being focused on one spot.

Thankfully the group had not thought to create ear protection from their teammate and were affected by their own attack. Jirou, who was the only one immune to the noise that she produced, had cut it off the moment she knew what had occurred but the damage was already done and Izuku did not let her have another chance to turn the tides. He used both arms to jab his fingers into her body and felt her body sway as her whole body was paralyzed from the blow.

He spent enough time to gently lower her to the ground before running to help his own teammate who was barreling down through the air towards the group. It was very clear the blonde was enraged by the tactics of Todoroki’s team and was going to pound a lesson into their flesh. Izuku was prepared to catch him before the other could lay an angry hand on Todoroki on live TV in front of an audience of millions when Midnight announced the end of the round robbing his best friend of his revenge.

Sighing in relief that he would not have to stop Kacchan from doing something that would hurt his image and chances of getting a good internship. Izuku relaxed as the blonde changed course and landed next to him as Midnight called out the results.

They had of course come in first having defended their points the whole time, Todoroki’s ground still placed second with Ochako coming in third. Tokage was the surprise fourth place winning team as she must have been able to snag one of Todoroki’s headbands while they were paralyzed by the noise. With only fourteen students in the top four teams Midnight gave Kamakiri’s group a chance to put two of their teammates.

Hitoshi’s group actually were able to keep their points and were the only other teams that finished with headbands. While none of the students in his team would move forward into the next round they had definitely made an impression, hopefully they would get the right offers for their abilities.

Chapter Text

With the end of round two, the winning teams were left on the field as the other students left dejected from the results. Kamakiri and Shishida joined the waiting students out of their team as the other two clearly saw them as the reason for their somewhat victory. As effective as their system was, it was clear those two had done the most work on the team. With Shishida no longer in a transformed state it was easier to see the intelligence that was lost when he went into beast mode.

Bondo on the other hand might have the same drive as Hitoshi. A capture specialist was always welcome in the Underground Heroes’ world. Fukidashi had not really made an impression though his quirk did seem very versatile for both defense and offense. It was unfortunate he was not able to showcase it as much since Shishida had been the main attacker for their team.

The other group that had made it through from 1-B included a couple of the girls he had just been getting to know with Pony and Tokage. Shiozaki seemed to accept his company the few times he was around but never really talked to him in general. Rin was another mystery to him though he did know about his quirk. He seemed to get along well with the girls so he could not be all that bad.

Midnight got their attention and announced that the final round would be starting after lunch and the recreational games that would not be part of the final score. The games were only for students that wished to participate so they could pass up on joining them in favoring of preparing for the final round. The way she mentioned preparing for the third round, definitely made it clear that it was expected of them not to join in on the games but that they would not be stopped either.

Then she got down to business and announced the one on one battle matches that would determine the winners of the Sports Festival for their year. He could almost feel the excitement come off his best friend at the pronouncement that they would be allowed to fight each other. The energy increased as the first rounds of matches were announced as they revealed the opponents. Letting them know exactly who they were fighting before the break would give them time to strategize.

Izuku found his name at the very top of the list next to the only name he did not know. Mei Hatsume? Going down the list he recognized all the other names listed which meant she was the interesting support kid that had the jet pack before Kacchan had destroyed it. He doubted that she would be able to fix that support item in time for the battles but it was possible she had other “babies” to showcase.

She would make an interesting opponent. She definitely had brains since she was able to get into the support course and made her own working support items. Getting through the obstacle course would have taken more than the jetpack alone to navigate the dangers. She would be able to bring anything that she had built on her own to the finals.

That meant equipment that she had made before joining UA would be allowed as long as she had a hand in making them. That kind of advantage would give her a chance to win even if he already knew her quirk had something to do with sight. He would have to prepare for just about anything to come from her.

Kacchan seemed to vibrate with energy. Unfortunately both of them were in the same bracket even if they were as far from each other as possible. That meant only one of them would be able to make it to the finals. They had both been prepared for that possibility but it seemed a shame not to be able to have their final battle against each other.

Of course he had to get through his own challenges before trying against his best friend considering he would most likely be fighting against Todoroki. The good news was that if he failed to beat the dual quirk user, Kacchan would have a chance at him as well. If he still refused to use his fire against his best friend, their classmate would not have a chance to win.

Kacchan would be taking on Kamakiri in the first round. He had not seen much of what the boy could do yet but he did seem to be as energetic as his best friend on the upcoming battles. His quirk would make him a close combat fighter but it was also clear that he was a mutant even if his quirk seemed to act more like a transformation type. Izuku would bet the “Knives” were more like insect spines that were hidden under the skin and can appear or retract at will.

Looking at the matches, Izuku was happy that he would not be facing off too many of his new friends. He already knew he was going to have to go all out in the tournament just to prove he had the right to be there. He did not want his friends to misunderstand him when he forced them to face their own weaknesses.

Midnight released them back to the locker area and they were allowed to wash up a bit before heading to the cafeteria that the other students that did not get as far were already occupying. Thankfully, even in the packed room Eijirou and their other friends have left a spot for them at their table and they quickly got their own food to join them.

Iida had left them earlier from the locker and he did not see him in the room. That probably meant that he had gone off to see his brother rather than taking the time to grab some food. He would probably consider it rude not to check up on his family during their break. The rest of his lunch friends were all there though and it made a familiar and comfortable feeling for him even as he was excited to continue the festival.

Sitting with his friends he could tell that the four in Hanta’s team were a bit depressed by their performance. Izuku was not too worried for them since they had actually taken a headband before being removed from the game by the second place team. Hitoshi seemed happy enough with his choice to end his competition where he did. Kacchan was too excited about the future matches to really pay attention to the mood of the others, which meant it was up to him to lift their moods.

“So you guys will be joining in on the recreational games right?”

“Why bother? It is not like it will help us get internships.”

“What are you talking about Mina? The whole point of those games is to show off your quirk control and skills. Heroes pay attention to how creative you are in using your quirk and how well you can use it in different situations.”

“So they are not just loser games?”

“Not at all Hanta, UA understands that the Sports Festival is geared towards certain types of aspiring Heroes. The games can be used to help those that would not be able to use their quirk effectively in a battle scenario a chance at the spotlight.”

“So we should enter the games and show off our manliness?”

“Exactly, choose the games that will be able to show your quirk to the best advantage. You don’t have to win them, just show the Heroes how good your control is and what new and creative way you can use your quirk for.”

“Looks like you are going to have an issue Denki. We all know about your quirk control.”

“Mina, are you talking about his passive electric field when it contacted your acid in the second round?”

“You knew he would shock me!”

“You did too, don’t you remember the first Hero Lesson when we were up against Denki and Iida? Your acid acts almost like water around his electricity.”

“Oh yeah… I guess I did forget.”

“Besides there are games that Denki would be able to use his quirk in without having to worry about others. Many of the games deal with solo achievements.”

“So I have a chance?”

“Better than a chance. Just try for the ones that you know you will excel at.”

“What about you? Will you be joining us then?”

“While it is not against the rules for those in the third round to join in the games. It is considered rude to take the spotlight away from those that did not have a chance yet. Besides Mina, I plan on finally being able to watch some of the events myself. There are so many amazing quirks I have not been able to see yet.”

“Well I am sure all of you will be amazing in the next round.”

“I’m going to kill them all.”

“Not if I do it first.”

He received a grin back from his friend and looked around the table and saw brighter smiles on the four that now had a new opportunity to impress the Heroes for an internship. He was not lying about being able to use the recreational games to get a good internship.

Games such as the scavenger hunt would allow them to demonstrate their tracking and hunting skills. The ball roll was all about speed and precision. Many of the track and field games doubled as a way to show off their strength and accuracy. His friends would all be fine now that they were determined to make a good show of it.

“So how would you guys feel about meeting my parents?”

---

He could not believe that his boy had gone this far in his rebellion. It was one thing to refuse to use his fire for some pathetic homage to his mother. Now he had gone so far as to actually intentionally lose in front of millions of viewers on live TV. If this was his idea of proving a point, he had succeeded.

He had been so close to getting that damn Moon Fish but no Villain capture was worth having his name dragged through the mud. He would have thought his son would have realized his rebellion had gone too far. He had trusted his boy to do the right thing when he had left for work. After all, he had to maintain his quotas and capture rates since there was still a chance to beat that idiotic All Might.

He had a gut feeling that it would be an easy capture when he had seen that letter. He had everything that would make this an easy and worthwhile trip. The tip had even proven to be good or he would have left last night and had made it to the festival in plenty of time. But the bit of evidence was also where they had their dead end. There had been no other traces of the villain even after scouring the city. Still that piece of crap had eluded him and his teams.

So when he found out that his own son had come in third in the first round, he had left his sidekicks to their work to find out where the criminal was hiding as he drove back to knock some sense into his boy. He had almost burned the cover of the steering wheel when the radio announced his continuing failure. Losing once again to this Bakugou boy.

Not even a Hero legacy in that background but still able to win against his son. From the descriptions of the announcer, the boy sounded like a feral animal rather than the precision machine that his son was. How could Shouto allow anyone to place above him? He knew how important it was to make a good first impression.

At least he had time to make it to the stadium before the third round started. The school thankfully had their recreational games for the losers that could not make it to the finals. As if his agency would even consider an intern that could not make it to the third round. The school should just fail the kids that could not even get that far. They would be useless out in the field.

---

He had not seen the sports festival in years. Shigaraki had given him hope of a perfect host and he had wanted to see him. The boy was easy to spot with the wild shock of green hair. That hair had made him wonder at his actual quirkless state but his speech had reassured him that this was the one he was looking for.

A naive kid with big ideals. Should be easy to manipulate. His young age and clearly healthy body would be a perfect specimen to use as a host. It might even be possible to allow him to be outside the tube for long periods. That would make it easier for the parasite to grow and thrive. He would be able to increase the army in leaps and bounds but more importantly he would be able to actually fulfill the promise he had given to his old friend. He needed this Midoriya.

---

Izuku realized that he had still not told his best friend something very important as they entered the stands and headed in a giant group towards his parents. He was happy that his new friends had been willing to come up to meet his parents. Iida unfortunately had still not joined them by the time they left and he figured he was off with his brother celebrating his participation in the third round in the food stands run by the management courses.

He had not thought to retrieve Pony from the well-wishers among class 1-B. His mother would have welcomed seeing her again but he figured he was already bringing enough people to a somewhat tight area and it would be rude to not invite the other girls if he had invited Pony. That would have been even more people to cram into the box.

Melissa was the first to spot their group and had come running out of her seat to grab him into a hug as she praised him for his performance in the festival so far. Izuku only gave her a few moments to gush before he focused her attention on the other students he had brought with him. Her eyes had immediately sharpened when he mentioned Kacchan.

“How is the kickback on the gauntlets? Izuku keeps telling me you are able to handle more power and we could deepen the storage containers. I wonder if we can increase the rotation to improve the speed of release so you can access more than one well at a time. If we add a new heating element…”

“Melissa, we can talk shop with Katsuki after the Festival. We can’t get access to the gauntlets but there should still be time to look into improvements.”

Izuku pointed out steering her away from his best friend. He had seen the impatience in Kacchan’s face at the slew of words and questions and decided to interrupt it unless he made a careless comment that Melissa would take offense in not knowing how Katsuki normally spoke. Of course All Might would also probably object to his niece being cursed at for her curiosity. He figured the giant of a man would be paying close attention to her interactions after all.

He introduced the rest of his friends, pointing out different things that she would remember from their phone conversations such as Ochako’s need for directional boosters as she had witnessed for herself during the second round. He also pointed out Denki to her, from his incident using his powers as a defibrillator and explaining his ability to power up devices such as phones.

He knew that last would interest her the most considering in her line of work often the power supply was the most limiting factor in designing. If she could work with someone that could provide their own power source that could be tapped into, the possibilities were almost endless.

Hitoshi also got her attention as they were currently working on his gear and he knew she had brought in her prototype with her on this visit. He had not mentioned it to the brainwasher, having wanted to surprise him with the gift or disappoint him since it was not yet a finished product ready for their Hero lessons.

His other friends were all given a quick examination and Izuku knew she was thinking of support items that they would be able to benefit from. Tsu seemed to interest her quite a bit considering she probably did not get to meet many aquatic type heroes. She still found ways to praise them all for their unique quirks and skills.

Izuku could tell that his friends enjoyed her curiosity in them considering that she seemed genuinely interested in helping them all become Heroes. He was able to finally guide them over to the box where his family and All Might waited. He knew the moment Kacchan saw exactly who was sitting in the box with his parents. He quickly jabbed his elbow into his stomach and gave him a look before he could question the Hero’s presence.

He instead distracted the others by introducing them to his parents. Soon his mother was hugging each of his classmates in turn as his father watched on while making a comment or two about how well they did in the competition so far. Shifu had taken Hitoshi aside and was talking to him about his training routine which made Izuku happy since it showed she seemed to have taken a shine to his purple haired friend. It meant she thought he had potential if she was willing to give him advice on his training.

All Might seemed to enjoy being a spectator in the festivities around him and while his classmates would look at him a time or two no one seemed to make a fuss that Melissa’s Uncle Yagi was sitting with them. Did the glasses really fool them? He knew Katsuki had recognized him immediately. Was this a case of they were not seeing the reality because it seemed too far fetched?

Eijirou, Hanta, Mina, and Denki were soon making their apologies as they left to enter the field again for the recreational games. Izuku would have loved to stay with his family but without extra seats he found himself walking off with the rest of his friends toward their seating area not that long afterwards.

“So why didn’t you introduce us to All Might formally, Kero?”

“I knew it! Why did you not tell us your family knew All Might?”

Kacchan just gave him a look without asking the question but still clearly wanting answers. He really should have known better, Tsu was just too perceptive to be fooled for long. Ochako may have had her doubts but with confirmation it was clear she knew the truth. Hitoshi… seemed genuinely startled by the revelation. That gave him hope that his other friends had not caught on.

“That was how he introduced himself to me. I was not lying. That really is Melissa’s Uncle. He came as a surprise to me as well but it is also kind of cool if you think about it.”

“Does this mean you are going to be marrying into All Might’s family, Kero?”

“Tsu, I already told you Melissa and I are support technician partners.”

“…does she know that?”

“What are you talking about, Ochako?”

“She just seems really close to you.”

“She is like a sister at this point. We have known each other since a young age and have been working together constantly. We relate to each other on so many things it is hard not getting close.”

“All Might is definitely going to be your uncle.”

“Stop joking around Hitoshi. Let’s hurry up before we miss the start of the games. I want to see our friends in action.”

---

Shouto moved out into the corridor and watched the backs of the retreating classmates. He had been deleting the numerous missed calls and voice messages left by his father when he had overheard the group.

Izuku knew All Might personally? He was dating his niece? Had the boy been making fun of him this whole time when he had told him about his past? Maybe it would be a good thing to face off against him. Winning against him would be like winning against All Might. Right?

Chapter Text

Izuku entered the section for the 1-A students with his friends to find a fairly empty set of seats with only Yaoyorozu and Jirou in attendance. There was still plenty of time for their other classmates to join them but he had a good idea on where everyone was. Looking out towards the field he found the rest of his classmates that were not going to the third round currently signing up for the different games that were being promoted.

Taking a seat next to their class representative who was talking with her friend, he felt the others find their own seats. He did not need to look to know that Kacchan had taken the spot next to him on the stands. Hitoshi was probably behind them since he never liked to sit directly beside his best friend though it seemed they were getting to know each other better. They were still working though his barriers and Katsuki seemed to realize that the discomfort was really not about him but past trauma.

“I’m guessing that most of the class decided to sign up for recreational games. I’m surprised that Hagakure and Kouda are down there.”

“Kirishima came by on his way down and told everyone what you said about using the events to help showcase their quirks to the watching Heroes,” Yaoyorozu explained as she turned towards him.

“Sounds like him. He would want to give everyone a fighting chance. I bet he told the 1-B kids as well.”

“In a way. He challenged Tetsutetsu to the arm wrestling matches. After that Monoma incited his whole class to beat us at the other games. From the sound of it as they were leaving, the dorm chores might have been at stake again for whichever class has the least wins.”

“That kid is a real piece of work. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with him regularly,” Jirou interjected as she joined the conversation.

“He is here to be a Hero, Jirou. There has to be some good qualities in him once you get past his fears and defensive attitude. Besides, I’m sure that this rivalry between classes will make a very exciting recreational games this year.”

“What do you mean, Midoriya?” The class representative asked as she looked to the field expecting to see the answer from the participates below.

“It is true that the games can be used to showcase your quirk. But since it is mostly for the kids who already lost the festival, it is usually a lackluster performance. Competition is a great way to give the participants a real drive and perform at their best.”

“You fucking nerd. You planned this shit!” Katsuki exclaimed as he jabbed an elbow into his side. Izuku accepted the hit knowing that his best friend would react in such a way. He really did have to find out why he was being so protective of Eijirou. It was unlike him to get so attached this quickly.

“I was hoping it would happen. Eijirou is at a disadvantage with his quirk not being useful in many of the events. Challenging someone with a similar quirk to him and winning may give him the chance he needs to impress a Hero. This will also give us a good chance to learn more about class 1-B and their abilities.”

“None of the students going to the third round will be there for us to get advanced knowledge for the tournament. Midnight made it very clear that we were supposed to prepare for the matches.” Yaoyorozu mentioned as she turned to look at the somewhat empty stands next to them where 1-B were sitting.

“Do you really think that UA will not have the Hero classes work together, Yaoyorozu? Monoma may be pushing for this rivalry between our classes, but we can also decide to work with each other.”

“Have you wondered why the dorms have been mostly peaceful despite Monoma’s attitude towards you? Shouda is the one that has been keeping him away from the common areas when you are around after the last confrontation the two classes had about you,” she replied back looking very serious.

“I wondered why the boys were never around. I assumed the rest of the class were hanging out together and did not want to be disturbed.”

“Kendo gave Shouda as their vice representative the responsibility to make sure another confrontation did not happen.”

“I am glad to see the class representatives working together at least. Aside from the 1-B girls it has been hard to get to know the others.”

“I think you confuse them a bit.”

“I have not done anything to them.”

“That may be true but you have to admit, you are not what one expects to find in a Hero Course. I believe they keep waiting to see how you got in.”

“Hopefully the event so far has shown a bit of light on that front to them.”

“Midoriya, you do realize that while the whole class does support you…”

“Yeah, I know. I’m still the quirkless kid that lucked their way into the UA. That is why winning means so much to me. Prove that I deserve to be here.”

“You would have to be an idiot to think that the kid that came in first place in the exams does not deserve a spot in the Hero Course,” Jirou added trying to show her own support.

“Pretty to think so Jirou,” he replied back with a small smile grateful for her attempt at lightening the mood.

“I agree with Kyouka. But you should know that Monoma is already calling you a cheater for your tactics in the second round. Shouda would probably be able to handle him in the dorms… but just be careful,” Yaoyorozu pointed out trying to put the conversation back on track.

“It’s not like he can steal my quirk to use against me.”

“But he does have friends that would be willing to lend theirs. You’re right that he is here to be a Hero, but you have also hurt his pride quite a bit. Kendo thinks that the class rivalry on the field will help keep his focus off you.”

“Why hasn’t Iida told me any of this though?”

“Iida values your friendship. He believes that you wouldn’t approve of us taking action behind your back.”

“I did not realize he was so concerned. He always seems to be upfront about everything.”

“I thank you for your good opinion of me. But you are mistaken. I explained the situation to Vlad King after Monoma’s first confrontation in the cafeteria. That had resulted in a demerit. The confrontation in the dorms was his second. Shouda is looking after him because if he gets a third demerit, he will be given a temporary suspension.”

Iida's voice startled him a bit and told him how much he had been focusing on Yaoyorozu to miss their class vice representative joining their group. Considering the boy was not exactly stealthy it did make him think how much the idea of the classes working together to protect him actually affected him. He was so used to only being able to trust Kaachan that he never expected this kind of support.

“Iida! I did not expect you back with us for the recreational games.”

“My brother invited me to stay with him but I felt it was my duty to watch over the class in case I was needed. We need to make sure we represent UA to the best of our ability for the festival.”

“Thanks for your hard work. I wish you would have told me about Monoma though. I already said I could handle it.”

“Yes, but you don’t need to anymore. Midoriya, I appreciate your drive to do everything on your own but it was my responsibility to report these things to the teachers. UA has a strict no bullying policy. You can trust the teachers to handle it,” Iida said with a chopping motion of his hand.

“…I guess I am just so used to having to take care of myself. I’ve not had the best experience with schools actually following their own policies in the past.”

“Be assured that UA will take this matter seriously.”

“Iida is correct, Midoriya. The teachers are handling everything. If Monoma tries anything else, it will be more than a warning next time.”

“I don’t actually want to get him in trouble, you know.”

“He is not going to learn and get better unless he understands what he is doing is wrong,” Yaoyorozu pressed willing him to understand.

“I guess you’re right, Yaoyorozu.”

“Hey guys, you’re going to miss the games if you keep talking.”

Izuku smiled back at Ochako as thanks for her warning before turning toward the field where he saw the first event was being set up. He had noticed Todoroki and Tokoyami had both joined them in the interim. Looking towards the seats that were set aside for 1-B he noticed that half of their class were in attendance. Yanagi, Bondo, Fukidashi, and Komori were with those that had qualified for the next round.

That meant it was going to be a fair fight below for the game with ten from each class competing in them. He did wonder why Komori had decided not to compete. Her quirk had not been used heavily in the festival so far. He knew she was quiet but did not think she would be going for an Underground Hero role. If anything she was perfect for a Support or disaster Recovery Hero.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the crowd as Midnight got the games started with the ball roll. Shouji and Kouda teamed up for it as well as Mina and Hanta. Shouji and Kouda were both rather strong but did not have anything to help move the ball to the finish line faster. Mina had been able to use her quirk very effectively to glide the ball down the track precisely down their track.

They would have probably won the event if it was not for Kodai who had shrunk their ball to be able to hold it in her hands and her teammate Tsuburaba kept the other teams back with his solid air quirk. The other 1-B team of Kaibara and Awase were unable to effectively use their quirks for the game and had done it without help. That had given 1-B the first win out of the two classes though the two teams from 1-A had placed first and second.

The next event was an individual effort for arm wrestling and as expected the last two competitors had been Eijirou and Tetsutetsu. It had been a tense final game but Eijirou had beaten the Steel version of his quirk in the end. That meant the score was even going into the scavenger hunt.

In teams again Kouda and Shouji were finally able to effectively show off their quirks as Kouda used his animal to find the objects they were searching for and Shouji had retrieved the ones that his animals had difficulty with. The team from 1-B that consisted of Kuroiro and Honenuki were actually somewhat effective but had no way to find the items easily with their quirks though they had been intelligently searching their area in a grid pattern.

The next event placed Satou against Kendo as they were challenged to complete a rope course. Satou had a lot of strength even when he was unable to use sugar to improve it but had still lost to the 1-B class representative though the race had been a close one.

Another team event was after that with Hagakure and Denki working together in what looked like giant hamster balls against a team of Monoma and Kaibara. The point was to push the other opponents out of the ring in a giant battle royal with the other students that were participating.

Denki had lit up his ball like Christmas with a lightshow from his quirk which made it difficult to see him while Hagakure had removed her clothes once again before the event. It was a good tactic that gave them an advantage on the field as the other students could not gain knowledge from visual cues about the two as they competed.

Kaibara had shared his quirk with Monoma again and the two were using gyrate to speed across the field. Those two had dominated the field as they had worked together to push the other students out. Denki had been targeted almost immediately when he had given them trouble since it was hard to look directly at his ball.

Hagakure had tried to help but one her partner was pushed out of bounds she changed her tactics to hide in the midst of the other battling contestants. That had only worked until the field had thinned enough that she could no longer hide and was pushed out of the ring as her partner had been. By that time Monoma was unable to continue to use gyrate and it was Kaibara that was doing the majority of the work.

Aoyama and Hanta had taken the next individual challenge of a bowling-like game. They were given balls to use for projectiles to knock down a set of larger than normal bowling pins. Shouda and Awase from 1-B had also signed up for the event. Aoyama had leveled the ball in front of his body and had shot it out with great force using his quirk. It had been a good through and it had made it to the pins but only three his first try and had to use the other two balls he had been given to knock the rest down. Hanta had attached his quirk to the ball and had knocked down all the pins that way in the first try.

Awase had actually welded two of the balls together for a larger projectile and had used that to knock down the pins. It was a good attempt but the result had not been very balanced so he threw off his throw only clipping one of the pins in the end. His second attempt with his last ball got him the rest so it had been clear that the fault was not his aim the first time around.

Shouda hit his ball forward almost like one would a volleyball. Izuku had thought at first that it would not even make it to the pins when his quirk went into play and twin impact allowed him to send his ball into the pins with great force knocking them all down with the one.

Hanta, Shouda, a general education student and a couple of support kids that had been able to get all the pins down in their first try were given an even greater distance to do it again. That had eliminated most of the competitors until it was finally just the two Hero course students left. Hanta was lucky that they had not been moved back once more since his quirk did have a limit and would have been at a disadvantage. Shouda had misjudged his quirk and had overshot the ball, unable to get a full strike in his first hit. Though he knocked down all his pins in the second he could not match Hanta’s effort.

The last event was a large cement maze for the students to make it to the end. It was an event for all the competitors and Kuroiro had finally been able to showcase his quirk as the maze was tall enough to give him shadows to use and he had completed the maze within seconds. That meant it looked like he would be helping take on more of the chores with his classmates for a bit. He hoped that the agreed time frame would not be too bad.

Not for the first time since the recreational games started, Izuku wished he had his tablet to finally make notes on some of the students from the other class. He did feel a bit badly for the students from the other classes. Normally the general education and support classes would have been able to win at least a couple of the games but with both Hero courses set on making a good impression after their previous performance, they stood no chance.

“There you are!”

The exclamation pulled his eyes away from the field as he found himself the focus of attention as the pink haired support kid was staring right at him. He had known they would be the first to compete in the final round but there was always a break between the games and the matches so they would be able to reset the field.

“You were looking for me?”

“Yep. We are going to be facing off together in the third round. But first tell me what you thought of my baby!”

“Your baby? The jet pack? I definitely gave your team an advantage since it worked so well with Ochako’s quirk that was the reason Kacchan had to destroy it when you went after us. Shouldn’t you be asking her about it though since she was the one that really used it?”

“Not that one, though you guys owe me for hurting my baby, I meant the capture gun.”

“The one the other support kid had? I thought you could only use equipment that you worked on?”

“It was a joint project. I worked on the gun mechanics and he built the nets. We both ended up with one for the festival so it was well worth the collaboration. As long as you have a hand in the resulting support item you are allowed to use it under UA’s rules. So tell me how was it?”

“The net was a good material since it is lightweight and was able to shoot out with a good force. There was hardly any wind resistance to slow it down which means you had large enough spacing in the weave to keep its momentum.”

“So why didn’t it work?”

“He had aimed high trying to capture Kacchan. That gave me room to duck under the net before it expanded further. He should have kept it level or waited for us to get closer to make it harder to escape from the path.”

“User error then. I knew my babies were the best.”

“They are really good. I can’t wait to see what else you have during our match.”

“A man of taste. But I don’t think the festival is fair without allowing you to have support items yourself.”

“The rules were made with the assumption that the Hero Courses would have quirks that would overpower support items and our Hero Outfits are professionally made so it would be unfair to use them at the Sports Festival.”

“What if I let you use mine? Make it an even battleground?”

“I would be better off not using them since I would not have time to get used to them. You saw it with Ochako and your jetpack on how much trouble she had until she got the handle of it... But if you want to let me use my own gear… I mean the ones I have made myself, not the professional grade stuff...”

“You have your own babies! Yes! I will show you how superior my work is.”

“Are you sure? We will have to ask permission to break this rule.”

“Of course. I want to make sure that all my babies will be in the spotlight.”

“Iida, do you think you can find a teacher to ask for me. I need to get in touch with a couple of people to get my gear ready if we are going to do this.”

“Anything to make it a fair game. I commend you for taking this route.”

“Looks like we are on Hatsume.”

Izuku left his classmates with Iida before parting as he headed to the field to get in touch with Midnight or Cementoss if they were not still busy with the maze. He was on his way to meet up with Melissa having already sent her a quick text. He then made another call since he was taking this new challenge seriously.

Hatsume's suggestion made it very clear this was a battle of support gear. It was a smart move on her part since it was clear she was not physically fit to handle a true combat scenario. It would also give him a chance to officially use some of the gear they had been building for his friends.

Chapter Text

Izuku had been in luck when he had raced over to Melissa and his folks. She had indeed brought all the gear they would be testing on his friends over the weekend and was more than happy to allow him to use them for the final round.

His previous call also brought in good results and he would be able to really show what he had accomplished to everyone. Even if he still did not want the world to see him as hiding behind support items to become a Hero, he could not pass up the opportunity to show the viewer what exactly he was able to offer.

He also felt much better not having to physically fight Hatsume. She seemed like a fascinating student and he knew Melissa would want to pick her brain as well. Once this was all over they would have to find time to have all three of them sit down to talk about their projects or babies in the support students case.

His dad did suggest that he should take cues from his opponent during the match and try to make sure that he kept in complete control of the situation. It was a good call since many of the items he had to showcase were meant for utility.

Hitoshi’s prototype mask was currently only able to throw his voice or amplify it. They were still working on how to allow it to modify his voice to different pitches and tones in order to hide his identity or mimic someone else’s. Their goal was to have it be able to self-adjust to a sample voice in order to mimic it without interfering with the brainwasher’s quirk.

Ochako’s boosters were completed as it had been one of the easiest projects to work with. They had not needed to invent new technology for them but they did have to create a set of controls so they did not interfere with her hands. That had meant building them to attach to her elbows. She would be able to turn them on or off and adjust the output by certain motions and the bending of her arms. It was a bit awkward since they were colored to match her Hero outfit so the light pink and hot pink was a bit out of place on his gym uniform.

Melissa had also started work on his new updated visor that was the complete circle around his head. While he felt like he was wearing a circlet, it stayed in place nicely and even gave him the increased head protection that Melissa had promised. She was still working on adding more space for the increased air supply but it should be completed in time for his internship considering the progress she had already made on the gear.

The last was a true surprise for him. He had not expected Melissa to have started much less completed the new boots for Kacchan. They had found an issue with his current set as they did not give him enough support when landing from his flights and the updated version had more bounce to them so it would help at lift off as well instead of relying on his quirk alone to lift himself into the air.

Considering the boots were completed as well they were already in the black and orange coloration that would match his best friend’s outfit. Altogether he would be wearing a mishmash of colors and gear that clearly did not go with each other. Though he was happy that the boosters and boots would actually be able to work in tandem for his mobility in the match ahead. He was more worried about finding a way to showcase Hitoshi’s mask since it was only partly completed.

He just had one more thing to pick up before he was ready for the tournament to begin. He just hoped he had been able to give him enough warning to get everything prepped in time for the next round in the games.

Izuku had gone straight to the locker room to prepare for the upcoming match. He did not have much time and he still needed to put on and test out the equipment before using it on the field. It was easy enough to test the visor, boots, and mask and they all seemed to be working properly which was a definite plus.

The boosters on the other hand had a limited supply of fuel for propulsion since Ochako would not need much momentum to move her weightless body around. That meant that he could only do a few tests to make sure they were able to power on and off and that they would take the commands he sent to the boosters correctly.

Once that was done all he could do was wait and hope the last piece for his performance would be ready on time. He did get a very professional text from Iida that the teachers had approved the changes for the match but it would only be allowed for the single battle since all other competitors would not be using support items.

That had been fine, Izuku really did not want to win from having support gear alone. He would not have used it even if he had been given permission to do so for the other matches. He had to think about his potential opponent he would be facing next. While the added mobility would be welcome against Todoroki, He wanted to defeat the other on his terms.

More than anything that meant beating him at his own game. He would not allow the other to continue relying on only half of his quirk and thinking that that was good enough to become a Hero. He planned on removing his options and showing the boy that just because his father had given him his genetics did not mean that the fire was his as well.

Kacchan would probably be less than happy with him if they could not have a match against each other televised.That meant that he would have to make the lesson stick but not complicate matters overly much. Fire he could deal with. After all, being friends with Katsuki for years had made him lose his caution around fire and burns could be treated thanks to Recovery Girl’s availability on standby.

He would have to be careful with that option. Shizenji seemed to have taken his mother’s worry of him being hurt seriously and he did not want her to be disappointed. Not to mention she had already put a lot of faith in him by allowing him to work with the upperclassmen for the next two days. He did not want her changing her mind.

He went to the door as he heard the knock and smiled knowing that everything was ready to go. Now he just needed to impress the Heroes that were waiting to see him in the audience. If they had written him off for his quirkless state he was about to surprise them all. He just had to make sure he continued to make them pay attention to him as the tournament continued.

—-

Present Mic was announcing the news to the audience that the first match of the tournament was starting with a rule change. Thankfully from the sound of the crowd, they were more excited about the start of the new event and were not questioning the additional modifications.

“Now let me introduce the Star of the Support Course and the first student in five years to make it to the final round from that class. She has been able to really fly above the competition in both previous games and is about to pull out all the stops for us today. Let’s welcome Hatsume Mei to the field!”

Izuku heard the cheering and smiled glad that the Support student was getting approval from the audience. It was always difficult for the other classes to get the hype that the Hero students did. He was happy the Present Mic had taken that into consideration when introducing her and having her enter the field first.

“You’ve met her opponent as he gave the student pledge after coming in first in the entrance exam with one of the highest scores in eight years. He amazed us in the first round by using his explosive intelligence to come in second place. In the next round his teamwork with his partner has made him the person to beat. Now with the permission from his opponent he will be introducing a new aspect of his skills as we welcome Midoriya Izuku the up and coming Support Technician Quaque Die to the field!”

Part of the stipulation that allowed him to use his gear was to reveal him to the community as QD from his previous patents with Melissa. He had been hoping to keep that quiet since it was odd for a Hero Course student to have that kind of portfolio in his background. There had been no way or time to argue that point and he was just relieved they were allowing this at all.

He knew he made a splash as he entered the field. He understood that it looked like he was wearing a conglomeration of multiple Hero outfits that seemed to have little rhyme or reason to go together. The thing that was probably causing the most waves though was the sentinel he was riding on as he entered the field.

His class would recognize the creation for their preview of it on their first bus ride to the USJ. He knew he would have to explain it to his friends later since only Kacchan knew about his work with the Support Technicians on this project. The other Hero class and some of the general education students that had tried for the Hero Course would probably be able to match the basic parts to the robots they had previously faced off against.

Making it to the arena he found his opponent gesturing wildly and talking even though he was not able to hear her yet. When he did get close enough to understand her words, he smiled though the other would not be able to see it behind the mask as it was clear the other was excited to see his “babies” in action and was going to personally inspect his creations after this was all over.

He was also excited as well as he got a good look at her own equipment. It made even more assured in his decision as the other was clearly a utility specialist as well. Her gear looked to be made for mobility and enhancing natural abilities.

He had been worried for a bit that her gear would be more dangerous. He may have permission to use the sentinel but a room full of technicians that were watching the games would be very irritated if it did not come back in one piece.

Reaching the platform he jumped from the robot and used his gymnastics training to give the crowd a show as he performed a few flips in the air before landing on the cement arena. Already he knew Kacchan was going to love the new shoes as he barely felt the impact from the ground at all.

If Melissa had completed them to get on Katsuki’s good side, she was definitely going in the right direction. He knew that Melissa was aware that Kacchan could be demanding at times and was often hard to please. His joy at the gauntlets they had created already put her in a useful category to him but she must have wanted to cement his favorable impression with this surprise gift.

He turned to Midnight as she reiterated the rules of the game and how their advancement depended on their opponent being pushed out of the ring or if they were unable to continue the match for any reason. Looking over to Hatsume he found that the girl had a serious expression on her face as she eagerly awaited the start of their battle.

That look made him know that she had something planned. He was not disappointed at all as the go was given for her to pull out a microphone from where it was hidden in her hair and started to introduce herself again to the audience as she hijacked the official speakers away from Present Mic.

“Mei Hatsume here to give you the breakdown on my beautiful creations. Each developed by yours truly and made for any situation.”

Not wanting to miss his chance at the promotion, Izuku used Hitoshi’s mask to throw his voice to the microphone on the girl and reintroduced himself. He smiled to himself as he saw her surprise at his ability to borrow her support item for this use. He did note that he did have to raise his voice a bit to get a normal sounding voice to come through the speakers but the mask had enough dampeners in it that he could not hear his voice coming from him at least.

It did not matter too much that he could not use his normal voice for the match today. But it would not be ideal since most people did not increase their volume when trying to be stealthy. They would have to improve that aspect a bit before they could give it to Hitoshi to use for Hero Lessons.

“Izuku Midoriya here to showcase items that I have built in tandem with a number of amazing technicians here at the school and with my support item partner. Melissa Shield and I have been patenting our inventions for the last few years and I will be using a few of the newest prototypes we are currently working on today.”

He looked to where his partner Melissa Shield sat with his parents and smiled in her direction. He had wanted to make sure her name got out since Present Mic had left her off of his introduction. He was not willing to take all the credit for their gear and he knew it would make her very happy to be included.

Before he could explain about his work with the team of past UA Support Students, Mei has already taken control of the mic again by turning her back on him. That put the microphone out of sight and broke the direct line to it so that the mask would not be able to reach the amplifier. She was very smart to be able to immediately pick up on the weakness that quickly and do something about it.

“Let’s get the party started with my Auto Balancers! Guaranteed to increase the flexibility and lightness of your body by supporting your legs and adjusting your body to maximize your speed.”

At that the pink haired girl ran toward him showing off the equipment that framed her legs. He braced himself waiting for her to get closer giving her more time to let the audience see her creation work. It also would not be nice to show off his hard won speed through years of training that the equipment could not compensate for.

Just as the girl was about to reach him he activated the jump power in the boots and sprung from the ground over Hatsume’s head and added an aerial twist at the peak of his stunt as he fell back to the ground. Turning around he found Mei’s Auto Balancers had used wing-like projections to blast wind out and kept her from running out of the boundaries now that he was not there to stop her acceleration.

“The Auto Balancers will automatically keep you upright and save you from falling without any work from the user allowing you to keep from an accident.”

“It’s a good thing I had these Jump Boots with me. They were built specifically to give your regular jump a boost allowing the wearer to get more lift and height when using them. They also have the added benefit of cushioning your landing by spreading out the impact of landing throughout the rest of your body. You can fall freely from up to 5 meters without injuring yourself with these on.”

With Hatsume facing him again he was able to use the microphone as she adjusted her balance after the autobalancers corrected her movements. They had kept her from falling out of bounds but they also unbalanced her and made it easier to allow an opponent to maneuver around. It would not be good in a match between a Hero and Villain but there was definitely a useful aspect to it in a rescue situation when the ground was unstable and the terrain could change instantly from collapse or natural disasters.

It was his turn to move forward using the Jump Boots to take small leaps forward to show how it was also able to enhance speed by modifying how he used them. As he reached Hatsume, movement from her backpack brought out metal rods that lifted her away from his path. Knowing that the thin poles were keeping her aloft kept him from touching them to get to the support girl. Without knowing how well she would take a fall he did not want to overbalance the new invention and hurt her.

“The Hydraulic Bracers can sense an incoming attack and move you out of the way just in time. With sensors in all directions even a surprise attack would not be able to get through.”

Izuku pulled his arms straight and swiftly rotated them towards his body then away. The movement kicked on both of the boosters attached to his arms. He did not want to destroy her creations in order to get to the girl. That meant he would have to beat her with his agility and speed.

With both the boots and boosters helping him he went about activating her Hydraulic Bracers and following the path that they took the support student on. It was almost a dance as he forced the boosters to keep pace with the girl as they moved in parallel with each other.

“These boosters are modified to react to controls in the arms in order to keep your hands free. They lose none of the maneuverability from the typical boosters that are controlled through gloves or hand held devices.”

Izuku knew he could not continue his current pace and turned off the boosters to conserve what little fuel he had left in them. He had used quite a bit in order to make his point about their ability but did not want to explain why they could barely last a minute in these conditions.

Activation only occurred when you got close to the user so since he was not willing to hurt her that meant using long distance attacks. It was lucky that he brought in something specialized for just that purpose. He lifted his arms up as he reactivated the Sentinel from it’s position where it had sat during the start of the fight.

It moved into position quickly as it entered the ring and took aim at the support student. The girl still had one more trick up her sleeves as she slid away from the first attack. Izuku watched as her specialized boots allowed her to avoid the shots taken at her.

“These Electromagnetic Soles help you escape an enemy's attack and safely get away from danger.”

“This Sentinel is more than an attacker. I assisted a team of former UA Support Students to build a safeguard. This robot is able to protect as well as attack. It also knows how to work in tandem.”

Izuku pointed out as he signaled the robot before using the last of the booster’s juice to trigger the Hydraulic Bracers once more as the black goo trapped the poles. The support item was not made to continuously hold Hatsume in place for long and eventually had to lower her to the ground where her feet were immediately trapped by more of the goo.

Looking down with no way out she still had a smile on her face as she pulled out the capture gun from before and shot him point blank in the chest. He dropped to the side rolling away from the attack but he had heard the second shot too late. This time the gun did what it was supposed to do and had trapped him in a net of the fine mesh.

“The Capture Gun can shoot up to five rounds and hold your enemy down. The net is made of a fine durable material that is cut proof.”

Izuku was lucky enough that he had been captured with his feet still on the ground in a tight ball. That meant the net only covered the top of him. Knowing he would only tangle himself further if he struggled. He used the boots again to kick off from the ground. Once airborn the net spread out again in its natural response to capture what was in front of it. That was enough for Izuku to pull the net completely off himself and land back on the platform.

Midnight announced him as the winner as Hatsume was no longer able to move. He quickly moved forward to pour the solution on the support student to get her and her babies out of the black capture substance. He removed the mask as he smiled at the girl their show over.

“I had no idea you were actually able to add more ammo to the gun. That really surprised me.”

“They are held in capsules until ejected from the gun. That way I can have more shots.”

“So why didn’t that other kid?”

“He may have helped me make the nets but his gun was not as wonderful as mine. He never understood the need to continue improving on things.”

“I agree there is always something that can be done better.”

“But you won too fast, I still have more information to give everyone. I probably could have talked about my babies for another ten minutes or so.”

“You can’t give away all your secrets. Right now you just gave them a taste of what you can do. I am sure they are as impressed as I was.”

“Really!? Then you won’t mind testing a few more of my babies out?”

Izuku felt he had opened a can of worms as Hatsume started talking about projects she was working on or was planning working on and somehow he was being included into the plans. He let her talk as he guided them away from the area so the next two participants could use the space. Hopefully he was not making a mistake with the girl but he knew Melissa would be just as intrigued by some of her ideas.

Chapter Text

Walking into the corridor with Hatsume with the Sentinel trailing behind them, Izuku could still hear the cheers from the crowd. The adrenaline from the fight had still not worn off and they had been able to give them a good enough spectacle that his quirkless status was not even a factor in the ring since it was a simple battle of support items.

Later when they thought of it they might question if he had only been accepted into the school due to his ability with gear. That would have been a reasonable assumption for them and would keep him from any true controversy. People would accept the fact that a quirkless kid had made it through the challenge of the Entrance Exam and the Sports Festival by gear alone.

It did not matter that he had only had access to support equipment in the last match. The public could potentially convince themselves that he was using support items all along even after witnessing his skills with their own eyes. If he was going for an Underground Hero or even Support Hero role in the future he might leave it as it was to keep from becoming front page news again.

The Heroes on the other hand would know that UA did not allow support items into the entrance exam and might wonder about his score. The school had already made one exception for him by allowing him to use his equipment in the match. They might consider that he had received additional help in the entrance exam. That could hurt his chances of getting into a good agency for internships.

Many Heroes depended on support items to aid them in their profession but they all still had a base quirk to fall back on. He assumed a couple of the Rescue and Investigative Hero Agencies might be willing to send him an offer by his performance so far. But that was not his aim. He was not going to be stuck in an office building somewhere watching the action from a monitor.

Even in his thoughts, the support class girl had continued to talk about her current projects to him, clearly excited to explain them to someone that might understand her passion from their shared interests. He eventually had to agree to give her time after the festival to go over some of her ideas. He could not help the feeling as if he fell into a trap when she had quickly left after getting his promise to meet up with her almost as if she did not want to give him time to change his mind.

It was not like he would try to avoid the other even though he felt more of his free time was disappearing. She was extremely intelligent and seemed to be able to work on a basis of experimentation until she would hit success. One of her projects in particular had given him some ideas for a certain electric classmate of his but that was for another time. First he had to make it through the rest of the matches.

Izuku entered the locker room he had used to prepare for the match, glad for the silence in order to regroup his thoughts. He closed the door behind the Sentinel and signaled for it to take a spot against the other wall and out of the way. He was happy that the school made doorways large enough for students with large mutation quirks that allowed the robot to easily enter the room.

He expected the support technicians were already on their way to celebrate and collect their creation. If he had really thought about it he would have liked to have promoted each of the technicians individually but he had doubted Hatsume would have had the patience for that. They had already told him that Nedzu was working on getting their contracts assigned to other support companies, but the extra publicity could help them in the negotiations.

The problem with most support technicians starting into the business was that they required the backing of large support corporations. This was in order to have access to the resources that they could use to build their support items from. Materials from support work were not cheap and professional grade ones were another category altogether since they also had to be visually appealing on a Hero.

Unless they came from a rich or legacy background like Melissa, his new friends would need to find a new support company to continue in their field. The more they were able to show their worth, the less likely they would be put to work in grunt roles where most technicians started off in a new company until they could prove themselves.

Turning to the bench to remove his own gear, he was startled by the two different colored eyes that stared back at him. Todoroki had been so silent that he had not even noticed him in the room with him. It did make sense since his own match would be next. The boy was also clearly extremely angry with him considering the look in his gaze though he had not thought he had done anything else to provoke the other since the second round.

“You told me I could not be a Hero with only half of my power.”

“Because it is true. You can’t separate your powers even if you are a dual welder since each side will affect the other adversely if you do not balance them properly.”

“How can you tell me I must use His quirk when you don’t even use all your power?”

“I don’t have a power to use, Todoroki. You already know that.”

“Are you telling me that is not a power? You use balls attached to strings during Hero Lessons but you can do that?”

The point was pointing to the Sentinel as he spoke growing more angry. It was probably the most emotion he had actually seen from the other which was interesting. Izuku did admit the robot was impressive looking and Todoroki was a recommendation student so did not know that the parts came from the entrance exam.

“It’s not as impressive as you think it is. I am a support technician but it is on a technicality.”

“What kind of technicality has you building robots but not using them in your classes?”

“The robot is a commission piece and not mine to use. The principal asked me to help create them.”

“Them? There are more?”

“Probably around fifty at this point. The team has been mass producing them since we got the approval from the school.”

“You have a team?”

“No, I help a team... Look, I’m explaining this badly. I am not what you would consider a regular support technician. I don’t build anything, program on a computer, or any of the kinds of things support technicians are known for. I analyze a project to indicate weaknesses in the product and suggest alternative means to fix problems and improve the gear as a whole.”

“Then why are they saying you are a Support Technician?”

“I have a few patents under my name, well not really my name but my support alias. They are all in collaboration with the Support Technician that did all the labor and her name is the principal holder but because I did help on it as well my name gets added on as a result.”

“Is this support technician your fiancé?”

“…my what?”

“I overheard you with your friends in the hallway. You're marrying into All Might’s family.”

“I am not marrying anyone. Melissa is a good friend of mine and we work together. I did not know that All Might was her Uncle until today.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that? I told you that I was created to defeat All Might. You knew that it was His purpose for me. Why would you hide your connection to him?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“You’re not allowed to use your robot or support equipment in your match against me. I’ll make sure you see that my ice is enough to beat you. I don’t need His fire to win against All Might.”

“I’m not All Might.”

“That is quite obvious.”

“And you are not your father.”

That last had made the boy in front of him hesitate enough to make him think that Todoroki would listen to his words this time. Izuku was hoping he would have a chance to convince him to at least admit that maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. Endeavor had done a number on his son, this was not healthy but be hoped that Hound Dog was as good as his word and would help his classmate.

Before he could say anything more the door to the room opened with a crash as the hulking figure of the man in question stalked into the room. This was the closest Izuku had ever been to the Flame Hero. When he had seen the news article this morning, he had been so sure that they would not have to deal with the other’s presence at the Festival. Clearly his analysis had missed something to cause a Hero to leave an active Villain case.

Looking to his classmate for any clues he saw the blank face that he was so used to seeing from the other. He had been able to swallow back all his emotions at the mere presence of his father. That told him many things about their relationship and none of it was good.

“Get out. I need to talk to my son.”

The words were clearly directed at him but the man did not seem to even look at his direction as his eyes were focused only on his child. Todoroki made no gesture to indicate how he felt as he met his father’s eyes with the stoic expression clearly waiting for his punishment. Izuku was forced to consider his own options and was left with the only one that would allow him to sleep well at night.

“I’m sorry sir but this area is restricted for faculty and students only.”

He had been smart enough to use that tone of voice he used as a paramedic but that only got him so far when it came to dealing with authorities. There was a pause and a blink before those eyes stared straight at him. He had been able to direct the Hero’s attention away from his son but now that he had it he really did not know what to do with it. Kacchan would have yelled at him but he doubted that strategy would work. Maybe he should go with a page from Iida.

“Do you really think I care about school policies? I’ll leave when I’ve had my say.”

“I understand your need to talk with Todoroki. But he is about to go out to the field for his match. If you let him know where you are sitting I am sure he will join you once his round is completed.”

He smiled trying to seem reasonable. His classmate was no help having gone from staring at his father to now looking at him. His eyes were a small bit wider as if he had surprised him by interrupting their family moment and trying to protect him. Did the other really think he would just leave him alone to deal with the consequences? Has no one else ever stood up for the boy?

“This won’t take long and you're only holding things up by arguing. Now get out.”

“Sorry sir, but I am not allowed to leave the room without first removing my support gear. I was given special permission to use it but it came with a number of guidelines including to take them off and return them as soon as possible. I am not allowed to wander the area with them on i am afraid.”

“Who are you?”

“Midoriya Izuku. One of your son’s classmates. He was helping me before you interrupted us.“

Izuku saw the eyes darken at his name. It was clear that the other recognized it. If he was following the event it was possible he realized that he had beaten his son in both previous events. That would make him more of a target than he felt comfortable with.

“The quirkless boy?”

“Yes, but that has…”

“Shouto, I expected more from you than this. Do you realize I had to drop everything to get here? Your rebellion is costing lives and your performance is making you look weak. You know how I deal with weaknesses.”

Izuku did not know what to make of this new development. It was as if he was invisible now that the other knew he was quirkless. Apparently, being quirkless meant the Hero did not have to worry about airing the dirty laundry in front of him as that last sentence was a very clear threat. It was also clear to him that it was not his classmate’s weakness that made Endeavor this angry but the perception of what he considered a weakness in his son would reflect on him.

Todoroki remained silent as he allowed his father to continue to rant to him about his performance. Izuku could tell from the father’s comments that he had not actually seen any of the footage for the festival. It was also interesting to note that his best friend had made quite the impact on the Flame Hero by winning the first two rounds.

Izuku wished for anything that he could have his glasses with him to record what was going on in the locker room, but they had not thought to add that feature into his visor. He did not even have his phone on his and going for it in the bag where it was stashed would be too obvious even if he was being ignored.

Thankfully since the other had not really known how his son had actually done in the competition, it was mostly just his disappointment that Todoroki was not winning each event. His classmate stayed indifferent the whole time as this seemed like a common occurrence for the other. When the other was starting to repeat himself is when Izuku had enough of watching the boy take this treatment.

“If you don’t want your son to lose, I suggest stopping now.”

“Stay out of this, freak.”

“…I don’t care what you call me but if you want your son to lose the competition by forfeit by all means keep going.”

“See that you win this time. Stop holding back when you have everything you need to be on top. I’ll be watching.”

Endeavor left again without another word leaving the two boys to watch the closed door waiting to see if it would open again in case the Hero had anything else to say to his son. The other had to have the last word and did not want to make it seem as if he was following the quirkless kid’s advice. That was fine with him since it still got him out of the room and away from the both of them.

Looking over, Izuku did not like that look in the boy’s eyes as he stood and went for the door himself. He was unable to stop the other before the door closed behind him leaving Izuku alone in the room. Izuku felt that what he had witnessed was not the worst that the boy had experienced at the hands of his father but at least it had not gotten physical. He could not help but remember that initial threat though as if they both knew once they were home and away from the public, there would be more consequences.

Sighing he moved to change out of the gear not having any other real options. He felt bad for Tokage knowing that the kind of rage that the boy had for his father would be expressed outward during their match. In fact, he felt that his own match against the cold boy would have a similar outcome.

If anything, his father’s speech to the boy would convince him more than ever not to use his fire quirk in the competition. That would probably increase the anger already present in the father and if he was to witness his son lose to the quirkless kid in person… he could not help but think that it would actually put his classmate’s life in danger.

Izuku would have liked to be able to head back to join his class in watching the rest of the matches but there were more important things to do. He did not know where Hound Dog was but he was sure if Recovery Girl knew what was going on they would be able to protect the boy from any backlash from the father. Izuku had no plans to throw the match just because the Hero was being unreasonable but he also could not allow this to continue in front of him when there was something he could do about it.

He left the Sentinel in the locker as he ran out with the bag of support items. He had to get them to Melissa first and then find his way to the clinic. He was sure the technicians would be able to take care of the robot on their own since they knew which locker room it would be stored in. They must be celebrating fairly hard if they had not come to retrieve it by this time.

Chapter Text

Komachi had been celebrating the success of their robot in the Sports Festival with the other technicians. It had performed better than expected considering Midoriya was forced to only use body commands since the Sentinel was not set up for remote control access. He was as proud as the rest of the team when they heard him praise their work and was able to show off a number of its capabilities.

It was a surprise to them all that they had received permission to use the sentinel in the tournament. When the kid asked for its use, he had immediately turned around to see if Nedzu would allow it. The principal had given his acceptance and was quite clear he expected good things to come from it. That meant that this had been another one of his tests.

Midoriya had not seemed surprised by the result when he had reported back that they would get it ready for his use. He explained that the Sentinels looked more intimidating than they actually were. Nedzu would want coverage of the robot because it would make the school look more secure and assure the public as well as parents how the school was thinking of the safety of the students first.

As sensible as the kid was, Komachi still felt that Nedzu had multiple reasons for allowing this to happen. He did admit that it had looked impressive on the monitors as they had watched the match. Midoriya had only fought against it once and he had already known the best way to use it to his advantage. It had performed beautifully for him and he was sure Nedzu would be happy with the outcome.

It was Kanda that had gained his attention to a new situation. She had been monitoring the video feed since it was the perfect opportunity to test out all of its capabilities. They had also been able to literally get the best seats in the house from that video footage.

Kanda had continued watching the monitors as she was almost positive that this Hatsume student was the one that had been previously poking around her systems a couple of weeks ago. She was sure that it was just the curiosity of a new server going online in the school but there had been a weak attempt at accessing the database.

Mostly Komachi knew that his teammate was impressed by the unknown student’s tenacity since each attempt had been a little bit better each time and the last one had almost gotten through. Of course that last effort would have also fried the other’s computer access point. Either way Kanda had not told him of another potential break in since.

So when she waved him over to the monitors, he expected her to have proof that the girl was the one who had been trying to gain access to their information. Instead he found her intently watching the inside of a locker room with Nedzu’s intern facing down the Flame Hero.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Endeavor just barged his way in and was berating his son for not winning the last two rounds.”

“What is Midoriya thinking? That is the Number Two Hero.”

“That boy? Probably something noble and naive at the same time. I don’t think he cares that Endeavor has the influence to ruin his career before it even gets started.”

“Damn. Are you recording?”

“I started the moment the Flame Hero entered the room. I’m currently backing it up to the database along with the test footage from the match.”

“Send both to Nedzu the moment they are uploaded. I’ll send Riki to retrieve the Sentinel.”

“You better make that a priority, Midoriya just left it alone in the room. Seemed to be in a bit of a rush.”

“Of course he is. Power it down before someone activates one of its commands by mistake.”

“You don’t really think Endeavor is going to do anything to the little analyst do you? It seems like our boy is friends with his son.”

“Don’t take chances. If Midoriya wants to play with the pros he is going to have to learn when to keep his head down. Hopefully Nedzu can save him from himself this time.”

---

Izuku found Melissa talking with his father as they were discussing different support items that could be added to his own Hero Outfit. For the first time, Izuku actually considered it. Todoroki was right in a way. He did have access to some of the best minds in the support field and he was working with some of the simplest equipment.

If his support items were able to outshine him, then maybe he was not meant to be a Hero. Melissa was smart enough to help him build gear that would help him with his work instead of replacing his own efforts. He was still going to depend on his own abilities for the most part but why shouldn’t he actually take the help that was offered?

That was a discussion for another time but his friend would probably be ecstatic to get the go ahead. He already figured she had a number of projects that she had already considered using for him even though he had never wanted anything in the past. For forced a smile on his face as made his entrance and found an answering one from All Might.

The man was such a surprise in how hard he was trying to be normal. He clearly was not put into this kind of situation very often but seemed happy to be a part of it. His treatment of Melissa was almost like a father figure to the girl. From his treatment of her, Izuku doubted the Hero actually had children of his own though it was interesting that All Might did look more like Melissa then her own father. His sister must have been like an older version of his niece.

He interrupted the current conversation by placing the bag of support items between them temporarily breaking their line of sight. That got Melissa to turn her attention to him instead as she started asking about the performance of the various gear that he had used and if he had any suggestions on how to make them better.

He was trying to curb her enthusiasm enough for him to make his exit when his eyes saw the danger and grabbed her and moved her out of her seat and back to the second row of seating. His eyes immediately went to his mom’s chair and was glad to see both it and Shifu’s had been vacated as well. In its place was a wall of ice.

He had known that Todoroki’s temper was going to affect his battle with Tokage but this extent of careless abandon in his attack showed signs of a lack of control. Looking around, most of the crowd had actually been paying attention to the match and moved out of the way of the danger in time. Those that had not were as trapped in the ice as the 1-B Student. Thankfully with Heroes in the audience, the civilians that had been caught in the crossfire were being rescued from their ice prison.

Looking to the field he saw Todoroki’s back and he walked out of the field not even bothering to help get the various parts of Tokage out of the ice she was frozen in. Just like that first day of Hero class and he had not even bothered to think about using his fire side to fix this situation. He had won the match and now he was not even willing to pick up after the mess. Luckily from what he could tell from here, his opponent was not cold blooded like Tsu and would be fine once she was thawed out.

“The boy seems to take after his father quite a bit. He also has a very strong quirk.”

That had gotten his attention away from his classmate as he turned to Yagi. All Might had been to one to pull both his mother and Shifu to safety. His speed and strength had allowed him to pick up both in each arm and move them out of the way. His mom was currently being hugged by his dad while Shifu was there reassuring her that everything was fine.

Izuku could tell from All Might’s eyes as they looked out to the audience that were currently being rescued that he would have liked to join them as well. He seemed to restrain himself since he was here incognito today. Not to mention no one was actually injured and the Heroes currently performing rescue maneuvers would all be able to handle the job without assistance.

“How well do you know Endeavor?”

“We‘ve been at functions before but I don’t usually have time to talk with him. He is a very powerful Hero. You would think he would have taught his son more control.”

“You can’t teach others what you don’t have yourself.”

“…”

The silence was tense and he knew that he had said too much. All Might had no clue what Endeavor was doing to his son behind doors. It had made him a bit angry when he had heard the Hero comparing the two to each other. Todoroki was lashing back and in pain, he was doing it the wrong way by hurting others but it was clear he did not really understand what his actions were causing.

“I’m sorry, I am reacting in shock to my family being in danger. Thank you for saving them, Yagi.”

“Not a problem young Midoriya. Thank you for keeping Melissa safe.”

“I could never allow her to get hurt if I could do something about it.”

“You will make a great Hero. Don’t worry about the boy. UA will be sure to help him get the control he needs to be a Hero. It must be very difficult for a person with a fire quirk to teach someone with an ice quirk.”

“I’m sure it is.”

He turned his attention to Melissa who was poking at the ice wall and trying to examine how strong it was considering how large the mass the boy had created in his battle. Izuku would admit that it had been impressive. He had already know he could do feats like this from the Hero Lesson that first day, but he was making a mistake by using some much of his ice quirk.

It was possible he had left since he was reacting to the backlash in his own power. Izuku doubted he would be willing to go to Recovery Girl if there was an issue but he would probably lock himself away in one of the locker rooms until his body was able to balance itself again. If he went looking for him now, any offer of help would be rebuffed since the boy would not want anyone to be present while he was in a weakened state.

“I need to go check on the infirmary. I’m interning with Recovery Girl and she might need my help if anyone is actually injured.”

“I’ll make sure everyone stays safe, young Midoriya. Part of being a Hero is knowing your role in an emergency. Your family and friends will understand your absence and be proud of the good work you are doing saving lives.”

“Thank you All… Yagi-san.”

---

Toshinori watched the green haired boy make its way out of the stands again as he headed toward the infirmary. A Hero Student that worked with support technicians as if he was one of them and interned for the schools Medical Support Hero. Heroes came in many different flavors but he was still not able to pin down what exactly this one was planning to be.

He had reacted well to the emergency and had moved swiftly to safely get his best friend’s daughter out of danger. He would not know what he would tell David if the girl had gotten hurt under his watch. He had expected to save them all when he had first seen the attack heading their way. He would have never questioned his speed or ability, but the moment he had picked up the two older women matters had changed. One had stiffened as expected from being grabbed but the other had flailed out in response.

Other civilians had automatically responded to being picked up by attacking as it was a reaction caused by fear. Toshinori had thought nothing of it until his lungs had seized up and his body had gone numb. It had only lasted a few seconds before he was able to shake it off and move the two back to safety. But he had thought he would be too late to rescue Melissa because of the blunder.

It was good to know now that the attack would have been non-lethal to the girl and she would have been stuck in ice for the few moments it would take to break her out. All the other civilians that had been stuck in the ice were safe and for the most part already rescued or in the process of being rescued. Even the structure of the stadium was intact and once the ice melted there would be no property damage. A very powerful quirk indeed.

He did not know the father very well, the few times they had met at functions he had always been very curt and not in the mood to talk. But there was no denying his service record with his large capture rate considering it was better than his own. But he did tend to stay away from disaster and rescue work but considering his destructive quirk it was not hard to understand why he would stick to an area he would excel in.

The boy’s comments on his control did make him wonder though. He was not the Number One Hero to ignore the displeasure aimed at the Flame Hero. Curiously, it was not anger that he had seen in the boy's eyes when he looked out at the student that had endangered them but concern. Young Todoroki had won seamlessly. It was possible the concern was for the future match that the two must face each other. But it did not seem likely.

The boy had scanned the crowd in a way similar to what he had done after the attack. He would have seen that none of the audience would need to be attended to less they had been hurt in their push to move away from the ice. Why the rush to the infirmary then? Had this really been a lack of control or something else?

If it was Endeavor, he would have thought that the boy was trying to show off since it would not have needed something so impressive to pin his opponent even if she had split apart into multiple pieces. The boy had done well in the festival so far and would not need to prove his power at this point. His eyes moved through the stands looking for one figure in particular.

He stood there above them. The ice had went out over the audience and up to the still burning man. Toshinori would have bet that the boy could have continued the ice past that point but that was not the purpose of the ice user. That attack had been aimed at the father. Everyone else had just gotten in the way of it from his opponent to the audience. What exactly was going on here?

---

Izuku found Shuuzenji-Sensei in the empty stadium clinic. As he had figured, no one had been hurt by the ice and they were probably still thawing out the many parts of Tokage from the field. Looking around the room he made sure this time the silent boy was not in the room without him knowing it.

“Todoroki is not here if that is who you are looking for.”

“I figured but I was hoping to be surprised none the less.”

“From what I saw of the match, you should not have to worry about him. He was not showing signs of quirk overuse when he left the field.”

“I’m more worried about the potential frostbite.”

“…You would think he would have learned to use his quirk properly to avoid that issue but there were no physical signs of that either.”

The tension that had filled him deflated a bit and he took a seat on a chair near his teacher. If the nurse was not worried about Todoroki, he would not make a big deal out of it. He had known that there were cameras at the entrances to the field that Recovery Girl would have access to. It gave her the ability to get a close up view of the students as they entered and left. It was not as good as physically examining them but it was able to catch many things that students would try to hide on the field.

“Maybe now would be a good time to let me know what was so important for you to look up his medical records.”

“You knew?”

“You are not my first student intern and those medical records are highly secured. I assume you were not looking for a weakness to beat the boy in the festival.”

“I would never use my access for that kind of purpose.”

“Good. Then what were you looking for.”

“Todoroki came to me about an issue that I thought might have an implication in his medical history.”

“You did not think to send him to me directly?”

“Not from what I saw in his records. I talked to Hound Dog about the issue and I left it to him to decide what to do with the information.”

“So a mental or emotional issue. I assume you were looking to see if there were signs of physical harm being done. What would you have done if you had found such signs? Medical records for Heroes and Hero students are sealed.”

“Just knowing would help me deal with him.”

“Why should it matter? He is your classmate. You don’t need his medical history to know how to be a friend. He came to you, that should be enough.”

“Not when the reason he came to me was to convince me not to be in the Sports Festival.”

“…tell me everything.”

Chapter Text

Izuku had planned on giving Shuuzenji-Sensei a brief overview of what he and Todoroki had discussed that day at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. But she kept asking very pointed questions and soon their whole conversation had come out including some of what he suspected of the family.

“So you’re telling me that you think there is a type of hostage situation going on?”

“He is so afraid of what would happen to his family. He had become emotionally remote in order to protect himself and them in his own way.”

“You looked into his medical records. Did they tell you anything?”

“That if there is any physical punishment, they are not long lasting or his father is smart enough not to allow anything to show before one of the appointments.”

“True, you would expect childhood injuries and if his training started that early, well accidents do happen.”

“I think the scar was the only thing that could not be healed at home and his father was forced to go to an outside hospital so the damage would not be permanent. That is if it was an accident at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“The boiling water was on his fire side. There would have been no injury at all if he left it alone. The burns are not consistent for him to ice it himself.”

“Why would his mother want to physically scar her own son?”

“Todoroki says it was because his fire side reminded his mother of his father but I believe there is a different reason. I think she desperately wanted to be with her eldest son.”

“The suicidal one?”

“I don’t think he was. Todoroki mentions that Touya had a good relationship with his other siblings and was training to be a Hero with Endeavor as well. I think that when he was forced to compete directly for his father’s attention with his youngest sibling for training, he went too far to demonstrate his ability and caused a quirk accident.”

“That is a lot to prove.”

“I don’t have access to the medical ward that both of them have been sent away to. I bet if you look into it you will find two completely mentally capable people that don’t deserve to be locked up.”

“From what you said, one was in a horrific quirk incident after feeling replaced and the other poured burning water on her son and then caused it to make a permanent scar. That is hardly a healthy mental scenario for either of them”

“But after all this time they are still locked up at the institution?”

“…it would take a bit of time to set up a way to gain access to their case files. It would be easier if Todoroki requested them since he is family.”

“Todoroki is afraid to show interest in his family. He thinks it is safer for his mother and brother to be locked away and out of his father’s hands. I don’t think we can get his assistance for that.”

“I’ll think of something. As for you, the next time you want to peek into your classmate’s records… just explain the issue and ask. Now off with you. We are not going to be able to solve this problem today and the next match should be starting soon.”

“Do you really think it is safe for him to go home with his father today? I mean he already threatened and emotionally abused him in front of me.”

“I hate to say it but your word is not a good enough excuse to keep family apart. Don’t worry, things will turn out just fine.”

There was a look in her eyes and a small smile that reassured Izuku more than her words. As the school nurse for many years, it was possible she has been confronted with this situation in the past. He had to trust her to do the right thing.

He left the infirmary and headed back to his classmates in the stands. He was somewhat thankful about the amount of ice that had to be cleared away from the last battle. If he was quick enough, he would be able to get to his seat before the start of the next match.

As much as he liked both girls, he already had a good idea on who would win between the two of them. But he wanted to see how much progress Ochako had made on handling her quirks. It would also be nice to actually see Pony’s quirk in action considering he had not been able to witness it so far.

---

“Let’s welcome onto the field the gravity defying powerhouse of the Hero Course. She soared over the competition in the first round and brought her team to victory in the second. She has shown us her leadership abilities and determination to get this far. From class 1-A, it’s Ochako Uraraka.”

Ochako moved out onto the grass and made her way to the arena. It had been completely set to right even if minutes before it had been covered in ice. It had worried her when Izuku had not returned after his battle with Hatsume and she had stayed in the stands as long as she could hoping he would return before her own match.

She looked to the stands now where her classmates were seated and a smile bloomed on her face as she saw the shock of green hair with the others. He had been working so hard with her on her quirk. This was going to be the first time he really saw what she had been working on by herself. She did not want to disappoint him after all the time and effort he had spent to help her understand her quirks.

“Her opponent is the blonde bombshell of class 1-B who always gets her point in the end. This girl does not horse around when there is work to be done. This Japanese American dual citizen raced to the finish in the first round and saddled up for her team in the second round for some last second points. Let’s give a cheer for Pony Tsunotori. “

The girl was just as bubbly as the first time they had met. Ochako had not known what to think of her at first. She had such an odd why with her speech but considering Japanese was not her first language, it was understandable. But Izuku liked her. He had even left their typical lunch group a few times just to sit with her and her friends. All the girls in the dorms for 1-B had seemed friendly and they had been open to hanging out at times which was much different from the boys in the same class.

The first time she had been really able to interact with the other girl was when she had cornered Mina and her in the common room to ask about Izuku. After multiple errors in miscommunication the other girls in 1-B had come by and helped explain what Tsunotori was asking for since they were used to her odd phrasing by now. That had ended with all the girls in the dorm hanging out in Tsunotori’s room.

It turned out that the American had wanted to get a gift for Izuku as thanks for something he had done for her. Ochako was not exactly sure what her classmate had done for the blonde as she had claimed it was a personal matter. Though it seemed that his parents were also part of whatever he had done for the girl considering how they treated her at that dinner she had shared with his family.

She probably would like the other more if she was not so mysterious. She definitely wanted to know what exactly her intentions were for her friend. The girls had been able to show her their favorite places to go online for shopping. Though making suggestions on what Izuku would like was harder since he had not really shown many preferences for things.

Mina had suggested candy or chocolate but Ochako had shot that down knowing that Izuku was on a regimented diet from his training. He had explained that to her that day she had taken him to the café to talk about her quirk. Hagakure mentioned getting him art supplies considering how they all knew he was good at that. The girls had mostly agreed that it would be a thoughtful gift and wanted to see more of his work.

Somehow that got Ochako talking about Izuku’s tablet that was filled with sketches of Pro Heroes and classmates. All things considering if the boy had a hobby it was collecting information on quirks. Which while interesting, is quite hard to shop for. By the time Izuku had interrupted their conversation, Ochako realized she really did not know that much about the boy.

While they would often talk he would always focus on other people beside himself. Izuku always seemed to rush in to help people no matter what the situation. She respected that about him but it could also be possible for others to take advantage of his kindness. Both Izuku and Pony said they were just friends but was the blonde looking for something deeper than that in their relationship? She just did not want her friend to get hurt.

Facing off against each other she stayed serious as the other waved at her with both hands happily in greeting. Was this really what she was like or was it ruse to get her guard down? She barely paid attention to Midnight as the teacher reminded them of the rules before releasing them for the match.

In a single moment Tsunotori went from a face full of joy to determination and the horns at the top of her head detached and headed straight for her. Not expecting a long range attack, she dodged to the side only to find out that the horns were not just a projectile and were changing trajectory to match her movements. Out of options, she tried using her quirk to see if she could manipulate them.

In a moment of shocked silence, her quirk had sent the horns a meter above them and both girls’ looked up to stare at them floating there. That meant the horns were extremely light weight for her to be able to affect them without first touching them with her five finger quirk. That would definitely give her an edge.

Tsunotori was not idle as her horns had quickly regrown to replace the ones she had shot out at her opponent and tried again trying to get her while she was distracted. Ochako saw the danger as they left her head and sent them up a meter like the last pair of horns before running forward wanting to get into close combat with the other.

Ochako tried to send another pair of horns up as the girl attacked again but this time the blonde grabbed hold of them before they could move above them. As expected with the additional weight, the horns stayed in place and she had lost her advantage. In a quick movement the horns that had been saved were placed under the girl’s feet and she used them to take to the air as she recalled the previous horns to hover around her as a shield.

Ochako used her secondary quirk on herself to remove her weight and traveled up to meet her opponent with her own power. Using her opponent as a height marker she appeared in front of her in moments bypassing the horns and trying to reach her hand out in order to touch the girl in order to activate her quirk. She had been able to surprise her opponent with the move but she was too slow to catch the girl before she moved back.

That left her in the middle of the floating horns that immediately came at her from all sides. Tsunotori might still be able to control them but she doubted her range was anywhere near hers. Much like the ball from the assessment test, Ochako took hold of the four horns that were coming at her and attempted to push them up as far as she could.

Tsunotori seemed to be able to recognize her quirk at work since she tried to grab onto one her horns before it could shoot up into the atmosphere but they were gone before she could reach them. She had a moment to concentrate to see if she could reach out to her lost horns but they did not return. Ochako guessed that they were out of her range as she had predicted.

She could work with that considering a new pair of horns were already on top of the other’s head which meant she had more projectiles that could be aimed at her. Of course that did not matter as much since Tsunotori was coming straight at her now.

She had the advantage in flight with her horns able to move her around at a fast pace. Ochako’s own movements were stilted as her directional ability depended on upward movement. As the other blonde neared, she released her quirk to go into free fall before reactivating it and shooting up again in the other’s direction.

With the higher agility, she was not able to touch the girl with all five fingers before she moved away but she had come close. Another pair of horns were aimed at her and she swatted away with her power sending them into space with her other horns. She had to release her quirk again to dodge the second set that had hidden themselves behind the first.

Ochako reactivated her quirk before she hit the ground and watched as they came around again to aim at her after splitting apart from each other turning into two different targets. That did not matter to her quirk and she sent them both up and out of Tsunotori’s range.

Releasing her quirk again since she had better ability on the ground she tried to keep her opponent in her line of sight. Moving directly below her, she activated her quirk and shot up to meet the other and grabbed her by the waist deactivating her quirk again before activating her quirk on the girl in her grasp who was already wiggling free.

She released Tsunotori to fall back to the ground as she used her quirk to send her opponent up. She hit the ground hard but after so many sessions with hard landings, she was able to shake it off enough to keep her eye on her opponent. She had to send up horns one more time but was grateful to see that they had not regrown in her head this time which meant she was probably at her limit.

With Tsunotori neutralized in the air, Ochako was able to send her back up each time she tried to come down to get into close combat. Unfortunately, she was unable to separate the horns individually from the blonde and she was not about to send the blonde into space which let her at an impasse. What would Izuku do in this scenario?

“Just say you give up. You can’t win.”

“Negative. Prospects for triumph is conceivable. Credibility of prolonged quirk dominion dubious without constraint.”

“…what does that even mean? Look, give up or I will send you up a meter every five seconds. At one point you will pass out from lack of air at a certain altitude and then I will win anyway.”

“…I concede the dual”

“And with that Ochako Uraraka wins and goes on to her next round.”

Ochako released the other once her name was announced the winner and watched the girl fly down safely on her horns. She was immediately pulled into a large hug by the other as she started to excitedly talk about how cool her quirk was and how she wanted to go up against her again now that she knew what to be wary of. Maybe she really was what she appeared to be?

---

“So what would you have done if she did not give up?”

Izuku asked as Ochako joined them in the stands after her match. She had really wanted to call her parents to celebrate with them on her win but she did not want to do it prematurely. She would have more opponents to face before she could claim a victory.

“…hope that when she passed out someone else could get her down?”

That had startled a laugh from her green haired friend as they shared as smile as Iida told her the joke was in poor taste for a UA student. She did not bother to explain that it was not a joke and she would have done what she had threatened. Izuku seemed to understand that as well as the explosive boy that sat next to him.

She felt a pat on her shoulder as the blonde got up to leave for his own match against a 1-B student. She looked up into the other eyes and saw the small smile. That was the first time she had ever seen that smile directed at anyone beside Izuku.

“You’ll do, Round Face.”

“Did Bakubro just compliment Ochako? That was manly as hell but still.”

“I wouldn’t suggest calling him that to his face Eijirou. You should be careful Ochako. Kacchan just admitted that you are strong. He is going to take your match against him very seriously.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he is going to go all out on your fight.”

“He still has to win against Kamakiri.”

“Fire against a bug mutation quirk? No chance at all. You’ll see.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki was ready for this match. Going in the middle of the matches had just made him more impatient to get to his own fight. It did showcase that there were a lot of strong people in the school though he was sure he could still take them all in the head to head fight. Though it was getting harder to defeat Izukun these days.

His best friend had the annoying habit of doing the unexpected and somehow seemed to know every move he was going to make. Training was one thing where they would expect to trade blows like they had demonstrated for those two girls that one day on the roof. When they were actually serious and his friend used those Chi Blocking techniques that he learned from his equally annoying teacher, he was winning a lot more of their matches these days.

It was never a sure thing who would win in a match between the two of them. It was what made it so exciting to go against his partner. It did not always used to be like that. For the longest time Katsuki was sure that Izukun would just be his sidekick to let him know where the villains were for him to fight and to take care of the paperwork afterwards.

Ever since his teacher had taken over his training though, his friend had gotten stupidly fast and strong over time. Katsuki finally accepted him as a true partner a year after his friend had upped his routine. It was the first time they were allowed to spar with each other since his trainer had taken over his schedule and Izukun had handedly beaten him.

He had been absolutely furious for days. Not at how his best friend had surpassed him but in how he had gotten so compliant in his own training that it had allowed that kind of gap to exist. He had never thought he could be the one that was lacking in anything. After that he had taken his own training seriously.

Izukun had convinced him that he should not mimic his own routine since they had two very different fighting styles and putting training weights on him when he was more aerial based would be counterproductive. It still had been a good idea to run right before his quirk training to encourage more sweat for him to use. He would then get some strength training after his quirk was exhausted so he could not accidentally set his equipment on fire… again.

Their diet was mostly similar so it was easy for them to eat together though Izukun never seemed to care what the food actually tasted like which is why he had started to convince his mom early on to buy more spices to get actual variety in their food. His best friend did not always appreciate the hottest spices but they helped him stimulate his sweat glands and that was enough to make it worth searching for even hotter sauces, spices, and peppers to increase the effectiveness of his quirk.

His increased training had worked and they were fairly even in a spar these days but his best friend knew most of his moves. Many of them were made by the two of them while experimenting with his quirk together. Though with the start of the new school year, they had been training separately for the most part and Izukun had divided his free time between their classmates and teachers.

At least with the girl, he was planning on having her join their future agency. He had not seen the potential that Izukun could in the weird quirk that had not really done much in the Hero Lessons they had done together. He also thought she was too weak to have the determination that was needed to be an actual Hero.

Her match against the Impala had definitely changed his mind about her abilities. Her quirk had long range capabilities and did not depend on her actually touching her opponent. She could also be a bit ruthless and had convinced the 1-B girl to give up rather than get hurt. Of course the fact that she had not been bluffing was what really sealed the deal for him. She understood that sometimes you have to do things that are not heroic in order to get things done.

Knowing Izukun, he was probably planning to make her the lead for rescue and disaster responses from their future agency. That meant that if she was to join them she might be giving him orders at times. She may have proven her worth to get into their agency but he was not going to listen to anyone that was not able to handle herself in a real fight. They would see how well she did against him in the next round.

Now he had to fight the bug. The boy seemed energetic enough out in the field but considering his mutation quirk was about his knife like spines emerging from his body it would be an easy win. The other was a close combat only fighter. No versatility at all. Of course Izukun was a front line specialist as well but years of gymnastics and his speed training made him a slippery fucker to hit.

Bug Boy had no obvious useful mutations like wings or even multiple appendages like that one boy in their class to help his mobility. It was possible since he was insect-like that he might have movement that was more typical to his appearance than what could be expected from most people. Only two from his team actually got into the third round and that was due to his partner that could transform into a beast.

This extra was not worth his time. That meant he could use their match to show off some of his more impressive moves. It was his time to shine and it did not matter that he was given a weakling to fight against if he could use the time to completely dominate the field. The coolest Heroes all worked in Villain apprehension, they were the ones that got the most attention and made up most of the Hero rankings that mattered.

He was not going to spend his internship with a low level Patrol Hero that took care of pick pockets or Rescue Heroes that were out protecting dumbasses from themselves. Katsuki wanted real action. He knew Izukun would be happy with anything that got him out on the streets but he had higher goals. Maybe if he was made a good enough show for the Heroes one of the Top Ten might give him a shot.

---

Ryou felt like a young pup being called into the principal’s office during the Sports Festival especially since there was no usual offer of tea from the mammal. For the devastating loss in the first round his class of general students had seemed in fairly high spirits. Even with the massacre the Hero kids made of what should have been the fun games before the finals. In the past years at least one or two of the other classes would win a few of the games but this year the Hero Students had completely dominated the field.

It helped that none of his class really wanted to be Heroes. They were looking at future Hero support roles like nutritionists, computer techs, and other necessary Hero agency roles. It was Present Mic that was usually stuck with the kids that failed the Entrance Exam for Hero Students.

The rivalry between the two classes was definitely greater than it had been in past years. Was Sekijirou trying a new tactic out for his class to learn better cooperation? He doubted Aizawa would have done it to his class considering it would make an already over-powered quirk group more unreasonable.

Though aside from a couple of kids this year, egos did not really seem to be an issue with the class. The one kid he thought would be trouble was taking weekly sessions in his office and turned out to be more well-rounded than first impressions had been. Bakugou was driven and singularly focused. He could not remember the names of his classmates but he could memorize lessons from two weeks ago.

His continuing need for the weekly chats had been the discovery that the boy was in a constant state of battle readiness. It talked to a level of paranoia that he had to be on constant alert at all times for an attack. It was similar to how many soldiers would feel after being on the frontlines for so long even as they went back to civilian life or a retired Hero that kept looking for trouble to stop.

This need to be prepared for the worst kept his body and mind in a tight form that never allowed it to relax and recover naturally. But he thought that he was slowly getting through to the boy but it would take more time. It was as if the other could not see why it was an issue to begin with.

He was not expecting the video that Nedzu showed him with the confrontation between father and son. He had specifically told Midoriya that he would handle the situation and to stay out of the conflict. At least to his credit it was Endeavor who had barged his way into the locker room. Aside from a few words about school policy that most alumni ignored for the most part he had stood aside and allowed the two to talk.

Hound Dog wished that the boy had left the room already knowing what would happen and was not surprised when Midoriya had finally had enough of the lecture that his friend was taking and had stepped in between the family. Thankfully he did not bring up abuse or try to reprimand the Hero but he was not making a favorable impression on the Number Two Hero and was setting himself up as a target.

“Have you reached out to Todoroki since getting Midoriya’s observations?”

“I did not want to color his answers before the case manager from the social services was able to look into it. You know how they dislike interference in areas that do not concern Heroes.”

“So there was no quirk abuse?”

“Not from the report that Midoriya gave me. Being in a Hero School surrounded by Heroes should be enough to keep him from harm if his father really is abusing him.”

“You know as well as I do that abuse does not have to be physical to still be harmful.”

“Yes, but the law is far less cut and dry in those cases and it will be harder to prove the need for an emergency emaciation of a minor.”

“What did you think of the video?”

“The man is a harsh father but there are no grounds to remove a child from that alone. There were a number of implied comments but nothing solid.”

“I doubt he would be careless enough to do anything to the boy on school grounds, especially with a witness present but it does mean we will have to find a more natural way to separate them.”

“Do you know something more to go for those measures?”

“I trust my intern.”

“Has he mentioned anything more?”

“I informed him that I was busy for the week and to go to his homeroom teacher if there was anything important for his studies with me. Unfortunately, I believe he took those instructions too literally and decided not to reach out to me about this case or assumed you would bring it to my attention. He is quite attentive to instructions even if he bends them a bit.”

“I noticed that as well but what would be a good enough excuse for Endeavor to relinquish the boy to our care voluntarily?”

“I have a few ideas but I think you will find we are not the only ones working on that problem.”

“If Midoriya interferes with an ongoing investigation, he could get into a lot of trouble.”

“Only if they can prove it. But you are mistaken, Midoriya interns for another teacher in this school that also takes those matters quite seriously.”

Ryou could not stop the dog-like whine that came from his throat at the thought of Shuuzenji’s interference. Nedzu seemed to be enjoying his discomfort knowing he was going to be the one dealing directly with social services on the case. Recovery Girl always seemed to “forget” about procedures since her first instinct was to protect.

They had never had to deal with anyone this high profile before in a potential abuse case. Hero school was not exactly the environment that accepted many victims. Victims tended to hesitate or would follow rather than lead which would not cut it in the Hero Course. Todoroki had a strong quirk and seemed to be an exemplary student.

Aizawa had mentioned the boy was introverted and aloof from his classmates when he had mentioned the concerns that were brought to him. The lack of friends did not raise any flags since he still participated in team activities. Being outwardly emotionless did not mean anything since often emotions could affect the user’s control especially in elemental quirks and many children were taught how to control their emotions as a safety precaution.

No, the only thing that made Ryou know that something was going on was the look on the boy’s face when Izuku had stepped in front of him to protect him from his father. It had been the look that he had seen many times in the people he rescued during an emergency. That was not the type of thing he would expect from that kind of situation. What was the father doing to the son that another person standing up for them would give him that kind of expression?

---

“This explosive boy has been making an impact for himself today as he blew away the competition by coming in first place in the obstacle course. His unusual tactics in the second round had him soaring to victory while removing the competition. Let’s give it up for Hero Course 1-A’s Katsuki Bakugou!”

Katsuki blasted onto the field as his introduction ended. Flying was always much more impressive than walking quietly onto the field and he wanted everyone’s attention on him rather than his opponent. His quirk was the most impressive thing in his arsenal and he was going to use it to his best advantage.

Using his explosions, he made it across the field and landed on his portion of the platform they would be fighting on. Cutting off his flight was still more awkward than he wanted but it was worth it to make an impression of the Heroes by ending with a superhero landing pose. He refused to allow any of the pain from such an unnatural pose and hard impact to show on his face. He kept his casual confidence up knowing it would please the crowds and most likely intimidate his opponent.

Katsuki was not good with social interactions. He just could not stand lying and all the fake social niceties that went with it. Izukun understood that and helped him stay true to himself by taking most of those on. It allowed him to keep a healthy reputation of being someone that was not to be messed with. It actually stopped most confrontations and kept those that he did not want to deal with away.

He had not expected so many of his classmates to actually be able to look past that or simply like him for what he was. He had his groupies before in Elementary and Jr High school, but none of the people he sat with at lunch were followers. They were more than just extras and seemed to understand him in a way that only Izukun could previously.

That was especially in Eijikun’s case. The boy seemed to be the personification of loyalty and every word he said always rang true. He legitimately was happy about many things that the others did and actually did appreciate the smallest things. Katsuki kept waiting for the boy to show that his personality was as fake as the bad dye job on his hair but after weeks it was clear that he was genuine.

Izukun has even made suggestions about placing him in their future agency. Katsuki was not so sure about that. Eijikun wanted to be a Spotlight Hero. His quirk was a mostly defensive and close combat tool that would not help him stand out for the most part. Offering to have him join their agency would be asking him to take a secondary place with them. In the worst case scenario, he would only be a Sidekick all his life or if he did make it to Hero would be stuck doing support work in the field.

Heroes were meant to be leaders. There was always a need for Sidekicks and Support Heroes but for someone as bright as Eijikun, that could make him dissatisfied with his role. Katsuki would never consider taking a back seat when he was the best person for a job. He could not comprehend anyone willing to compromise their dreams by accepting that kind of proposition. He would be better off starting his own agency if he wanted to be able to stand out and become a high ranked Hero.

“His insectoid opponent comes from Hero Class 1-B. This Hero hopeful made a sharp showing in the obstacle course by finishing in the top half of the group and led his team to a partial victory by swiping the a headband within the first minute of the Cavalry Battle. It’s Togaru Kamakiri!”

For some reason Midnight had to go over the rules of the competition again once the other made it to the platform. After hearing it the last few times, he ignored her to observe his opponent. Bug boy was still not an impressive sight after the break. The only good quality he could find was at least the other did not seem scared of him. He did not seem smart enough to have a plan to take him down so most likely bravado?

At the word, Katsuki sent out an explosive blast at the other wanting to see his reaction. The other dodged immediately and started to run at him. That meant his mutant body was probably giving him some boosts in speed. But unfortunately for him, he dealt with someone that was faster almost every day.

He did not bother jumping into the air or trying to get out of the way as the bug boy came closer. He stayed there in a fighting stance and let the other make up the distance knowing that it would be more impressive when he finally did move.

As his opponent came closer, he used his quirk to unlock the blades from his skin and yelled getting pumped for the action again. That was when Katsuki made his move. Unleashing a torrent of small explosions one after another. By getting this close to him, he had made the mistake of being unable to dodge his blasts as his reaction could not compensate in time.

Once the first blast had hit him on the side it had thrown his body into the next explosion on his other side making him airborne. He made sure to time his explosions as he paced forward while sending his quirk at his opponent. It allowed him to keep him in a pattern throwing him left and right while increasing his height and backwards movement.

He made it to the center of the arena when he laid one last blast at the center of the boy’s chest and sent him outside the platform and onto the grass. He had stood no chance of escaping once he had been hit by the first explosion.

Midnight made the call for him as the winner and he crossed his arms as he looked to the crowd. He did not win as quickly as the ice user but it was still under a minute and his Barrage had been a lot more focused on his opponent rather than the civilians and property around them.

Going up against the girl, he would not have the chance to use this move since she would be able to get out of the pattern lock the moment she went airborne. He left the stage not even bothering to give the other a second look as he made his way back to the stands.

Without the gatling gun style gauntlets from his hero outfit the sweat on his hands evaporated quickly and he would not have been able to fly out if he wanted. The Barrage technique was useful and powerful but it also used a lot of sweat at increasing demands for the full effect. He had tapped himself out in order to win that fight so decisively. At least he had a long enough break ahead of him that he should have no issue at his next match.

---

“Is he going to be ok, Izuku?”

Ochako said as she turned a bit white at the sight of such a destructive attack. Especially since Kamakiri was currently being removed from the field by the medical robots. Izuku could understand her worry since she would be going up against his best friend next. Kacchan wanted to look indestructible and the attack did a good job at projecting that image.

“Bruises on both sides of his body for a week if it was not for Recovery Girl. Barrage uses concussive force blasts with low heat and increasing power. He is mostly stunned from the pain rather than any true damage.”

“Are you sure, he looked like he could have died out there.”

“Midnight would have stepped in if it became too dangerous. Besides that was why Kacchan started with a test shot.”

“Test shot?”

“People react to his explosions in different ways. You remember what happened to Tsu when Todoroki used his ice on her? With his opponent being a mutant, He needed a baseline on what the other could withstand before actually attacking him.”

“Is his control that good?”

“Getting better every day. We learned early on the more control he had on his quirk the more things he could do with it. A lot of his moves are meant for villain apprehension which is why you don’t really get to see them in Hero Lessons. Death is not taken kindly in the field as well as excessive force.”

“Do you really think I can beat that?”

“Kacchan is not unbeatable. He is strong and amazing but he does have his own weak points. If you want I could…”

“No, I just wanted to know I had a chance. If you told me how to defeat him, any win I had against him would not be mine.”

“The two of you are more alike than you think.”

Chapter Text

It was always hard for Tenya to understand how he had fallen into such an interesting group of friends. He really did not have any in his past school experience as his peers had not had the same drive to excel in their studies that he did. They had taken his determination as coldness and any of the helpful information that he tried to give them as disapproval for their actions. Which to be fair was often the case when it came to his advice.

Somehow this had all changed by entering UA. The class was filled with students just as determined as he was to become the best Hero. While some objected to his suggestions on improvement, he found many actually listening to them and even agreed with him. They had even recognized his potential in order to make him the vice class representative which he had not expected knowing he had never been considered popular before.

In many ways he had to thank Midoriya, who seemed to take everyone individually and somehow fit them together like puzzle pieces no matter how different they all were. Tenya would admit he never thought that he would be on friendly terms with many of the others he had sat at lunch with.

It was not that he had anything against them but his experience showed that they were not the type of people that would last long around him. They never called him boring or old fashioned like his last classmates had. In fact, the group as a whole seemed to treat every eccentricity as if it was normal. It made him feel accepted for who he was for once outside his family.

Even with that acceptance, there still seemed to be a divide in how much he was willing to offer his own friendship to his classmates. Had it been Midoriya, Uraraka, and maybe Asui alone, he might have been able to open up enough to be more relaxed around them. Maybe not as far as calling them by their first names as Asui kept trying to insist, but he trusted them.

With such a large amount of friends it was hard to know how to relate to them all. Tensei would have been able to walk into the situation without warning and be able to respond appropriately to each of his friends without any issue. That was a skill he had never seemed to be able to learn from his big brother. The other had tried to explain it to him before but had really gotten down to a feeling. As if you were supposed to naturally know how best to interact with people.

It was one of the many reasons why his brother was so amazing and had been able to take over the day to day business of Idaten. That allowed their parents to focus their energy on more specialized projects and worthy causes. With all the work his parents did around the country it was usually Tensei that had taken care of him. That was why when Midoriya had mentioned inviting family, it was his brother he had thought of first.

Make no mistake he loved his parents but they were never around. He would never consider taking them away from their duties as Heroes just to see to his needs when he was fully capable of handling them himself. Tensei was always just a phone call away and he would eventually get back to him even if he was in the middle of something.

Sometimes it would be a week before he heard back from his parents. Mostly due to poor cell reception in some of the areas that they traveled to. One could not expect to have easy access to communication when dealing with areas affected by large scale disasters. Some emergency responses had taken his parents months before being able to come home again.

They were always in high demand in the aftermath of a disaster. Often working in tandem as incident commanders organizing and prioritizing relief responses. They had the ability to recognize skills and know where to put them to the best use from their time running Idaten with all their sidekicks.

It also helped that their quirks allowed them to travel to areas with damaged infrastructure and quickly get from one area to the next. That meant they were able to keep all the different parts of an operation moving even when communications were down. His was a taxing job and Tenya was proud at how quickly his parents were able to get the lives of civilians back to normal.

Having Tensei here at the Sports Festival gave him the reassurance that he had not expected to need. It felt like he was finally on the right path to join the rest of his family as a Hero. He had a Hero legacy to live up to and there were times that he would wonder if he was really cut out to be a Hero.

How could he live up to his big brother, parents, or even his great great grandparents that had been the ones to be the first Heroes in the Iida family? There had never been an Iida since them that had not been a Hero. He had felt so lost when he tried and failed to get into UA under the recommended student exam.

They had been given a rescue simulation. The idea being to locate and rescue “victims” in different situations. It had sounded like a simple enough challenge but he had learned that UA enjoyed leaving out important information in their tests. Some of the situations that he had found the robots in were impossible to retrieve the body without some type of quirk being able to help in the extraction such as super strength or flight.

Being a timed effort he had been able to find plenty of the robots used to portray civilians exactly like the ones at the Unseen Simulation Joint. The test was based on how many could be retrieved so he had been forced to leave many of the robots he had found and search for easier victims. In the end he could only rescue about half of the number he had found and had placed fifth in the rankings which had left him without a spot at UA.

His parents had been gone responding to a landslide that had taken out the electricity and clean water out of their area when he found out the news a week later. It was Tensei that encouraged him to take the entrance exam with the other Hero hopefuls and convinced him not to give up. It had been a couple weeks later that he had been given a second chance at the recommended student spot when in an unlikely scenario, the first place students had rejected the offer of admission to the Hero School.

His family had thought him foolish for refusing to accept the offer and insisting on taking the entrance exam. He needed to be able to prove to himself that he was worthy of being at UA and not here alone due to a technicality. His performance at the exam had vaulted him into Class 1-A which was reason enough to know that he had made the right decision.

Tokage had placed sixth in the recommended student exam and had taken the spot offered to him in Class 1-B. While he had nothing against the other class, he could not see himself making the same connections to his classmates that he had been lucky enough to have with his current class. Both of the representatives for the other class had behaved admirably each time he interacted with them but the rest of the class seemed so aggressive for no reason he could pertain. At least the male half.

When he had visited with his brother during lunch he had found himself proud of many of the connections he had made with the students entering the third round. He had been happy to talk about many of his friends and how well they had done so far in the festival. Tensei had seemed surprised by the performance of a number of his classmates, especially in the second round when they were able to work together.

Teamwork was something that was not easily taught to Heroes since there were so many egos in play. Idaten always valued teamwork and different specializations in their group in order to make things run smoothly. If his brother was able to see potential in his friends then they had to be good for him as well.

He had been initially worried that his brother would not approve of them since they were so different. Now, Tenya considered introducing him to them all once the festival was over. He did not want to distract his friends from doing their best and he had known that Midoriya had his own family to be with. The green haired boy had already told him about his father working overseas and not having many chances to be with him growing up.

While Midoriya had told him that he had no true connection to the Hero world, there were so many things about him that were surprising. The very fact that his Hero outfit was made by David Shield had been astonishing. Many Heroes could not afford the prices that were required to have a costume made by the Nobel winning technician. The wait-list alone for those that could afford the price was years for a single outfit.

Seeing Midoriya suit up that first day had been an experience. He had known from the fabric alone where he had received that outfit from. His own brother had looked into getting one made when he had first become a Hero. While their quirk was useful it still had drawbacks especially in stopping after going high speeds. In the end the cost and time was not worth the commission.

The first match, when Midoriya had fought using his support items, had answered at least one question for him. The boy was friends and partners with David Shield’s daughter. Support items were not cheap and there was a lot of money needed to develop and build them. Though what had really moved him was the support items he had been wearing were obviously for their classmates considering their color and theming which matched the outfits of many of their friends.

He also had a personal trainer that was allowed to use the school facilities. From the way he talked about his teacher, she had been working with him from a young age and was practically family at this point. Not to mention his internship with Recovery Girl that had started ever since saving Asui during their first Hero Lesson.

So someone that claimed to have no Hero legacy in his background, he had gotten so far ahead of him. He had thought that it was possible that his family was wealthy like Yaoyorozu’s and were able to buy the tutors and trainers he needed to become a Hero. There were no real indications of wealth from Midoriya’s personality, though his family being able to afford tickets to the Sports Festival did make it seem that they were not as humble as he made them out to be.

He recalled his friend had mentioned wanting to be a Spotlight Hero but seemed to be adverse to actual publicity. Had he been waiting for the Sports Festival to show himself off? Was that why he had used a false name to become a support technician? His use of the Rod of Asclepius also spoke of certifications he would have been required to take. A boy his age would have been deemed a prodigy in medical school. So how had he stayed unknown for so long?

Either way, He could not dwell on his friend too much today. He had to prove himself again. He was not as flashy as his classmates who had won the previous rounds. In many ways it was a shame that he would have to be going up against his own classmate in the first match. None of the other contestants had to deal with fighting against someone they knew. Then again, how much did he really know about Tokoyami?

That had been another failing on his part. He had been enjoying his comfortable friends group so much he forgot to learn more about his other classmates. As a Class Representative it was his responsibility to speak for his class in school matters. How could he know what they wanted without getting to know them individually?

He would have to fix that after the festival. He had fallen into a compliant role because it was easy. Being a Hero was all about doing the right thing. He had been so intent on his own studies and training that he had not considered that he had more duties that he had been conveniently avoiding. Besides he had to prove to the class that he would be a strong Hero like the previous winners. He needed to gain their respect on the tournament field and show the continued strength of the Iida family.

---

“So who do you think is going to win?”

“That depends, Ochako. By quirks alone, Dark Shadow has the advantage but Iida is more tactical from his experience around Heroes. It really depends on Tokoyami.”

“What do you mean?”

“You must have heard Tokoyami calling his quirk a curse before?”

“He does have a certain way of speaking but what does that have to do with anything?”

“In this case, I don’t think he is trying to be flowery with his language. He is a person that prizes privacy and has a quirk that robs him of all solitude. Dark Shadow is a sentient quirk so it is not so simple as if he was an extra body part. If they work together that would put Iida in a two against one match, but Tokoyami treats his quirk like a tool more than like another being. I think that is where all the control issues come from.”

“Should I have been treating Dark Shadow like a separate person?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Those two need to learn how to coexist with each other first before we can try to make friends with Dark Shadow. Tokoyami is our classmate and we have to respect how he wants to handle his quirk.”

“I guess so, but it feels kinda wrong all the same.”

“Dark Shadow is able to make his own demands known and I think they are starting to work it out considering how much more they have been able to work in tandem since the quirk assessment on the first day. Give them time, Tokoyami is a good guy and he will eventually have to come to terms with his quirk if he wants to be a Hero.”

Before Ochako could continue the conversation, they heard Present Mic on the speakers as he introduced Iida to the audience. Midoriya watched as his friend stiffly walked onto the field so focused on his destination that he did not look into the stands for his friends or brother. Was he worried about his match? It was hard to tell what exactly the other was thinking.

In contrast, Tokoyami flowed onto the grounds as he was introduced. His bird head also made his feelings hard to read but there was definitely an air of confidence in his step. That was a good sign since Dark Shadow was going to have to face the bright day in the match. His sunlight sensitivity was going to come into play and minimize the size he would be able to grow. Even in a weaker state the quirk was still powerful. It also gave him hope that the two of them were able to bond better.

The match started immediately with both Iida and Dark Shadow charging at each other. In terms of speed, Iida was faster, but they were both dark fast shapes against the concrete platform. The shadow quirk was able to keep Iida away from Tokoyami at first, though it was not able to catch him.

It only took a moment of misdirection for the class representative to slip around Dark Shadow and have a chance at the boy at the other end of the quirk. In a blurring motion faster than anything he had seen previously, Iida swallowed the distance between the two and they were both heading for the boundary.

Izuku thought that it was possible that the match would not take long to decide but he had not expected that kind of acceleration from his friend. It was faster than anything recorded by his own brother and he had been a Hero for years. It did make sense since his classmate’s engines were located in his legs unlike his brother who had superior agility due to the engines being in his arms.

The match was almost decided when Tokoyami took to the air. Dark Shadow did not have a way to make it back to the boy in time but they were still connected. From the looks of what happened, the shadow literally yanked him back through their connection like a fisherman reeling a fish back on his line. Dark Shadow was fast enough to catch the airborne bird mutant before he could fall on the ground but Izuku’s eyes were mostly on Iida.

His friend had not even moved since the moment Tokoyami had been plucked from his arms and was currently in an awkward pose facing the boundaries as if he could not settle his body. That was not normal…in fact…

“Kacchan. I need to get to Iida.”

One of his favorite things about his best friend was that he did not argue when he recognized that there was something to be done. He simply got up and followed behind him as they both ran towards the railing not bothering with the hallways and stairs since it would take too long. Izuku jumped over the barrier knowing that he would not fall to his death as he caught hold of the body that had joined him over the edge.

By the time, Katsuki was able to get them above Iida, he had already been pushed out of the ring and was laying in the grass in the same pose he had been in on the platform. That meant the fall had not been enough to break the hold on his legs. He released himself from his friend and landed next to the fallen boy, turning him over so that his chest was facing up over his objections at being manhandled.

Looking at the pale skin and shallow breathing he immediately jabbed him twice. That had caused his body to go completely limp which did assure him that the other would be fine if unable to move for the moment. Taking a firm grasp of his friend he gently lifted him on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry as he turned to a rather stunned Midnight who had been trying to talk to him the whole time.

“Medical Emergency. I’m taking him to Recovery Girl now.”

He left the field with the sound of Midnight talking about young passion and friendship as he made his way straight for the infirmary. He could only hope that his permission for the next two days as medical personnel would cover his actions for today. He would have done it all again anyway but he did not want to get in trouble for helping his friend.

“Midoriya, you are overreacting. I insist on you putting me down now.”

“If you can lift your arm I will put you down so you can walk to Recovery Girl yourself.”

“...I seem to be unable to.”

“Then let me handle this for now. Was this the first time you have used that move?”

“Not at all. I’ve been practicing it for the last two weeks. The engine stall is normal and temporary.”

“Do you really think a move that paralyzes your body afterwards is really good for you?”

“A minor drawback.”

“Iida, your engines are part of you. If I am correct, you have been destroying your own body with that move.”

“You must be joking.”

“You may not believe me, but let’s see what the nurse has to say about it.”

The silence he received back was good enough indication that the other was in thought considering how much he enjoyed talking. It was also a good thing the other thought his current inability to move was caused by his own actions rather than Izuku’s treatment. He had about two more minutes until what he had done to his friend wore off. By then he needed him under Shuuzenji Sensei’s eyes to keep him from doing something damaging again.

Chapter Text

The door of the infirmary opened as he drew nearer to it. The short form of his teacher looked out at him in the hallway with his burden for a moment before turning back inside. Entering the room he placed Iida on the examination bed before turning to close the door behind him.

“You might as well leave it open. We will be having company in a bit.”

He did not bother asking who would be coming since he already had a good idea of who she was talking about. After all, Ingenium was an alumni of the school and would know how to get to the student clinic in the stadium. He instead made his way over to the desk and computer where his classmates' medical history already pulled up.

“What did you find in his records?”

“We would need to run an ultrasound to see what is really going on but my quirk should be able to reverse the damage.”

“He has been intentionally doing this for the past two week. There may be more issues for just a single healing to cover safely since we are looking at internal injuries.”

“I don’t want to risk waiting in case he has a stroke before we get the results back.”

“Is it really that bad?” a new voice said from behind them.

Izuku turned to the doorway where the older brother stood with his eyes only on his younger one. The man had come in his Hero costume but had his helmet off so it was easy to spot the family connection between the two.

“Tensei, good to have you here. I can’t leave with the festival going on but someone needs to take this rash youngster out for some tests. I can get it set up at the nearest hospital if you don’t mind taking him over.”

“I still say this is an overreaction. Nothing happened. I can even move again. There is no reason we have to stop everything and go right now.”

“Iida what exactly do you think happens to perform that move you did?” Izuku interrupted his friend knowing that the other would continue talking unless stopped from past experience.

“I supercharge my engines and create more combustion to increase my speed. I have a small cool down period before everything goes back to normal but it is hardly dangerous.”

“You do realize your engines don’t actually run on orange juice right?”

“…I’m sorry? What does…”

“If it actually ran off of orange juice you would be adding it directly to the engine itself rather than ingesting it.”

“I still don’t see what this has…”

“Your quirk pulls the nutrients from the orange juice that has been absorbed into your blood, Iida. Your whole body’s circulation system is what actually runs your engine. Supercharging your quirk is forcing the blood to move faster through your body into a specific area. The reason we are needing these tests is to see how much of your arteries have been stretched or destroyed in this process. Your body is not cooling down. It is trying to restart your circulation after you pooled most of your blood into your feet and is struggling to bring it back to the heart.”

“…oh…”

“My intern is being a bit dramatic but the ultrasound should let us know what we are dealing with.”

“So it might not be that serious? My brother will be fine.”

“I never said that. He is priming himself for a stroke or heart attack at this rate. If he has been consistently changing the pace of his circulation system we need to see if any of the smaller branches of arteries and veins have been cut off and if there are any tears or irregularities in the shape of them.”

“It’s also possible with the higher combustion that he is burning away part of his blood supply. We should probably check to see if he will be needing a transfusion.”

“Already part of my instructions for the hospital though that lab work will be slower coming back then the imaging so make sure he takes it easy once the two of you get home.”

“I still don’t see how my new move is dangerous. Wouldn’t I be able to tell if it was?”

“It did not stop Denki when he overloads his body with his quirk. Besides, there is an easy way to settle this. Just let Recovery Girl use her quirk on you. If you are right and nothing is wrong her quirk won’t affect you and we are worried about nothing. But if she takes your stamina to heal, then you know that maybe we know what we are talking about.”

He saw the small smile appear on the nurse’s face at his suggestion. They both knew that it did not matter if Iida was injured or not for her to take his stamina. It was a good bluff and it would make his friend actually see reason enough to cooperate with them. Ingenium probably did not know any better himself since she had retired from the active Hero life long before his graduation from UA.

“That seems like a reasonable suggestion. I am sure that this is all just a misunderstanding.” Iida said immediately, accepting the proposal.

Like many people, Iida probably could not fathom the idea that he was actively hurting himself unintentionally. From the sound of it, he had spent weeks trying to perfect that move for the Sports Festival. Considering the way he seemed to not be able to look at his brother, he had probably wanted to impress his family by it as well. Being told that something he felt proud about was bad for him was most likely devastating to him.

Recovery Girl was not going to wait for the boy to change his mind or for his family to object now that she finally got some semblance of permission. She moved forward and used her hands to position him in a way to make it easier for her lips to contact his forehead.

Within moments, his friend’s body lost the rigid lines as he slumped back down on the examination table. He shared a look with his teacher who only nodded letting him know that it was a true reaction that their actions so far had all been necessary. She would not want to admit they were also unsure of the severity of the condition to either of the Iida’s.

“I assume this is enough for you to be willing to escort him to the hospital now?”

“I would have done it anyway. Our engines have been known to be temperamental but I would have preferred taking him to our personal doctor in Hosu.”

“The school has connections to the hospital and we will be able to get the results much faster if you go with them. If you still rather…”

“Oh no, I know better than to argue with a doctor. If Tenya was thinking, he would say the same.”

“You can’t really blame your brother. The Sports Festival is a very important event for all of us. He is not trained to notice the signs we look for as medical professionals and was probably more focused on refining a new technique.”

“Thanks kid, but Tenya knows better. I also need to thank you for your quick response. I’m guessing you are the one that my brother told me about that is a trained medic in his class. Midoriya was it?”

“That’s me. I was not expecting to take up my medical duties today but Iida is a friend and I was concerned.”

“I hope you will continue to watch over my brother. I was hoping to meet his classmates under better circumstances. Tenya was…”

They were interrupted by the sound of a cell phone going off. With an apologetic smile to the others, Ingenium pulled out a phone and answered it after first glancing at the caller ID. Knowing that it was probably family or work if he was going to take a call while his brother was in the nurse’s office, Izuku moved towards the other Iida to give the Hero a sense of privacy.

His friend was already moving around though he could tell that he was still drained from the kiss that the nurse had given him. His stubbornness had probably annoyed her enough to make her point during the healing. Had she wanted, she could have stopped before he became this tired. He had learned early on that Recovery Girl did not like her advice ignored and could sometimes be petty in her healing if she did not think the patient was listening.

Izuku was going to ask how Iida was feeling but he could tell he was in no mood to talk as he stared at his brother. Looking over he saw the rigid body language that he had previously only seen in the Iida currently on the examination bed. The news must be bad for a Hero with what seemed like a quite laid back personality to switch that fast.

“It seems as though I will not be able to take my brother to the hospital. I can make arrangements for someone to pick him up if you can get him to the facility.”

“I can take care of myself. I’ll be able to make it to the hospital and then back home all by myself. You should not need to worry about me. I should not have pulled you away from your duties in Hosu.”

“What? No Tenya. I wanted to be here to see you in action. But as a Hero, it is my responsibility to respond during an emergency. I would feel more comfortable if you did not go off on your own.”

“He can stay in the dorms with me.”

“Thank you Midoriya, but I do not think it is appropriate to stay overnight since I am not registered for the building.”

“I can put the request in. That keeps you closer to the school in case the tests come back with something that needs immediate attention. There are empty rooms in his dorm so the school can supply you with a key for the night.”

“Thank you Recovery Girl, I’ll have the person coming to pick him up from the hospital, drop him off with an overnight bag at the school.”

“Shouldn’t I have a say in this?” The boy, still unable to get up from the bed, said as he was clearly irritated about how his own words were being ignored.

“He is trying to make sure you are not alone, Iida. Something dangerous just happened in Hosu and he is worried about your safety. That is why he jumped so fast on you staying in Musutafu.”

“…is that true, Tensei?”

“You are quite sharp, Midoriya. I was hoping to keep it from you until you were done with the hospital visit but it’s going to be in the news soon anyway. Try to keep this quiet until at least after the festival. Native was just killed by Stain. I need to get back since Native had taken my patrol route since I switched with him at the last moment in order to be here.”

“My selfish request for you to be here killed a Hero!”

“What are you talking about Iida? You probably saved your brother’s life.”

“Tensei is not so weak to be able to be hurt by Stain. Besides, why would he even be the target him? Doesn’t that Villain claim to only hunt false Heroes?”

“He is a mad man, who knows how his mind actually works. What I can tell you from his past kills is that it is clear that he is able to escape each time due to his extreme preparation and planning before each kill.”

“What makes you say that? What would you know about Stain?”

Ingenium had asked the question and was clearly interested in what he knew about the Villain. Izuku thought back on his entry in his analysis notes and he really wished he had with him. Luckily, he had reviewed them not that long ago since Stain had been a potential Villain that he could have used to try to lure Endeavor away for the day. In the end he had deemed the possibility of finding him too hard without his first attack from his patterned series of three.

“He has been killing for years. Even back when he could still be technically called a vigilante, since he was not killing Heroes back then and strictly kept to criminals as Stendhal.”

“How do you know he is the same person as this Stendhal?”

“His kills have a certain pattern that has stayed consistent but the complexity and the prey have grown in difficulty which is why there has been a longer length between his series of kills. He is a true serial killer that is compelled by the thrill of the hunt and kill. He may say that he only kills those that are bad but it is just an excuse for him to convince himself that he is morally right in his own mind. I believe he switched from the street criminals to Heroes because it is harder to kill a Hero and he was finding his prey too easy to get the same thrill he was looking for.”

“So why kill Native when he was after me?”

“Native is known as a tracker. It probably thrilled him to take on someone that specializes in something that he considers his own area. In fact, he probably was already slated to be hunted a week later considering Stain’s pattern. He probably chose you because of the complexity of separating you from your usual cadre of Sidekicks.”

“So what do you think will happen now?”

“He might go off pattern since he would have looked to surprise you in order to actually get you alone. Now that you are aware of his moves, he will probably still be compelled to go after you but he will have to increase the complexity of his strategy. In fact, he might use his known pattern to his advantage and try to lure you into his next trap since he often takes advantage of the chaos in the aftermath of a killing to line up his next victim.”

“How sure are you about this?”

“I mean it is all theory and conjecture from his previous patterns but I don’t think he can deviate all that much from his plans. His mind has probably degraded to a level that it is unthinkable to not follow through with his hunt.”

Izuku could tell that the Hero was torn between asking more questions and leaving. It was Recovery Girl who had been ignoring everyone to set up the testing and probably called in one of the other teachers to get him to the hospital that interrupted them.

“I should probably mention that not only does Izuku intern for me, but he is also a student of Nedzu’s. That being said he is only able to go off what he finds online and in the news and I know for a fact that the principal has not given him access to any cases that deal with Stain.”

“Understood. I need to leave now before the crime scene becomes contaminated. There are always too many people at the location when one of us is hurt. My Sidekicks are trying to keep out anyone that is not essential but you know how it is.”

“It’s always personal when the victim is one of us. Just remember to send someone over with Tenya’s things for the night. We will keep him safe for you.”

“Thank you.”

Recovery Girl waited for Igenium to leave before locking eyes with him and turning towards their patient. Izuku could not tell could not tell from her expression exactly what she was thinking but he had the idea from her words that she was not entirely pleased with him. Had he done something wrong?

It was after Ectoplasm had come by to escort Iida who insisted on walking himself to the hospital that she had confronted him. In a way he was glad it was done without his friend around since it would have added to his worries about his brother.

“Midoriya, you are a trained field medic and you responded well today. You are not a professional analyst no matter how that other was treating you like one. Heroes depend on the intel they get to stay alive and plan. You are very good at speculating but as you said Stain is a mad man and his actions can not be certain. Telling Igenium that he is the next target can pull away resources from a different hero that could be killed because they were not better prepared. You also have no reference to this killer's actual mental state since he himself had not been recorded and the survivor testimonies are not good sources to determine mental health.”

“You will be surprised by how much content you can find online. It is usually a civilian that finds his victims so there is almost always a photo of the scene if you look hard enough.”

“That is not enough to base anything off of. Even Nedzu does not give his opinion before reviewing all the evidence. Look, just be careful with your analysis. You don’t want to be wrong and get someone killed because you did not have all the information. Now I think it is time you got back to the festival. You’ve probably missed a few matches from all this fuss.”

Izuku left without a word not wanting to defend his theories when he did not have his tablet with him to prove his point. Stendhal had been an interesting case as a vigilante since he was known to travel. He had started out like most that could not make the jump to Hero with petty crimes and while cut and knocked unconscious none of the villains he had apprehended had been killed. The killings started later and the victims though bad guys showed a progression of brutality. He had changed his name with the first Hero he had sent to the hospital that had led to the Hero’s early retirement.

Killing was not always the outcome, there had do be something that made him decide which prey he choice and if they deserved death or injury. That was why he knew that the Heroes in question had to be stalked first for Stain to make his decision and judge, jury, and executioner. He did wonder what criteria a Hero would need in order not to be judged false by the villain.

Chapter Text

Walking back to the stands, Izuku wondered how much of the tournament he had missed in his role as Recovery Girl’s assistant. He had wanted to at least see Tsu’s combat considering her match up put her against Shishida. His classmate was very intelligent so there was a possibility of her being able to win the match but he had the bad feeling that the class 1-B boy had both the speed and strength to overpower her.

Her skill at jumping would only take her so far since no matter what she was constrained by the size of the platform and would be forced back to the ground since she had no way to stay consistently in the air. He had also wanted to observe how much of himself the boy kept with him when he transformed since he would have to be able to calculate trajectories and determine how best to capture his slippery competitor.

He had a good idea that Jirou’s match with the vine haired girl was already over considering her quirk had no way to bypass the amazing defense that Shiozaki could produce with her own quirk. He was glad that he would probably not be having to face her himself. The girl from 1-B had unfortunately gotten a bad match up in her next round facing Tokoyami. Dark Shadow would thrive against her quirk and would take very little to win against her since it seemed that she did not have any physical training.

In fact Iida would have probably been able to make a quick match against her as well if he used his new technique. It was a shame that the move was harmful to his body, but there must be a way to get around the limitations and still produce the desired effect. If he could condition his body to maintain that kind of level of performance without destroying himself in the process he would likely become an even stronger Hero than his brother.

Reaching the stands he looked out to the empty grounds clearly meaning that they were in-between rounds and was currently setting things up for the next. Within the stands both Yaoyorozu and Tsu were gone so he figured he had rushed back for no reason. That did mean that Tsu’s fight must not have lasted that long for it to be over so quickly. It made him even more excited to actually see the winner in the next round.

He already had a good idea on who would win between their class representative and the Chinese exchange student. She had one of the most versatile and powerful quirks you could think of. He did get the feeling once Yaoyorozu started to produce items that Hatsume would want an introduction considering her excitement over anything that could improve her “babies”. He himself had been tempted to request items from his classmate in the past but had considered that proposition quite rude.

That did mean it was going to be his turn next in the tournament. He still had no idea how he was going to handle the issue of protecting Todoroki from his own father. He wished it was as simple as shoving him into one of the empty dorms like they would be doing with Iida, but he doubted that Endeavor would be willing to allow anyone to take his son out of his control.

…unless it was a medical emergency. What if Endeavor thought his son needed medical care and was forced to allow him to stay on the school grounds to get better? A broken bone would not be enough to keep him from dragging him back home and Izuku doubted he would be able to go that far in hurting his classmate. But what if the Hero thought that his son’s quirk was gone?

Endeavor only had one son that could take up the mantle of Hero now that his oldest was incarcerated and the middle children had taken after the mother’s ice powers instead of his own in order to carry on his legacy. How absolutely scared would it be for him to think that he had lost all chances at a legacy? He might be willing to place Recovery Girl in charge of his son’s care just to make sure his quirk would come back.

Izuku could only disable a quirk for so long but he was sure he would be able to get Todoroki to play along if it meant not having to go home with his father that night. If what Tensei said was true, he would bet the Flame Hero would be heading out to Hosu to see if he could capture the Hero Killer the moment the word got out. That would give his son some peace at home in the interim so he would only have to fake it for a day.

First he had to be able to make sure their match went off without a hitch. While Todoroki did have some fighting techniques, he was clearly quite dependent on his quirk for attack and defense. Izuku was positive that once he took away both of his quirks it would not take much to convince his father that more permanent harm had befallen his son.

Of course that would make him seem more powerful than he was and may even depict him as a bad guy for having someone lose his quirk while fighting him. But it was a risk he was willing to take in order to keep another safe. He was never going to hide the fact that he was Shifu’s successor in the Chi Blocking style of martial arts. He was proud that she had chosen him as his student even if it was his father that had forced their introduction.

Having a reputation that he could remove a quirk might be able to help him let Heroes know he was serious about being a Hero himself. Just as long as he did not take it too far. He couldn't help but think of his friend Hitoshi’s issues growing up with a brainwashing quirk. He did not want people to actually be afraid of him. He just needed them to know that he was a power to contend with.

Taking a seat next to his best friend he noticed that Todoroki was not in their stands and was probably already heading downstairs to the lockers to prepare for the next fight. That meant he would have to tell him his plan later. That was probably best, Izuku did not think that Todoroki would be able to act shocked at losing his quirk if given advanced warning and he needed Endeavor convinced that his son needed medical help.

“So is he ok?”

“Iida? He will be just fine. He will actually be joining us in the dorms tonight so we should all celebrate the festival together after I take home the victory.”

He braced himself knowing the hit was coming and went with it to lessen the impact as Kacchan piled his fist into his shoulder. It only stung a little bit and there was no explosion to go with it so he knew that it was just playful ribbing as always though he did notice the concerned look that Shinsou was sending him.

It reminded him that he really did need to talk to him about how their interactions were not signs of bullying even when it looked like it. He did not need another incident to happen between the two of them. Kacchan had been livid with the brainwasher for days the last time and he did want the two of them to get along.

He knew that Katsuki would not make a move until the other indicated he was ready for a friendship between them. Shinsou was still skittish in many ways and they both knew that forcing him to accept Kacchan for what he was would probably make him more uncomfortable with the situation. But he refused to allow anyone to change the relationship he had with his best friend. They had been together for a long time and often he was the only one he could faithfully trust at his back for years.

“Fucking Nerd! I’m going to beat your ass!”

“You can try.”

“You have to get by me first! I want to take him on too!”

Both friends grinned as they turned towards Ochako, pleased with her pronouncement. Izuku had hoped that she would have more faith in herself in facing Kacchan. He did not really think that she would be able to handle the explosive power the blonde contained today with her current training and skills but she had so much potential.

Being able to stand up to Katsuki would only make him want to beat her down all the more but if she could withstand it, he would respect her and maybe even finally accept her as a team member. Kacchan was many things but cruel was not one of them. They would show her what their bar was and help her get to their level. Izuku just hoped she learned fast. Once his friend agreed to take her on, the kid gloves would come off and her training would start in earnest.

---

“Here comes the belle of Class 1-A. This recommended student comes from one of the premiere families in the country. She showed us her surprising and creative use of her quirk by producing both a cannon and motorized scooter among many other useful items in the first round. She utilized her abilities again with her teammates to give them on-the-spot quirk support items in the second round. With her skills there is no telling what Momo Yaoyorozu will show us next!”

Momo stepped out onto the field barely hearing her introduction from Present Mic. The whole Hero department was filled with powerhouses. How could she even deem to try to compete with them? She had been lucky so far with their Hero lessons that allowed her to work in teams and she could always depend upon the skills of her classmates to get her through. How was she supposed to handle combat on her own?

At first she had thought her class would sweep the competition with wins from Midoriya, Todoroki, Uraraka, Bakugou, and Tokoyami. Then Kyouka had gone out there against that vine user. She had lost in moments. The moment the match began the 1-B Girl had used her quirk to make a large defensive barrier with her vines. It was clear that her friend would have no way to get close to her without being trapped by the quirk.

Without her support items Kyouka did not have anything to plug her quirk into to create her attacks. But she was quick and they had thought she would have been able to beat the girl in close combat. There was movement behind the barrier and vines and sprung out capturing her where she had stood while looking for an opportunity to move in. It was over after that. She had not been able to do anything against that girl.

Asui had at least been able to avoid being captured early on during her match. Shishida had grown into a large beast that she had seen in the field during the second round and had charged at her classmate at a blinding speed. He was not as fast as Iida but there was definitely some kind of enhancement that helped his movement when he changed forms.

The frog mutant had taken a giant leap into the air avoiding her opponent at his first attempt. But he had used his speed to track her movements and was waiting for her to come back down again. It was at the last moment that Asui had used her tongue to attach to the ground and change her directory in the air and land safely away from the other to take another leap into the air.

At first Momo thought she had a chance to tire the other out as she had him racing around one end of the platform to the next. But after the third time using this tactic, Shishida had gone after her tongue and grabbed it before she had the chance to reel it back in. The boy had ripped it from its anchor to the ground and used it to fling Asui out of bounds.

Now she was facing off against the final 1-B boy and she had no idea what to do about him. Against the robots it was easy to just build a canon and go through them. Now she was facing a real person and had no wish to actually harm him. If she was even given a chance to use her quirk against them. It was her biggest weakness. She needed time for her body to produce items to be used and while she was waiting, her opponent would be able to finish the match before giving her a chance to even get started like what happened to Kyouka.

Her parents had insisted that she would not be able to become a Hero. They had even gotten a Hero friend of theirs to give her a recommendation so that she could come to her senses in time and follow her family into a world class business school. But she did not want to run the family business. She may be the only child her parents could have but that did not mean she could not hire someone else to run the business while she did what she thought was right.

She had passed the exam to their disbelief and disapproval. By that point it was too late and they allowed her to actually go to UA. It was clear they thought she would find the work too difficult and give up on her own or even better transfer to the business class. The few times they had talked since she entered UA, it was never about her progress to become a Hero but what connections she could make and how she should use the opportunity to help the family.

Their advice included getting to know the young Todoroki better in order to finally get an exclusive contract with the number two Hero. They were also convinced that the time she spent with Iida working as the class representative could give them a foothold in Hosu for new opportunities. Momo found it all quite disturbing and was very happy she did not talk with her parents all that much, having the run of the house to herself most of the time.

Her classmates at least all seemed to respect her when she spoke with them and never questioned her desire to be a Hero. But, she was not the person they went to for advice even if she was the class representative. There were a couple of times in the past weeks where she had almost passed on her title to Midoriya. That boy had somehow become friends with just about everyone in the class and it showed in the way people reacted to him. She had too much pride to give up on her responsibilities but it often felt like she did not belong with the rest of them.

She often wondered if it would be different if she had agreed to join her classmates in the dorms. She had not even considered the benefits of the arraignment when she had initially passed on the offer. Would it be too late for the school to accept her request to join her class in the facilities? It was true she would have to do without her servants who were practically family to her but it would allow her to focus on her actual dream and not what her parents wanted for her.

Maybe if she could convince Kyouka to join her it would make her request more reasonable. She always was complaining about how her parents were always on her about something or another and wanted more independence. Some of the other students might want to reconsider the idea as well. If enough of them asked for the change the teachers would be sure to allow it wouldn’t they. It would also give them a second representative in the dorm to help control the interactions between the classes.

The ones that lived on campus seemed to be much more comfortable around each other and there had been a clear leadership role that had emerged from it with Midoriya being turned to for help more and more. Shouda had commented about how even some of the 1-B girls were starting to look to him for advice. The 1-B vice representative had admitted he thought it was mostly due to him being unavailable as he kept Monoma in line but they could not keep the trouble maker locked down forever.

After the humiliation that Izuku had given Monoma in the second round, Momo had been afraid he had gone too far. Shouda was reliable but he could not be responsible for his classmate and a confrontation between him and Midoriya could easily get out of hand. She would hate to see a true war start between the classes, the games between the two today had been bad enough. Heroes should not be so divided if they were to work together in the future.

“Against our native beauty is the Chinese foreign exchange student from class 1-B. This scaly opponent’s defense made a line through the obstacles in the first round and kept the competition away in the second. Will this serpent like Hero hopeful cut through for the win? It’s Hiryuu Rin!”

Momo felt a blank looking at the student before her. She had never interacted with him much less heard about him or witnessed any of his skills during the festival so far. The only thing she had to go with was the description that Present Mic had given the crowd that had made him sound almost like a dragon.

As the match started, she did the only thing she could think of to go against a dragon and made a shield. If he was anything like the mythical beast, she would be the knight to slay him. She pulled up the shield just in time as a series of impacts almost took her off her feet. It was good to know that at least she would not have to deal with a fire breathing variety.

She could not stay hidden behind her shield especially since it took her eyes away from her opponent. Of course while she could not see him, he was also unable to see her behind her barrier. She released two smoke bombs from her arms and quickly changed her position so the other would not be able to tell where she was as she placed heat vision goggles over her eyes. Now she hopefully would be able to see her opponent while she could remain hidden from him.

Watching his heat signature move around in the smoke in a jerky pattern she knew his transformation quirk did not enhance his eyesight. She used that time to make another piece of equipment perfect for a dragon slayer. The lance was so large she had to drop the shield making a loud sound as it landed on the ground and giving her position away.

Her opponent, having a direction to orientate himself, ran forward to confront her. She moved out of his path quietly as she dropped a couple more smoke bombs to ensure that her cover would not dissipate too quickly. He passed by her to the position where her shield was still on the ground.

Using the lance she charged behind him centering the blunted point at the center of his back. As his movement started to slow in order to search for her, she caught her prey and sent him further forward. He was able to keep his balance but was still pushed towards the edge of the platform and finally over the edge.

Moving back through the smoke she found her shield and hefted it back on her arm as she planted her lance on the ground and leaned against it as she waited for the smoke to clear. She heard the cheering start as she was revealed as the lone fighter still on the stage.

With the adrenaline from the battle gone, her thoughts crowded in on her again. She was still worried about being able to compete with some of her other competitors but she was in a Hero school to be a Hero. She was not going to give up now that she was so close to her goal. Her parents may not be in the stands cheering her on but she had friends all wishing her the best. That was enough wasn’t it?

Chapter Text

Izuku had to control the match from the very beginning. That meant he had to be fast and not be where the other expected him to be. He could not allow Todoroki to release that same devastating attack that he had used on Tokage. Even with the Heroes in the audience prepared for another ice wave, that move could still potentially hurt people. It was luck that the first time no one had been trampled or sprained something in the panic that had resulted from it.

Once he was able to get into close combat range, he would be able to hopefully shut the other’s quirk down. That would give them time to fight on a mostly even playing field. It would have been safer to finish the match quickly but he needed his classmate to appear to have lost his quirk. For that he needed Todoroki to break out of the stoic expression he always had and give him true fear. It also had to be long enough in the fight that Endeavor would be convinced that it could be a permanent situation.

Not that Shifu would actually teach him how to cut off someone from their quirk but there were stories. Both China and Japan had boogiemen that were able to remove a person’s quirk back when quirks had first started appearing. In China, those stories came about due to the Chi Blockers as Fuang had explained to him when she had first started his lessons.

She had wanted to be very upfront about her craft and the reason why it had stayed a small and almost forgotten style. His chosen martial art had a history that had some dark points. To be fair, when quirks started emerging out into the world, it scared a lot of people. China was the first country to have a quirked person and more have sprung from that pool faster than politics could handle a new breed of people.

Fuang Shiang had been a relatively unknown medical officer stationed near his small hometown. He would have stayed an unknown had an order not come down for all quirk users that were deemed dangerous to be captured alive. Shifu believed that some general was trying to weaponize the quirked but that was only speculation on her part.

Before that, confrontation with a quirk user would always end in their death. Usually from multiple bullets at a distance. Capturing the targets meant that the soldiers were forced into close combat scenarios where the odds were more uncertain and many of the soldiers' lives had been lost. Except, one unit had a secret weapon in Shiang.

He knew much about a person's body and where to impact it to cause paralyzation or break bones. He had taken that knowledge a step further by trying to target the chi points and thus interrupting the natural flow through the body.

It was a move that would have very little effect against a quirkless person. It might cause a slight headache or increased tension in the muscles but not anything that would help in a fight. Against the quirked, it shut down their emitter powers until their chi was able to repair itself and flow through the body once again.

His success and ability had given him field command as part of a secret arm of the army where he could train others in his martial art form. The Chi Blockers had been built into a small military tactical force that would be called in when a quirk user had been on a rampage. Rather than sending in a regional team with uncertain odds of success, they were deployed as specialists.

It had started with them being used any time a quirk user had gotten violent. Then they had been called in when a quirked had committed a crime even if they had not used their quirk or the crime had been minor. Soon a person just had to have a visual quirk such as a mutation or used their quirk once in public for the Chi Blockers to be sent to bring them in.

There were rumors of experimentations done on those captured by the team. Some prisoners had actually been released permanently maimed and unable to use their quirks. Those early experiments had probably been meant to try to turn people back to normal. Except, to the quirked, that was their normal. “Fixing” them was literally ripping out a part of who they were.

Shifu had been adamant that her ancestor had not been any part of such vile acts but those he had taught might not have had the same scruples. In fact it was quite likely that those who had been part of such inhuman experiments had used his techniques by breaking the chi points and permanently destroying the flow of chi throughout the body that caused them to have the ability to erase quirks.

When the quirk population was small, the lucky ones with emitter or transformation type quirk hid what they were to the world. Mutation type quirk children were often abandoned and considered too dangerous to be around. The lucky ones were found early on by the government and placed into internment camps where they could learn to be productive members of society. That had always meant working for the government in some capacity that would allow them to exploit their quirks or being rendered practical quirkless. There had been no middle ground.

As the population of the quirked grew, the government was no longer able to control the once marginalized breed of people and had been forced to turn to the ones that they had once subjugated for help. That had been the start of the Hero System and with it, the new rights demanded by the quirked in China. The Chi Blockers were quietly retired and her family left to make their own way in the new world.

Shifu believed that her family's troubles were due to the fact that they never had a quirked descendent. It defied the odds when most people were born quirked, but her family did not have a single birth of someone with extra abilities. People were not interested in learning martial arts from the quirkless. It was hard for someone without a quirk to get married and raise a family when passing down a strong quirk was what mattered in most families.

That was the reason Shifu had left China for I-Island where her medical skills were highly prized. She no longer had family or property in China, leaving everything behind her with her move. What she had now, was built with her own hands having worked hard for every accolade and fortune. She had expected to die before passing on her family’s traditions. Now Izuku was going to be her legacy.

Endeavor was working so hard to create his own legacy that he could not even see how many opportunities he was wasting. The Flame Hero was the first one in his family to be a Hero and had come from modest means. He had made his name by being the best winning the sports festival all three years he had been in UA. Unlike most Heroes, he had only spent a single year as a sidekick before starting his own agency.

Izuku believed that he had built his agency with the money that had come from his marriage to Rei Himura and her family considering his newfound wealth appeared around the same time. His son might believe that his father was only after her quirk but Izuku believed that there was far more to their union than that after researching his mother’s family. In fact that was probably the reason that his middle children were practically ignored. Because they were not allowed to be part of his legacy. His mother came from old money and was the only child.

Her family had probably wanted a Hero in the family and was willing to bargain for their daughter to have that connection and to have heirs through her. Rei was the inheritor of the Himura fortune but due to her admittance to the psychiatric ward, her husband was in control of the wealth that was probably contractually set to go to the children that developed the Himura’s ice quirk.

There were more facets to quirk marriages that his classmate had not considered when he had talked about gaining strength. The father had probably wanted both fire quirked sons to become Heroes but had focused on the one that he felt could achieve the same acclaim he had in school and since his youngest son had developed both his fathers and mother’s quirks was probably being set up as the sole inheritor to both legacies. His classmate would be able to inherit both his father’s agency and his mother’s money.

He hated to admit that the Hero was intelligent and ruthless. Despite his reckless destruction of property, he never actually had any human casualties. In fact he probably used that massive property damage to boost the aura of danger in his villain fights increasing the value of his capture. He had the money to spend on the rebuilding and people were thankful to have the new infrastructure they got after the repairs.

That meant that his hero deeds were inflated. Though Izuku had a feeling even if they reflected the actual difficulty of the capture, Endeavor was constantly working and would still towered over most of the other Heroes on the rankings list except for All Might. For as much as the Flame Hero did, All Might could potentially only work three hours a day and still be above Endeavor in the rankings.

All Might did not seem to care about rankings and being on the top. He was a Hero to save people and nothing was too small a task for the Number One Hero. All Might would take on tasks such as saving a cat from a tree that Endeavor would not even bother with since such incidents would barely increase his standing. All Might was often resolving many small incidents at the same time in a quarter of the time that Endeavor took with far less destruction. He also seemed to have time to help the victims rather than play to the media like Endeavor always did.

All Might was his favorite Hero for many reasons. Maybe after all this was over he could spend time with Melissa and her Uncle to talk about Heroics. Izuku could not be like All Might since he did not have a quirk that would allow him to do all the amazing things that the Hero did but there were still many things he felt he could learn from the Number One Hero. Now, he had to get through the next match.

---

“Let’s welcome back to stage Izuku Midoriya! This Hero student has wowed us in the first match with his amazing support items. While he will not be allowed to use them during this match, he is sure to still surprise us with his ingenuity.”

Izuku entered the stadium and noticed the rather polite applause from the audience. It seemed they had yet to believe in his ability to win. He could not exactly blame them considering his opponent's father and previous performance. That just meant that this fight would show them all that he had something worth believing in.

“Here comes Shouto Todoroki, the ice prince of 1-A. He froze the competition in their tracks in his last match. This powerhouse is bound to give his opponent another cold shoulder.”

Seeing Todoroki again as he stepped onto the platform he could see the rage was still in his eyes even if his face was completely emotionless. He had hoped that some of that rage would have died down by now. Had his father talked to him again before the match? He would not put it past the man. He clearly wanted him to use his fire quirk and was not taking his refusal well. It also meant he might not be thinking rationally.

“I see that your father gave you another… pep talk.”

He had only got a glare back from his words but he had not really expected the other to talk to him about his family problems now. Not with Midnight so close and able to listen into their conversation. That was fine. He just needed to make sure that he had his attention.

“You know that he is right? You really should use both your quirks. You’re giving yourself a handicap by not utilizing it.”

“How much did he pay you to get me to use his fire?”

“Do you really think your father would offer the “freak” money?”

“Then why are you taking his side?”

“Because you are hurting yourself to spite him.”

“What I do is no business of yours.”

“Ok boys, sorry to interrupt your conversation but we have a match to get started. Same rules as last time you win when your opponent concedes, is unable to continue, or leaves the ring.”

Izuku sprinted forward the moment Midnight gave them the go ahead. The moment he saw Todoroki start to stomp his foot on the ground, he leaped up needing the elevation to make this next part work. He had already positioned himself so that his family was not at his back. If he had miscalculated he would not put them at risk again.

As in the past, the ice flowed from the boy on the ground at his foot before peaking upwards and moving in a wave ready to engulf him. Chi Blocking taught one how to aim for the weak points in the body. That same concept worked now. The higher he was able to go the weaker the wall of ice and the sooner he got through the thinner the barrier would be.

He grabbed onto the leading piece of ice aimed towards him and used it to throw himself higher into the air before using his legs to shatter the forming ice cage before it had time to swallow him completely. Once out beyond the ice he used the natural slope it had created to allow him to continue his path towards the other boy. He made sure not to take a direct route and moved in a random pattern to keep the other from using the ice below him to attack.

He felt the movement as large icicle formations starting to spring up in his path in order to slow him down, though considering the rage in the other boy, it could have also been meant to impale him. Rather than hinder his progress, he used them to move at a more controlled pace and at the last moment used one to take him airborne again as he was finely close enough to reach the other.

A large shield of ice came up to protect the boy but it only covered the front of him leaving his back exposed. Izuku used that opening to latch onto the edge of it and carry his momentum over and down next to his opponent. As expected, the other turned his body in his direction to ready another attack. It was too late at that point as he jabbed his fingers into the other and jumped back knowing that his first obstacle was done.

Todoroki stomped his foot on the ground again and this time absolutely nothing happened. Izuku straightened his back up and placed a smirk on his face as he watched the other try it again to no effect. Finding that move disabled he tried to use his hands next as if to throw something at him but nothing emerged from the outstretched limb.

“Ready to use your fire now?”

“How is this possible? What have you done to me?”

“I told you that only using one of your quirks was hurting you. I’m just balancing you out. If you insist on such a large scale ice attack you can develop frostbite and really injure yourself permanently.”

“Give it back. It’s the only thing I have left of hers.”

“…but she is still alive.”

“I put her in there, Midoriya. I can’t face her again.”

“She put herself there. She destroyed your face so she would be sent there. You did nothing wrong.”

“Liar! It was my fault. If I was not like him then she would have never tried to hurt me.”

“You are not remotely like your father. She would have never confused the two of you no matter what her mental state was like.”

“But my quirk is his. She knew I would grow up into him if I used it.”

“Then are you him now? You have nothing left of her. Are you the next Endeavor?”

“Never. I will never be him.”

“Then why are you afraid to use your own quirk?”

“You don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t. You have two amazing quirks. Yes, genetics played a part in it but those are yours. Growing up I would have given up just about anything to be blessed with any quirk much less a single one of yours. If you are not willing to use it, I should just take it away as well.”

“No! Stop!”

Todoroki shouted backing up unconsciously as his expression finally broke from his hard earned control. Izuku slowly paced forward wanting to increase the menace. He needed this performance to convince everyone here that something was not right with the dual quirked boy. He was also on a clock as he had to end the fight before his body could heal itself and allow the other to have access to his ice abilities again.

“Why? You don’t even use it. Why would you even miss it if you lost it?”

“Don’t come any closer to me!”

Izuku knew he could not hesitate even when faced with the absolute terror in the other’s face. This was making him feel more like a Villain then a Hero even if he knew that he was doing this to protect the other. Hopefully the boy would be able to forgive him for this ruse.

He had backed the other to the edge of the ring before something else broke in the boy and a swirl of fire came out of his outstretched arm ready to finally fight back. Unfortunately for Todoroki, it was not a focused attack but a large and wispy effort. His control would get better once he used his fire more often but what was in front of him would not be able to stop him.

Izuku grew up around fire. His best friend’s quirk made it an intimate companion to them in their youth. While he had gained a healthy respect for the dangers he knew better than most how to handle it. He leaped through the fire with no fear on his face at the blast of heat and smell of smoke. He had not stayed in the flame long enough to be badly damaged and knew that his dismissal of the attack would affect the other more.

As he had planned, Todoroki had expected the fire to keep him at bay. His lack of reaction to it seemed to startle the other. He had broken his promise to never use his fire quirk in desperation to find that it had meant nothing. Izuku could not allow another fire attack to go off since prolonged exposure would be devastating and he was so close now that the fire would be more concentrated and able to hurt him badly.

He darted forward bringing his hands up and jabbing them into the boy as he stood frozen in his startlement. While he was there he pinched off the ice side of his quirk again to ensure that the other was effectively quirkless for the first time in his life since his quirks had appeared.

“I can not magically gain your quirk but now you know how it feels to be like me. To be quirkless. Do you think your father will call you a freak now too?”

“Give it back!”

“Why? Isn’t this what you wanted? To be rid of his quirk? Isn’t that the whole point of not using it? To hope it would disappear on it’s own some day?”

“Not like this. It is not supposed to be like this.”

Izuku saw the desperate attack from the other boy. He was not a trained martial artist but he still tried to hit him with his fist. Izuku deflected it with his arm pulling him off balance and kicked him out of the ring and onto the grass below. Midnight called his win to the silent audience that watched on not believing in the outcome of the match. Good. He had shocked them all.

“If you want your quirks back you’ll have to come with me to see Recovery Girl. Maybe she can give you back what you have so desperately tried to run away from.”

He stepped off the platform and moved towards the exit knowing that his classmate was following behind him. He had left the burning rage in those eyes as he walked past him. With his back to the other he smiled glad that the terror had passed and the passion that was in him was back.

There was a lot about the boy that would make a good Hero if he could get out of the shadow of his father and the mess that Endeavor had made of his mental state. There was so much guilt and false responsibilities that were holding him down from the truth. Todoroki knew that his father was toxic but could not make the logical leap that the fault should all be on Endeavor’s shoulder rather than his past self.

As they reached the hallway, he finally heard the shouts and applause from the crowd. That meant they were starting to believe in him. He would have to keep the momentum going in his next match against Kacchan. His best friend knew him too well to fall for the bluffing and bravado he had used against Todoroki. He would also make it more difficult to face each other in close combat knowing that that was where his strengths lay. It was going to be fun.

Chapter Text

Toshinori had not expected much from young Midoriya knowing what he was facing. He personally could not have gone against someone with such a powerful quirk before Nana had given him his own quirk. He kept his opinions to himself as the people around him had not seemed put off by the boy’s impending loss. They seemed to believe that he actually had a chance against such odds. It was a faith he expected in the parents but seeing it in Melissa was a surprise.

She took after her father in many ways and would understand the impossibility that a quirkless child would face in a fight against those with Hero level quirks. He had been glad that she had wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and stay protected on I-Island. Her father had worked hard to get them there and out of the United States when it became clear that she was not going to develop a quirk.

I-Island was one of the few protected places that did not care about a person’s quirk status. But the qualifications to actually live and work there were demanding and could take years before getting approval. David would do anything for his daughter, including leaving his home in the hope of giving her a better future. On I-Island, she no longer had to be homeschooled to get the best education and could freely interact with people her own age.

They had worked hard to keep her sheltered from the harsh realities of how the world outside her home treated those without quirks. That was why every time she had left the island, one of them was always nearby to protect her. Yet, somehow this boy from his own country had thrived on his own. Would he be able to protect Melissa if she wanted to leave I-Island for him?

While Heroes often visited I-Island, it was not the place to work. The island had its own defenses and anytime it was open to outsiders would hire out for Heroes for a limited time. Young Midoriya would have to stay in Japan if he wanted to work as a Hero. Was David aware of how close the two children had gotten? Could he really be prepared for his daughter to leave her home where she was protected from the ugliness of the world?

Maybe All Might should have done something more to protect others like her? Like what he had been? He knew that what the quirkless in his county and many other’s faced was wrong but as All Might he had to hide the origin of his power. Even with All for One gone, his quirk was too much of a temptation to release its information. He needed his past to stay shrouded in mystery as Nana and always insisted on. Using his clout as a Hero to actively protect one dying portion of the population could raise questions that he could not answer.

He had been able to funnel money into organizations to help the quirkless along with many other charities that his agencies contributed to yearly. Toshinori was never sure that money really made a difference as nothing seemed to change for the people that needed it most. He still continued to give as he had no other option that would keep his name clear of the potential discovery. How could he explain how a quirkless kid growing up received one of the most powerful quirks in history?

Better to stay out of it completely. That was why even if Melissa asked, he could not offer the boy an internship with the Might Agency. Mirai would agree that protecting his secret would trump any endorsement for the up and coming quirkless Hero. But he did have contacts with other Heroes that may be willing to give the boy a chance.

His friend, Naomasa worked with a number of Hero Intelligence Agencies. Having him suggest the recommendation would keep the Might Agency out of the picture while still supporting the boy. That would also keep the kid safe since that branch of heroics did not do the same kind of patrol work that was expected from other agencies.

With his plan in mind, Toshinori sat back to enjoy the match as he watched both boys enter the arena. It did surprise him that the young Midoriya did not seem frightened by the prospect of facing his opponent. In fact there was quite an aura of intensity about the boy as he faced the young Todoroki. As the start of the battle was called, he focused on the ice user in case he would have to rescue his party from another giant ice block.

It was the crowd that drew his attention to the young Midoriya as he made a headlong dash forward. It was completely reckless and he thought that the match was over as the ice started to form and rush towards the moving figure. By that time the boy was already in the air and would be easy prey to the ice that would encase him as easily as it had done the poor girl that had tried to escape by splitting herself up into many tiny pieces.

He had not expected the boy to use the other’s ice to propel him further up to an area where the ice was still forming and break through it with enough force to shatter the wall. Shouts of excitement and confusion were about him as he straightened in his seat to watch the boy make use of the obstacles being sent in his direction in order to close the gap between the two of them. But what could he do once he was in close combat with young Todoroki?

He expected the rounded shield of ice that the opponent used against his physical attack. That quirk has very good attack and defensive capabilities. Even with the quirkless child able to use the shield to pull himself over to the other’s unguarded back he only had a moment to hit him before he jumped away clearly realizing he was out of his depth.

That was when the really puzzling thing happened. Young Todoroki had made his typical motion that would cause more ice to form and attack the other... but nothing happened. His blood started to run cold as the clearly confused boy tried to use his quirk again and again. Only one person that he had known could take away a person’s quirk and he was dead.

He had killed that man years ago, crushing his skull. It was the only kill he had even done intentionally in retaliation for the man taking Nana’s life. Mirai had been there with him supporting his dark deed even as his then Sidekick had worried about what he had seen in his vision about the confrontation. They had learned that day it was possible to change the outcome of his visions though it had been a hard won battle.

Mirai had saved him a number of times with his quick thinking and quirk’s ability. He probably would have lost use of some of his internal organs if his friend had not insisted on coming with him that day. In fact it was his old sidekick that had torched the remains of the body into ash while he recovered and convinced him to scatter them into the ocean in case All for One’s stolen regeneration abilities could somehow bring him back to life.

Toshinori had gone with it because he knew Mirai was trying to help him with the fact that he had just killed another living being. He knew that that man had to die and that no government would be able to control him if captured but it still had been the first time he had ended someone with his own hands. He never wanted to be placed into that situation again.

His friend giving him the hope that the other could have recovered from such a fatal blow seemed to have helped his conscience at the time and he allowed the other to dispose of the body that way. He was sure it was really so that none of the authorities would ever find out what happened that night. After all they could not have known that the Symbol of Peace killed someone in revenge.

He was startled out of his thoughts from the past as a burst of flame now came from the field below. Young Todoroki was apparently full of surprises and had a second quirk that matched his father. It was interesting that the boy had not used his fire in any of the other rounds in the sports festival. Its use would have made short work of many of the obstacles he had previously faced and maybe even would have given his team the upper hand against that one explosion boy in the second round.

Young Midoriya went through the fire as if it was not even there pressing forward for another attack. This time though, there was clearly fear in the eyes of young Todoroki as he backed away trying to stay out of the reach of the other. It was a clear change in the dynamic that had been there at the beginning of the match.

How could the quirkless boy have been able to take away his ice quirk? As the match ended with the favored to win in the grass staring at his hands, Toshinori knew that he had lost his fire quirk as well by the end of the fight. Melissa would not lie to him about the other’s quirk status. In fact she seemed excited about his win and cheered loudly even as the rest of the audience sat in stunned silence.

Slowly a few more people started clapping and then there was more cheering but it was not at the same level as some of the other previous matches. Too many people looked onto the field worried about what they had just witnessed. Watched as a diminished figure walked slowly out of the field following the winner.

“I taught that boy better than that. He should have disabled both quirks when he had the chance instead of handling them separately. I’ll also have to talk to him about stopping a fight just to talk. He can chat all he wants after he defeats his opponent. The quick victory is the one with the least amount of variables.”

“I’m pretty sure he was doing something heroic down there, Fuang. My son has always had a bad habit of interfering in other people’s problems. Kind of a shame they did not put microphones around the field so we could hear what was going on.”

“This is your fault for actually encouraging that behavior, Hisashi. You would think he would have grown up more sensible like his mother.”

“Where do you think he actually got that trait from? Our random shopping trip into Tokyo was because of Inko’s insistence.”

The woman in question only smiled as she continued to clap and watch the progress of her son leaving towards the exit. Happy with the outcome and clearly used to the two family members bickering to pay it no mind. Though something was very evident from the conversation he had overheard.

“You taught him how to take away people’s quirks?”

“You can’t just rip away someone’s quirk with a couple of well-placed hits. Quirks are genetically linked to your being. I just teach him how to interrupt the natural flow of the body and temporarily paralyze key functions such as eliminating production of resources for emitter quirks.”

“Then this is a temporary state? The boy had not lost his powers?”

Toshinori did not expect the answering laughter from the group with him. Even Melissa had turned away from the field and was giggling at his bewilderment.

“Uncle, I never properly introduced you to Doctor Meiling Fuang. She is Izuku’s trainer and martial arts instructor. She used to live on I-Island as an expert in her field of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture but left years ago in order to train the first quirkless Hero!”

“How do martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine actually… interrupt someone’s quirk?”

“It is a unique branch of Tai Chi my family developed and practiced. We call it Chi Blocking. My pupil has already mastered many of its forms and techniques.”

“So can anyone do what he did?”

“After years of training and advanced knowledge of the human body. Maybe. Chi Blocking is not just hitting a person. It takes finding their weak points and using the right angles and pressure to disable them using their own body against them. It is not an easy discipline but the rewards are useful for the type of Hero that Izuku wants to be.”

“What type is that? I can’t place it at all considering his range of skills.”

“He will be the Hero that can change his role depending on the emergency. He wants to build an agency that allows him and his friends to be able to handle all types of emergencies. He mentioned once that he had come across a villain attack that was a hostage situation. There were five Heroes on scene but they were still not able to handle the situation until All Might had made it to save the day. Afterwards, the different Heroes had made excuses on why they could not resolve the issue themselves from having a bad quirk against the villain or being busy with their designated Hero tasks. Izuku wants to remove those barriers of what is expected and instead do what is right.”

Toshinori could not respond to that and the others left him to think as they turned to each other and replayed the match. He never really thought about how other Heroes worked in the system. He knew about the division of labor and how most of them specialized. He had always acted regardless of the task without a care of what category it fell under. He had always thought that was what a Spotlight Hero did.

But was he really a Spotlight Hero? When was the last time he actually went on a patrol? He had found that his popularity actually hindered his Hero work. While he was always happy to meet his fans, his increased senses were far more capable of informing him of problems in the area than actual patrolling. Most times he would find an area that was out of the way and listen for trouble that needed his help.

He also had his team at the Might Agency to inform him when his presence was needed somewhere and due to his quirk his territory far exceeded many of his fellow Heroes since he could arrive in seconds. It also never mattered if it was rescue work, villain apprehension or a slew of other emergencies that his team knew he would be able to handle. Was young Midoriya’s goal all that different?

---

What the boy had done was impossible. There was no way that a quirkless individual could remove a person’s quirk. He must have been hiding his power behind the lie that he did not have a quirk. It was not a bad lie, after all with the ability to remove quirks, his childhood would have been quite difficult. There had to be a reason he was willing to expose himself now. Did he believe he was safe now that he was under the care of UA?

The real question was what exactly the parameters of his quirk were. Both times he had taken the other’s quirk after touch had been involved which was similar to how All for One worked. Did the boy also have the ability to use the quirks he stole and pass them on to different people? There had been other cases of similar quirks developing without a genetic link.

He knew that his old friend had left no actual blood prodigy. That was why he had found Tomura and groomed him from a young age. Had that damned All Might actually left a genetic sample he could have followed through with their actual plans for the heir. Now he was stuck with a man child that had no direction and so many half fulfilled plots that had been so close to fruition before he had died.

If this Midoriya actually developed a version of All for One, there were so many more possibilities that he would have access to and might be able to use to finish the High End Nomu that were currently in various stages of suspension since he had no way to complete their process without All for One. Even if all the boy could do was take away quirks, that might be enough to get at least a couple of the High Ends done. That alone might please Tomura enough to keep him occupied and out of his way.

Chapter Text

The walk back to the infirmary was quiet as the stoic boy behind him did not say a single word. Hearing the footsteps of the other, he knew that he was still there but aside from that there was no indication of life. Izuku figured Todoroki was currently lost in thoughts. He needed to get his classmate to the secured room with Recovery Girl before the boy’s father could abscond with him without his plan coming to fruition.

Luckily, Endeavor did not have a speed quirk like Ingenium and would probably consider being seen in public running counter to the image he projected unless he had a villain in his sights. He also doubted the Flame Hero would have missed that chance of being recorded in the stands watching his son as a sign of support and pride for his progeny. The older Iida had done the same knowing he was being watched while his brother was showing his own skills in the tournament.

A Hero’s life was never private. The way they acted in public was recorded, watched, and analyzed by the populous. For both Hero families, that meant showing up in costume and putting on an act. It was more telling if they were not there to show their allegiance to the competitor. The fact that Yaoyorozu’s family had not shown up at all was going to be noted in the Hero circles. Even if they were not Heroes themselves, those that worked closely with the Hero industry would know what their absence meant.

He was curious about Tokage’s sponsor. She was not part of a Hero legacy nor did her family have an obvious connection to the Hero industry. None the less she had entered the school as a recommended student which meant she did had Hero backing for her placement. Izuku actually expected her Hero sponsor to be a foreigner which would be why they did not publicize who had supported her entrance into the Hero world.

The last recommended student’s Hero legacy was all too obvious considering his relative worked at the school. Honenuki had such a striking resemblance to Ectoplasm that Izuku had a first thought they were father and son but even he knew that was impossible. Considering the age of the 1-B recommended student, it had placed his birth after the Clone Hero’s accident. While most assumed just his legs had been damaged in the incident, Izuku knew that he had lost more than just a couple of limbs.

Ectoplasm had been one of his favorite Hero’s after the incident that had forced him to have specialty prosthetics made for his Hero and casual use. Most Heroes would have retired after such a debilitating injury but their math teacher had found a different way to continue saving people. He had followed his career and had looked into his past history since he had admired the other so much and his ability to keep pushing through against the odds.

The support company he used for his prosthetics was extremely specialized to give him similar response times to his artificial limbs that he would have enjoyed in the past. Seeing him walk around the classroom in person told him much about how much of the lower body was actually mechanical. He suspected the actual amount of damage from the explosion that had almost killed him had been downplayed for his safety and to keep the public from losing faith at the cost of his heroic act that day.

He guessed a sibling was the one responsible for providing him a family member that could carry on his Hero legacy. He could of course be wrong and it was possible that the Hero had used artificial means to create his own son. It would not be unheard of considering how much he already trusted in medical science to move around on his own.

Still, Izuku believed they would have announced it if there was a direct relationship between the two of them since it would have given Honenuki a stronger position that could be used to gain better internships. Of course the 1-B student could have wanted the relationship to be a secret in order to make his own way in the Hero World. Since he was not a direct descendent he would have that ability to choose how he would use his Hero connections.

Right now the most pressing issue was getting his classmate to go along with his plan. The whole thing would be for nothing if he used his quirk while in the intermarry in front of his father. The last time he had seen the two interact with each other, the boy had been passively listening and seemed too scared to answer back to the man. But he knew the rage that was building up in Todoroki would not take much to spill over and he could accidentally set off his powers with higher emotional output.

“I think I have a way to protect you from your father tonight.”

“…what do you think you can really do?”

“I can at least try. Are you really that willing to be his punching bag for another day?”

“What else can I do? You know my situation.”

“That’s the thing Todoroki. I really don’t. Too many things do not make sense but I am trying to learn more. It would be easier with your help.”

“I can’t. If I am not there to take his punishment, then he will take it out on my siblings or worse my mother.”

“For one night being out of his control?”

“You don’t know him. He will be furious that I did not beat you in the match. ‘Training’ me will keep him from going after the others.”

“I would not worry too much about them. He is going to have a different situation that will take up his attention soon enough. Won’t you trust me for just one night?”

“I can’t Midoriya. It is my responsibility to keep them safe. I have to do this. The fact that you were actually able to make me use my fire quirk might be enough to keep the training to a minimum.”

“How long has he waited for you to use your fire? Now that he knows you are willing to use it, do you really think he won’t be expecting to train you in it? Especially since you lost after using it? Are you really ready to use your fire quirk?”

“What else can I do?”

“Just trust me. You may think you have to handle this on your own but you're not alone now.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Nothing. Do absolutely nothing. Don’t talk back, don’t allow your emotions to build, and don’t try to use your quirks. The point is to allow someone or something else to direct his anger towards.”

“You think that will be enough?”

“No, but we will have help for the rest of it.”

“I don’t want to bring anyone else in on this, Midoriya. I can handle this myself.”

“It’s too late Todoroki. The moment you came to me for help, I decided to do everything I could to get you out of this situation. You started this by letting me know what was going on. I may not be a Hero yet, but how can I even consider becoming a Hero if I am unwilling to fight for what is right?”

“I don’t understand you. You don’t even know me.”

“You don’t have to understand me and it does not matter that I don’t know you, though I do think we should change that if we are to be friends. All you have to know is that I am here to help.”

“I’m not here to make friends.”

“I won’t force you, but don’t you think it would be better to work together if we were friends?”

“You're not going to take no for an answer are you?”

“You can always say no. It just means I will have to find a different way to help you.”

“…I just have to do nothing?”

“Exactly! No matter what happens try to stay in the background and do not bring attention to yourself.”

He smiled broadly at the other now that he finally got his cooperation. It was just in time too as he casually opened the entrance to the nurse’s office and gave his medical mentor a nod before holding the door for his classmate to enter as well. Recovery Girl gave him a puzzled look behind Todoroki’s back as he made his way to sit on the exam bed that Izuku pointed him out to.

“Todoroki is unable to use his quirk and wants to see if you will be able to restore it for him.”

“…what did you do dearie?”

“I might have gotten a little too emotional during our match. I did not think it was safe for him to go back until his quirk returned.”

“…and how long will that take?”

“When his body recovers. Shifu might be able to give you a more precise timeframe but I am still learning these techniques. I was hoping we could accommodate him like we did with Iida.”

There was a pause as the nurse seemed to understand his idea even though he could not state it out loud with the older Todoroki expected at any minute. Luckily, Recovery Girl was quick enough to seem to understand his reasoning and did not question him about that. She was also probably aware that with the younger Todoroki in the room, his father would be showing up as well.

“You know about my quirk. You think that it can really help him recover faster?”

“I think it is possible. Your quirk increases the natural healing process so it might be able to restore his chi passages.”

“Chi passages? What the hell are you talking about?”

Izuku had already heard the loud steps of the Flame Hero as he had stomped down the hallway and was ready for the barely restrained anger that was directed at him as Endeavor stood in the doorway completely blocking it. For the first time, he wondered if he had made a mistake in putting himself up against the Number Two Hero as he found himself trapped inside the small room.

Shuuzenji Sensei moved forward, taking a position standing in front of him as she looked up at the Hero before them. It released the pressure enough that Izuku was able to fall back. He stepped closer to his classmate who continued to watch in silence as he now stared up at his father with no expression on his face.

“Midoriya is a martial artist that specializes in targeting the chakra points in the body. He used that skill to turn off your son’s quirk.”

“That is a bunch of superstitious bullshit meant for hippies and the gullible. Now, tell me how he really did it. Did he cheat by using some kind of drug? If he has permanently harmed my son I will be pressing charges against him and this whole school for allowing this to happen.”

“Stop that nonsense. My intern does not need to cheat to win against your son. The school only allowed him to use support items in the first round as an exception to the rule because both participants asked for it. Midoriya did not use anything more than hand to hand combat.”

“Impossible. I demand a full blood test to make sure that this freak did not use something illegal against my son. I am sure what you will find will disqualify him from the tournament and should be enough to kick him out of the school completely. A quirkless freak should have never been allowed to come to this school in the first place.”

“I suggest you change your tone before I throw you out on your ear for threatening a student. I will be more than happy to prove his innocence by scheduling the blood test as unnecessary as that is. The more important question is what to do about your son in the meantime.”

“Clearly you need to do your damn job and use your quirk to fix him before I hold the whole school responsible for this mess.”

“Since I do not know how his body will react to having his powers flood back all at once by using my quirk, I believe a more measured approach would be necessary. I think it might be better to observe him overnight and let him gradually recover on his own. That will give us time for the blood work to come back since you insist on fowl play in this matter.”

“If that freak has done anything I will throw him out of the school myself.”

“Enji! You have no right to make any decisions in this school. I agreed so you could not insist the school allowed anyone to cheat in the festival. If you want to persist on this course of action I will ask you to leave now.”

“Fine but I’ll be taking my son with me. I’ll have my own doctor look into his condition.”

“If that is what you want to do. Hopefully you will find someone that is capable of handling damaged chi paths and chakra points. You do realize that if you are not careful there is a chance to make the condition permanent.”

“Can you assure me that you can give him his quirk back?”

“Let me have him one night to monitor his condition.”

“I still want the blood work done and a full physical done. I don’t believe any of this fabrication about this chi nonsense. You may be trying to protect your intern, but the proof will show that he was cheating to win against my son.”

The door closed with a loud bang as the Flame Hero slammed the door and the sounds of his feet moving away could be clearly heard. He looked at the remaining Todoroki and gave him a large smile and a thumbs up. His plan had worked and the boy was safe for the night with Endeavor’s ire on the school and admittedly himself. That could be solved another day.

“Was that what you were hoping for with this farce?”

“Todoroki is from a Hero legacy. Using him to prove that my skills can be used to block quirk use will help convince the spectators that what they witnessed was real. It also keeps him away from his father until he gets over his initial anger and is in a better frame of mind.”

“What about when he returns home? We can’t keep him hidden forever?”

“Do you really think that Endeavor is not going to Hosu after the news we heard? I also don’t see why this can’t be a more permanent situation as well. Why not make the dorms a requirement for all the students?”

“Hiding Todoroki away will not solve this issue Midoriya. That is his father. As long as he continues to be his father, he does have certain rights with him including on how he determines is the best way to raise him.”

“You may be right, but it gives us time. I’ll also think you will find that Todoroki might be more willing to help build a case against his father.”

“You're talking about getting him emancipated from his parents?”

“It really depends on what kind of state his mother is in. Sole custody under her would be an easier case to win then emancipation but both options will get him legal avenues to choose his own path.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?”

Both the student and nurse turned to look at the forgotten child that they were discussing. Izuku was quick to smile sheepishly as he nodded vigorously encouraging the other to speak.

“Of course, Todoroki. It is your choice on how you want to handle this.”

“I agreed to one night Midoriya. If I’m not at home…my siblings…”

“If you're not at home why would your father even bother with them? You’ve already said he has no interest in training them. With a legitimate reason for you to be away, why would he start bothering with them now? Not to mention what is stopping them from leaving the house themselves? Have you considered the reason they stay is because of you? Both of them are legally adults and could have left at any time. What if they are there to protect you in their own way.”

“…can I at least have my quirks back now?”

“You have been able to use your quirk maybe a couple of minutes after your father came in the door. It’s not like I can actually remove quirks.”

“You were lying to him the whole time?”

“I call it bluffing. Besides, Recovery Girl and I did not lie once to him. We just elaborated the truth a little bit.”

“She knew?”

“Of course she knew. She is a doctor and is well aware of my abilities. I already told you. You have help this time. Did you really think I would not put all my resources into your problem?”

There was a slight upturn at the side of Todoroki’s lip that had he not been paying attention to Izuku might have missed it completely. It was gone again in a flash but it had been there. It was the first actual smile he had seen from the boy. All he knew is that he wanted to give him reasons to do it again.

Chapter Text

Katsuki watched as the extras around him were still talking about Izukun and his damn martial arts that he had used against Icy Hot. Dunce Face was crowing about how they all should have paid more attention to him when he told them about his experience at the first Hero Lesson. The rest of them were mostly excited about witnessing something they had never seen before. Or at least not as spectacularly considering no one had taken the electric idiot seriously when he had warned them.

“So how did he do it, Bakugou?”

His eyes moved to the boy behind him. This was the first time he had actively started a conversation with him. That meant he might be starting to get over his past issues that were keeping Izukun from inviting him to some of their training sessions. If his best friend thought that Eye Bags was worth the effort, then he would be a good person to spar with and he had been anticipating trying him out for size.

He had gotten more muscle definition since they had first met though he was still a bit of a string bean. He had a long way to go but with his quirk being what it was, it could still prove interesting in a fight. If he was going for an underground route, Izukun would want to get him started with street fighting. It was a rougher and more adaptive style that made use of urban settings and aimed to take down the opponent in the quickest way possible by any means.

“You have fucking eyes don’t you.”

“We all saw what happened, Bakugou. We just don’t understand how he did it.”

Round Face looked at him expectantly as if he was supposed to spill all of Izukun’s secrets. Not that he could really explain what the other did. His friend could hit things and your quirk stopped working or your body went numb and suddenly you couldn’t move properly. But it never lasted all that long though usually once you were disabled the fight was over. It was that same with that drill sergeant of a teacher he had and neither of them really explained the specifics of it.

It was not a technique that would work well with his fighting style and it took too much time and effort to learn it when he could practice other things that would actually be useful to him. Still it was something that was annoying to fight against and would cause him issues in their own match up against his friend. Still the extras would all find out eventually what Izukun could do without his help.

“You need to fucking focus.”

Katsuki said as he stood up and headed to the front section of their stands. Right now the audience were still talking about the last match. But that fight was over and it was now his turn. He needed to make sure their attention was on the right person now. He jumped the railing for the second time that day and used his quirk to navigate his way safely to the field using some of his loudest explosions to let the others know where to look.

A flash of brown caught his eyes as his opponent joined him a moment later by following him over the safety guard and into the open air. Unlike his own ability for flight, Round Face was not capable of using her quirk for the same purpose which was why Izukun had made those boosters for her costume. There would be no point for her to follow him out here if she could not get to the platform with her own power. He could not help her without making her look weak so he continued forward figuring one of the extras would find a way to help her.

The girl seemed to recognize her issue while she was floating by the stands as he made his way further away from her. The next time he looked back to check on her progress she was gone and there was noise from the crowd as something excited them. Turning back to his destination he found Round Face had moved from the stands to now hover high above the cement platform that was their target.

He increased his own speed as he saw the open challenge to hit his mark before the other could. The girl was able to release and activate her quirk to allow her to reach the ground in a somewhat controlled manner even if it was not a smooth descent. He did see that each time she reactivated her quirk, she had to wait before releasing it again to free fall further so she would not injure herself when she hit the ground or abruptly stopped herself in mid motion again.

With his quirk being much more versatile, he landed comfortably on the ground before the other had made it on the platform. It was still a close race and he had to use more of his sweat than he had expected in order to make it there first. Still he would have a chance to recover a bit before the match actually started so it was well worth it to show that he would become the next unbeatable Hero.

“It seems the next two competitors could not wait to be introduced to everyone again and decided to make unique entrances on their own. Let’s welcome back the explosive boy that had one of the shortest bouts in the first round as he dominated his opponent the whole time with his quick and massive explosions. It is Katsuki Bakugou!”

The loud cheers from the crowd let him know that he had all their attention once again. They may have been shocked by what they had previously witnessed from his friend but it was his turn to show them what he could do. After his last demonstration he had to use this chance to impress them yet again.

Even if Izukun was working with the girl on her quirk, he had years of their collaboration over her couple of days. He also trusted that his best friend would not try to give her a winning strategy against him. If she wanted to play with them, she would have to prove it herself. Following his entrance had been a good start as it showed that she could think creatively and was willing to understand unspoken actions.

“Ochako Uraraka is back after her impressive match against her opponent and winning by forfeit due to her overwhelming power. Will she be able to take down another aerial attacker? Let's give it up for these two as they compete for a chance in the semifinals!”

He focused on the girl as they readied for the start of their match. He already knew her quirk did not have any outward attack capabilities on their own. Unfortunately for her, there were no objects in the tournament field that she could use as projectiles. Still she seemed to have enough strength in the gaze that looked back at him to know she had something planned.

She came rushing forward keeping her body low to the ground the moment that Midnight called the start of their fight. Katsuki frowned expecting a different tactic from her but she instead insisted on repeating the same mistakes the Bug Boy had done previously. He clenched his fist and waited for her to come within range so he would be able to start his counter attack already bored with this fight.

Then in a flash she disappeared and Katsuki used his prepared attack to propel himself backwards already knowing that she would be above him. He made it out just in time for her to land in the spot he had just vacated with her hands stretched out before her letting him know exactly that her goal had been in that move. He realized her posture before was to hide her hands so he would not know when she was about to use her quirk.

Swinging his other fist up he sent a blast directly at her before she could take stock of what her next move would be. The power wave from the explosion flung her into the air and toward the center of the ring. If he had more time, he would have tried to send her out of bounds but he needed to keep her in a bit of a daze in order to make it harder for her to send herself flying in direction that would be to her advantage.

His next explosion was supposed to send her into another tailspin but she had recovered too quickly. She sent herself up out of reach and far enough away that she was able to land on the ground before he was able to make it over to her though he had tried. In order to get away from him, she had been forced to land near the boundaries and Katsuki felt there was a chance that he could send her over the edge.

Sending his blast out from a distance he was trying to knock her out of the ring but she had seen him coming and fell to the ground turning her body into a barrier to the force. Gaining her feet once more she stayed crouched on the ground and moved forward shortening their distance. He kept an eye on her hands this time knowing that the moment she removed her weight he would be able to effortlessly blow her out of the boundaries or if he actually missed would try to take him out from the air again.

She did neither of the expected tactics and made a direct play to touch his body which he quickly sent an explosion out to send her hurdling to the ground. It was then that something unexpected happened. People in the crowds were actually jeering at him for being “too rough” on a girl. Like she was not already standing again and making another go at her earlier tactic.

What the fuck match were the crowds watching? His explosions were not even damaging enough to tear up the cement foundation they were fighting on. He had trained very hard with Izukun to be able to know how much damage he could inflict upon different building materials and various infrastructure so they would not have to pay for repairs in the future. Not to mention aside from a few soot marks on her gym clothes, Round Face’s damage had mainly been from impacting the ground from his force waves or from her own freefall to the ground after using her quirk.

He tried to block out the crowd but they had impacted his concentration. His last explosion had a bit more power than he had meant to use and he had sent the other tumbling further away. He was worried for a moment when she did not immediately get up again but he did not show it on his face as he stalked over ready to end this match. She had put up a good fight and even surprised him a couple of times but she was still no match for him or Izukun.

Round Face finally moved as she placed both her hands down on the platform. He knew there was something wrong immediately and tried to blast himself into the air. It was too late and he was forced to counter his new weightlessness by using his quirk to send him back to the now weightless platform harder then he planned but knew that it was better than the alternatives since this was the first time he had to deal with this change in his body.

He had a chance to catch his breath after the hard landing to brace himself as the other lifted the giant cement structure high into the air. He had not been expecting that turn of events at all. She had been able to capture him with her quirk just from him being on the cement that she was affecting. From past classes, he already knew that she would not be able to release him without releasing the other.

But from what Izukun had told him about her quirk she would be able to affect them separately with her other quirk which was going to be a pain in the ass for him. It really only gave him one real option. Powering up his quirk he readied his most impressive move using the Howitzer Impact to create a tornado of fire hiding him from view of the other so she would not be able to see him to affect him with her quirk and moved in her direction. Line of sight was always so important for telekinetic quirks as he had learned from observing Auntie Inko.

Without his weight he was able to spin faster and use smaller explosions that sent out more heat and fire and helped him maintain his sweat production. In many ways her ability was helping him create a more powerful blast but he would keep that to himself. He would have to worry about dehydration later since he would not be able to keep this up for long.

Within moments he had enough firepower to work with and released his largest explosion directly into the hovering platform destroying it and sending the pieces into the ground with the force he had used. He had made sure that his attack funneled the damage downward since he could not have stray shrapnel make it into the stands and actually hurt the bystanders. It would impress no one if he actually got people killed with this attack.

The girl having seen the attack coming had quickly made herself weightless and sent herself above the destruction. He blasted over to her in the cover of the dust and fire that resulted and grabbed hold of her now that he was no longer worried about being made weightless. He was smart enough to tug her arms around her back and hold her hands apart with one hand so she would not be able to release her quirks effect on any of the currently weightless objects which included himself.

Her other ability was useless now that he was holding her so moving him would drag her along for the ride and he would make sure any of the debris she wanted to try to use on him would hit her instead. With the shattered chunks of cement below them her ability would only be able to be useful if they had weight to them and since she was currently unable to do that she should have conceded by now.

“Fucking Yield.”

“I’m not out of bounds or disabled. I still got a chance.”

He tightened his grip at her words and heard her grunt in pain even as she struggled to get out of his grip. He frowned when she still did not immediately concede the match and took it into his own hands a moment later using one hand to hold her hands in position away from each other and the other to start blasting down to the ground.

Not long after he started heading to the ground with the girl, she had used her quirk to send them back up into their original position indicating she was still up for fight and had no intention of giving up. That only meant that he would have to disable her first by sending a flash explosion into her face blinding her before once again using his quirk to send them back to the ground. Without the ring in place to clearly indicate the boundaries he used the debris as an indicator and blasted her to the ground at the last moment as he continued to hover in the air.

As expected the moment the other had landed on the ground he had been named the winner. Round Face still could not see by the time she finally released him from her quirk so he could land on the ground himself. He stayed there as he waited for the other to recover on her own though he did not outwardly show concern for her.

He continued to stare up at the crowd around him and grin at his victory. It was not like he did not have plenty of time considering Cementoss was going to have to completely rebuild the platform again.The crowd seemed to get over his ‘brutality’ in the light of the fact that he had won the match without a knockout. Of course using his massive explosion to show his actual destructive power would also help him let the audience know he knew how to fucking control his quirk and they should get over it.

Katsuki allowed the girl to get up and start moving to the locker area before following behind her with enough distance between them to show he was not worried about her physical health. Not that he would considering she was just battered and bruised a bit. Nothing that would not occur during a regular spar though he did think that there was a bit of quirk exhaustion in there as when he had seen her face did appear paler than usual.

She did maintain the weightlessness of a massive structure and was still able to manipulate it. That alone would make her worth keeping around. He did not know if she would be as creative in a team setting or if she would be able to handle leadership roles within their future Hero Agency. If anything they could use her as a Hero Idol for press interviews and other such dull public appearances considering how fast she had gotten the crowd on her side. But he had not been bored and he wanted the chance to fight her again once she learned how to actually use her quirk in a fight.

Chapter Text

Izuku waited in the hallway knowing that his friends would be along at any moment. He had convinced Todoroki to stay in the nurse's office for now. They did not want his father thinking that he was well enough to go home with him and Recovery Girl had actually insisted on going through the physical and blood tests that Endeavor had requested.

She knew as well as he did that nothing would come of either of them but she had mentioned that sometimes the motions they went through for their patients was enough to calm the waters. He trusted her judgement and had left to see what he could of his best friend‘s match. He knew he had already been too long in the infirmary to catch much of the match so he had raced to the exit in order to see it from the point of view of the field.

The angle had not been so good and he felt he missed much not being in the stands with his classmates but he could not miss it when Ochako had actually lifted the whole platform into the air only for Kacchan to destroy it. It still was immensely impressive and he had wished he had thought of that before in their tests. They had never really found what her limit was for removing weight. He could hardly wait to find out what her actual limits were though.

He was somewhat surprised when a pale Ochako was the first one into the hallway. Kacchan would normally want to be the first to arrive anywhere even if it was just through a doorway. Did that mean he was actually worried about her? His smile brightened at the realization that Ochako was practically part of their team now if Katsuki was actually protective of her.

“Great job out there. You are sure to get amazing offers after that performance.”

“Damn right. I’m going to get offers from the top ten for that shit. After I beat you, it will be the top five that will be sending offers for me.”

“Do you really think so, Izuku? I didn't even make it to the semifinals?”

“You fucking lost to me.”

“Kacchan is right. Pro Heroes will be able to recognize the strength of your opponent and would take that into consideration when they send offers out. Not many Pros can do what you did today. You mentioned before about wanting to be a Rescue Hero? No Rescue Hero would want to pass on someone with the ability to lift a fallen skyscraper in the aftermath of a disaster. You will get offers. I promised you that.”

“Actually, I was thinking of trying for an agency that is known for close combat fighting. I can tell that I will need it in order to keep up with the two of you. You mentioned something like Judo before?”

“I can think of a few good agencies that could help you with that. If you let me look over your offers when they come in I can help narrow them down for you.”

“Thanks Izuku. If you don’t mind, I need to call my parents. I promised them I would get in touch once the event ended and well…“

“Good. Let them know just how amazing you did. I’m sure you parents can’t wait to talk to you. After all, you made it so far in the festival and people are going to be sure to recognize you after today.”

Both boys stayed in the hallway as they watched Ochako move off to the closest locker room for the privacy she requested. Looking at his best friend he raised an eyebrow in question and laughed as he received a punch in the shoulder as his answer.

Kacchan hated admitting when someone was right but he was glad the other was onboard with her joining their future agency. He knew he would not be able to get him invited to the sessions with the school’s Quirk Counselor or be much help teaching the other Judo since neither of them were that familiar with that type of martial art. But after witnessing his best friend’s upgraded Howitzer Impact they would definitely be working on how her quirk could work in team and pair situations.

They were going to have to talk to Eijirou and Hitoshi about the noise level that was about to increase from their practices on the roof. Even if Hitoshi was at the beach more often than not since he was still working on building his strength he did not feel right leaving him out. Not that there was much he would be able to use much up there besides the weights.

Eijirou would probably think it was really cool that they were using the roof as their private gym and would most likely want to join their sessions. Kacchan was still so hesitant on letting the boy join them but maybe a few spars together would make him change his mind. Somehow that brash and straightforward fellow provided a calming influence on his best friend that even he could not match.

He of course knew why Katsuki did not think that Eijirou would fit in well with their future agency. It would make the boy a direct rival to him for villain apprehension targets and large scale attacks. But Izuku did not think the boy would get in the way at all. They had two very different skill sets and he had a feeling that if placed in a situation where there was a villain attack, Eijirou’s first concern would be on the civilians that could get hurt.

The boy was not really a leader. He did not think in terms of tactics or how to best expend resources. But he did trust people and could somehow bring out the best in others. Kacchan might think that being placed consistently in support roles would keep the other stuck as a Sidekick but Izuku knew better. Especially since he himself would be regulated to support roles in many scenarios.

Eijirou had a human factor about him because he could relate to just about anyone and honestly did think that every individual was amazing in their own way. It may take longer for him to reach their level but he could do it because at heart what really separated the Heroes from the Sidekicks were the place they had with the public. People would look to Eijirou because he had the charisma and warmth you could not find with many. Now he just had to prove that to Kacchan.

Thinking for a moment, he realized with the two of them together it was the best chance he had to explain what was going on and to warn him about what was happening. After all, the blonde was not a fan of surprises. Not to mention he would need Kacchan’s help for his next project dealing with the dual quirk user and his father.

“Iida and Todoroki will be staying with us in the dorms tonight.”

“Dead boy is going to love that shit.”

“One boy temporarily spending the night on their floor is hardly going cause that much descent.”

The look his best friend gave him was enough to have him rethinking just how troublesome Monoma could be. Todoroki would probably ignore it since it was still better than being home with his father but Iida was already unhappy about being shut away in the dorms while his brother was in danger. He would have to ensure that the class vice representative was not the one dealing with class 1-B that night.

Maybe Yaoyorozu would be able to ease the way in for them since she already seemed to be on friendly terms with the representatives from that class. Thinking of their new course of action had him moving to the stairs that would lead them back to the rest of his classmates. He continued to talk to Kacchan as they went as he would need to know about their current plan of action dealing with the Todorokis.

The sooner he got the support of the other class’s representatives the easier it would be to get Todoroki in the dorms immediately. He did not need his next match with Kacchan to reveal Todoroki’s current status to his father and having the man take his son out of the school's protection before he could find out about Native in Hosu. Hopefully the news would come out soon so the Flame Hero could leave and at that point it would be too late to recognize his mistake.

Thankfully due to the complete and total destruction of the cement platform it was going to be a while before the rubble was removed and a new one could be made in its place. That meant he could speak to Yaoyorozu during the time they would need to reset the fighting arena. He would hate to distract her since the winner of the next match could potentially be her opponent if she was able to defeat Shishida.

He thought she had a chance to be his final opponent but neither of her next matches were all that favorable to her. The fact was, her biggest weakness was her speed. It took time to produce items with her quirk and while it was one of the most versatile quirks, during a fight, speed mattered. From what he had seen of Shishida in the field in the second round, it would be hard for Yaoyorozu to compete with the boy from 1-B.

The moment they entered the class area, many of their lunch friends had stood up to shout at Katsuki about how cool he was and how well he did in the match. As always Kacchan just made a loud “Tch” before sitting down but Izuku could tell how happy the praise made him. It had not been lost to him that his best friend had to change tactics at the end of his fight due to his reception in the crowd that did not understand what actual brutality was. The acknowledgement of his ability was doing much to soften that wound the crowd had given him.

“Are Ochako and Todoroki ok?” Yaoyorozu asked, moving the conversation from Bakugou’s win to something that was clearly troubling her.

“Ochako is just talking to her parents. She should be up in more than enough time to see the next match since she does not even need to go to the infirmary though I might sneak her some of the nurse’s gummies since she used her quirk a lot during that match and was running on fumes by the end of it.”

“What about Todoroki? He has yet to return since the two of you fought each other?”

“I actually want to talk to you about that. Recovery Girl is going to have both Todoroki and Iida join us in the dorms for the night.”

As expected, the news brought exclamations from the rest of his classmates who had all listened into their conversation since they wanted to know the status of their fellow students.

“We can do a Celebratory Sleep Over! We have to get popcorn and movies out for this! What kind of movies do you think they would like?” The pink girl jumped in with the loudest suggestion after hearing the news.

“Mina, I am glad for your enthusiasm but I don’t think Recovery Girl requested this if it was not for their health. Isn’t that right, Midoriya?”

“She wanted both close by for overnight observation. But that is just the official story. Something bad happened that does not relate to the school festival. We will probably all know about it before the end of the event but I promised not to mention it before the news story is released to the public.”

“It’s that bad? What do you need from us?”

“With two boys joining us that means one of them will have to join 1-B on one of their floors. It might be best if we let Todoroki take one for the team on that one since I think Iida is going to need the support of his class for tonight.“

“…I’ve been thinking about this for a while and this may be a good time to consider making a more permanent change. Maybe we should ask the school for a whole separate dorm for 1-A?”

“…what are you thinking, Yaoyorozu?”

“Haven’t you noticed that the teamwork and comradeship among those living together have gone up in Hero classes? I was thinking of moving in myself considering how much improvement you have all shown in that area. I was hoping other classmates would be willing.”

There was agreement around them and Izuku looked puzzled wondering how things got to this point. He had mentioned it previously to Shuzenji Sensei as a way to get Todoroki away from his father but he had never suspected so much support from the rest of his class to make an upheaval of their lives for such a slight advantage. Hero students really were a different breed.

“I don’t think that would be possible for tonight but I think it would be great if we could all live together. Maybe you can make the suggestion to the teachers after all this is over. It would definitely help the tensions between the two classes living together. Right now, we just need to make sure they don’t give Todoroki a hard time for joining them.”

“Maybe we should let them. Todokori would probably turn them frozen statues to cool them down for a bit.”

There was laughter at Denki’s ridiculous statement but it definitely put everyone in a lighter mood. It was Tokoyami that darkened it again.

“That is if the child of ice can break the shackles you have made for him and can use his powers again.”

“What are you saying? My martial arts does not work that way! I can’t actually take someone’s quirk away from them.”

“I have never heard of a martial art that can do that Midoriya. You have to teach me.”

Ojiro said putting himself into the conversation now that it was something he had been wanting to ask. Ever since he saw the other boy using moves he had never seen before in class he had been curious. The other might have told him he practiced Tai Chi, but he had never witnessed any of the forms he practiced from the little he had witnessed of the style.

What the other had shown him today was a miracle. He knew that his quirk was not powerful enough alone to make him a Hero. That was why he had learned so many different disciplines of martial arts since a young age. He usually mixed and matched them depending on his opponent and what was the best fit for his tail. He had barely considered Tai Chi at all considering there were better defensive styles that would give him more attack power. He had to reconsider that now since the results of what the other could do were priceless in a combat scenario.

“Sorry, Ojiro. I don’t mind teaching you but what I do requires a lot of study. It is not enough to know the forms but where to hit and with how much pressure. I can demonstrate for you later if you want.”

There was a clamor from the others who wanted to see him in action as well. Ojiro did not waver as he agreed to spar with him later. It did not matter how much work he would have to put into learning a new martial art. If he could do what the green hair boy did so effortlessly, it would be well worth the price to study it.

Izuku chatted with his classmates as the mood was lightened again even as Yaoyorozu left to meet with Class 1-B for them. She had definitely been a great choice for their class representative. Her background in business and her upbringing gave her an added weight to her demeanor and words that she probably did not realize she had when she spoke with others.

Not to mention he had personally made too many enemies in the other class to really be able to handle the negotiations. If it was just Itsuka, he might not have had any issues since the girl was quite reasonable and very intelligent. But getting to the representative right now met facing off against their whole class as well. He also knew the exact moment Yaoyorozu explained the situation to the other class.

There was a pause in their conversation as a loud yell rang out as the face of Momona popped up from the divider between the two classes and he started to condescendingly talk to them. Thankfully, he was only able to get a couple of words out before a large hand struck him in the neck and Itsuka replaced him to apologize for his behavior before disappearing again.

Class 1-A looked at each other for a moment before conversation slowly started up again with Eijirou enthusiastically trying to convince Denki and Tsu to join them in the dorms. Izuku did not think Denki would be that hard to entice but he knew Tsu often took care of her siblings and probably would not want to join them because of that.

He wondered how he could find a way to persuade Iida into joining the dorms more permanently. All things considering he might have to guilt him with his responsibilities as the vice representative for their class. He could also try to go to his big brother about it. He seemed like a good candidate to make his uptight friend see reason.

—-

Enji was still fuming after his encounter with Recovery Girl. She had no right to talk down to him that way but she was also his best hope in making sure his son recovered. He had put too much work into the boy to let his first time out in public end in this humiliation. Once the freak was proven for the fraud that he was, he would be able to make sure that his name was never mentioned again without being connected to a scandal.

That would end his career before it could even begin. It still killed him that someone like the freak had even been allowed to attend his alma mater and ruin the good name of the school. He knew enough members of the school board he could pressure into getting the kid kicked out no matter what the results came back with. If he was Recovery Girl’s intern, she would probably try to protect the boy and might falsify the results. He would make sure she would never get a chance. It would show her how she should be more respectful when talking to him in the future.

He answered the phone on the first ring expecting the call from the Sidekick who he ordered to research the freak for him. He wanted as much dirt as possible on the boy so he could anonymously send it to the press before the day was out. He may have beat his son in the tournament but he would be damned if he actually enjoyed the benefits of a win.

He paused as he truly listened to what Burnin was telling him on the phone. He smiled as he realized there were even greater headlines that would overshadow this farce of a competition. He did not know Native all that well and had no clue what the man actually did as a Hero but it was enough that the Hero Killer had taken his life.

He needed to get to Hosu as soon as possible. The Number Two Hero being seen on the grounds moments after the death of the area’s Hero would help get the press looking at that news story over the freak’s victory against his son. It would also make them look quite callous to imply anything about his son’s losses considering his efforts to drop everything and be there for the city after it’s great loss at losing an Hero.

He strode with purpose now back to his car forgetting about the son that was still lying in the infirmary. After all, what he was doing now was for him. Once the boy recovered he was going to drill into him what losing meant to a Todoroki. At least now the boy would have no more excuses about using his fire quirk. If he was willing to use it today then he would be able to use it in the future and he will use it.

Chapter Text

Fumikage stood up as he noticed the area below had finally been cleared of the rubble. Cementoss was already well into rebuilding the stage for his match. He had never expected to feel so connected with his class when he had first entered UA. Like many people with visible mutant type quirks, he had often been expected to stick with his own kind in school. He did not even think about making friends with those that could pass as normal.

Kouda and Shouji had both come from a similar background of being avoided because of their appearance in public schools. They had become friendly with each other as they understood what being different in society was like. Fumikage would have thought Ashido and Asui would have joined their group as well due to their obvious mutations. But they had gravitated towards Midoriya and Bakugou instead and were surprisingly accepted by the whole friend group.

At first he had thought it was because they were female that they had been treated well by the others. But none of their classmates had actually really commented about their looks or physically avoided them for their differences. He kept waiting for one of them to make an issue of it. It was not until he had found out that Midoriya was quirkless that Fumikage had realized that the boy had probably gone through a similar ordeal in his own education and would naturally be more accepting of other people because of it.

Though it was still painful that he would be able to easily hide his quirkless state as he had in the first couple of weeks in school. He had let everyone assume he had a mental or invisible quirk and was accepted like everyone else. Probably more so since a person with an intelligence quirk would make a useful ally in the Hero School. It was refreshing that instead of hiding his quirk status when it had been found out that he seemed to almost be proud of it.

Maybe it was time to stop hiding himself. Shouji had been the only one from their group to take the initial offer of the dorm system. Fumikage did not think the boy would last that long considering Ashido was the only other visual mutant type in the dorms. While she was friendly with them, they did not hang out together since her personality was much more active then theirs though he did find her amusing to be around for short periods of time.

But instead the multi armed boy had found it peaceful within the dorms and allowed him to avoid using public transit to go to and from school. There was a story in there that they had not yet been able to pry out of the boy but Fumikage felt it had to do with the mask he constantly wore. Maybe someday later when they were on closer terms with each other he would find out why the boy decided it was best to hide his face away from the world.

Small things had made the dorms feel like home to Shouji since the others made it clear that he was always welcome around them but did not force him to join in on their activities. He found it refreshing that there were no expectations while living together aside from the basic chores that they were assigned. Even then they had divided the chores fairly even though he had offered to take on more since some were easier for him to do due to his height.

They had listened to his suggestion and had used it to better divide the work based on their abilities while still making it an even allotment. It had meant a lot to them that he was listened to and they had actually incorporated his suggestion without taking advantage of him. He had encouraged Kouda and him to give it a chance as well since it would be easier for them if they lived on the campus with him.

It was not until the day that he had seen Midoriya and Shinsou have lunch outside with Kouda that he had actually considered moving into the dorms. There was definitely more acceptance for his kind in the school from the larger doorways and the consideration for their diets. He had even heard that Midoriya had stood up for the horse girl that Uraraka had fought in 1-B to ensure that she was able to eat during classes now because her metabolism was different from the regular kids.

Most visual mutants did not want special treatment. They just wanted the chance to be able to do everything that the regular people were able to do. How many pools had he been ejected from just because a few of his feathers molted and the lifeguards had considered them dirty even though he was fastidious in his grooming of them? Kouda needed to commune with animals and he depended on being able to do it. The schools he had previously been to never seemed to understand that even in the rain, the boy needed to be outside during their breaks.

Growing up, kids were cruel to him for his appearance. He might have the head of a raven but that was where the mutation ended. Still they had made fun of him by trying to give him worms or to try to convince him to chirp like the bird he resembled. He had once walked into the classroom to find his desk had a bag of bird seeds dumped on it. He felt the bullying would have been worse had it not been for his demon.

His demon. Now that was the real lie. Growing up with Dark Shadow was initially like growing up with an excitable puppy. While he was a fully sentient quirk and had his own thoughts and personality, he also developed slower at a slower rate then his host had. Because of that his mind was more raw and animalistic but he was still able to grow and learn. Dark Shadow was mostly a thing of emotion more than reason and his feelings could often overpower his thought process.

When Fumikage had gone to school for the first time, the kids in his class had made fun of him for his bird-like features. His quirk had taken exception to their teasing and had come out to take care of the perceived threat. He had fortunately been able to stop Dark Shadow from actually hurting his classmates but they had all been terrified of his quirk after that day.

His parents had been forced to come to school to explain to the principal that his quirk was sentient and could not always be controlled. Afterwards, they had to explain to him that even though Dark Shadow had only been protecting him, he was still in the wrong for letting the situation get so out of hand. He was able to salvage the situation by pretending that Dark Shadow was some uncontrollable monster that he was only the vessel for and was not responsible for them triggering him to appear.

Calling him a demon came naturally after a while. It mostly kept his classmates from bullying him since they thought he had an evil shadow monster that he could not control protecting him. But it also gave him a chance to protect others like him. If the normal kids did not want to be friends with people that looked different, then why would he want to be around them? It was better to be with others that shared his difficulties and let Dark Shadow out as a threat if the attention from the others got to be too much for them to handle. It was his first taste of feeling like a Hero and the reason for him taking this career path.

Unfortunately, with so many of his classmates and even some of the school staff afraid of Dark Shadow, his quirk had to stay hidden throughout the day so as not to cause panic. Dark Shadow always pretended that he did not care, but Fumikage knew that it was a sore spot with him. They had been with each other since birth and it was only natural for him to be aware of his quirk at all times.

He had tried small ways to include him in his life by changing his talking patterns. It confused people but it also allowed Dark Shadow to feel connected to him as if they were twins speaking a language of their own. In fact many of the phrases and terms he used were actually code between the two of them. It allowed him to communicate with Dark Shadow without the others realizing it since talking was the only way for his quirk to understand him.

He had initially tried teaching Dark Shadow how to read so he could make it harder for others to know he was communicating with his quirk. That was when they found out his quirk did not perceive the world in the same way that he did and was not able to understand written words because of it. He was still very intelligent and they were able to find new ways to stay connected even when he was out of sight. Dark Shadow was often curious about things and would let him know if he wanted to stop for a bit or go a certain direction by gently tugging on his feathers. Fumikage would always try to follow his requests when he could but it was not always possible.

Midoriya was the first person to really find his hiding spot. Most people thought that Dark Shadow was able to emerge and digress into his body but he was actually always with him. His feathers provided the perfect cover from the sun that his quirk was sensitive to. The shadow’s eyes were almost blinded by direct sunlight and the larger his form was the more light was able to be absorbed into them.

Taking his fully formed shape in sunlight would force him to depend on Fumikage to see and direct his actions. While the two of them trusted each other, it was still difficult to calm the other while he was blinded in order to direct him. It was far easier to stay close together. It was different at night, without the sun to reign him in, Dark Shadow liked to be able to explore to his heart’s content at that time. It was difficult to keep him from emerging with others around him at night and he often resented that command since he always had so much energy since he could not do anything during the day.

Living in the dorms, Dark Shadow would have to be allowed to wander from him. Never far but it would not accept having to stay hidden unless they were alone in his room. So far the only one to really interact directly with his quirk was Midoriya and thankfully he had been far from afraid of it. The others that had worked with him during Hero Lessons did not seem to understand that he could be spoken directly to and would in fact enjoy the attention. But they had also shown little fear of his quirk as well.

Maybe it would be possible to live together after all. If it was just the 1-A class as Yaoyorozu had suggested, he would make it known that he would be interested in joining the rest in the dorms. Now, he would be facing off against the plant girl. Her past match had been quite decisive against Jirou, having won in moments. He would have to stay guarded the whole time they were on the platform together.

—-

Yaoyorozu had returned not long after Tokoyami had left to get ready for his match. She was able to let him know that Todoroki would be given the empty room on the 2nd floor and that Shoda would make sure that no one bothered him while he was healing. That let him know that she was going with the official statement for why their classmate was joining them in the dorms and that they were placing him on the floor without Monoma on it. She did suggest that it would be best not to push the other class too hard by congregating on that floor if they could avoid it.

Izuku had quickly texted the information to Recovery Girl to let her know that Todoroki would be able to head to the dorms the moment she was done with her tests. His class seemed amazed at the fact that he had Shuuzenji Sensei’s phone number programmed into his cell but he explained as an intern, he sometimes had to leave the nurses office for a task without her and being able to contact each other was for work business only.

Of course that was not the only teacher that he was interning under but Nedzu had not given him a way to personally contact him. Aside from the few times they had met, his tasks under the principal were mostly project based. Many times it had been one of the teachers or Komachi that had given him the instructions for his work. As far as he could tell, if he needed to contact Nedzu, it was his homeroom teacher that he was to go to in order to get the message sent.

He did not mind the separation that the two had established. Nedzu was very busy running the school and he knew that he had a hand in many of the ongoing cases in the nation as well as his consulting work internationally. Izuku was truly happy with what little time he was able to have with the principal, especially since every project he had been given so far had been interesting to work with.

Either way he was in a better state of mind knowing that Todoroki was being taken care of. With him being safely squirreled away in the dorms, it would allow him to go all out in his own match against his best friend. He would need to be able to focus on his fight if he had any chance of winning. Both of them knew each other too well to not be able to take advantage of a single mistake.

He had a feeling these next two matches would not last long which would be even better for him since that meant Kacchan would not have fully recovered when it was time for their own match. He had used a lot of his sweat to be able to destroy the platform. Without the gauntlets helping him retain the precious liquid he had to be able to balance the production of it on his own. He passed a water bottle over to the blonde knowing he would probably dehydrate himself if he was not careful and took another for himself.

As expected, his friend only took care of his own needs after seeing him drink water first. As many times as he explained that needing to hydrate was not a weakness and was a typical behavior to stay in top condition, Katsuki still felt the need to stretch his limits. It was not a horrible thing to try to stress his body since it was a way to help his power expand but it made Izuku sure to monitor him so he never went too far.

“Let’s see if our next competitors can top that bombastic fight we just witnessed. Welcome back to the stage Fumikage Tokoyami. This challenger outmaneuvered his last opponent that was all about speed and flew to the top with the power of shadows!”

Izuku watched from the stands as he saw Tokoyami striding from the entrance. With a bird head it was hard to tell if the other was nervous but he was good at reading body language at this point and could tell that he was not as confident as he appeared. Dark Shadow was still hiding himself on the boy so they would not be going for an intimidation tactic or at least not at first.

Then again he had to remind himself that none of his classmates aside from the girls in the dorms and the class representatives spent all that much time with the other class. From the few times he had eaten lunch with Shiozaki, he had learned that she was quite religious in nature. It would be interesting to see how she reacted to Dark Shadow.

His appearance could be considered similar to a demon that Tokoyami often called him. It was possible the girl would consider it necessary to destroy it instead of going after the source of the quirk in her zeal. That would work in his classmate’s favor if the girl ignored him to fight the shadow directly.

“He will be going up against the talented Ibara Shiozaki! This wild girl used her hair to tie up her last opponent and kept her competition at bay. Who will win next in this battle for domination!”

Izuku knew that both of their quirks had great defensive and attacking capabilities but unlike Shiozaki, Dark Shadow could only do one at a time. If his classmate allowed his quirk to go all out in an attack, his own body would be made vulnerable. At the same time, Dark Shadow would not be bothered with the vines since he could become incorporeal and fly through them without issue. The best way for Tokoyami to win was to use his quirk’s speed as an advantage.

Izuku nodded as the match was over in seconds. As expected Dark Shadow had emerged the moment the fight started and had rushed forward. He could not hear what the girl yelled out at the sight of the quirk but he could not help but see that whatever had been said made the quirk get larger and faster.

Vines shot out at the shadow as more of them were being used to quickly build up a shield to protect her from the other. The quirk flew through the vines as if they were not even there. Izuku did notice that when he had grown in size he had used its mass to block Tokoyami from the other’s view which let him know that Dark Shadow was still trying to protect his host even in attack mode. Now if she wanted to use her vines to attack the boy, she would have to find him first.

The shadow passed through the shield with little effort and grabbed hold of the girl that let out a scream that the whole audience would have been able to hear. She was lifted up and rushed out of the ring in moments of being caught. So her vines were unable to dig into the cement to allow her a grip to the ground. He wondered if she had been on dirt or grass if she would have been able to make an anchor for herself to keep others from doing what Dark Shadow had done.

With the match over and the arena not destroyed this time, they were able to quickly reset it for the next match between Yaoyorozu and Shishida. This was the match he had been anticipating the most. He had only seen glimpses of the 1-B boy in the 2nd round and having missed his first match against Tsu he really wanted to see what the other could do. There was a good chance that one of them would be fighting him soon since he had the speed and power that Yaoyorozu lacked.

Of course the class representative had been able to observe his last fight and might actually have a strategy to go against the other. If she was able to stall the battle long enough for her to use her quirk effectively she would be able to gain the upper hand. Shishida would want to close the distance between the two of them so as long as Yaoyorozu was able to keep him at a distance she would have a chance.

“This beast of a challenger ripped through his opponent in his last match rushing head long into battle. Let’s welcome back Juurouta Shishida to the stage!”

Walking out he was not yet in his transformation form. He was still quite tall and could be considered intimidating. The few times they had passed each other in the dorms, he had seemed quiet and was very mannerly. He suspected both opponents had a similar background of business families since he had not recognized the other as part of a Hero lineage.

“Can beauty tame the beast in this next match? This girl dazzled us with her never ending production of resources making quick work in her last match by slaying the dragon. What new weapons will she bring out against her next rival? It’s Momo Yaoyorozu!”

Both students acted when Midnight called the start of the match. Shishida grew in size as he raced forward on all fours while Yaoyorozu flung something she had created from her hand in his direction. The small bomb exploded on contact with the ground and a heavy gas bloomed from the device. Izuku recognized it as the sleep grenade she had used on Denki in their Hero lesson with Snipe.

It was a good strategy, but it would require prolonged exposure to the gas to be effective unless she increased the concentration of it. It seemed as if she had used it as a diversion and had used the time the other was in the smoke to run to a new direction as she was pulling a new object out from under her shirt. Unfortunately Shishida exited the smoke without any pause to his momentum and quickly saw where his prey was running to.

The boy made an amazing leap grabbing the girl as she had finished producing the electric scooter she had used during the quirk assessment test the first day. That had been a smart move since it would have given her greater mobility to run while creating objects to hamper the other. The scooter was abandoned as she was lifted into the air but she had not given up yet as a flash bomb dropped from her face as she tried to blind the other into releasing her.

Izuku knew that many mutants with animal qualities had more enhanced vision and the flash bomb would have been a good way to disable them. While Shishida had let off a howl at the blinding light he still kept a good enough grip on his classmate and reacted by pitching her out of the ring. Yaoyorozu probably had not expected to be flug so far but she was still trying to make something when her back landed on the ground as the grappling hook gun was still forming from her arm.

Izuku and his best friend stood up as the only 1-B student advancing to the next round was announced the winner. It was their turn now to show the audience what they had come here for. This was not the yearly one year’s UA Sports Festival. This was their grand entrance to the Hero World and they would make sure it was a fight to be remembered. He grinned at Kacchan who gave him an answering sneer. It was time to show them who they really were.

Chapter Text

He knew that Kacchan would be going over the side of the stadium the moment he started walking towards the front of the stands. They were fighting against each other in the next match so he would probably not be willing to give him a lift this time like he had for Iida when their classmate was in trouble.

It did not matter. There was no one to rescue down there so time was not a constraint he had to worry about. He did not need his best friend to hold his hand just to get down to the field. He was going to be a Hero and had his own way to do many of the things people assumed only those with perfect quirks could do.

He fell in step with his best friend as they knew the eyes of their class were on them. They made it to the railing before the dropoff in unison and silently wished each other a good fight as they simultaneously punched each other’s hand hard enough to sting but not enough to actually hurt each other before a spar. Then both boys jumped onto the railing and fell off the other side.

This would take timing and precision to pull off but he knew the area and location well after being here and walking to and from the stand multiple times. His goal was well in sight and his trajectory was on point. He heard the explosions go off next to him as Katsuki was stabilizing himself for the low ground glide that would bring him close to the heads of the audience. They might feel a bit of heat at his passage but he would not actually get close enough for any of them to be hurt. It would show them just how much control he had on his flight to be able to pull off such a feat.

Izuku twisted his body in order to land directly on the railing that was placed in front of the section below them and used the acceleration from free fall to bend his body before springing up again into a controlled somersault that would take him down to the next level below. He waved to the audience he was suddenly facing with a wide smile now as he continued his downward spiral.

He must not frighten them into thinking he was going to hurt himself. This was a show of skills which meant they had to believe nothing bad could happen to him while he was pulling this off. He also could not let them see how much work it took to keep his body in motion and balance the gravitational forces while he descended to a very small target. Any mishap would end his chance to fight Kacchan before they could begin.

At the next landing he added a little twist to his form since he would need to start slowing down since he would not be taking a final leap onto the grass below. That height was easily twice the distance from these smaller jumps and could actually injure him before his match. This constant momentum was keeping him safe for now though it was far slower then his best friend who he knew already made it to the tournament ring since he could no longer hear his quirk being activated.

He made his last landing in the stands and carefully timed a tumble to distribute the force of impact along the thin flat safety barrier similar to the balance beams he was used to in gymnastics. He ended his roll and seamlessly pushed his body up into a handstand. He gave the audience he was facing a wink as he continued to grin happily before tipping his body over the side.

This time he made use of the flat wall that surrounded the field. As his feet connected to the wall he started to run sideways so that the traction from his shoes would slow his fall. When he was only a meter off the ground he used the wall to spring himself sideways and twisted his body into a rotation so that he was able to land on his feet.

The grass below him helped soften the impact of his landing though it was still a hard landing. It would have been better to perform another roll as he hit the ground to better diffuse the forces along his body but he knew the landing was very important and it looked more impressive that he was able to stick a landing as he did in gymnastics after dismounting from one of the many pieces of equipment he had mastered.

He gave himself enough time to catch his breath after the difficult maneuvering though he made it seem like he was enjoying the crowd's response to his feat. Izuku made a quick jog to the center of the field where his best friend waited impatiently for their match to start. He gave him a shrug and a sheepish smile as he finally made it to the concrete platform at the look the other sent him. If the other had wanted him to be faster, then he would have had to help him.

The parkour he had learned from using the tops of buildings as a route along with his training in gymnastics was only able to take him so far. Though from the roar of the crowd around him, the spectacle he had put on for them had been entertaining enough. That was good, the silence at the end of his last match had put him off a bit. He knew that his show for the Flame Hero might have some consequences but he had not expected such a strong reaction.

He did not want civilians to be scared of him. Villains were the only ones that should be wary of him. That was why he had chosen to show the others that he could be playful as well as skilled from his descent to the field. Though now that he thought of it, he probably should have warned his mother about that. She would probably not be very happy with the way he had handled his entrance since there was a slight possibility of getting injured.

Then again he was aiming to be a Hero. There was always going to be that possibility of getting seriously hurt once he went professional. Still it would probably be best to not get in contact with her until he won the competition. That might be enough of a shock to get her to forget about a couple of reckless moves that he had done to make a point.

Though his mother rarely forgot anything when it came to his safety these days. There was no use worrying about that now since he had already done it. He would just have to brace himself for the fallout when it was all over. Maybe his father could help him out and keep her in a good mood.

Shifu would be no help since she never liked him to use more energy than necessary. She would think it would be better for him to continue to be discounted and underestimated. But this was the point to all those classes he had taken since he was young. He was proud of what he was able to do with the skills he had learned. Especially when he had found different ways to use those talents in scenarios that could be useful in heroics.

“These two Hero hopefuls do not need an introduction. They have amazed us time and again with their teamwork and strategy. Izuku Midoriya had wowed us with his ingenious support items and then with his martial arts prowess. Katsuki Bakugou has given us two heart stopping matches of uncompromising talent and power. Who will go on to the finals and make a try for first prize today in this battle of brains versus brawn?”

Kacchan would not be happy about being considered the brawn for the fight. Present Mic knew how to hype a crowd up which is why he went with that kind of description but it would make him want to prove that he was more than just a powerhouse. Katsuki had an amazing quirk and had worked hard to have impeccable control of it. But his real strength was his instincts and battle strategy.

They looked to Midnight ready for her to give them the call that would start their fight. Seeing them prepared she went through the same instruction yet again almost as course. Both boys tuned her out as they watched each other. Kacchan had a number of potential strategies he could go with to start their fight. His quirk was very versatile and had a number of ways he could try to gain an upper hand.

Izuku would need to get close to him in order to be effective without any support equipment but he was not against keeping a distance from the start. Katsuki had used a lot of his sweat in his fight against Ochako and while he had recovered some and even rehydrated a bit, he was not in top form right now and could be forced to expend more of his nitroglycerin than he would want at this point. Playing the long game could be an advantage for him.

The fight really depended on how his best friend wanted to go at it. Izuku was willing to match him in combat no matter what his plans were. He knew that Kacchan would want to make a statement in their fight and it was bound to be eye catching to the audience. They knew each other well and Izuku had ways to counter most of his attacks. Though of course they had less time to work together leading up to the festival so the blonde could be hiding some tricks he had learned without him around.

Katsuki blasted into the air as the match was called while Izuku had run forward. He started the mental clock in his head for how long the other would be able to maintain his flight as he continued to head to the dead center of the platform. If Kacchan was going to make this a long range battle, he would need the extra space to maneuver and placing himself as far away from the edges of the ring would give him the advantage of not having to keep track of where they were.

He jumped to the side at the first explosion that was sent his way before rolling under the one that had been sent right behind that. He was on his feet again in seconds just in time to make a jumping front flip and started to dance around the platform as he avoided the attacks being sent his way by the blonde. He had not yet reached his destination but using his speed and gymnastics was still able to make it while under fire.

With the explosions going almost non-stop he was able to speed up the counter in his head for when he could expect a new tactic from the other. It took a lot of his quirk in order to stay airborne and the attacks would shorten that time limit exponentially. His best friend was probably hoping to get a lucky hit at him early on to slow him down when they faced each other in close combat.

Without his quirk to aid him, Izuku was faster. That was not bragging but just a fact that both of them knew. They were built differently with Izuku’s body meant for speed and flexibility which Kacchan was geared more towards withstanding the blowbacks of his quirk and power. With his quirk in play, his weaknesses were hardly noticeable.

For Kacchan to go through this much effort to try to hit him first, meant he knew that he needed the handicap. He had used more energy than he had expected against Ochako. He would have to thank her for her efforts for his win against his best friend if he was able to pull this off. Away from Katsuki’s hearing since he would never want to indicate that she had been so effective against him.

This long range tactic had worked before in the past but Izuku was proud of the fact that he was very good at dodging his best friend since many of their paired attacks dealt with his awareness of Kacchan and how to stay out of his attack area if they were fighting together. He used more than sight to keep track of the other after all. He knew the sounds of his explosions and what those sounds would mean depending on their location, loudness, and length.

As the aerial attacks continued Izuku noticed that they had started to slow down a bit which indicated to him that the other was readying a larger attack that would be harder to deal with. He used a back flip to evade another attack and heard the explosions coming closer to him letting him know what new tactic the other was about to use on him.

He continued through with his back flip and instead of stopping after the one, he went straight into a row of them having the other boy chase him down. Hearing the explosions and the added power as the distance shorten between them he worked to time his next move. Once he had led the other into believing he was on a straight path, he jumped forward at the last one and used it to spin around and make a grab at the blonde who had flown low enough that it was possible to drag him down.

Kacchan had seemed prepared for the move and Izuku found himself faced with a kick aimed for his head that he quickly blocked with his arms. The other used his kick as a distraction to land safely and rushed forward using his quirk to increase his speed while the green haired boy took a stance as he watched the other come closer.

The other had come down well before his quirk would have required the landing and was most likely trying to recover and keep him from knowing how much the other still had to work with. Losing his advantage in the air would also mean he did not think that he would be able to continue the attacks further or that he did not think they were as effective as he had hoped for.

Izuku guessed at a combination of the latter along with his perception to the audience about his aim since he had attacked so many times without being able to hit once. Against anyone else, his aim would not be put into question at all but since he was his opponent they knew each other’s attacks far too well.

He saw the strong right hook backed by the explosion quirk that was coming at him and he caught it and used the momentum of the move to flip his friend on his back. He moved in quickly trying to disable him but a quick blast to the ground had the other back on his feet as he swung his fist at him again.

The two always fought about Kacchan’s preference of swinging with his right hand first. It was his dominant hand and he was able to put the most power behind it with his quirk. If it had actually connected, it was a devastating move that could stun the opponent momentarily.

Izuku had seen it too many times to be caught by such an attack. Though Kacchan was able to benefit from it since his acceleration had to be countered some way besides Chi Blocking since his target was moving in a way to make it hard for him to pinch off the target areas easily which is why he had still gone with it.

His best friend would also want to show everyone that even after what they had seen him do to Todoroki, Katsuki was not afraid of the same thing happening to him. Of course Kacchan already knew that his attacks were not able to permanently disable him either so a mistake was not as devastating as the audience currently thought.

He ducked under the new punch and tried to aim for the other’s body now that his speed had decreased quite a bit. A foot was blocking his way and he was forced to redirect his attack to the other’s leg. Instead of his usual move against his friend when they had done this scenario in the past, he tried something different wanting to see if there was a possibility of it working against the other.

An explosion erupted from his attack point that threw the other off balance. The unexpected quirk discharge was larger than he had expected and Izuku had been forced to jump back before he was engulfed by the flames that resulted. That was more violent than he had expected since the leg was not a typically easy area of sweat to build up but with the amount of time previously in the air and the heat that had surrounded the other the fine layer of sweat was all over his body though a good chunk of what had been on his left leg had been used up by that explosion he had just caused.

A slew of curses came from his friend as he got back to his feet and put out the fire that the fire proofing of the pants of his gym outfit had not been able to withstand. Since he had not been in control of that emission, his quirk had gone to it’s default of a fiery and loud expanding radius type explosion. His surprise at the attack had made him wary and did not press forward as Izuku would expect.

“What the hell was that shit Nerd?”

“I did the reverse of what I typically do. Instead of stopping your quirk I was able to create a dam and increased the flow to a specific site. Which caused the reaction.”

“Keeping fucking secrets?”

“That was my first time trying it. Iida gave me the idea with his ability to overcharge his blood the way he did. I figured I could do the same thing with a person’s Chi.”

“Fucking four eyes.”

Kacchan was over his surprise at his newest attack quickly enough now that he knew what had happened to come at him again. Izuku had been thankful for the reprieve and had not used the break for his advantage. It had been a while since he had been that close to one of Kacchan’s untamed explosions and he knew there would be burns on his hands that would have to be looked at after the match.

They traded blows going at each other fast and furiously. There was a new rage in Kacchan that made him harder to deal with and he had been able to land a few punches on his body though Izuku had been able to make sure none of them actually hit vital areas. He was willing to sacrifice some of his body to allow him to counter the more devastating attacks as he let the other tire himself out with his furious pace.

The moment Kacchan’s attacks started to slow, Izuku made him move as he paralyzed his right arm and followed it up by disabling his quirk completely. His best friend had probably expected him to try his new move on him again instead of his usual tactics which was the only reason he could think of that had given him the opening.

His experiment had worked to get him out of a tight spot but until he had more practice with it he was not about to use it so readily. He would never want to actually harm his best friend and another unplanned explosion could have done more damage to his body then he would have wanted.

Even with his quirk unable to work and his right arm hanging uselessly by his side, the fight had not left Kacchan and he continued to fight with everything he had including head butting him once when he had gone back in to try to paralyze the other’s body completely. It helped the other to know there was time limit on his state and that as long as he could last the time it took for everything to go back online he still had a chance.

Izuku knew exactly how much time he had left on his advantage and was encouraging his use of greater moves of desperation in order to get a wider range of attacks that would leave him wide open and unprotected. He found his moment as the clock in his head told him the other would be free within the minute if he did not do something soon.

He used his leg to sweep the other off his feet and he completed the paralyzation of his whole body and quirk as the other was falling to the ground. He landed stiff as a board and did not get back up again. He was unable to speak as Midnight called out asking him if he forfeited the match after it was clear he was not getting back up again.

The R-rated Hero called out his victory as he picked his best friend up into a fireman’s carry and headed off the field. It would have been better if he could have waited for the other to recover on his own but he did not want the medical bots to carry him off the field since he was unable to do it on his own power for the moment. Kacchan would have considered that a worse look then his current state of being manhandled off the platform.

The other had still been able to recover before he had left the grass and a blow from the other’s foot let him know he could either put him down voluntarily or the other would be willing to go at it again since he still had more than enough energy to continue to fight even if the match was over.

Izuku released his hold and his best friend rolled off his shoulder and landed on his feet in the grass barely catching himself before falling on his face. He did not move to help steady the other since it would be a sign of weakness that the other needed help to stay upright and would not appreciate that in front of an audience.

He ducked at the explotion that went for his head and came up in a laugh as he batted the other on his shoulder before heading to the entrance of the hallway that would lead to the lockers walking side by side. He had one more battle to face with either Tokoyami or Shishida. Both would be tough opponents to go against.

Going into a two on one fight with Tokoyami would be difficult but at least he had an idea on the other’s abilities. Shishida was still almost a complete mystery to him. It was also one of the few matches that he had no idea on who would actually win.

It was a shame he would be missing their fight. But the burns on his hands had to be seen immediately so they would not stiffen and he would have full movement of them for his next match. That meant he would be stuck in the nurse’s office while they battled it out. He could only hope that the fight lasted long enough for him to get his energy back since no matter what he was going to need it. His best friend would also be quite irritated if he had won against him just to lose in his next match.

Chapter Text

Izuku rubbed the spot on his head that had already been healed by Shuuzenji-Sensei. At least she had whacked him before using her quirk to heal his hands which had in turn had taken care of the bruise that her cane would have given him. Had she been really mad at him, she would have left it as a reminder that she was displeased with his performance.

He was glad that Kacchan had not followed him to the nurses office since he would have been tempted to yell at his mentor for being violent with him for something so unimportant as getting injured for experimenting with a new technique. After all that was how they had always made new moves and skills in the past. He did explain that he had not expected such a large explosion when he wanted to test the theory out but that had seemed to make her even more irritated with him.

Luckily, he left to meet up with the rest of their classmates. Izuku had a feeling he wanted to show Ochako that even though he had lost, he was able to quickly recover and could continue the fight if necessary. That tactic would hopefully also work on the Heroes watching as well. They needed to see that Kacchan had strong potential even if he had lost the last match.

His own presence would not be as expected since he would be fighting the winner of the next match and his absence could be explained away with his preparation for the final round. That way he could hide the severity of the burns he had received. It also meant he would not be able to catch up with the rest of his friends until after his last fight. He had meant to leave after being healed to catch what he could of Tokoyami’s fight but a sharp word from his mentor had stopped that.

He had sat back quietly and ate a bag of gummies Recovery Girl had handed him as she complained about how she had thought he had more sense then the rest of his classmates even if he was a Hero student. He would admit that his actions could be considered reckless but he had too much to prove not to try for any advantage he could think of. It had worked well enough to disorient his friend and have him question what tactics he would use against the other now that he had a new way to disable people.

She had moved on to his entrance into the ring, which he had to promise not to do again since she would not be healing him if he broke something by pulling stunts without a better reason than it looked cool. It seemed that she was finally starting to see that his goal to be a Spotlight Hero was not simple talk. She could only encourage him to try to use his brains more if he insisted on putting on a show for the audience that did not include a way to potentially be maimed if he made a wrong move.

Once he had given his word to her that he would be more judicial in his choices had she finally calmed down enough for them to talk. He had noticed that Todoroki had not been in the room when he had come in and had expected that he had already been sequestered in the dorms. Recovery Girl was able to confirm that the school had agreed for both of his classmates to be taken in for the night but could not give an update on Iida’s status since Hound Dog had yet to return with him from the hospital.

There was more important news though. His presence had been requested. Nedzu wanted to meet with him personally after his last match. That meant he was not going to be able to be with the rest of his classmates when they went back to the dorms to welcome Iida and Todoroki for the night. He doubted either of the boys would want to socialize all that much but the group that lived in the dorms would expect it and could be quite stubborn in order to get their way.

He would have to see if Ochako would be willing to hold the rest of their friends in check so they would be able to have a peaceful night. He loved Kacchan, but he was not the type of person you sent in if you wanted calm. He had a feeling now that they had a third person for their future agency he would have to convince her to be their spokesperson since she would have the most actual public appeal.

The audience had responded well to her during her fight with Kacchan and she had been able to gain their sympathy and support. She would be an excellent barrier to use to keep the civilians away from Katsuki. He had no doubt that until he reached more acceptance for his own Hero work, she would be needed to keep them away from him as well.

He did know he did a good job working with people individually but it was difficult to get around biases in a short time frame. His quirkless state would make him seem not as reliable to the public until he could change their image of him. Ochako did not have that issue with her strong and reliable quirks and her clear determination that made other’s root for her.

His performance here was part of getting the image he needed that a quirkless person could be a Hero. That was why he had been willing to take those risks. He could tell that Recovery Girl still did not understand it completely even after he explained it to her but her position as a Support Hero meant that she never had to deal with civilians the same way the Spotlight Heroes did.

In her time she was just as capable as many of the Spotlight Heroes that got all the attention. She could have gone that route had she wanted to. Her quirk was more than capable of disabling villains and she knew how to move silently without a trance when she wanted to. But her calling had been to healing. Izuku knew he did not have the same call that she did. Even then, he still felt that she had a lot to teach him and had hated disappointing her.

He left the infirmary with multiple bags of gummies and a water bottle as he quickly made his way to the locker room grateful that the healing done by the nurse’s quirk had not taken that much energy from him. That meant that while the fire he had unexpectedly started had been hot and caused burns, they had been surface burns only and had not killed too much of his skin.

He could potentially use some sort of protection to cover his hands like a fire resistant oil and be able to work with Kacchan on new ways to turn his new ability into an attack. It would be necessary for him to be there to have it go off again but they had so many moves already that had the two in close proximity to each other. It did have a lot of potential especially in a case where the sweat was no longer being produced in enough quantities to use normal ignition routes or when his storage units were depleted on his Hero Costume.

Now that Kacchan had his Hero costume, Izuku wondered if they would be allowed to prefill the gauntlets before lessons. His best friend exercised everyday and produced enough sweat that they could consider bottling it and emptying it into the wells of the gauntlets before even being used.

He would have to talk to Melissa about having an easier way to add sweat to the support items and to collect it from him during workouts. Maybe something similar to his weights so it did not stand out during classes. It would help Katsuki as well since he would not have to worry about his supply as much if they could prepare in advance.

The dehydration issues could be completely bypassed as long as he did not fight too long in a battle. Prolonged fights were always going to be a weakness for the other but he was so powerful they considered that there would not be too many fights where he would actually have to start conserving his abilities.

Kacchan would probably not even consider conserving an option as he would always try to push his limits further instead. That meant Izuku would just have to make sure that he would never have to be faced with that scenario if he could help it. Ochako’s quirk had worked so well in conjunction with Katsuki’s own abilities and he could not wait to find more ways for their quirks to work together.

They would of course have to find a safe area to store his supplies since it was nitroglycerin and that could cause major issues if they tried to keep it in the dorms. Especially if one of their more fun loving friends decided they wanted to mess around with it. Growing up with the chemical, the two childhood friends knew what would set it off or cause a hazard. Izuku could not say that for the rest of the students that lived with them.

Maybe Hatsume would be willing to help them and would know a place to keep the unstable material away from the unwary. As a support student, she should be used to the dangers and potentials of the substance. She might be able to help him pre-fill them in the gauntlets before Katsuki used them for Hero lessons as well. He would have to find a way to repay her if she was going to be helping them out like that though.

He wondered if maybe she would want to take payment in order to access the combustible material. Nedzu had mentioned the support students were always looking for new resources to be used and it was doubtful that the school would keep large concentrations of the chemical on site. It would also be especially useful for him if she could convert her jetpack to run on the substance.

He had always been worried that people would not be able to see him past the support items if he tried to use them too heavily. But how could he really be irritated with Todoroki refusing to use his fire quirk when he was not willing to use his own advantage? He was going to need both Melissa’s and Hatsume’s help if he was going to be able to start adding support items to his Hero costume. It was a good thing he kept the form to change his outfit when the rest of the class had completed them.

Entering the locker he staffed the gummies since they were going to his friends after the tournament and kept the water for himself as he wrote a quick note for Ochako. Kacchan would be in the winners circle and could deliver it to Ochako along with the sweet treats to help them recover from quirk exhaustion after the ceremony while he was with Nedzu.

He wanted to make sure that it was a note that Ochako received rather than depend on word of mouth from his best friend since he would probably cut down his words and tell her to “handle it” without actually explaining anything. Recovery Girl had not been able to comment on what the principal had wanted him for so he had no clue how long he would be away from the others. Iida would most likely return to the dorms before him so would need her help.

He had been told not to let out what happened in Hosu until after the Sports Festival so this would fulfill that promise so that she would be aware of what was really going on with Iida. He also knew that Katsuki would read the note before handing it over to their new partner and would be apprised of what had happened as well that way he would be able to help if Ochako found herself unable to handle the task.

Izuku had faith in her abilities but they were partners, that meant they were there to back her up if she needed it. Hopefully she would be able to do it without Kacchan’s help. In social matters, Katsuki was quite blunt and would often go for the quick solution even if it was not the best choice.

—-

Tomura winced as his nails dug in too deep and blood started to ooze from the wound he created on his neck. He did not mind the pain as much as the inconvenience this would create. Kurogiri would insist on him changing his shirt so he could wash the few blood specks from his current one once he noticed he had done it again.

His eyes stayed on the television in the empty bar that he did not pay attention to since the two figures on the screen were of no interest to him. The only other presence was the man behind the bar washing the clear glassware. He forced his hand down and turned his head so it would be harder for the other to notice and start nagging at him about such a small injury.

Kurogiri would obey his orders, Sensei had made sure of that, but he was also programmed to take care of him. Sometimes those orders crossed and the priority was always his health so Kurogiri was able to bypass his orders and become quite difficult to live with unless he complied.

He would have dusted the other by now, but he was the only thing left that he really had of his Sensei after All Might had killed him. Sensei had promised him so many things. All of them discarded the moment he had died. It was the doctor that had revived his hope to get the one thing he truly wanted. The one thing that would make all this waiting worth it. His inheritance.

Now he was faced with an opponent he did not know he had. How could the boy have gotten it before him? Only his Sensei could take away quirks. That was supposed to be his power. It was rightfully his. At least it did not look like he could use them himself but the possibility was still there.

At first he had wanted to take him since the Doctor kept insisting they needed a young quirkless host. Now he wanted to kill this fucker who pretended not to have something that belonged only to him. What was his connection to Sensei? Could his Sensei have had a second heir? The Doctor had not known about the boy before the new article that named him quirkless. Wouldn’t he have known if he had been connected to Sensei?

Was that the reason none of the Nomu that had gone after him had succeeded in their tasks? They had planned on going in tonight after the Sports Festival. They had thought that a quirkless boy running away from the Hero School after being humiliated in the competition would be enough of a cover story to explain his disappearance.

But he was actually winning. That thief was actually winning with his inheritance. Even getting second place in the festival would give him too much media attention to quietly have his disappearance go unnoticed. He had been afraid at first that the Doctor would not give him the Nomu to bring that fucker back alive to answer a few questions.

Instead, it seemed that the Doctor was more than excited to have the boy in their hands and had given him access to even more of their Nomu. He had considered contracting outside help for this mess but that would mean opening themselves up for more liabilities. The small-time criminals could be hired easily but would open themselves up to being discovered before they were ready but both the Heroes and the criminal organizations

If Sensei was still alive, he could have gone to him for advice but all he had was himself. The Doctor had his own goals and he did not trust him. Kurogiri was not a strategist and would agree to any plan as long as it did not evoke danger to his ward.

There was one plan. A plan forgotten in the years since his mentor’s death. It was supposed to be his coming of age. His introduction to the world. The League of Villains was to have started with the death of a Hero. He had never touched that Nomu since being gifted with him by Sensei. It was time to take the toy out of his shiny packaging.

It was a shame All Might was not going to be the one to face off against it first but there were plenty of other Heroes to choose from in the audience. The chaos after the attack should be enough to abscond with one small boy easily enough. It would take a day to bring that beast online but the Doctor would probably be ecstatic to play with him again.

A shirt fell on the table in front of him as Kurogiri stood by patiently waiting. He used his old shirt to wipe up what was left of the blood on his neck so that the new one would not be stained and switched out for the new one as he focused on the TV again. So the thief would be going to face off against the hairy dog thing. Maybe the transformation quirk will stop his winning streak and hurt the boy. He deserved a bit of pain for the trouble he was causing them. They will be meeting soon. Very soon.

Chapter Text

Izuku looked disappointedly out at the scene before him. Shishida had won by flinging Tokoyami out of the ring, most likely while Dark Shadow had left the boy unprotected. Apparently, the 1-B boy was faster than the quirk as he had won the match in seconds. He could only guess at what had actually happened since it was all over by the time he left the locker room and had tried to watch the fight.

Now he could only wait to be called onto the stage again. His opponent had not left the field at all as he stood in the center of the platform in his transformed state pacing the cement arena. The little action he had received in defeating the bird mutant had not seemed to be enough for the other as he prowled confidently around to the continued cheers of the audience.

Izuku would have left the hallways to confront his next challenger by now but he wanted to wait for Tokoyami to completely leave the field. The other may have lost but he would not hurt his pride by going out there now. The boy in question was currently slowly making his way off the field with the clearly agitated shadow quirk out in the open as it made rude gestures at the winning boy.

It was somewhat surprising to see his classmate allowing the quirk he kept strict control of to be out and showing his displeasure in front of a crowd. It made him take a second look at the boy. Did he have lighter hollow bones like the bird his head resembled? Was he so injured that he needed his quirk out in case he fell? He was moving slower than usual.

Tokoyami was always using Dark Shadow and was very reliant on him during the Hero Lessons. It made sense that the other had never really considered building up his own strength since his quirk’s strength was much more powerful. But like today, it showed that his quirk while connected to him was only able to focus on one thing at a time. The other was going to have to learn how to be defensive on his own while Dark Shadow was attacking away from him.

“Are you hurt Tokoyami?” He asked there moment the other had entered the hallway with him as he looked him over trying to see if he was missing any injuries.

“The pain is sharp but only pride has been damaged.”

“But you did an amazing job! I have never seen some of those moves from you and Dark Shadow until today. I am sure you impressed a number of Heroes with your ability.”

“Your brightness does not outweigh the darkness but my gratitude for your support.”

“You’ll always have my support. I think you will make a wonderful Hero and I can’t wait to see what other tricks Dark Shadow is hiding. The two of you are really strong together.”

“Yet, the beast had taken the prize.”

“Well, that may be true today but what about next time? I was actually worried I would have to face off against you. Not because of Dark Shadow but because there are two of you with separate minds and tactics. My strength is in one on one combat so I would have been at a disadvantage against multiple opponents. Dark Shadow is a great partner for you but you are also his partner as well, Tokoyami. Maybe next time you can use your best advantage and work as a team. I think you would be unbeatable then.”

“Truth is a bitter pill to swallow but your words have merit.”

“I can help you if you want. Hitoshi has been working on building up his strength since he realized he could not be a hero and depend only on his quirk. He might be willing to have a friend to workout with him. I can bring it up to him if you want to join him to build your own strength.”

“A good suggestion but a moment to consider. The darkness enjoys it’s solitude.”

“Have you met Hitoshi? I don’t think you will have any problem getting along.”

The boy paused for a moment to think before finally nodding. “The next time you dine with Kouda, introductions should be made.”

“That’s a great idea. That way you two can talk and see if you would be willing to work with each other on a more permanent basis. With Hitoshi going on an Underground Hero tract he would be a great contact for you to have when you go pro since you will probably be working during the night as well.”

“You believe I shall not be one with the Underground?”

“You would be a waste as an Underground Hero. Not that you couldn’t do it if you wanted to but you and Dark Shadow are too amazing to stay hidden. I think you underestimate the appeal the public will have on watching you in action.”

“Too bright…”

The last was more muttered then anything else as the other left him to continue to the locker area. Dark Shadow waved at him and gave him a thumbs up. Even if Tokoyami needed time to consider his words, his quirk seemed more than happy to hear them. But it was not Dark Shadow he had to convince.

He would have to get in contact with Kouda again to schedule another lunch date with the four of them… and all his animal friends. He wanted to be there when Hitoshi used his quirk on Tokoyami for the first time. They would have to be comfortable enough together to do that in order for them to be able to train together.

It also helped that the two would probably have the same fighting style since their body types were similar and they would need to be able to work in the dark. The street fighting he thought would be perfect for Hitoshi would compliment Tokoyami since he would be using it in tandem with Dark Shadow.

There would be time to convince the boy on what he should put his energy towards in the future. Right now, he would accept just being a friend to the other. That meant allowing his classmate to make these decisions on his own. He could only hope the other would be able to open up to him and Hitoshi so that they would be able to work together.

He was already thinking of ways for the two of them to work together that had started when he found out Hitoshi had been able to use his quirk on Dark Shadow. There were just so many possibilities that could happen if he was able to get them to train together. In the end, convincing Tokoyami might be the easier of the two.

His attention went back to the field where Shishida stood pumping up the crowd with his wildness. It was somewhat hard to connect this version of the boy from the quiet one he saw in the dorms. His transformation made him taller and wider. The muscle definition on his arms and legs were very telling since the gym uniform had not been able to withstand it and he was left in the remains of the pants though they looked more like shorts from this distance.

Very likely he had not transformed back since after being stretched to their limit, the shorts would not stay on the smaller form without aid. It gave him more insights on the other as he left his entrance and made his way to the field. There definitely was a thinking mind in that body. The transformation might bring out a cruder side to the other but there was still a lot of intelligence to contend with.

“We reach our final bout with a clash between the Hero Classes. Will Izuku Midoriyo of Class 1-A stand victorious against Jurota Shishida of Class 1-B? Both of these students have surprised and shocked us with their skills and strategies but will it be enough now they are facing their final opponent? Only one challenger will be the champion today. Who will win in this match of wit and skills!”

Izuku took his first step onto the platform as Present Mic finished his speech and looked to Midnight who nodded to repeat the instructions for the last time that day. His attention turned to the beast that was Shishida. While he was no longer pacing there was a subtle vibration that showed how eager he was for the match to begin.

Their eyes met and he could feel the hyper fixation from the other as all his senses seemed to be aimed at him. His transformation probably increased his sense of smell and hearing and like an animal he resembled. He wondered if he could taste him in the air as well. He would not want to try to hide from the other even if there were objects that could be used to hide his presence.

His only advantage as he could see it was that the other was a close combat fighter which meant he was going to close the distance between the two of them as quickly as possible. If he was faster than Dark Shadow, then there would be no need for him to use his energy getting in short range and allow the other to come to him. He may be intelligent but his beast was also driving him as well. He might be able to use that hot blooded nature to his benefit.

The longer arms on his transformed body was going to be a major issue to him since most of the chi points he depended on were located around the chest area since those were the places close to the vital organs of the body. But the chi points were not exclusive to that area but it would make it harder to use the best ones to completely paralyze the body.

His increased size also meant that his organs and blood vessels were probably enlarged as well. His mind went back to that monster that had attacked him during lunch and how his chi attack had been shaken off faster then he had expected. Of course, now that he knew that the monster seemed to be a conglomeration of different people it was likely it had multiple organs to account for its larger size and would have been another reason why his techniques had not worked against it.

Either way, to be safe, he would probably have to consider adding more force to his blows in a wider area to ensure that the correct effect happened. He also had to worry about the fur that covered the other’s body. The dense hair would make it more difficult to contact the body and would lessen his impacts as well.

He spread his legs further apart as he crouched down to center his body and to help him brace himself if necessary. It was more information than he usually was willing to give up but it had its intended purpose as the other quivered in heightened anticipation. It was a fighting stance. He was not going to run like prey or rush forward to attack him on his own to show domination. He was going to hold steady and protect his territory from the interloper which he had clearly defined as the other.

It was a challenge. The leap that Shishida performed at the start of the match was powerful and graceful. It was no wonder that Dark Shadow had not been able to handle the other. The shadow quirk usually raced along the ground as a way to hide Tokoyami from his opponent by running in front of him. Taking to the air would have been a way to bypass Dark Shadow and aim for the boy instead.

Unlike Tokoyami, he was actually trained in combat and could tell exactly where the other would land. He sprinted forward and jumped up to meet the other knowing that it would be harder for the other to change his trajectory while airborne. He had not expected the other to change back to his regular form dropping his mass weight and his momentum before changing back into the large form as he landed on the ground. Well away from where Izuku had expected him to be.

The other was in the air again trying to capitalize on the same tactic that he had been aiming for but he was not a novice at aerial combat and used his gymnastics training to spin himself around and grab at the arm that was reaching out for him. He used his free hand to stab his fingers in the chi point just below the elbow joint and swung his body up to use his feet to impact the other and push him away and back to the ground.

Shishida’s arm going numb and unresponsive was probably the only reason he was not caught by the other as he escaped. He had been lucky and the other had tried to capture him with his dominant hand. The other landed and fell as his numbed arm could not tighten as he hit the ground and his four legged stance was now imbalanced.

Izuku ran forward knowing his chance would not last long since he had only gotten access to the other’s arm and there was no telling when the effect would wear off on it’s own. To be safe he halved the timer in his head so he would know when to start being weary of the arm again. Or really more weary of it, he thought remembering the times that Kacchan swung his whole body in order to still use a disabled arm to hit him. Though few people had the same drive as his best friend who would do anything to win.

Shishida recovered faster than he expected even though his right arm was currently dangling by his side. He was up on his feet now and swung his working arm out trying to swat at him. Izuku ducked under the arm trying to reach the chi points that would disable the other to find himself face to face with the other as he was head butted none too gently.

Thankfully he was also in range and still was able to jab his fingers on the right points even as his vision blurred and his head felt like it had just been hit by a hammer. He was able to stagger backwards as the body in front of him fell to the ground, stiffened and paralyzed. Izuku stepped back rubbing his head to release some of the tension from the hit to realize he had another issue.

Upon hitting the ground, Shishida had tried to transform back to his normal state. It had been a good theory to try since it could have potentially broken him free of the effects of the chi blocking. Instead the body started to spasm uncontrollably and it did not look like it was going to stop any time soon. With his chi passages locked, he should have been immovable but the violence of the shakes were affecting his whole limp body.

Izuku grabbed the other’s head to immobilize it before he could hurt himself by accident by banging it on the ground as he used his most authoritative voice to tell him to transform back. It was clear in seconds that he was not getting through to the other or that the pain was too much for the boy to transform back into his other form. He then looked to Midnight for help.

“Use your quirk! I think my attack froze his nervous system at their enlarged state. In this smaller form, it is being stretched and his body can’t handle the stress. I can’t unlock him safely while he is spasming like this!”

Izuku held his breath as the fog of gas settled quickly around him. He was glad that Midnight reacted instantly at his request. As the body below him stopped jerking, he opened the pathways back up in the other hoping that he was able to do so before there was any permanent damage.

The medical robots with a stretcher were already on their way. When they got there he had needed Midnight's help to roll the boy onto the stretcher safely since the other was still quite heavy. He made sure that he kept a hand on him as he stabilized him in the recovery position. He needed to be with the boy when he woke up in case he had messed up.

The gas was gone at that point and he was able to breath normally as he raced to the exit next to the still form as behind Midnight announced his win to another silent audience. He had shocked everyone again. In his defense he had never used his techniques against a transformation quirk before and had treated him as he would have someone with a mutant type quirk. Shifu had never mentioned this being a possibility with his techniques.

People wanted the violence of a fight and a few injuries and blood could be overlooked but he had almost killed someone out there in front of everyone. He could not blame their silence. They would wonder if he was an upcoming Hero or a Villain at this point. He doubted any protesting on his part would be believed at this moment at least not until they saw a healthy Shishida standing in front of them again.

The color of the gas Midnight used had not been too dark. Since he knew that the color indicated the potency of her gas, he expected that it would give him about five minutes before Shishida would wake up. He needed to make sure that he was back in the infirmary at that time. Recovery Girl would know what to do or at least hopefully would have enough experience with transformation quirks so he could find out what went wrong.

All his moves were meant to disable people. None of it was ever supposed to be permanent. So how had he almost killed his fellow student in a friendly bout? Shifu had only warned him that too much power would break bones which is why he was careful with how much pressure he was putting into his jabs. It was not like he was a stranger to accidents or injuries in the past with his training or his sparring with Kacchan but no one had ever left those sessions this badly hurt.

He raced ahead and opened the door for the robots, trusting them to keep Shishida from falling from his position for the few seconds it would take to get him through the door. It was not as if the door was wide enough that he would have been able to stay by his side going through. Entering after thee, he noticed his mentor next to the examination bed that the robots were heading to. He followed them over as he closed the door.

“It was an accident. I never intended to…”

“Calm down, Midoriya. I saw what happened. Stand by his head while I see what is going on.”

Izuku could only nod as he took the place that she had indicated. It put him close by in case he had missed something when opening his chi passages but out of her way while she made the diagnostics. He waited on pins and needles as she poked and prodded the boy before kissing him. She looked up at him with a smile and his stress melted away with the look.

“He will be fine. I believe it was intense pains that caused the muscle contractions.”

“So I did not almost kill him?”

“Is that what you thought? I’ve talked to Dr. Fuang extensively about her techniques. They are brilliant in what they can do but as you already know it depends on the physicality of the person you are using them on. Shishida transforms his physicality between forms so what you did to one form when converted to the secondary continues since he is the same person. The problem is that his transformation is almost instantaneous so his body did not have a chance to reject the change that would warn him about the painful price of switching forms.”

“So he is not damaged at all?”

“He would have been fine the moment your effect wore off. My quirk did not register anything that needed to be fixed aside from a bit of bruising. Go meet your friends, I’ll send Shishida off to join you for the winner circle when he wakes up naturally in a few minutes”

Izuku nodded as he walked back out the door relieved that everything was going to be fine. He still wanted to talk to Shifu about what had happened and maybe convince her to let him work with more people that had transformation quirks. He did not want anything like what had occurred to happen again.

---

Chiyo pulled out a syringe with muscle relaxer the moment her intern left and jabbed it into the student that was still on her table. She would kiss him again before he woke up to handle the last bit of the internal tears that had occurred when his body had shrunk around his locked passages damaging both.

While she did not enjoy lying to Midoriya, she did not want him to become hesitant to use his skills in the future. He already had too many things going against him, she would have to make sure Dr. Fuang got a complete report of the effects so that she would be able to make adjustments to his training.

Chapter Text

He found Kacchan waiting for him in the locker room. He braced himself for the punch in the shoulder which was his best friend's way of congratulating him for the win. Tokoyami stood nearby leaning against the wall. He had tensed when he witnessed the hit but relaxed again as Izuku laughed and shoved at the blonde, surprised that he had not included a promise to beat him next time.

Katsuki probably realized that he was not in the right frame of mind for teasing after what he had done to the boy from 1-B. His friend focused behind him clearly asking a question but did not want to appear soft in front of an outsider. He had not yet told Kacchan about his plans to put Tokoyami with Hitoshi as a Future Hero team so the boy would not really be an outsider to them.

It would probably irritate his best friend that he was still being left out of the purple boy’s training when others were getting chances before him. The fact that the blonde had so much interest in Hitoshi’s training was a good sign. It meant he took the other seriously and would likely be open to working with him in the future. Once he was sure that the purple haired boy could handle Katsuki without the two of them causing each other trauma he wanted to get them training their quirks together.

Hitoshi had no clue how amazing his quirk actually was. Izuku was sure he would be able to use the other to finally have Kacchan break though his block to produce flameless explosions. Having been a willing participant of the quirk he knew how he was affected when he was controlled by it and once Katsuki had an idea on how to use his quirk a certain way he would be able to replicate the process outside of mind control. With the techniques that Kouda was teaching him, Izuku was sure that he would be able to convince people to use their quirks and even answer questions for him.

“Shishida will be coming later. Shuuzenji-Sensei wanted him to wake up from Midnight’s gas naturally.”

“Who gives a fuck about that loser?”

“I think his quirk is amazing. He does not have Satou’s major drawback and his transformation time is unusually fast. I can’t wait to see how he handles rescue work? He might be better at it in the future than Hound Dog.”

“Shut up Nerd.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to be training with anyone in 1-B in the near future. I think I have more than enough on my plate these days.”

“The Impala fucker?”

“She does not need my help. At least not with her quirk. Vald King is very good at what he does.”

The blonde gave a loud “tch” sound and moved to take a seat on the bench. He was never very good at waiting around for things to happen. Izuku opened his locker and handed the treats he had saved earlier for his best friend and mentioned the second bag and note was for Ochako. He did not even have to tell Kacchan not to open the paper in front of Tokoyami as it was shoved into a pocket.

“Family dinner?”

“No, dad will probably be going to sleep as soon as he gets home since he is probably running on fumes at this point. Nedzu wanted to see me after the festival.”

“The beast fucker is still breathing.”

“I don’t think it is about my performance in the festival. Recovery Girl would have probably warned me if that was the case.”

“The fuckers that keep attacking the school?”

“No, if there was anything on that front I think Nedzu would have upped the security considering the amount of civilians that could be placed in danger.”

“Tch, who gives a fuck?”

“I’ll let you know what I find out after dinner. If it was very important I am sure it would not have waited until after the Sports Festival.”

The door opened not long after Izuku had taken a seat next to his best friend and talked about possible combinations they would need to try with Ochako. Or rather Izuku talked while Katsuki listened and gunted a few times when he heard something he wanted to try. The ability to power up his strongest attack had been a heady feeling for his friend and he definitely wanted the opportunity to explore how much more he could do with her quirk aiding him.

He looked at Shishida with a smile as he entered the room. The other did not seem to have any lingering effects just as Shuuzenji-Sensei had promised him. Midnight followed behind him, her smaller form easily hidden by the tall boy even if he was not in his transformed state. She got them moving to a hallway he had not explored before that took them under the field.

She had left them on the platform created for the winner circle with another innuendo that had made his blush and Kacchan roll his eyes. Katsuki was forced to share the third place spot with Tokoyami but at least it was large enough that the two fit comfortably though the boy with the bird features stayed on the edge as far away as possible. He assumed it was to keep Dark Shadow away since his best friend did like using explosions randomly that could hurt his quirk’s eyesight. That reminded him.

“Why don’t you wear corrective lenses that can handle your transformation?”

“What?”

The 1-B boy seemed startled by the attention and had broken his concentration to turn to look at him. Izuku was slightly miffed that he was tall enough that they could still meet eye to eye even though he was on a taller platform than the other.

“Your eyes. Even in beast form they are unable to focus properly and you are farsighted in both forms.”

“I guess I never really considered it. I did not often take my other form before coming to UA.”

“Really? You have one of the quickest and smoothest transformations I have ever seen. Not even the other kids in my class can transform with the same speed that you can.”

“My whole family is like that.”

“Really? I’m surprised they are not Heroes with that kind of skill.”

“I meant their transformation skills. I’m the only one that turns into a monster.”

“I mean your beast mode is intimidating but I wouldn’t exactly call you a monster.”

“...yes, you were the one to survive directly against that attack in the lunchroom. You would know what a monster is. I’m sure the papers will talk about how you defeated a monster for the second time.”

“Thrice.” Kacchan growled as he inserted himself into the conversation.

“Thrice? You fought against the second one as well? The press said nothing about that. Why did you keep that a secret?”

“Because I don’t want to be known as the boy that runs from monsters. I survived my second attack because I fled and was lucky enough to be in my Hero suit. I never even wanted to have press until the Sports Festival because I knew being quirkless that it would be hard to show my potential without demonstrating it to the public.”

“How can you still claim to be quirkless? I fought against you. Quirkless people are not able to paralyze others with a touch of their fingers.”

“It’s just my martial arts that allows me to do that. I swear I got a second joint in my pinky toes. What you saw today was hard work and dedication since I first found out I was not going to have a quirk but still wanted to be a Hero.”

“...you’re nothing like I thought you would be.”

“Well, you never really gave me a chance. You’re almost never in the common areas of the dorm and when you are, you leave almost immediately after seeing anyone in my class join you. Only the girls in your class have been welcoming.”

“We thought you were trying to get into our heads and divide the class. Mo… one of my classmates insisted that you guys had a mental strategy to defeat us all in the festival.”

“Monoma has his own issues. I think you should make your own opinions and pay no mind to your classmate’s paranoid ramblings.”

“...be careful around him. I don’t know why he is so focused on you but it is starting to get… unhealthy.”

“Have you told Kan-Sensei?”

“Monoma is not a bad guy. He is impulsive and runs his mouth but he would never physically hurt anyone. He is just very passionate. I am sure once he realizes you’re not out to get him, he will calm down on his own.”

Izuku would have liked to disagree with the other but he had to brace himself as the platform they were on started to rise up and an opening appeared over their heads. Midnight made a giant production on the four of them and Izuku knew his face was red after he received his own medal. He really needed to work on being more numb to his teacher’s suggestive language.

—

The door to the principal’s office swung open before he could knock on the door. He had hoped that he had not made Nedzu wait too long. His mom had wanted an embarrassing amount of photos when he went to see them off before she agreed to let him go. His father and Shifu had also been very proud of his efforts but were thankfully much less dramatic with far less tears about his win.

Melissa and All Might were coming back the next two days and had decided to leave with his family so that he could have his meeting with Nedzu without worrying about holding them up. Melissa seemed in favor of it just so she would have time to go through her ideas after he told her that he was interested in finally adding support items to his outfit. He had promised to give her first rights for all equipment he used to help get her well their names out to the support world. Though after his first match with Hatsume he doubted it would be necessary.

All Might had known about the arraignment but had not seemed to realize that the reason they had seats for the next two days was due to his position as Recovery Girl’s student assistant. Though he had called him an apprentice when he told him why Melissa was only able to meet up after the festival for the next two days. Izuku wondered why All Might had made it seem like he was more than just an intern to the school nurse. Now that he thought of it, Eraserhead had mentioned it once before as well but had thought nothing of it at the time.

Entering the office he took a seat at his usual spot, the hot tea already waiting for him. It was the perfect temperature when he took a sip and smiled at the rat behind the desk. The other had timed his appearance perfectly so he had expected his family to take up some time.

“Sorry for the wait, sir.”

“Family is important. As well as connections. You know All Might has never been to a Sports Festival that was not his own. His agency does not accept interns. His only sidekick and now Hero had been in the field for a year before All Might accepted him into his agency. Even then he worked in a clerical position for years before being seen in the field with him.”

“He was a bit of a surprise for me as well. Mr. Shield was initially supposed to come with his daughter but had to bow out and All Might was his replacement.”

“Yes, David Shield. Another amazing connection that you have made before being admitted to UA. That leads me to why you are here.”

Nedzu waved his hand indicating the direction of the couch. Izuku turned to see the familiar case on the floor next to it. It had been hidden from his view at the door but he should have noticed it as he had walked to his seat.

“Is something wrong with my Hero costume?”

“Not at all. David has made another outstanding costume. I heard that your father also helped to design it. You do realize David will probably use many of the modifications your father’s team added to his new outfits in order to better protect Heroes.”

“I’m glad. The more ways to protect Heroes in a fight the better. I don’t think I should be the only one benefiting from their hard work.”

“An enlightened attitude. Normally, Hero students are not allowed to wear their costumes outside the Hero lessons or under the direct supervision of a Hero during internships. We are making an exception for you.”

“Me? Why?”

“When we agreed to your internship with Recovery Girl, it was meant to train you into a Medical Support Hero. Chiyo believes you are ready for the field after testing you extensively in medical knowledge and your performance to date as her student assistant.”

“I’m flattered but don’t I have to take the medical support hero exam for the field work?”

“Oh you will be taking the test. Just before summer break in fact. Until then you will be considered her apprentice.”

“All Might mentioned that but what does it mean?”

“It means that you are authorized to work under Recovery Girl in the field. You are not a Provisional Hero so the only authority you have is directly what you are given by your mentor. You will not be able to give orders to other Heroes or professional units unless working as a messenger for Recovery Girl. She is placing a lot of trust in you Midoriya. Her licence can be revoked or suspended if you fail to meet the standards.”

“Shuuzenji-Sensei thinks I am ready for this?” Izuku could hear his voice break at the weight of responsibility he was being given.

“She was not your only supporter for this. Ms. Hunoko was also very adamant in your readiness for this step.”

“Why now? Couldn’t this wait till after the festival?”

“If we had waited you would not be able to make your debut tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Debut? What?”

“You are to report to the field tomorrow as Recovery Girl’s apprentice. That means in costume and in a professional capacity. I will ask that you stay close to Midnight or Cementoss since they will be able to protect you if anything goes wrong. For all intent and purposes this will be your Hero Debut. In your case you will find an added communication device that will link you directly to Chiyo while you are on duty. You are not permitted to don your outfit without authorized permission first but you will have more allowances for when you are able to use it.”

“Thank you, Nedzu. I won’t disappoint you.”

“Then that means there is only one more thing left. You will need a Hero name before you are allowed to go out on the field tomorrow. I’m sure you already have one in mind though.”

“Heritage. I’m the Hero that will remind people that we all came from the same origins. Quirkless or not, we all have the same background genetics and history. Winning the quirk lottery means nothing if you don’t use it for good. I’m here to remind people that anyone has the potential to do amazing things.”

- - -

Nedzu watched his boy leave the room before notifying Chiyo about his official change in status. They had both wanted to wait for him to take the Medical Support exams before offering him the apprenticeship. It was his incident with Endeavor that had moved the timeline up. Without the protection of the official apprenticeship, the school board would have been able to meddle with their classes and could have made it difficult to keep his student where they needed him to be. As a student assistant they could only protect him so much.

Aizawa had been told to treat him as an apprentice for Medical and Intelligence Support since day one but they had hidden that fact from the boy. He would not have been able to hand his student live case files without that designation. They had still not planned on actually using him for field work until he passed the Provisional Hero exams in his second year. Then he would have been slated for the Medical and Intelligence Support exams his third year after they had more time to train him.

He was not yet ready for the Intelligence Support exams but he believed Chiyo when she had assured him that he would be able to pass the Medical Support exam with his current knowledge base. They could not afford to wait for the exam to push him forward into the spotlight. It had helped that he had won the first year tournament. That meant that the board could not kick him out without a reason to remove the top student in the Hero Course no matter what prejudices they might have.

The apprenticeship would just be another layer of protection to keep him safe until he was able to make it under his own merits. Having him make his debut tomorrow was just more precautions since once it was out in the open and on a giant public stage there would be no taking it back. The public would not question their decisions on the boy as much once they actually saw him in action. Not to mention the Hero outfit he had.

That outfit was clearly a Shield made costume. Only an idiot would not realize that meant he was backed by one of the most influential support technicians in the world in order to have one of the rare and highly sought after costumes at such a young age. Not to mention the Rod of Asclepius designed into the fabric was so very telling considering the requirements it took to actually be able to use it in Hero work.

It was a shame they would be forcing the image of him being a simple Medical Support Hero since they all knew he was reaching for something much more spectacular. But a support role would make him seem more harmless and they needed that appearance now more than ever if they were to protect him from the number two Hero in all of Japan. Nedzu just hoped it would be enough.

Chapter Text

His meeting with Nedzu had not taken that long but it was enough for the school to feel deserted as he walked back to the dorm. The case was a large weight in his hand as he realized how much responsibility he had been given. He was unsure if they would take it away from him again once the third year festival was over but if they were trusting him to keep it overnight he would be actually able to do live demonstrations with it for Melissa tomorrow.

With All Might around, he was sure that would be enough Hero supervision to appease the teachers. Why else would Nedzu have mentioned the number one hero if not to give him permission to work with him. Maybe they could also have some of his friends field test some of their new equipment as well. While he had tested them against Hatsume, he wanted the opinions of those that would actually be using them.

He was getting closer to the dorm when he heard a sound that had him ducking in time as what looked like scales passed over his head. He recognized them from the 1-B Chinese exchange student but he never had any actual confrontation with the student to warrant an attack. He still moved behind a tree for cover as he heard more scales embedded themselves into the bark as he moved.

The light was already getting dark as night was progressing which would make it harder to pinpoint his enemy. It would also mean his friends inside the dorm might not be able to see him or know he was in trouble. He tried to figure where the attack had come from and if there were more people out there besides the one.

“Rin-san?”

He called out trying to see if there was an answer that would allow him to know where the other was. He did not hear any movement so if there were other people out here they were hiding themselves in the trees. He quietly opened his case and removed his bolas before stowing it underneath a bush that would hopefully keep it from being discovered. He wanted the advantage of his long distance weapon if he was facing an enemy.

He rolled back into the open and used the bolas to launch himself into the trees on the other side by attaching them onto a tree branch and swinging over. He calculated the most likely location for the 1-B student. He was forced to dodge more of the scales but luckily none of them hit. It made him reconsider who exactly he was attacking him. Rin would have much better aim considering he would have gone through a tough entrance exam to be accepted into the school as a foreign exchange student.

His thoughts proved right as his attacker came into view in time for him to free his bolas and dodge as the blonde came at him with the large knife like spines he had seen Kamakiri use earlier. He had no clue how long he had for the quirks he had copied but knew it would not last forever. That meant he could only copy thoses that were currently in the dorm. It helped that he doubted any of his classmates would have given him access to their quirks though Monoma did not need their permission to take them.

So far he had seen both Rin and Kamakiri’s quirks but Pony had mentioned he could have access to at least three of them. He did not think he had Pony’s quirk since her long distance attack was much more versatile than Rin’s. Seeing him use Kamakiri’s quirk, he knew that the mutation or transformation types were not hindered by his ability so he could easily have Tetsutetsu’s or Shishida’s. Of course of all the quirks in his class he was betting he had taken Shoda’s which would be the most troublesome in a one on one battle.

“Monoma. Stop this. There is no reason to fight.”

He said as he jumped back from another attack keeping the other in view. He was still not sure if there was anyone else out here and tried to keep his eye out for more trouble. He did not want to fight the other if he could avoid it though. If he did take an actual swing at the other he could get in trouble with the school. Monoma was not a trained fighter and though he had multiple quirks at his disposal, was unable to use them as effectively as their original owners.

“You made a fool of me on live TV, you arrogant cheater. My team did not even have a chance to come back from it after being taken out.”

Izuku held back the grin as the other finally replied to him knowing a smile would probably escalate their other’s grievances. He was glad he finally got the other talking. He could also tell that while he had initially talked about the wrong done to him it was his teammates that he was actually more sore about. It matched why Shishida had a good opinion of the other. He probably did genuinely care about his classmates.

“It was a competition. Your team was not the only one we removed from the 2nd round.”

“Just the 1-B teams. Do you 1-A kids have to resort to dirty tricks just to win?”

There was another attack that almost got him as the spine that was coming for him enlarged in the process of coming towards him and he actually had to resort to gymnastics to stay away as he did a backflip. He stumbled a bit landing on uneven ground and the other took it as a sign to advance. He was forced to use his bolas to twine them around the other’s wrist and knock him off course.

Izuku was glad that the spines were not sharp enough to cut the cord of his weapon. He had been concerned about how it would hold up but Melissa would of course never use something as weak as traditional leather for a support item. As he was able to escape again he coiled his weapon back to be used if necessary as he watched the spines retreat. It could mean that his time was up for the quirks he copied or that he was going to use a different quirk against him.

“I have nothing against you or your class but you have to admit you have not been the most friendly people to get along with.”

“You seem to have no trouble turning the girls in our class against us.”

He attacked again which told Izuku that he still had time on the quirks he had copied and moved away by lifting himself up into the branches of a tree with the aid of his bolas. He expected him to have copied Shoda’s quirk but it was Yanagi’s that attacked him now as the rocks about them were sent sailing up. As he moved away to another tree the rocks followed him changing their path and he knew he had to stop this now.

“Just because not everyone in your class has a chip on their shoulder does not mean I am plotting against you. I like hanging out with them. They are nice and fun to be around.”

“As you trick them into telling you all the secrets of our quirks and abilities. I’m sure you took that information to the rest of your class to make sure that we would not have a chance at the festival. Did you really think we were too stupid to know what you were doing?”

He moved towards Monoma again and the other was forced to let go of the rocks and pull up Rin’s quirk again to create scales along his arms to defend himself as Izuku sent a kick in his direction. He tried to use his chi blocking to shut the other down but the scales that had blocked his foot also covered his chest and stopped him from making the connections he needed to paralyze the other. Izuku jumped back again as the blonde tried to punch him with a fist with the scale armor surrounding it.

“You may not believe it but everyone that advanced to the third round deserved their spot without any tricks.”

“You lie! You lie about everything! Just like you lied about this!”

The boy yelled as his other hand reached out and grabbed him. Monoma paused and his eyes widened as Izuku knew what the other was trying to do. He could have avoided the grapple but he figured this would be a more expedient way to show the other the truth. He was also curious how a quirkless person would feel to the other when using his quirk.

“You really are quirkless.”

“I already told you that.”

“But today during the matches. How?”

“I’ve studied martial arts for years, Monoma. I wanted to be a Hero without a quirk. I had to develop some skills to make up for that.”

The scales disappeared from his arms and he made no move to attack him again. The fight was clearly out of the other as he found out that he had not been lied to at least about this. His other complaints had fallen close to true. He had wormed his way into befriending the girls in 1-B to find out more about their classes abilities and he used their relationship to gain their sympathy for him against their own classmate. He could not admit that to the other though, it would only validate him for this attack.

“I also study quirks.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s the reason I talked to your classmates about your class’s quirks. I find them all fascinating. Including yours.”

“...you’re trying to pull something on me. It won’t work.”

“Monoma-san, you may not believe this but I really am here just to be a Hero.”

“Of course you are. That is why you were so quick to plaster yourself all over the newspapers. I can’t go a week without hearing about you in the media.”

“I never wanted any of that. None of that press was ever even good. Why would I want my name to have so many negative connections?”

“So you admit that you are bringing the school down by getting in the way of the teachers and I bet you are even causing some of these attacks just for attention!”

“I have never caused trouble just for attention! I would never put others in danger for some misguided need for a spotlight. Why would I want to bring attention to myself when I am always the one getting hurt? Why does no one believe me when it is always my word against theirs?”

“…this is more than just UA isn’t it?”

Izuku blinked, not realizing how much venom had pushed through in his voice as he spoke. Monoma was actually more perceptive than he had given the other credit for. Funny, apparently he was still salty about what was done to him at Aldera even if the school no longer existed. He had his revenge. So why did it still matter that he had only heard about it’s destruction from the sidelines and was not there to administer justice himself?

“Growing up quirkless was hard. My parents had to pull me out of public school at one point due to the bullying. The teachers always looked the other way if they did not join in on it themselves. The worst part was the fact they always claimed I was at fault when things went too far and there was property damage or they could not cover the incident. They always said I did it for attention. As if I wanted to be bullied by my classmates.”

“Why would those black monsters target you then? Shishida mentioned you faced off against the second one as well. I figured you were putting us all in danger by attracting them and getting them to attack the school. That you were some sort of villain infiltrating UA and trying to sow discontent.”

“I don’t know. If I knew that, don't you think the school would have been able to stop the attacks by now?”

“You really had nothing to do with any of it? That one image of you and Bakugou was such a perfect action shot I was sure you staged it with one of your 1-A classmates.”

“I am the victim, Monoma. I don’t know who took that picture. I had hoped that my involvement would go unnoticed completely but we both know that did not work out.”

“Shit. Are you telling me I really attacked an innocent person? You really aren’t out to get us all?”

“That publicity that you think I wanted so much got me suspended from my internship with the emergency medical technicians that have been my family for years. I now have multiple Rescue Heroes with biases against the quirkless claiming that my presence at emergencies is dangerous and distracting. I’m on house arrest Monoma. Both my parents and the school have insisted I stay on the school grounds for my own safety. I can’t even leave to hang out with my friends. Why would anyone want that?”

“I didn’t know.”

“No, you read what was in the press and assumed just like everyone else that there was some mistake that a quirkless kid could get into a hero school much less be the number one student. I either cheated or bribed my way in. I’m somehow connected to others that would get me into the school. It is never about how much hard work it took to get here. Never about how much I had to sacrifice in order to even stand on even ground with everyone else. I threw myself into my studies the moment I found out I was quirkless. I refused to believe that just because I did not have a quirk that I was useless. I am not useless or fragile or anything else you can throw at me from being born different.”

Izuku could tell that he was finally getting through to the other. It was not hard to know that the boy’s defensive attitude came from his own treatment growing up. He may have an amazing quirk but it required other people around him to make it useful. Without that, he was just as powerless as he was. Monoma could never have a solo career as a Hero. He would always have to depend on the generosity of others to make it in heroics. Izuku softened his tone letting the anger drain out though his conviction was still very clear in his words

“I am here to be a Hero. I will be a Hero. I am going to show the world that heroics is more than just throwing a quirk around and saving the day. I’m going to show them that a true Hero changes society through the minds and hearts of the people. Because no one should be treated differently because of a genetic trait at birth. No one should be marginalized for not conforming to society's ideals or norms. Because everyone has the ability to be more than their parts.”

“I want to believe you but what you want is impossible. One person can’t change how the world works.”

“No, I am going to need help. Won’t you be part of that change? Instead of fighting against it why not join me. You have seen what the world does to those that are different. You know in your heart that it is wrong. That what was done to you was wrong. You and your quirk are amazing. You shouldn’t let the past color your judgment. I can show you something you probably never considered about what your quirk can really do.”

“You? A quirkless person is going to teach me something about my own quirk? Do you even hear yourself?”

“Don’t get defensive and don’t ignore my meaning. I’m offering to let you see how much good your quirk can do. Will you let me?”

“...what do you want from me?”

“Join me for a quirk analysis lesson with Tanaka Sensei, the school’s quirk counselor after school. I promise it will be worth your time.”

The boy was silent as he thought before finally nodding. It was probably the assurance of a teacher being present that convinced him that it was not a trick. He did not like the other. He had been verbally attacked by the other multiple times and had now been physically attacked by him. But he refused to believe someone that wanted to be a hero was without redemption. If he can change his mind, he might be able to turn the other into an ally.

He saw the mental armor the other put back on as he straightened his shoulders and turned to walk back to the dorms. But he was not done with him yet. They may have resolved their issues with each other for now but there was another that he was not going to let go. Izuku was never going to sit passively when attacked again.

“Stop. There is one more thing to discuss.”

“What now? I already agreed to your little analysis”

“Did you forget the fact you just attacked another student on school grounds?”

“....I told you why I did it.”

“Then you should have informed a teacher your concerns instead of confronting me yourself. Had I really been a villain, the school would have their own way to deal with the issue.”

“What do you want? An apology?”

“Go to Hound Dog, tomorrow. Tell him exactly what happened here.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I will go to Vlad King on Monday and this will become a disciplinary request.”

“If I tell Hound Dog the school will suspend me for fighting. Are you trying to ruin me?”

“Actions have consequences. I am giving you the opportunity to make your case. Something I never had.”

The 1-B student deflated his posture, no longer sure of himself as they observed each other. Izuku was not going to back down now. He had done that all his life. He finally had people that would be willing to back him and he could trust in them to do what was right. In a way, this was a test for his teachers as well. He could only hope they would prove that they were as good as they appeared to be.

“.....I’m sorry, Midoriya. For what it is worth. I know what I did was wrong.”

“Thanks, Monoma.”

“You're not going to let this go are you?”

“What do you think?”

“I’ll tell Hound Dog in the morning... Do you really trust me to tell him the truth?”

“You are going to be a great Hero one day. You thought I was a danger to you and your friends and you took it into your own hands. Now that you know you were wrong you are going to take the consequences and make it right like any other Hero would.”

“You ask a lot from a person.”

“Maybe. But you will still do it.”

“Yeah, I guess I will.”

“I’ll get permission from Tanaka-Sensei to have you join us and give you the details when we can meet together.”

“What if they throw me out of the school from this incident?”

“People make mistakes. The teachers know that as well as anyone. It is how we learn from them that matters. I’ll see you at lunch on Monday.”

“Why would I want to sit by you at lunch? We don’t even like each other.”

“Because you and the other boys from 1-B that live in the dorms need to stop hiding from the rest of us. This happened because of a lack of communication. You have the rest of the weekend to convince the others that this will be changing now. We don’t have to like each other but we will be living and working together from now on.”

“I don’t want what I did to affect my friends.”

“Then you should have thought of that before trying to turn me into a villain to the rest. I am going to fix this mess and you are going to help me.”

“Why do I feel like confessing to Hound Dog is going to be the easiest task that you set up for me?”

Izuku just smiled. He got the other to think and listen. It had been a gamble to convince the other to go to the teachers with what he had done but he knew that it would only increase their disharmony if he was the one to do it. Kacchan would have beaten the message into the boy until he realized his mistake. That would have only made it harder to work together. This way, he had to hope it would mean he would be able to use that wonderful quirk the other had willingly. There were so many ways he could see it come in handy and he wanted that access.

Chapter Text

Izuku did not turn his back on the other as the blonde walked back to the dorms. He may have given him a chance but he would not trust him until he was sure it was safe. Some part of him was hurt that he had to be so cautious with one of the students in the school that had started to change his perceptions on the institutions. He could not take the chance that it might happen again.

What if Monoma went after one of his friends next? Kacchan could take care of himself but he had made friends with so many people in his class that he would feel guilty if they were targeted by the 1-B boy when he could stop that here. Hound Dog would know what to do with the other and hopefully no one had to know about what transpired tonight. He did not want to make the already tense situation more hostile by inciting blame for the other’s actions.

He thought back on his conversation with Yaoyorozu and made a plan to at least speak to her and Iida about what had happened since they seemed to both take their position as class representatives seriously and he figured they would be good choices to help their class if something did occur between the two classes because of Monoma’s mistakes. They had at least both proven trustworthy so far.

He backtracked to the hidden case that he had stashed once he was sure no one was watching him anymore. He was glad it was dark enough that Monoma had probably not realized what he was carrying though he could not hide the fact that he had been using the support items from his costume. Though after the festival it was possible that no one in 1-B would recognize he was not supposed to have the item and thought he probably walked around with it normally due to his connection with Melissa.

He did not regret using it without permission. He had no idea what he was facing when he had been attacked and had used it only for mobility and to defend himself. Surely the teachers could not argue with that? Still it would be best not to bring up the fact he had made use of it.

Monoma might realize that on his own and try to make trouble for him to lessen the impact of his own punishment. The blonde was quite intelligent and while he was rash the other had noticed his machinations in order to make the wrong conclusions. Izuku would be prepared for that scenario but he was not about to bring it up on his own. No need to invite trouble unless it came to him.

Besides there would be no way to hide the fact the school had given him access to his outfit. The case was familiar to all his classmates and too large to hide. He considered scaling the walls to the rooftop to store it until he could open up his window and bring it in that way. But they would see him in it anyway the next day and would know about his debut. It would be best to let them know now then to hide it from them.

He entered the dorm openly to see a celebration currently underway in the common room. He looked for Monoma but none of the 1-B dorm mates were in sight which meant they were probably celebrating on their own. He forced the smile as a cheer went up as his entrance and he was soon engulfed in a wave of well wishers.

He still noticed that Iida was not in attendance with the others and while Todoroki was in the common room he was off in a corner by himself eating a bowl of what looked like soba. As expected it was Mina, Eijirou, and Hanta that surrounded him and talked loudly. That was how the perceptive girl was the first to realize what he was carrying with him. He chuckled at the excited noise that came from her lips and she pointed at it.

“Oh! Are you planning on working on your costume? Does this mean Melissa is coming over too? Bakugou made enough food for her if she is on her way. Just warn her about the curry. I swear that Eiji was breathing fire after having a taste of it.”

He looked over at Kacchan who just shrugged at being outed for taking care of his classmates again. Looking at the partially eaten dishes that had been made, Izuku realized that Katsuki had made enough for the whole dorm. The fact that so much food was available after 1-A had taken their share and were enjoying their own dinner meant that the 1-B students had snubbed his offer of food. They were all really asking to be put on his best friend’s shit list. He hated being rejected, especially after being the one to make the peace offering.

“You shouldn’t eat off of Kacchan’s plate then. I bet the curry on the table is just fine but Melissa won't be joining us until tomorrow. We plan on working on a few things after the day's tournament.”

“Will she be joining us to see the tournament together? We are already planning the watch party and it will be great to have her here.” Mina expressed.

Her enthusiasm at an upcoming party and the chance to make a new friend very clear to everyone. He noticed that she made no comment about the curry and knew that he had been right. Surprisingly, Eijirou did not seem injured or burned for daring to eat off of Kacchan’s plate. He really wanted to know the other’s secret to handling his best friend if he was able to get away with so much that even he would have a hard time doing.

“Oh, she will be in the stands with her uncle tomorrow. I was able to get tickets for them since I’ll be working with Shuuzenji-Sensei during the upperclassmen festivals.”

The volume of the room increased as that brought more exclamations from his friends. It was Mina again that was able to have her voice stand out among the rest.

“What! You got tickets but did not give them to us? We only get to see the upperclassmen on TV like everyone else.”

Mina whined though he saw the twinkle in her eyes as she said it and knew that she was just being playful. He was worried about the smile on her face as if she was planning something. He would have to warn Melissa about her love of pranking people and joking with them before they came back to the dorm tomorrow.

“Whoa you're working the festival with Recovery Girl? That is so manly.”

The red haired boy said as Izuku felt an arm on his shoulder in a supportive way that he was just starting to get used to. The complete frankness in his voice and actions told him that the other was genuinely happy for his responsibility and opportunity with the school. It definitely let him see part of the reason why Kacchan liked the boy even if Izuku had not seen his strength yet. Katsuki would never respect someone that was weak after all. He made a mental note to try to work with the boy in a Hero Lesson in the future.

“Yeah, that is actually why I got my Hero outfit. I’m going to have my Hero Debut tomorrow.”

He heard the sound of the explosion and the crunch of the cement wall as an irritated fist hit it in rage before he let his body go limp as he was lifted into the air to meet the enraged eyes of his best friend. Sometimes he really hated taking after his mother in height. He did make a note to let Cementoss know that he would need to patch the hole that Kacchan had made in the wall.

“What did you say, shit nerd?”

He knew the rest of his friends were trying to talk Kacchan down at the level of noise around them but he ignored them just as his best friend did. It might have been wiser to let Katsuki know in advance but he had figured that they would all be together and he had only just decided to let everyone know what was going to happen. Initially he had planned on only letting his future Hero partners in on this new development.

The large grin on his face made him realize he was actually playing with the other. He was having fun. He did not fear that Kacchan would actually hurt him and he felt comfortable being himself around the others. It seemed being around some of his new friends had rubbed off on him a bit to be able to tease his best friend this way when he would not have done so in the past.

“I’m going to be debuting as the newest Medical Support Hero tomorrow.”

“Medical? The hell, Nerd?”

“Don’t worry. I have no plans to change any of our future plans. This is just a new possibility we can use to get where we want to go faster. Think of it, Kacchan we can still make our Spotlight Hero debut together. This will just give us another level of legitimacy. If we have any hope of beating Hawk’s records in the Hero listing we need to start now.”

He let his eyes show what he refused to say in a crowd. He would not abandon the other just to get ahead. They were partners. Even with the addition of Ochako, Katsuki was his best friend and he would never do anything to hurt him or ruin their friendship with each other.

The blonde gave him a look and made a loud “Tch” before releasing him to drop on the floor and stalking to the stairs. He made the proclamation that he was heading to bed. It was near enough to his bedtime anyway but Izuku knew it was to stop the others from talking to him about what just happened. He had already said his silent apology to him for his action though the rest of their classmates would not have recognized it.

“That was not cool, Bakugou. You shouldn’t treat…”

Izuku placed his hand on Hanta before he could finish his sentence. He did not need Kacchan to be more riled up. It did warm him that the boy that had been so against having a quirkless person in class with him was now supportive of him. In fact the news of his debut had made most of them excited for him instead of the jealousy he had been afraid might happen. It had been something he had hoped for but not at all like he had expected.

“It’s ok Hanta. That’s just Kacchan for you. Don’t worry he is going to make up for it by having an even more spectacular debut than anything I can do tomorrow.”

“Don’t forget about me, Izuku. I’m not going to let the two of you surpass me.”

Izuku laughed as Ochako released the tension in the room as she finally said her own piece. She had read the room well and used all of the other’s sense of competition to understand Katsuki a bit better.

“Now, grab some food. You must be starving by now. We don’t want to waste anything after all the hard work Bakugou went through to make it.”

He allowed the other to mother him as he got his own plate of food. He made a special flourish as he added the curry to his plate indicating to the others that if was safe from Kacchan’s need to add too much heat to the dish before taking a seat with the others as they all talked about their shared experiences at the festival and he allowed the warmth and joy from their words to wash over him.

He kept Todoroki in his sight but not once did the boy come over to join them. Even after he finished his food he just sat there watching them as if what they were doing was interesting to him. Izuku considered inviting the other to be included in their conversation but he doubted he would be willing if he had not done so yet.

He did not want to force the other if he was uncomfortable being around them. Izuku knew it would take more time and effort to get the boy to thaw enough to give them a chance but the fact that he was still in the room with them and witnessing their comradity gave him hope that it would not take as long as he feared. He reminded himself that Todoroki would not have experienced many social interactions beyond his father and maybe tutors since he doubted that Endeavor was the one to home-school him. This was all probably very new to him.

He finally excused himself from the others as he explained that he needed to go to bed if he was going to be ready for the next day. He knew that Todoroki watched him as he left the room but still made no move from his spot in the corner. He had wanted to talk to the other tonight but it did not seem like a good idea to do it in front of the others considering how personal their words might get.

It did seem that Ochako understood his message and got the rest of the dorm to respect the dual user’s need for privacy. He would ask later how she was able to get them to leave the boy alone. Still there was one more person he had yet to see after getting back to the dorms.

He had to knock on the door three separate times before it finally opened. As he had suspected Iida had not been in bed as it layed untouched as he entered the room. The vice class representative had not even greeted him as he took a seat in the only chair in and fiddled with his phone not even looking at him. The other made it very clear he was not welcome right now.

From his limited experience with the boy, he knew that his pride had been hurt quite a bit by being hidden away in school like this. He was also probably afraid for his brother who was out there currently searching for the Hero Killer that had just marked him as one of his targets.

It was most likely an internal conflict for him to be worried about his brother mixing with his hero worship that had been very clear to him from their interaction earlier. Either way bringing it up now would not be helpful in this situation and would make the other close down even more.

“I need your help.”

That seemed to startle him out of his current mood and actually look at him. There was a distrust in his eyes that Izuku felt like a stab to his gut when he saw it. He tried not to let it show but it made him hesitate enough to be silent for a moment. It was Iida that finally broke the silence. When he did, the venom and bitterness in his voice almost made him want to leave the other to his self imposed misery.

“What can I possibly do to help you? Aren’t you the one with all the answers?”

“I wish I did have all the answers. Iida, I know you're hurting and you are going through a lot right now. If it was not necessary, I would have waited till Monday to speak with Yaoyorozu. But she is not here. You are. I need your help.”

He saw the boy back straighten as the other forced some of the broken part of him together as he saw that this was something that he could not ignore. Izuku had hoped that his sense of duty would be enough to help the other push aside some of the darker feelings he was currently going through. It would not heal him but at least it would give him something to keep his mind occupied besides the imminent danger to his sibling.

“I was attacked on my way back to the dorms, Iida.”

“Another of those black monsters? Did the teachers subdue it before anyone was injured? Do we need to evacuate to a safer location in the school? I can round up the others and direct them to take shelter…”

“No, nothing like that. It was Monoma. I can only assume he was trying to kill me since he initially used Rin’s quirk to shoot scales at my head and later tried to cut me down with Kamakiri’s quirk.”

“Is he with the teachers now? I can explain the situation to Shoda since he is going to wonder about their missing classmate. How badly damaged was he after you were done with him?”

“…do you really think I am like that?”

“He attacked you. You have the right to defend yourself. I don’t blame you for hurting him but his classmates are going to want to know his condition.”

“As far as I know he is probably in the dorms sleeping in his own bed as we talk. I did not even bruise him.”

“The teachers let him stay in the dorms under these circumstances? I can protest their decision and insist that they take the matter of the attack much more seriously.”

“The teachers don’t know yet. Though I did tell Monoma to inform Hound Dog about it tomorrow.”

”You want me to go with him and make sure that he confesses to his crimes properly and gets the punishment he deserves?”

“No, I want you to make sure that this does not escalate into true class warfare. Monoma and I have our differences but we are working it out. I don’t want or need this to turn into “them” versus “us” just because one person made a mistake.”

“…He broke school rules by attacking you. This should not be ignored, Midoriya. I know you think you have this all handled but you can’t expect me to allow such blatant disregard for your safety to be wiped away.”

“You’re not responsible for justice, Iida. Your job is to look after the concerns of the class. Creating an openly hostile environment when we are all living together will help no one. Let the teachers handle his punishment. I need you to keep this from turning ugly. Monoma may be troublesome but he is liked and respected by his classmates. I know our friends. How do you think they will take it if they found out about this?”

“You have to tell the others. They need to know what happened. They can help protect you. We can set up a rotation so you are never alone outside your room and can watch for another attack encase he had not learned his lesson.

“I do not need protection. I took first place in the entrance exam. I won the sports festival. I just came out of a surprise attack without a single scratch. I am not weak.”

“I never said you were weak, Midoriya. We thought Monoma was too much of a coward to do more than verbally abuse you. We knew it was an issue. We were working to get it resolved. But we still failed to handle it before he attacked you. Having others around you can protect you from another incident. But not letting them know what happened will mean they might not see the signs if there is another attack. Do you really think the 1-B students would take the side of the aggressor over the victim?”

“You're going to tell everyone?”

“Everyone, Midoriya. The more people who know means there are more eyes to make sure this will never happen again.”

“…I’ll trust your judgment on this but at least wait until after Monoma talks to the teachers. I don’t want the others interfering until the school has their say first. I also promised Monoma he would be allowed to make his case to the treachery first.”

“Can you at least promise me not to be by yourself anymore on the school grounds or in the common areas? If I can’t tell them until later you can’t take any risks until then.”

“Deal. But I still think this is unnecessary, Iida.”

“Not even my brother patrols alone. He knows the value of having people watching his back.”

Izuku smiled and only nodded before leaving the other to his thoughts. He had seen the new spark of light in the other’s eyes as he talked of his brother. Reminding himself that his sibling was well aware of the danger he faced and had the highest count of sidekicks in Japan to back him up.

He had gotten what he had wanted from the exchange even if he now had to tow someone around with him when he made his way to the arena tomorrow. It would be a good chance to talk with Todoroki before he left for his own home again. Hopefully by that time he would have a better way to keep the boy safe from his own father than getting lucky with having a villain pop up that would take Endeavor’s attention away from his family.

Chapter Text

Izuku awoke at the sound of his phone alerting him for an incoming call. His eyes glanced at the clock by his bedside and frowned at how early the time was. Almost a full hour before his alarm was set to go off. He was still tired after staying up later than he probably should have been with his friends the night before.

Since he was not able to go out on his morning run without supervision since the teachers and now Iida had warned him away from that he had been hoping to use that extra hour for sleep. It was surprising now that he thought of it that Nedzu had not insisted on an escort for him after their meeting.

It was possible that the principal had thought that one of his friends had stayed behind since Aizawa had explained to the whole class that they were supposed to at least have a partner with them when moving around the campus for the time being. Kacchan probably would have been with him if he had not asked him to deliver the gummies and note to Ochako.

Izuku was rather grateful that his best friend had not been there when Monoma had decided to attack him. There would not have been enough left of the boy to scrape off the ground if he had done what he did in Katsuki’s presence. Of course, he might not have attacked at all if Kacchan had been with him last night. He was very good at deterring others from making decisions to confront them after all.

He finally answered the phone just to stop it’s insistent noise. He doubted he would be able to go back to sleep but he could always go through some Tai Chi routines on the roof since he was already up. His mind fully woke up as he heard the voice on the other end.

“Good. I was hoping you would answer Kiddo. First off congratulations on that win. The whole station was rooting for you yesterday and you made us all proud.”

“Thanks, Hunoko, but I doubt that is the reason you’re calling me at six in the morning.”

“I told you someone from the press had your files even though they never published anything right?”

“I’m guessing after winning the sports festival I became a more popular subject and they actually wrote about our connection. Is the station being bombarded with calls from the media?”

“Worse than that I am afraid. Our public information officer refused to release any information on you due to your age and your protection as a minor. That meant they went to those that were more than happy to talk about you.”

“Appetite?”

“Plus a few others. You would think that winning against all those kids with quirks would be enough for them to realize how amazing you are.”

“How bad is it?”

“Some of the comments mostly deal with your inexperience and “condition” that makes you unsuitable for emergency situations. Others talk about your inability to cooperate with others. The most laughable ones make it seem as if you were the one who actually started the emergencies in the first place instead of responding to them with the rest of us.”

“None of that is true! How can they say any of that?”

“Shush. Of course it is not true. They are trying to save face after finding out the kid they’ve been houding us to remove from our team is more skilled and heroic than they will ever be. Their names were released with your file and they are trying to explain their bigotry to the press.The problem is since we can’t release our side of the story the public is only going to be able to get information from those damn Heroes.”

“So what does that mean for us? I know I am grounded right now but I had every intention of going back to the station once things get quiet again.”

“We're getting you back. Recovery Girl and I have already talked about your apprenticeship and what that will mean. We both want you out in the field again as soon as possible. Oh and congratulations on that by the way as well. You are the youngest official Hero apprentice on record.”

“So what do you need from me then?”

“We can’t release information but you can. You just won the first year sport festival. You’re about to debut today as a Hero Apprentice under the more renown Medical Support Hero in the country. The press must be salivating to talk with you. Give them their interview. Make your case.”

“I don’t know about this. Didn’t you tell me to lay low?”

“That was before you won the biggest event of the year and turned yourself into a celebrity. Then it was their word against yours. Now, you will have people willing to listen.”

“I don’t know about this. What if I make things worse?”

“You’re at one of the best Hero Schools in the nation. Isn’t there someone there that would be willing to coach you and help you through a press interview?”

Izuku’s mind shot to Midnight and a shudder went through his body at the thought of getting her coaching. Having her by his side for an interview would be embarrassing and his face would probably be red the whole time. Maybe one of the other teachers. He worked the most with Aizawa, Shuujenji, and Nedzu but they would not be his first choices to talk him through an interview. Present Mic would be a good choice since he often had to deal with the media and he was nice every time they had interacted with each other.

“I might know someone willing to help but why didn’t the school bring this up since you've been working with them?”

“They can’t Izuku. If it was about a school event or something that happened on their property they would be able to manage this and work everything out for you. They have to be invited in since ultimately this is all your choice on how you would like to proceed. Since I am bound by the restrictions of my position, I can’t help you even though I want to. I can only offer advice that you should embrace your moment before it fades away.”

They spoke a bit more but Izuku was not really paying attention as his thoughts were focused on his newest challenge and they soon hung up. He had been confident giving out his speech the other day that was filmed and sent to just about every television in Japan. But an interview meant that people would be asking him questions. They could be hostile or try to trick him into saying something he did not mean.

He did not have Present Mic’s phone number but it would not be hard to find him considering he would be announcing for the event today. That meant he would have to leave early to see if he had time to talk with the English teacher before the second year’s festival.

He changed and headed to the roof using the familiar movements of his martial art to center him and allow him to think clearly. He really needed it after going online and seeing all the articles about him and his past. They had found everything. Even his connection to the dissolution of Aldera Jr High though there was no mention that the school had been closed due to the small minded teachers that had taught there. Only that he had been injured and saved by All Might on that day.

There were common themes throughout the different reports that had been clear as he browsed them. They questioned if he really was quirkless. If he had cheated to win the festival even to suggest that his classmates had lost on purpose to help him. If his connection to the fire station had put some pressure on UA to admit a quirkless student. Hunoko was right. There was so much speculation out there and not enough truth.

After a quick shower, he changed into his Hero Outfit and tested the new visor he received from Melissa to make a phone call to his mother. She was not exactly happy with Hunoko’s suggestion but was willing to support him and be at the interview to give him back up. Initially he had not planned on his mother being there but she had made it very clear that it was not up for negotiation.

He left his room with his first smile of the day. It was a comfort knowing that his mom was always willing to drop everything just to help him. She had been doing that a lot recently. He really did need to find a way to thank her for everything she was willing to do. That gave him his first real idea on how to help Todoroki.

He made his way down the steps to the room he knew the ice and fire user was in. He knocked and called for the other softly hoping not to wake any of the others on this floor. After all the 1-B students would probably resent the early morning wake up call and they would probably question him being in his costume since they would not know he was expected to show up in it for the festival today.

There was no reply but he did hear the rustle of cloth so he knew that the other was awake and moving around. As expected, Todoroki was a light sleeper. He would bet Endeavor would surprise him for training at odd hours of the day and was probably not the most forgiving if his son kept him waiting.

The door opened to a blank faced boy that looked at him but made no other sound or movement. Izuku gestured for them to go down the stairs and moved away. He did not have to turn back to look at the other to know that he was being followed. He led them straight to the kitchen and gestured for his classmate to take a seat at the table nearby as he riffled through the leftovers from last night and made himself a plate.

He offered to make a second one for Todoroki but was told he was “not hungry” so had shrugged and placed his own in the microwave to heat up. He did make tea for the both of them despite the other’s protests. He would have preferred coffee himself but knew the other to be a tea drinker like his own mother from the few times he had observed his food preferences.

He wondered if there was still soba left over if the other would have relented to having some food. He already figured that Kacchan had made it last night for him alone since it was not one of those things that worked well in a feast. It was a wonder more people did not pick up on how protective his best friend actually was.

Once his meal was ready he took a seat across from the other boy and dug in. It only took a few bites for the other to break the silence. Izuku hid his smile in the cup of tea he was drinking, having waited for the other to grow impatient with the normalcy. He did notice that his classmate’s tea had remained untouched. That was fine, they still had a number of trust issues to get past.

“What do you want?”

“Do you keep track of your father in the news?”

“Why would I care about what he does?”

“I figured you would want to keep up to date on his location so you would know if he was in the area. You’ll be happy to know he is currently in Hosu and will probably be there for the next couple of days.”

Izuku noticed that the tension that had appeared on Todoroki’s shoulders at the mention of his father seemed to disappear at the word that he was not at home. The boy finally picked up the cup in front of him and took a small sip. The face remained stoic but he saw the tick by the other’s mouth as he put the cup down and knew that his tea had been judged inferior. Maybe he should have stuck with coffee that morning instead of the hot leaf juice.

Taking his own swallow of the beverage he saw nothing wrong with the drink. It was not as good as what he got in Nedzu’s office but he figured that had to do with the quality of the tea. Well he never promoted himself as a cook. Food was food and as long as it gave him the energy he needed he was not too particular on it. He might mention a different brand of tea to Kacchan the next time he went out for groceries. He wanted Todoroki to join them in the dorms on a more permanent basis and little things could make the transition easier.

He may not have any proof of the abuse the other went through or what the real relationship was between the two of them but he knew it was not healthy. He also did not know how much longer Todoroki would be able to withstand the pressure without breaking like his brother had before him. He doubted that Endeavor would stay away for long. Stain had a known pattern and if he was not caught within the next two days would go underground until he was ready for his next kill.

The Heroes knew this pattern well considering that he had been using it for years and had not strayed from it once. Right now, Heroes were swarming the area of the attack to show support for the lost Hero and to see if they could find any clue to the whereabouts of the Hero killer. Considering how unstable the other was, it was always possible he could make a mistake. Izuku felt it all the more likely since Native had not been the original target. He wondered how going off script would impact the other considering that his need to kill appeared to be a compulsion.

He cleaned up after his meal that had been silent again and motioned for the boy to follow him out the door. He did not want to talk about this next part in the dorms. Even if they were by themselves he did not want one of the many roommates to join them when they were talking about something serious. Todoroki seemed more puzzled than angry the first time he requested that they wait for conversation. Once they were finally outside, Izuku was able to pull in a breath of clean air and turned to the other boy.

“What do you plan to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You just used the fire you vowed to never use yesterday in front of your father. He is going to expect you to use it again. So I ask you again. What do you plan to do?”

“That was a mistake. I never meant it for it to happen. Nothing has changed.”

“Do you realize that letting your father train your fire quirk could make him go easy on you for losing to me? He is arrogant enough to believe that if you had properly trained your fire that you would have won the match and might give you a pass on the loss.”

“You know nothing about him.”

“You're right, I don’t. But I do know that it is your quirk that is untrained and dangerous inside you. You have to be able to control it better. You used it by accident in a stressful situation. What would happen if you did that as a Hero? There are plenty of fire quirks in Japan. If not your father could you consider another Hero teaching you?”

“My father would never allow that even if I did want to train it.”

“Then what about your brother?”

“My brother?”

“Your oldest brother. The only reason that Endeavor would have trained him to be a Hero was if he had a fire quirk. Can’t he teach you control?”

“But he is locked up. How could…? How can…?”

“He is not in prison and you are family. Why couldn’t you visit him? Why couldn’t you visit your mom while you were at it?”

“I only bring her pain. I can’t do that to her.”

“Do you really? Have you ever talked to her after the accident? You love her so much but do you really think your love was able to grow so strong without her own love for you building that bond together?”

“Why would she even want to see me? I’ll just remind her of him.”

“There is only one way to find out Todoroki. Ask her yourself.”

“Why do you even care? What do you get out of any of this?”

“I want you to be able to use your fire quirk the way you were meant to. Safely and when you're ready for it.”

“How much is he paying you to do this?”

“Your father would never ask help from someone that just defeated you in battle considering his own response to defeat was to create a one sided rivalry with All Might.”

“Then what do you get out of this? I am not here to make friends and he is not likely to help you become a Hero.”

“I don’t need your father to become a hero. I can do that on my own. I want your mother.”

“Mom?”

“I looked into your history and medical files the first time you opened up to me.”

“You didn’t believe me. You thought I was making up stories about him.”

“I believed you. But I need proof in order to help you.”

“What can you do? How do you think you can do anything against him?”

“I think you have more options than you realize. But I hit a stone wall, I think your mother will hold the answers we need to get you away from your father. I think she is the key to the inconsistencies in your records.”

“…what do you want from me?”

Izuku beamed as he knew he got the other’s cooperation. His patience had paid off this morning. He wanted to appear reasonable and non threatening. Todoroki was like an abused animal afraid to believe in any offers of kindness.

More than anything he needed to be able to feel like he controlled his own life. Getting him to help with his own struggle to get out of the thumb of his father should help him become the person he was meant to be. Izuku could only hope that they would not be too late to heal him from the emotional wounds his father had drowned him in his whole life.

Chapter Text

Todoroki’s cold expression never changed as they walked to the stadium. But it felt much more comfortable as Izuku explained that he was hoping to actually meet with his mother to talk about the inconsistencies in their family’s records. He wanted to start slowly and gauge her mental state first since he did not want to harm anyone if they were in the middle of treatment.

His classmate seemed to be in agreement with him that the years of treatment was not logical considering she was incarcerated in one of the best facilities in Japan. Endeavor may have wanted to hide away his wife and oldest child but he still spent quite a large sum of money to keep them in good health. Izuku also suspected that extra was paid to the institution for privacy and continual need for unnecessary treatment.

There was always a possibility that he was wrong though and his presence and questions could injure a fragile mental state and ruin any healing that had been done. He had also made noise in meeting the oldest sibling but that was a lesser priority. His classmate was still so unsure about seeing his mother he did not want to push him too far.

That was also why he had suggested that Todoroki see her on his own for the first time. That way he could determine if it would be possible to bring other visitors in to meet her. He would be able to judge how far he wanted to take this. Izuku promised that if at any point he wanted to stop, he would look for a different way to find out what was going on with his family.

Todoroki seemed resigned to his help by the time they reached his destination and Izuku thanked him for his company. His classmate seemed almost startled by the gratitude but nodded and walked away back to the dorms. He had much to think about and now that he knew that his father would not be home, he thought it might be a good idea to talk to his sister about seeing his mom.

Apparently both his other siblings had no issues visiting the two and that almost cemented Izuku's opinion that they were being held for no reason other than Endeavor’s need to hide anything about his life that was not perfect. Can’t have a wife that disfigured their son running about or a child that was suicidal out in the public eye.

Izuku took the steps up to the announcer box figuring that he could get that over with first. He did not know if Present Mic would be there this early but he could leave a note asking for an audience later if there was no one in sight. At the door to the booth he knocked but did not hear anyone inside. Trying the door job he found it unlocked and entered, planning to leave a note where the Hero would be able to see it when he returned.

Inside his attention immediately went to the corner of the room as he realized that it was not as empty as he had thought. Tired eyes glared at him as his homeroom teacher laid against the wall in his usual yellow sleeping bag. He had not expected Aizawa Sensei to be here when he had come looking for Yamada Sensei but it would be a good place to view the event without being in the public eye.

“What do you want, problem child?”

“…I was looking for Present Mic. I thought he might…”

“Looking for me, little listener?”

Izuku quickly moved to the side to put both his teachers in his line of sight, a bit startled at the other’s entrance. He had been so focused on his homeroom teacher he had not heard the other one moving towards them. It also got him out of the way of the door to allow the other to get into the room. The blonde teacher gave him a large smile as he walked by to hand a coffee cup over to the other.

Aizawa took the offered cup and took a large gulp of the hot liquid but his attention never left him. It was clear that he was making a point that he had no plans to leave the room to give them privacy and he wanted to know what had brought him so early in the morning.

“Nice threads. I don’t get to have a Hero Lesson with your class for another couple of weeks so it is nice to actually see you in uniform. Are you here about your debut? Nedzu already gave me all the details.”

Yamada Sensei had clearly tried to go into some small talk. He must have seen the tension and Izuku hesitancy. He was also able to steer the conversation and try to pinpoint the reason he had come to him. Izuku nodded to himself realizing he had come to the right person for his problem.

“In a way, Sensei. My team lead Hunoko-san at the fire station got in touch with me and believes I should use the press to release my side of the story and use my current popularity to get the right people to listen to me.”

There was a snort from the back of the room followed by a deadpanned voice. “Clearly advice from someone that had never dealt with the press.”

“Is this about those comments from the Rescue Heroes about your work? You really should not let them bother you. Most of those guys are older Heroes that are all about traditions and don’t like the idea of change. I’m sure it will all blow over if you give it some time. Besides, you have the internships next week. You should not let a few bad apples ruin your mood and have you do something hasty.”

“So you don’t think I am ready for the press either?”

“…I think you don’t understand how difficult it is to work with them and stay on top. There's a reason why we wait for your senior year before teaching you how to handle them on your own.”

“Maybe you can help me draft a statement? Something that would make them stop this negative attack on me”

“You can try but most news outlets won’t publish something like that because there are not many people who would want to read it. The press likes things that will sell views. There are no true demerits on your record so you should have nothing to worry about.”

“What if I told you there is an actual demerit that I was punished for and would probably come up considering how much the news has already dug up of my past?”

“…What did you do?”

“I saved a mother and child from a near disaster in an accident I was working at as an emergency medical technician. The only reason I was not brought up on vigilante charges was because I was quirkless but the station still suspended me for months after the incident. That was the first time Appetite had me removed from an active emergency but it is not the last time he has done so.”

“So you’re telling me a Rescue Hero has a grudge against you for saving lives at one of his incidents.”

“Spot trivializing it, Mic. The problem child risked his life because he has no self preservation and the Hero in charge decided to become a brat because he lost some hero points for not saving the civilians himself and turned a teaching moment into a disciplinary action.”

“I did not see anything about that in his file. What else is not in there?”

The tone in Yamada Sensei's voice was the first time he had actually heard irritation from the other. Izuku could not help but wonder if it was partly due to what happened with Pony earlier when her records had proven to be incomplete as well. He had known Kan Sensei had gone to Present Mic for help to get her records translated properly.

“Student files only include academic and health files. The records of the internship work he has been doing was given to Recover Girl when she reached out after showing interest in taking Izuku on as a personal assistant.”

That made him pause for a moment as he realized the timing of that request. Izuku had been offered a position with Shuujenji Sensei right after the attack from the first monster. Not long after that Hunoko had told him that his information had been given to the press by someone.

“The school received full copies of my internship files?”

“UA was about to give you access to every students’ medical history. Did you really think you would not have been given a background check?”

“When did the school get those records?”

“…why?”

“There was a leak of my internship papers around the same time the article about my quirkless came out. Hunoko-san never could find out how they got into the hands of one the press.”

“You think someone from UA got access to your files and sent them to one of those vultures?”

“It is a possibility.”

“It is unlikely for someone to be able to break into our system but with the attack that happened it is possible that a person could access normally secure areas in the chaos. I’ll mention it to Nedzu. If there is a chance we are the leak the principal will be able to find the answers.”

“Sounds like you do actually have a reason to go public with your information. I still don’t like the idea of you facing off with the media, little listener. They will try to make you say things you don’t mean and trap you into giving too much information. Even if you were able to do a one on one exclusive, the press would see blood in the water and start hounding you to agree to more interviews and answers.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“I’ve heard you do interviews on your Put Your Hands Up Radio before. What if you do the exclusive interview with me? That way you can control the information and help me make a positive impact.”

“Are you sure you can handle that little listener? My show is live on air. You can’t make any mistakes and once it is out there you can take anything back.”

“It’s not a terrible idea, Hizashi. You can give him the questions he will be answering and review his answers beforehand.”

“Having the boy read lines from a script is not a good idea, Shouta. My audience would eat him alive if they think he is not being genuine. Radio is a lot harder than you think. You have a limited time to talk on a topic and you have to be able to jive with the audience without getting direct feedback.”

“Can you coach me through it then? I think a limited time might be a good thing. I don’t think I am ready to answer really in-depth questions and I think just getting my voice out might help.”

“It is going to take a lot of work. There is a different vocabulary that Heroes work with and since you are debuting today you are going to have to follow those rules. There are words that should not be said and those that are vague enough that it can be misconstrued. Not to mention as a Hero you can’t be hesitant. You have to exude confidence and reliability. Right now with everyone saying so many negative things about you can you really do that?”

“I’m going to have to. I have always known that my path was going to be difficult as the first quirkless Hero. You won’t be interviewing Izuku Midoriya on your program. You're going to be getting Heritage.”

“What are you talking about, problem child? Just because you call yourself a Hero name does not turn you into a different person.”

Izuku shared a look with Yamada Sensei that had almost made him giggle at the exasperation on Present Mic’s face. This was probably an ongoing debate between the two of them. As much as he respected Eraserhead, it was very obvious why he had chosen the Underground Hero route beside it working better with his quirk.

“I learned early on in my career as a medical technician that you have to always stay calm and sound like you know what you are doing even if you're internally panicking. I had to get my patients over the fact that I was young quickly in order to get them to follow my directions.”

“That’s a good start as a Hero but on radio that is not going to make you likeable. You need to be relatable. You need to get the audience vested in you and why what you’re saying matters.”

“This is going to be tougher than I thought. The only other time I really talked to an audience was yesterday during the Sport Festival during my speech.”

“You’re going to have to make your persona more animated than that. It was a good speech but not something that was going to make people remember you from your words alone. Maybe something like you did with that Hatsume student in your first bout? Would you be able to mimic that in the studio without freezing and stuttering from nerves?”

“I can try. I was able to do that with Hatsume-san because I love talking about support items and Melissa’s are some of the best.”

“This might work. We can make it more about winning the sports festival then what is happening in the news. That means you have more time to talk about what you can do and then hit them with the fact that you are a fully capable medical technician with years of experience. I like it.”

“So you’ll do it? Before the internship?”

“That gives us barely a week to get you ready for primetime, little listener. Do you think you’ll be ready?”

“I have to be Yamada Sensei. This media storm might be the final push that all those Rescue Heroes needed to get me kicked out of the station. Not because the station wants to but they will sacrifice me if keeping me will hinder their ability to respond and do their job.”

“You would have to eventually leave that station once you are officially a Hero.”

“But that would be on my terms. Being a Hero does not mean throwing away everything I have worked so hard for to get here.”

“I’m not saying to throw anything away but you’re a Hero student. Not to mention you are working with Nedzu, Shuuzenji, and Tanaka outside your normal class load. Isn’t that enough work for you as is? Why not focus on one thing for now rather than force something that you're not prepared for?”

“Says the Hero with three jobs. Look, I get what you are saying but Recovery Girl also wants me to be back with the station. She thinks it will be a good experience for me to continue my work with them.”

“...We start on Monday after school and will be working every day until my radio show. If I do not think you are ready for this you do not go on. A bad performance on air can hurt you more than any speculative news article from the press.”

“Thank you Yamada Sensei. I just want a chance to get my side of the story out.”

“Don’t thank me, Midoriya. You’re about to be put through just as hard of a boot camp as anything this sadistic homeroom teacher of yours can think of.”

Hearing his actual name come Present Mic, made Izuku realize that this was just as serious a matter as everything else he had done to get this far. It was too late to change his mind now that he got the teacher on board with his plan. He would just have to make sure that he did not waste the other's time. He will be going on that radio show.

Chapter Text

Izuku had left Present Mic and Eraserhead not long after that to meet up with Recovery Girl. They all had a job to do today and there was nothing more to do about it until Monday when he learned just how exactly Yamada Sensei was going to prepare him for the interview. The infirmary was locked when he got there but found his key to the one at the school matched the one to the stadium.

He was able to enter the empty room and replenished his medical kit. He wanted to add extra bandages and wraps figuring those items would see the most use after his experience the other day from his own Sports Festival. He was thankful that his Hero Outfit had been cleaned and prepared when he had received it last night but he still wanted to be as ready as possible for any scenario.

Shuuzenji Sensei had entered the room while he had been inventorying the room in order to have an idea of the supplies that were available. He just had not had the time to do so the other day and wanted to be able to know where everything was in advance in case speed was necessary. Sometimes the hesitation and frantic search for a needed resource was the difference between a medical issue and a medical disaster in the field when time was limited.

She had forced him to sit down after he had gone through the inventory for the third time. Izuku felt that she had seen his nervousness at getting his debut today and had gotten him to focus on her to help his mental state. They went over the duties he was expected to perform that day.

Nothing had really changed. Just that he would be going out there in something sturdier than the coat that normally designated him as her assistant. It was the same students he had been studying. The same possible issues. The same teachers he could rely on in an emergency.

He was handed a large supply of her special gummies and was sent to meet up with Midnight not long after that. She repeated Nedzu’s suggestion to stay near the R-Rated Hero while he was on the field. It gave Izuku a hint that there would be dangers on the field even to a bystander if they were not careful. That made sense since the challenges that the second years would face would be far more difficult than what his class had gone through the other day.

Of course it was the third years that would be facing tasks that would almost be considered deadly if they were not careful. The sports festivals were designed to give the UA students a chance to shine but only the first years in general education and support were forced to compete. The second and third year students all had the option of bowing out of the festival.

That was of course except the Hero students. Their presence was always a requirement. Aizawa Sensei had tanked both his second and third year festivals not wanting the publicity after getting what he had wanted from the first one. That was why he had suggested that route for Shinsou. It was possible that some of the Hero kids would go with that option today as well if they thought about it.

From his first day working under Recovery Girl he knew that Snipe’s class had only had fifteen of the original twenty that had been in the festival last year. There had been no transfers from the other course that year. He would expect a similar or higher number from Thirteen’s homeroom. He figured that Aizawa Sensei’s old classroom would be ruthless after their poor showing last year. He could only hope that the other Hero course would be ready for them. The few he had met in the Infirmary were definitely going to make it difficult for the class 2-A to sweep the competition.

Most support students would still be there to show off their gadgets but the general education students would have chosen their specialty at that point. Unless they were still trying to make it into the Hero course or had a skill that could be used on the field, Izuku doubted there would be many on the field today.

Though this was the last chance for anyone in general classes to make it into the Hero course so there may be someone determined enough to try for it. By the time they were in the third year, it was too late for general students to try for a Hero class since they would be too far behind to catch up with the rest of the students at that point.

From his conversation with Aizawa Sensei the first day his classmates had joined him in the dorms, he knew that if any of the general course students had any potential they would already be in 2-A considering the current system had it built in for that kind of transfer. This was for the students that had yet to prove themselves to the teachers that they had what it takes to be a Hero. That meant they would be desperate and could take risks because of that.

Less students on the field would not make his job easier. The increased difficulty of the tasks were one thing but the competitors would also be more dangerous after a year of quirk training. The Hero students would be using every skill and trick they could do in order to get ahead including disabling the others around them so they would come out on top.That would mean he would need to pay closer attention to the general course students that entered as they would be the ones with the least amount of defenses.

The support kids were the real wild cards in the mix as they would be bringing in powerful gadgets that were as varied as quirks and they were not limited to a single piece of gear as Hatsume demonstrated the other day. Power Loader was supposed to review every piece of the support equipment that the students under him brought onto the field but he knew that when things got damaged which was very likely in this setting that there could be uncontrolled consequences. If their gadgets acted up on them, it could affect the user as well as the students around them.

He knew that the third year support students would be the ones to really watch since they would be gunning for spots at the large support companies after graduation and would want to impress their potential employers. But the second years would still have many ideas that he might want to use for himself or with Melissa. He knew that Melissa would later talk his ear off on the possibilities that could be incorporated into their projects. The Sports Festival was always a highlight for them annually to get new ideas.

Aside from Hatsume the other day, he had not seen many of the items the support kids had used and would not be able to see the recorded version of his festival until later. That was if they even showed any of them in the officially released footage. Support students were just not flashy enough most of the time to actually receive high ratings for television. That was how you got the more bombastic or explosive items being used at the Sport Festivals. He could not wait to see them all in action.

Nedzu was a shrewd businessman and enjoyed the income the Sports Festival gave to the school which meant pandering to the public by showing them the most exciting and reckless moments that would keep them watching and coming back the next year. It was also why he had hinted at turning a blind eye on what the support students cannibalized around the campus to make their gear. He did not want to stifle their creativity and it made for better entertainment for the crowds.

The support students would have their real chance to talk and show off their gear later at the cultural festival when there was a more controlled setting. It also limited attendance and was never televised to both of their annoyance. Would Mr. Shield mind if he invited his friend back over to join him at the Cultural Festival? It would give them more chances to collaborate together in person instead of over the laptop like they usually did.

That did remind him that he would probably get an invite to I-Expo for winning the Sports Festival. It was something that Melissa had mentioned to him that she always had the chance to see the winners of the festival and he had always been jealous of her opportunity. Normally something like that would only give him the ability to have a single plus one. But if he was going to I-Island, Shifu would probably go back to check on her house and bring his mom along. Dad might actually be able to call it a business trip and join them there as well.

That meant he might be able to convince Shifu to host a few more of his friends in her house so they could enjoy the expo as well. He knew that his mom had approved of all the friends that joined them at dinner the other night so getting Kacchan, Ochako, and Shinsou invites would not be an issue. But after yesterday, there was one more person that would really benefit from going to I-Island.

Izuku wanted to start slowly and see if Hatsume would be interested in joining his conversations with Melissa. He had a feeling that adding Hatsume into their talks would lead to some interesting applications and would stimulate new solutions and builds. His biggest worry with the girl was that she seemed very independent and might not want their input. She had impressed him but he would not want her upsetting Melissa at the same time.

He knew she had done collaborations before with that other support that had made it to the second round. But it had seemed that she had been in control the whole time and was the true creator of the mechanical engineering bit. Even if she was not willing to work with them as a partner, he still thought they would be able to brainstorm and run ideas off each other. Some of Melissa’s most ingenious inventions came from random conversations they had about Heroes.

He could probably start with asking Melissa if Hatsume could join them tomorrow with his friends to test out the equipment she brought with her. He arrived at the staff area before he could go in depth on how he would approach the support student. He knocked on the door before testing the door knob. He found it unlocked and entered the room where his art teacher lounged in a chair talking with Cementoss.

He waved at them in greeting and the literature teacher gave him a simple wave back but Midnight actually got to her feet as he got closer. He had meant to take his own seat in one of the empty chairs in the room and allow them to continue their conversation but it seems like the female Hero had other plans.

“This is your first day out and you want to go out like that?”

Looking down, Izuku really could not see a problem. His costume looked spotless and everything was in order. He was even using the new visor that Melissa had given him the other day that could connect with his phone which was hiding in his medical pack.

“...yes?”

There was a groan as Midnight stared at him up and down and even walked around him to look over his appearance. He could not help the blush as her focus was making him uncomfortable again. Was there something he was missing? Was it the bolas? Should he have left them in the case since a weapon might not be a good fit for his role today but he used it more for mobility anyway. He would just have to explain it to the teacher.

“This is not going to work at all. I mean you kinda have that young tough dependable look going for you but your hair is a mess.”

“My hair?”

“The bedhead look is so out of fashion these days. You need something stronger. Something harder. Let people know you mean business. That you're no virgin to danger.”

“We don’t have time to cut it and it is useful to have it hide the tech in the visor.”

“I’m not talking about cutting it. I mean you need to make it fit your image. Here let me get my things. I’m going to tame it a bit.”

Izuku tried to stop his teacher but the next thing he knew he had been lead to the empty chair that had been his original objective and Midnight had pulled out a brush, a comb, and hair ties and bobby pins from a bag that should not be able to hold that much and he was given the duty of hold each item and passing them over to his teacher when she asked for it.

At one point he had looked at Cementoss to ask for his help to stop this. The cement Hero seemed to be too afraid of Midnight to intervene and had only given him a small smile as if he should just patiently wait for this to all be over. Izuku had only sighed and passed over another hair tie as the woman continued to play with his hair.

It had probably only been ten minutes but it felt like a full hour before the hands that had been pulling his hair around stopped and he was given permission to move his head again. There was no mirror in the room to see what the female teacher had done and it would be rude to leave suddenly to check in the nearest bathroom. Midnight seemed to understand his dilemma and pulled out a hand mirror from her purse. Izuku was starting to think there was some type of dimensional technology involved to get so many things stuffed into a rather ordinary bag.

But it still allowed him to see what was done to him. He was shocked to see that there were very subtle differences in his hair. The length was the same and it still looked like him but there was almost a mature quality about it. He shook his head a bit wondering how much the hair would move and displace all of Midnight’s hard work. Instead it settled back into place. She had even listened to him and used his hair to keep the sides of the visor hidden in it

“What. How?”

“Your hair is naturally thick and wavy. It just needed a bit of direction. Turn your visor on. I want to see the whole look together.”

Izuku still did not understand any of it but did as she asked and watched as she nodded and clapped her hands, obviously happy with the result. In truth he was also happy with the way it looked. He beamed at his teacher as he handed back the mirror. The heated look he was sent back in returned turned his face red but at least with the visor on and the hair framing his face he hoped it would hide that fact now.

“You realize I will never be able to replicate this?”

“Don’t replicate this. This was me doing basic hair care for you. You need to get to an actual hairdresser who can give you a more thorough style change. Nothing too drastic but you’re going to need to look the part from head to toe now.”

“And with that. We should get going.” Cementoss said finally coming to his rescue as he walked past them to open the door.

They walked as a group. Midnight was in front of them and he noticed the moment the motion of her hips became more pronounced and her stride became longer. Beside him Cementoss, had thrown off his chill aura that was always around him in class and his body straightened. There was an intensity in his gaze now and Izuku would bet that if he could see the female Hero’s face she would have her usual flirty smile that oozed of confidence.

Izuku had no hope of following Midnight’s example but he tried to copy a bit of Cemetoss’s mannerisms and at least try to give out a feeling of professionalism. They exited the hallway and into the open field to the loud roar of the crowd that noticed their entrance immediately as Midnight expertly cracked her whip loudly to grab the attention of those that did not see them at first.

Her walk became even more exaggerated and she started to pander to the crowd as they moved to the center of the field. He continued to follow Cemetoss’s example and felt almost like a bodyguard. While people in the audience were mostly focused on Midnight it was also clear that his presence had been noticed as well. People knew who Cementoss was but he was a giant question mark to them.

Very few people actually bought tickets for all three days of the Sports Festival considering the cost to do so but they would have still seen him in action the other day from the broadcast. It seemed almost impossible but people were actually questioning who he was. The only thing he had changed was his clothing and while Midnight had helped him with his hair it was not that different looking.

“Welcome back listeners to day two of the UA Sports Festival! Presiding over the activities today is the fabulous R-rated Heroine herself Midnight! Joining her to help out and keep things safe are UA’s own Pro-Hero Cementoss and the Hero Apprentice Heritage! Let the games begin!”

Izuku raised his arm and waved to the crowd as Present Mic introduced him to the world. He was glad that his visor was hiding the frozen expression of disbelief that this was actually happening. He was one step closer to his dream. Now he had to make sure that he did not mess it all up by throwing up here and now from his nerves.

He was thankful as Present Mic started to announce the competing classes for the day and he was able to step back with Cementoss as Midnight prowled around the stage hyping the crowd and greeting the students as they came on the field. Before he knew it, last year’s winner of the first year sports festival was being called to the stage and she gave the students before her a short speech about doing their best.

As the girl left to join her classmates an almost comically large pachinko board came up from the trapdoor in the stage and Midnight was in her element again hyping the crowd to the first round. Moving from his position Cement toss pulled out a large silver ball that Izuku suspected was really cement painted to imitate the balls commonly used for the game and tossed it up to start the “random” selection for the first round.

The crowd may have watched the ball make it’s downward progress through the pegs but Izuku watched his literature teacher. He saw the subtle hand movements he used to manipulate the ball that was definitely cement until it slid into the slot that proclaimed the first round was to be an Egg Hunt? For some reason he doubted UA would make this game as simple or as safe as it sounded.

Chapter Text

As Izuku expected the Egg Hunt was not was not as simple as it had initially sounded. There would be four different types of eggs that could be found. Only the one with the UA School symbol on it would be able to be used to go on to the next round. The other three types of eggs were traps that would be activated by touch. Midnight refrained from elaborating what the traps were but Izuku figured they would hinder the students in different ways.

Just finding one of the eggs with the special symbol on it was not enough though. They then had to get it over to a special area on the playing field without it breaking or getting it taken from them. That meant students could steal eggs from each other or break them on purpose so that others would not be able to get to the safe zone with their prize.

The task was complicated once more as a huge labyrinth of cement was lifted up from the ground directly behind them. Clearly the playing field of where the different eggs would be hiding. Directly in the center of the maze was a grassy field that marked the safe zone. The walls were only three meters tall and the paths were wide enough for four people to walk side by side. It would mean the people in the stands would be able to have a great view down at the students but the students inside would not be able to easily look over the walls themselves.

Izuku would have to be on top of the walls to be able to do his job properly and watch for injuries. He was not allowed to interfere unless directed since he could accidentally get in the way of one of the teachers if they had to get involved. This was going to almost be like working at the fire station waiting for the all clear before he could go in for his part. It made sense since the students would be in too much of a free-for-all mental state while hunting to worry about the smaller things like the safety of others.

He planned to set up on one of the walls by the safe zone. That way he could help those that complete the challenge and could be called upon if his attention was needed elsewhere. But as he moved to take a leap up to the wall he felt a hand grip him on the shoulder and looked at Midnight who only had one eye raised at him with a sassy smile before moving to whisper into his ear.

“Oh the joys of youth to be in such a rush. But don’t you remember? You’re supposed to be my little shadow. You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

The last was said in an almost purr but he was thankful her words had only been for him. He had forgotten that he was directed to be with Midnight for his own safety. Looking at the walls he realized that once the event started Cementoss was probably going to move them around and change the paths throughout the round in order to increase the difficulty. These two teachers probably did not know about his gymnastics background to think he would be able to safely navigate on the walls while they were moving.

Cementoss directed the students to approach the labyrinth that had no visible openings. It was safe to assume they would appear the moment that the round started. He stayed on the stage with Midnight who was now using him as a prop as she draped her body over his shoulder.

He did notice she was careful not to block his sight and the position while enticing looking to the crowds did not feel sexual to him. It was more like she was holding on to him in case he forgot himself again and tried to run into the maze with the other kids. While his mind was aware that this was an act his body was still red from her attention.

The students were expected to get cuts and bruises. This was a physical challenge and things could easily get out of hand. His first instinct would be to run in the moment he saw someone break a bone or take a hit to the head but what right did he have to stop them if they wanted to continue? You could still run with a sprained wrist. Still win the game.

It made him realize why Recovery Girl stayed in the infirmary though she would be more than capable of being out in the field despite her age. She would have a similar reaction to witnessing people getting hurt and trying to push past it without any thought of the ordeal they were putting their body through. A healer’s first instinct was to make sure an injury did not get worse, to stop it from more permanent damage.

But if a student out there had a quirk accident that broke every single bone in their arm he would have to stand by and wait to see if they wanted to continue. Then if they decided not to seek help, he would be forced to watch someone continuously aggravate an injury as they tried to complete the round on their own. It was their right to determine if they could push through the pain. He was there to make sure that they could get to Recovery Girl before any lasting damage could be done.

Izuku was glad to see that all the students were lined up with their own portion of the outer wall. If they had to deal with a single entrance to the maze like the obstacle course the other day, people would have probably been trampled in the rush. Midnight finally moved away as she started to hype the crowd up again. Izuku did not bother trying to leave his position again even though he did not have the R-Rated Hero holding him back now. He did not need another reminder to stay put and obverse.

With a dramatic flourish Midnight called the start to the games and Cementoss created the individual holes in the walls for each of the students. He had not made it easy to enter the maze though as the openings were a tight fit though he did notice that students with a larger body type were given bigger enterances. They were also placed halfway up the wall so the contestants were forced to jump and pull themselves through the small openings to even start the round.

The Hero classes seemed to take the challenge without breaking a sweat except for a few exceptions but the General and Support courses did not have it as easy. One of the Support students was having a major issue getting their giant backpack of gear through the hole and had finally resorted to opening it and taking only a handful of its contents.

They had left the bag behind since it would not fit. Izuku almost wished the student had more awareness and had used the hole two spaces down where a mutant type had gone through which would have fit the pack and all its contents. With that much supplies, the support student was bound to have quite a few surprises in store if they ever made it to the next round. He was almost tempted to take a look himself but knew he could not divide his focus even for his curiosity.

Izuku figured that it was probably safer that the Hero kids had received a head start though a couple of the general education kids had been able to match their speed at entering the structure. They would be fighting for the limited resources more aggressively and the other students would have an easier time trying to find any overlooked eggs in their wake.

He was not allowed to show a bias but he was happy when one of the general education students seemed to be on par with the Hero students as he moved quickly through the maze. That kind of determination let Izuku know that the boy was probably still hoping to make it into the Hero course. He could not recall the other from last year’s Sports Festival so he probably never had a chance to impress anyone with his skills. His quirk was mostly likely a passive emitter type or mental one since he had not used it to increase his mobility.

The large colorful explosion of smoke took his attention and was the first indication someone had found an egg as the student was left coughing and gasping at the aftermath of touching one of the trap eggs. Over the speakers he heard Present Mic inform the crowd that the pepper spray surprise would probably make the other kids more cautious of grabbing the first egg that they saw.

Izuku took note of the location of the first egg relative to the edge of the maze and realized that the first part of the task was to get to one of the inner levels of the maze. His thoughts were confirmed a moment later when an arch of electric waves enveloped another area about the same distance from the edge of the maze where another trap egg was discovered and a discharge of electric current had tazed the individual, paralyzing them for a moment from the pain.

A loud cry had come from the audience that let him know one of the students had found one of the coveted eggs that would be needed to pass the challenge. It had also alerted the students in the maze that someone was ahead of them and their efforts redoubled. The inner area where the eggs were hidden was more dangerous as the students were now able to face off against each other and were interacting more often.

One enterprising student was using a telekinetic quirk to hurl trap eggs at her competitors and running from them as she continued to search for the one she would need to pass the challenge. She was the one to find the last type of trap egg as the defining sounds erupted from the egg as the resulting explosion sent the unfortunate student flying back and landing on the ground from the force of the shock waves.

It had worried Izuku for a moment when the other had not gotten up again quickly and unconsciously moved closer to the edge of the stage. He was relieved to see the boy get back up again moments later though he did not like how unsteady he was on his feet at first. He made a mental note to check on him when this was over to see if he had received a head blow when he had fallen.

The moment the final kid had crossed over the invisible barrier that was the inner area of the maze, Cementoss activated his quirk to close off the entrances back to the individual entrances, trapping everyone into the tighter and more dangerous portion of the maze. He also started moving the walls to make it harder for the students to map their way and hunt for eggs in a pattern.

The newest change to their situation had the students moving faster and more desperate to fight the right egg. More of the trap eggs were going off as the students paid less attention to check to see if the egg they found was what they were looking for. Fights were starting to break out now that people were finding others who actually had a correct egg and were trying to take them away from the original person that located it.

A new cheer rose from the audience as the first student made it to the center with their prize sheltered desperately in their hands as the chains from the quirk of a student that had tried to stop her progress retreated leaving a triumphant winner to her very well deserved win. Izuku remembered her from the ill fated 2-A class and smiled knowing that at least one of the students that Aizawa Sensei had expelled had redeemed herself.

He did not have much time to think about the winning student as another fight broke out and unlike the other ones the boys involved were not pulling their punches. Before any real harm occurred a cement wall went up between the two of them but Izuku took note of the aggressor. If he was willing to hurt someone once it was possible he would be willing to do it again.

“Keep close to me. We need to move towards the center. I need to be closer if any more hotheads try to take things too far.”

Izuku nodded and leaped up to the top of the wall. Midnight moved efficiently over the cement almost like a dancer though she was somehow still able to be blazingly sexual moving over the very narrow pathways. Izuku stayed only a few feet behind her. He did notice how she had causally sped up as they went with her gauging how fast he was able to run over the same terrain in moments.

By the time the Heroine called for a halt three more students had made it to the center. Unfortunately, the third had tried to hide their egg in the long trailing hair that was controlled by their quirk and had found that the egg had broken on the way to safety. He had dejectedly went back into the fray trying to find another egg to replace the one that had broken.

Izuku jumped to take a spot next to his teacher. They had stopped not that far from the inner area but the wall they were on was in no danger of moving anytime soon. Looking across he noticed that Cementoss had taken a similar position on the other side though his concentration was on the students below as he continued to maneuver the walls.

His eyes caught on the support student that decided that rather than continuing to make their way through the maze to try to make a shortcut to where the safe zone was. He was probably trying to avoid the exits that some of the students were now guarding to have a chance at taking one of the passing eggs from any that tried to get to the safe zone. The resulting explosion from the device the student used created cracks in the wall but it also flung the boy against the opposite wall.

Cement walls quickly moved into place blocking the section off when it was clear that the boy was not getting up any time soon. He looked to Midnight who nodded, giving him permission to see if the student needed any medical aid. Before he left, he was given a saucy smile and a wink.

“Be sure to come back for me. I’ll simply wither without your presence beside me.”

With his focus on the injured, her implied innuendo did not even make him hesitate as he made his way along the walls. It was somewhat reassuring that his body could behave during an emergency. He was faster now that he was free to move without watching and following Midnight. Using his training to leap the large gaps between paths when it was the shortest way forward. He did not have to worry about the moving walls as he trusted Cementoss to watch his back and he found his way was completely stable allowing him to quickly get to his target.

Jumping from the wall to the enclosed area with the boy, he checked his pulse first to make sure that nothing catastrophic had happened from the accident. The skin was warm beneath his fingers and he felt the rhythmic beating that assured him that the other would be fine. He felt along the neck and spine to make sure that he would be able to move the other before pulling him into a recovery position as he checked the head for damage. He did make note of the egg shells below the body when he moved it. The boy had an actual chance of passing the challenge had he not tried to cheat the system.

Izuku felt nothing of concern but still did a full body exam just to make sure he was not missing anything. Once he was sure the body was fine, he took the time to look at the damage to the wall. Considering how deep the cracks ran, he knew that in an ordinary construction, the explosion would have given the boy the desired effect he had been looking for and could have entered the safe zone through a makeshift hole. But Cementoss did not build flimsy walls. The support student was very lucky that he had not actually blown apart the wall. The shrapnel alone could have caused him major injuries.

As far as he could tell, the kid had fainted from the surprise and resulting pain. That meant he should not be needing anything more than rest to recover and maybe some regular pain pills to help the mother of all headaches when he woke up. Either way he was out of the competition and Izuku pulled him into a fireman’s carry to haul him away from the maze and to the medical bots that would be waiting for him on the other end.

With the other on his shoulder he ran for the wall and jumped to boost himself up and used a similar move that he had done with Shinsou the first day they had met. He had gotten stronger since that day and he had no trouble keeping the boy on his shoulder as he balanced on the walls again. He looked to Midnight and motioned the entrance to the stadium even though she would know his intentions considering his burden. He saw her nod her head and took off again.

Izuku decided to take the longer but more gentle path since his examination could have missed something and the landings after jumping could aggravate any damage he missed. Internal injuries were still a possibility and Shuuzenji Sensei would be able to determine that once she had him in her domain.

As he passed the inner area his path was streamlined as his way forward became a straight line thanks to Cementoss. He picked up his speed gliding over the narrow route before making his final jump to the grass outside the labyrinth where the two medical robots with their stretcher waited. He gently pulled the boy from the position on his shoulder and laid him on the stiff cloth.

He was watching the robots heading to the corridors that would take the boy to the infirmary when he heard the crowds react to something. He leapt up to grasp the top of the wall and used the aid of one of the openings to brace himself in order to haul the rest of himself up in one smooth motion. The walls were still lined up for him to use to get back to Midnight and he easily set his course to rejoin her.

The moment he was back up he tried to find what had made the crowd react but could not see anything immediately though he did notice that the kids still growing through the maze was much smaller and the event would be ending soon by his estimation. He saw Midnight motioning him to hurry and started to race across the cement with a renewed vigor.

He met up with the teacher as she ordered him to get to the safezone. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and leapt into action again as his eyes moved to the center of the maze. There was a large clump of students hovering around something. He was not able to see what was going on in the middle of the group but he figured that that was where the trouble was.

Landing on the grass he recognized many from the group hanging around the central point and was not surprised when he pushed past them to see Nakiro on the ground with a large gash on his forehead that was still oozing blood. Red was apparently this boy’s color though he was happy to note that the patches of red for his incident with lacquer tree were no longer evident.

Taking a position next to him he was glad to see that the other turned his head and had clear eyes when he looked at him. It took a bit to wipe away enough blood to see the gash but it seemed healthy enough without any foreign objects embedded into the flesh. He was quite lucky that they had Recovery Girl available since a hospital would have probably had to give him multiple stitches to close the wound. Izuku quickly applied medical tape to close the cut for now and bandaged it to keep it from getting infected.

“Any other injuries, Nakiro-san?”

“What? How do you know my… You’re that kid from that was working with Recovery Girl that day.”

“Yep. That’s me.”

“You look so different in your Hero outfit. I didn't even recognize you. Bro, why don’t you wear it while working at the nurse’s office?”

“It is rather impractical to change back and forth for a single class period, not to mention this whole Hero Apprentice thing is relatively new.”

“Damn, you’re the winner from yesterday.”

Izuku looked up and smiled at the new voice and saw that only the boys from the lacquer tree incident were still around so the other students had wandered off by then. It made sense since the six of them seemed to all be friends.

“Is it really that difficult to recognize me? I still need an answer from you Nakiro-san, are you hurt anywhere else?”

“Nah, just the scratch. Also, yes. You’re like a whole different person with your costume on.”

Izuku ignored that last bit for now. “Are you able to stand on your own?”

“Sure thing. Does not really hurt at all.”

He could only shrug at the obvious lie but allowed the boy to keep his bravado in front of his friends. He was happy to see that the other was able to get up with a bit of help and was steady on his feet.

“Ok, be sure to get to Recovery Girl when the walls go down. That is temporary fix and you’re going to need yourself at full strength for the next round. Got it?”

“Sure thing bro.”

Izuku stared at the other for a moment until the other squirmed a bit. He had recognized that canned response for what it was. Placation with no real compliance. If he left the other alone he would tough it out despite his words. No wonder Recovery Girl wanted him out here in the field if this is what she dealt with.

“Stay put. I’ll escort you there personally when the round is concluded.”

He just rolled his eyes at the sheepish grin that was the other’s answer. He turned and looked to Midnight. She was still perched where he had last seen her and he motioned asking permission to stay in the safe zone. At her nod, he moved to the boy that had taken the blow from the first exploding egg. He also made note of a few other students he wanted to check over. None of them seemed serious but he would be derelict in his duties if he did not at least make sure they were fine.

Chapter Text

Izuku was thankful that no one had been all that injured during the first round. At least nothing that Recovery Girl could not handle. He did pass out quite a few of the gummies as a number of the students had used up their quirk reserves to pass the test. He did not even bother to caution them to try to hold back in the next round. That kind of advice would not be listened to when they were all here trying to get noticed. He just hoped no one would take it too far.

There were a total of thirty students that had made it to the next round. Mostly from the Hero classes but there were three support students that had passed along with the single general education kid that he had noticed earlier. Izuku was glad to find that the support student that had left his bag behind had been one of the ones to pass as he quickly beelined for his things the moment the walls came down.

Izuku had quickly shifted through the students that had not made it to the safe zone before returning for Nakiro as he had threatened and took him to Shuuzenji Sensei for a quick exam. The support kid that had blown himself up earlier was already gone when they had entered the room. After a kiss from the nurse, they both went back to the field and split ways so the Hero student could rejoin his friends while he took his place behind Midnight.

Right as he stepped into his spot from last time, the Heroine took it as her cue to hype up the crowd for the next event. Just as before, Cementoss came forward with the fake pachinko ball and tossed it into the structure that would determine the next task. This time Izuku watched the students as the ball shifted its way down to their next game.

He saw a sea of determination in front of him. This lot had gotten through the last round by their abilities but the second round was always a group competition. It was time to see how well they could work with others. This is where Aizawa Sensei’s last class had failed the year before. Not a single one of them had made it to the third round.

Snipe was good in the group situation but he was also known as a bit of a lone cowboy himself. Eraserhead often worked alone unless called in for his quirk abilities. But then he already noticed most of the Hero Lessons they had done so far had been in teams. By now class 2-A should have more experience and would be able to handle themselves better.

The ball landed on Unstable Platforms just as the forest of cement pillars burst from the ground. Izuku wondered if anyone really thought the game was as random as the school was trying to portray considering the timing was too perfect. But he did admit it did increase the anticipation fpr the upcoming round.

Midnight explained that three person teams were going to have to work as one as each member of the group would be losing one of their senses. There were blind folds, ear muffs, and arm restraints that would be given to each team. They would be the ones deciding which handicap they wished to choose for each member in their group.

This decision was important because each of the platforms had a limited amount of time they could be used before they would fall back into the ground. The goal would be to have the last standing team on the pillars. Once a single teammate was knocked off the playfield, the whole team would be considered out. With only ten teams, it would just be the top four that would be allowed to continue to the next round.

This game could be fast and furious or long and drawn out depending on the players. The biggest question would be how long each of the pillars would stay up before disappearing. It meant that the contestants would have to constantly be moving and the less amount of landings available would increase the difficulty and danger of someone falling.

He had no doubt that the students would probably try to take out other teams quickly. Losing access to one of their senses was going to take some time to compensate for and then to try to keep their teammates from losing their own footing would be difficult. So even if you have the perfect quirk for this challenge you still would be grounded by the abilities of your teammates.

Most people were not going to want the blindfold in a challenge that required you to be in constant motion. If Izuku was given a choice he would take the ear muffs. There were multiple ways to communicate without sound though it was the one that would allow you to easily ignore your teammates. Anyone that thought to attack others and leave behind their teammates defenseless would soon find themselves out of the game like that.

While the arm restraints would have removed his best attacking ability, with quirks in play other students might not find them that much of a hardship. But they would also lose quite a bit of balance if they were not used to moving with the arms pulled tight around their back. People often forget how often the arms were used while moving. They were a bit of a trap since they would seem mostly harmless to those with powerful quirk abilities.

Teams were chosen quickly. Most of the students were already well aware that the second round dealt with teamwork and had stayed close to their friends to pull into groups that were well aware of each other’s abilities. The support kids had made their own team as well, not bothering to try to mesh with the Hero class which seemed a bit of a shame to him.

The one team that was clearly the only group that did not know each other was the one with the general education student with what looked like one student from each of the hero courses. These were the ones that were last picked. It somewhat shocked him when the general education kid immediately went for the blindfold.

That cemented things in Izuku’s mind that he had a mental quirk. Why had he not been picked out beforehand to join the Hero course? Was he missing something in that regard? Aizawa Sensei said that the general courses teachers would have been on the lookout for likely candidates to join the ranks of the Hero class without needing to prove themselves in the Sport Festival.

Ten pillars lowered to the ground as the teams were finalized. The large platforms would be able to hold a team of three comfortably but would be a tight fit beyond that. The students were instructed not to don their new accessories until they were given permission for their safety. Izuku also wanted to bet it was so their bodies would not start adjusting to the loss before time was called. It would give them a slower start to the match and give the audience a better show.

Midnight guided him over to a spot on the ground while Cementoss took his own position on the other side mimicking what they had previously done in the first round. As expected a platform had been created under his feet and he rose into the air with Midnight as the other pillars all rose up to match the others that would be the new playing field.

As they moved up an unnatural fog bank rolled it’s way under the pillars hiding whatever safety measures that were being added below for when students fell to the ground which would be inevitable in this contest. The student pillars were on level with the lowest level of the audience which was still high enough to hurt if they fell straight to the ground without compensation for the fall like he had done the other day.

His spot with Midnight continued upward for a better view of the battleground below. Calculating the distance down he knew he would be able to fall to the platforms safely if needed to but as before he was to wait for permission before trying to respond to an emergency on his own.

The R-Rated Hero called out the start of the game not long after giving the students permission to put on their impediments. There were a number of hilarious moments as the students adjusted to losing one of their senses. There were also a few kids who took the opportunity to leave their teammates in order to attack another group hoping for a sneak attack.

One group had the ingenious idea to place the blindfolded girl on the back of the boy with his arms locked in place and the whole team moved as a group with the last teammate looking out for attackers as they moved to the center of the battle ground. They were smart to go for the space with the most amount of landings in a battle for resources.

He was not surprised that the first team to be out was the one where the three students had split off on their own. Oddly enough it was not the blindfolded boy that had given the team their loss but the one with his hands tied. As Izuku had assumed, the difference in balance was going to be a hard adjustment for some. As the first boy fell, cement rose up to catch his partners by their feet and they were removed from the field quickly.

One of the other groups must have seen how easily the group that was now in the center of the battlefield moved and had copied their strategy. Izuku figured more might go that route if given a chance. Students were starting to fight each other now using their quirks and physical abilities to try to shove each other off the pillars.

The next team to go out had stayed on their platform too long and it had descended too fast for all of them to escape in time. Only one of the group was able to hurl himself to top of a different pillar but with the loss of his teammates found his feet covered in cement and sent down with the rest.

The support students were the next to fall as they had been pinned down and were unable to safely get past the groups targeting them before their pillar had been triggered for their descent out of the game. Izuku was very interested in the defensive items they had used to at least keep the Hero kids away. At least one of the support students had seemed to have weaponized a swarm of small drones that he would have loved to see more of.

The game got more frantic as an increased number of the platforms fell to the ground leaving less places for the students to be and making it almost impossible to be on their own. He was sad to see the winner from the first round sent flying off the edge of one platform and unable to recover in time for her team to be eliminated. He was interested in the fact that the general education kid was still in play though and seemed to be directing his teammates on how best to keep away from the others.

That was what made him realize that he had a quirk similar to Ragdoll of the Wild Wild Pussycats. Sensing things that would not be apparent to others. Though not exactly the same to and be able to move steadily over the unstable ground without his sight. It was more an awareness of where people before him had gone before considering how his footsteps lined up perfectly with the route his teammate in front took. Was he able to track the path of others? It was a fascinating quirk. Would be amazing in a disaster zone or against a villain that was on the run. Why was he not with the Hero kids?

His attention had to move away from the puzzle of the boy as a cry rang out as a boy was left clutching his arm as he ran from the fight that he was in. He was too far away to see how badly he was hurt, but seeing the way he treated the appendage let him know it was not a minor injury. He was able to stop himself from leaving the platform but it hurt a small part inside himself to see him rejoin his teammates and push on despite the pain he was putting himself through.

Two more teams were eliminated as the space constricted in on itself as more of the platforms fell. One to the attacks of another group but the other team had made their own downfall as they found themselves with no paths available with the way they had come no longer able to be traversed. The pillars that were available were too far to jump to and their quirks would not be able to get the whole party out easily.

They had taken a stand in the middle of the platform as it descended, having given up on getting out of the situation. Izuku felt they had given up too soon and they should have tried something to have stayed in the game but it was too late to try to motivate them now. Not that he could since that would have shown a bias towards a team while he was working.

That had left only one more team to be eliminated before the rest would automatically go to the next round. The blood was definitely in the water at that point as each group would not be going out without a fight. The stalemate ended as the boy that had been previously injured was taken down despite his teammate’s efforts. Izuku moved to meet up with the team when his shoulder was caught by the manicured hand of his teacher.

“Medical robots are already handling his case. Your duty is here with me. There can only be one winner and the blood of the students left here runs hot.”

It was the lack of innuendo that made Izuku aware that she understood his need to help. The injured student had made it further that he had figured and would be going directly to Recovery Girl. There was nothing more he could do for him and his services might be necessary for the twelve students that were still in the fight.

Midnight was right to stop him as there was an all out battle royale going on below them as the competitors no longer had to worry about not making it to the next round. The students were getting bolder as they knew there would not be any real repercussions since their spot was now guaranteed. The crowd went wild with the new change in direction.

The team that he had noticed for their initial strategy of moving to the center actually jumped off their current platform on their own. It was smart. They were going to preserve their strength in order to have a bigger impact in the next round rather than face the possibility of using up their stamina here.

The group that had been the first to copy the other team’s formation had gone down next through a knockout rather than their own choice leaving a team of kids from 1-A against the group with the general education kid leading them. Rather than fight, the mixed team actually continued their strategy of running. It was smart. They just had to be the last ones standing. If the non Hero class kid had the quirk he thought he did, then he would be able to tell which platforms had the least amount of traffic and would be the most stable to run through.

Izuku was proven right in moments as one of the kids from the other team jumped to a platform that went down almost immediately and the group of misfits were named the winners of the game. The remaining pillars moved down slower than during the game and by the time Izuku’s feet were on the ground only the kids that would be going on to the next round were left and the fog nowhere in sight.

As Midnight explained the lunch break and the plans for the games that would be going on before the final round, Izuku made his way around the remaining students. Mostly he was handing out gummies. This round may have lasted for a shorter period than the last one but there had definitely been more quirk use on the field and most of the students were exhausted since there was no actual downtime for them while they had been running around.

He had found himself next to the general education boy when he realized the other was in massive pain. He pulled out some basic aspirin and hid handing them to the other in the gummies he had been prepared to give him. There was a blink from the other that was quickly hidden when he realized what he had been handed. But the offering was ingested almost immediately anyway.

It was as Izuku had thought, the boy was trying to hide the fact that he was currently in a weakened state from using his quirk constantly for such a long period. He would bet that the other normally did it in flashes and maybe for a single set of tracks instead of the twenty nine he had to pull off for the game. His teammates had already left him to go back to their friends in their respective classes without giving their former teammate any other thought.

That was how he was able to get him alone as the rest of the students left to find the reminder of their classmates and celebrate their wins. He could tell the boy was reluctant when he made him stay behind at the entrance of the tunnel away from the crowds. The boy relaxed on his own when the voices of the others became too faint to hear.

“Any fuzziness to your vision or are you seeing any dark spots that are not actually there?”

“…how would you know if a dark spot is not actually there when you see one?”

Izuku snorted at the disgruntled tone and knew it was probably mostly from the pain. It reminded him a bit of Hitoshi when he overused his own quirk. Mental quirk users seemed to all be made out of the same cloth when it came to personality.

“They will blink in and out of focus. Almost like playing peek a boo.”

“Then no. Is this really necessary? I'll rest up and be all better for the next round once those miracle pills you gave me kick in.”

“Get some sports drinks with your lunch. Something heavy in minerals and electrolytes. Stay away from caffeine and energy drinks for the moment or the headache you feel now will be child’s play.”

There was a groan from the other as if the thought of food was the last thing the other wanted right now.

“Should I just go to Recovery Girl. Can’t she just kiss this better or something.”

“You're not actually physically injured. Her quirk will not be able to be of any use to you.”

“Then maybe you can just take off my head so she can get me a new one that does not hurt as much.”

“Maybe something a little less drastic to start off. If you want you can lay down in one of the beds in the infirmary and rest until you have to go out again.”

There was a long pause but Izuku had the patience to wait for the other. Though he realized quickly what the issue actually was considering his actions so far. While the pain made it harder for the other to consider his offer, it was the thought of others seeing him hurt that was really bothering him.

“If you would rather, you can always rest in the locker room where it is quieter and there you can turn off the lights. I can go grab some protein bars and drinks for you myself.”

“I think you're my new favorite Hero.”

Izuku could only laugh softly as he guided the other to the promised respite he needed. He would ask the questions he was dying to know about his quirk later. He doubted the other would want to move again for a couple of hours anyway once he was able to sit down and relax.

Chapter Text

The general education student fell into the bench once they entered the locker room. He had definitely pushed himself to get this far without any aid. Izuku had asked once if he had wanted help getting there but had remained silent after the other refused his help. It was definitely a pride thing for the other so he let it go for now.

The boy had a lot of pride. He definitely had a chip on his shoulder considering how he did not want the Hero students to think him weak and that apparently had translated into holding off on trusting him completely as well. He was starting to see why this boy was never advanced to a Hero course but it still made no sense that he had been left behind.

Izuku turned off the lights as he left the room knowing that the headache the other was facing would make him sensitive to the bright lights. He wanted to encourage the other to take a small nap to let the medication do its work before he tried to put food into his stomach. The boy would need to eat but if they were not careful the food might come back up defeating the purpose of doing it in the first place.

He still needed to check in with Recovery Girl to make sure she did not need anything from him during the break. He may be helping one of the students in the festival but it did not mean he was allowed to go off on his own without letting the others know in case his talents were needed somewhere else. Though Midnight and Cementoss had both seen him escorting the student off the field and would know what he was doing. They would have said something if they knew he was needed somewhere else.

He found his mentor alone in the infirmary working on the computer as she updated the student files. Small things like handing out the gummies or placing bandages on small cuts would not be added to the records but any incident that had the potential to become an issue later was always added since there was no telling when another accident could be made more serious by past injuries. He recognized the boy with the broken leg from the medical profile and was glad to see that it was not serious enough to have to send them to the nearby hospital which would have been marked in his records.

“How is Takeshi-san?”

“Takeshi? Is that his name?”

“Class 2-D Hoshi Takeshi. Ectoplasm suggested him for the Hero Program last year but the boy refused.”

“He refused to join the Hero class?”

“Not everyone wants to be a Hero, Midoriya. He is not the first to be offered a spot and decided it was not for them. You must know by now that Heroics is an all or nothing profession. Takeshi has his own goals and they do not align with being a Hero.”

Izuku nodded understanding though it was still a puzzle that anyone with such a perfect quirk for Heroics would refuse to use it in that capacity. Just more questions to ask the boy when he got back to him.

“He overextended his quirk. Gave himself an intense migraine. I offered to let him rest here but he wanted someplace more private. I escorted him to the locker room and made plans to go back with some food for him.”

“How were his eyes? Any bleeding from his nose, ears or other extremities?”

“His eyes were mostly clear but he did have a hard time focusing. No internal blood vessel ruptures from what I saw. He was a bit skittish and I did not want to touch him in case his quirk had physical side effects since I only reviewed the medical files of the Hero class.”

“It is safe enough to touch him. His quirk only works on a visual level. His reluctance for touch is from a separate issue. If the pain persists, have him come by. I can give him stronger pain killers if needed before the third round starts.”

“I’ll keep that in mind but he might refuse on principle anyway. Are you sure he is not interested in Hero work? He definitely has the stubbornness that seems inherent in the profession.”

That got a laugh from Recovery Girl as she patted his shoulder and pushed him to the door. He was instructed to be back in the staff room before the third round and to grab some food for himself while he took care of Takeshi. He was not supposed to be in areas with the general public if he could avoid it. Izuku was all too happy to comply with that since after his talk with Preset Mic he knew that he was not ready for their kind of scrutiny.

He had grabbed a number of protein bars and sports drinks from the supply they had in the infirmary but had to make a trip to the cafeteria in the venue to grab himself something as well. He was able to procure a plain boxed lunch and was able to stop by the table with the boys from 2-B to see how everyone was doing. They were nice enough to invite him to sit with them but he begged off using the excuse that he was still on duty.

He did not want to play favorites and the students from 2-A would definitely notice if he became too friendly with them. Not that they really had anything to worry about. Two of their teams had made it to the finals while only one from 2-B had made it in. That made seven of the twelve total going into the finals were from the probationary class.

While one of the teams had technically gotten second place in the group challenge it was the team that had decided to take fourth place that had really interested him. They had the best strategy and teamwork as they worked together seamlessly to stay away from the others but had also not been afraid to confront other teams if they were in the way. They had been a very solid team that could have very easily been the first place winners. Instead they had decided to end their part in the games early.

So different from the second team from their class that had been out for blood. It had not escaped him that the boy that had almost taken things too far in the first round had been on that team. It was the kind of thing you would expect from people who were desperate. While he understood the need to prove themselves after none of them being able to shine last year, he worried that those three would go overboard once the games were one on one. Especially if they took their anger out of the students of 2-B.

Izuku made his way back to the locker room where he had left Takeshi and was happy to note that the boy was still in the room when he entered. Considering how it had been almost an hour since he left and the fun games for those that had not made it to the third round would be starting up soon, it had been a definite worry that the other would think he had been abandoned.

Using the light from the hallway, he was able to see the other was asleep. Rather than wake him since there was still time he propped the door open so he would be able to see himself and made himself comfortable against the wall so he could eat his own lunch. The boxed lunch of mostly rice and vegetables would have been sneered at by his best friend but he enjoyed the simple meals that Lunch Rush was able to provide.

Kacchan always complained that his food choices were never adventurous or interesting. Shifu had controlled his diet for so long that he never really thought too much of it. Just because she was no longer there to enforce it did not mean he could stop following her instructions. Much of the food he ate had to be by necessity somewhat neutral smelling anyway.

This was especially true when he was dealing with people that could potentially be going through something that enhanced their sense of smell such as trauma or people with quirks that increase their sense of smell like Hound Dog. He would rather eat his plain ordinary food and not worry about the state of his shoes when helping someone that took offense to the garlic in his breath.

By the time he had finished his meal he saw movement from the bench that the other was laid out on. Izuku knew the other was starting to wake up and cleaned up what little mess he made eating. Placing his garbage in the trash he picked up one of the sport drinks and stood up near the light switch.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been run over my a compact car instead of a semi?”

“Think you can handle some light?”

“…maybe?”

“Keep your eyes closed. If you can’t stand looking at it through your eyelids I’ll turn it off again.”

There was no acknowledgment after a moment so he took that as compliance and turned the lights on in the room and waited. After a moment the Takeshi opened his eyes and looked directly at him. He was happy to note that his eyes seemed better able to focus that the lines that indicated pain did not seem as pronounced.

“Your younger then I thought.”

Izuku blinked and realized he had retracted his visor while he had been talking with the 2-B boys out of politeness and had not reactivated it since. Maybe that was why people had not recognized him. He could only smile at the other and he moved forward offering the sports drink.

“Take small sips and see if you can hold it down. I’ll give you a couple of protein bars if you are able to handle that.”

“There is no way your a third year.”

Takeshi said staring at him and not taking the bottle. Izuku sighed understanding that the other would not take care of himself until he got a few answers. The trust issues were more evident now that he was not dependent on him to help with the pain.

“I’m a first year. But I have years of experience working in the field prior to coming to UA and Recovery Girl has been working with my mentors to translate that into an early apprenticeship with her.”

“Your a legacy?”

Izuku paused to think about it. There was definitely a bite to Takeshi’s words when he mentioned a legacy. Was this what Recovery Girl had mentioned about him having other issues? Was this boy himself a Hero legacy? He tried to consider the Heroes out there that had quirks similar to the boy. He knew it was not Ragdoll as the boy was much too old to be part of her family line.

“You’re related to Angler aren’t you?”

“How did you know? Who the fuck told you?”

“You have a similar quirk to him. But instead of objects you track people.”

There was a bitter laugh after that. “Yeah. I guess the old man is still fucking up my life.”

“I’m not a legacy or at least not by blood. I am just very lucky to have been chosen by my Shifu to carry on her family’s heritage.”

“Is that why you call yourself that for your Hero name? You just lose your whole identity and take on some random stranger’s just because they chose you?”

“No, I’m called Heritage because it reminds people that we all come from the same background. That we are all humans, no matter how genetics or evolution has changed us and broken us apart.”

“You are nothing like me. You don’t know what is like for everyone to expect you to grow up just like your Hero father. A father that you never really seen because he was too busy saving everyone else. A father that never had the time for you. When he disapeared, we did not even know about it until months later. No one bothered to let his family know he had been missing in action.”

“Is that why you don’t want to be a Hero?”

There was that bitter laugh again. “Of course they told you. Are you going to try to change my mind too? Now that I showed up those precious Hero kids? Can’t have the future Heroes beaten by the single outsider. Well guess what. I’m not changing my mind. You can tell Ectoplasm that he is wasting his time.”

“For someone that does not want to be a Hero, I do find it interesting that you decided to enroll in UA.”

“That’s because this entire quirk system is crooked as shit. Only Heroes get a carte blanche to use their powers as they see fit. If I plan on using my quirk once I become an adult, I need to get a quirk licence. UA’s program is one of the best for that even if it is secondary to their Heroics.”

“Your quirk is passive isn’t it? I mean you were able to increase it’s strength which is why you have such an headache but you can’t actually turn it off can you?”

“Noticed that did you? That only means that I need to get a license or I can be fined for quirk use that I can not even control. At least the mutants are given an pass but mental type quirks fall under emitters. We are supposed to be able to turn it off and on even if that is not always the case. I can suppress it but that takes concentration and even that does not stop it completely.”

“So if not a Hero what do you want to be?”

“I’m going into law enforcement. Be part of the solution rather than the gorified foot soldiers they throw at every problem. No offense to you medical types. But even you guys have to be careful out there.”

“What do you mean?”

“You do realized that all Heroes are expected to respond in an emergency no matter if it is your day off or if it is above your abilities right?”

“Your father? Is that how he…”

“My old man disapeared. No one knows what happened to him but it was more than likely doing something noble or some shit. He was a big one for responsibility as long as it did not deal with his own family. I was talking about all those senseless Hero death such as the Water Hose Duo that was just in the news. They should have never responded to a villain battle against Muscular. They were a pair of Rescue Heroes that just happened to be the closest Heroes in the area and were forced to respond. I can track people better then my father ever could but against one of the All Might like super villain types? No way. I am not dying for something stupid like being the only warm body they have to throw at an issue.”

“You do realize most Support Heroes are part of a group for that reason. Your father was a bit of an outlier for not having a group that traveled with him but he often teamed up with Heroes from the area he traveled too. Most Rescue Heroes live in highly populated areas where there almost always is a Villain apprehension specialist nearby or in areas where major villain attacks tend not to occur. What happened to the Water Hose Duo was unfortunate but it was their choice to confront Muscular. Rescue Heroes are usually taught stalling tactics so they can herd or lock Villains down to one area until a better equiped Hero is able to make it to the scene. Yes, that sometimes does not stop the casualties but it will often save more people because they are able to give people time to escape.”

“So they died because they were too stupid to follow the prescribed tactics?”

“They died because they wanted to save everyone. Muscular had trapped a large group of people in a large department store that had no way to escape. As Rescue Heroes, they reccognized the building was about to collapse and would kill all those innocents. They went in there knowing their chances were slim because they knew that help would come too late to save those bystanders.”

“So nobility. Self sacrifice. Why should I be expected give my life to a bunch of idiots that decided to hide in place instead of run like everyone else did?”

“You think that cops have it easier? They respond to those same emergencies.”

“After the danger is over and never without Hero escort.”

There was defensiveness in his tone. It was clear he had had this conversation a number of times. The fact was, he was actually willing to be a Hero in all but name. He had every plan to use his quirk in a support role and follow his father’s footsteps but he had wanted it on his terms. A better safety net. More support. The kind of things that many young Heroes never thought about and died early in their solo career because of.

“I do that as an Emergency Medical Technician. Wait for the all clear to happen even though I know that as I wait somebody may die because it takes too long for me to get to them. How long do you have before a trail disappears on you? Do you have to see a person before being able to use your quirk to follow where they have been or where they are going? Do you think there will always be a Hero on hand to follow you along a trail before it goes cold and the villain escapes?”

There was quiet as Takeshi really thought about his words. He automatically grabbed the bottle of liquid this time as Izuku carefully placed it in his hands so that they would not touch. Recovergy Girl had confirmed his adversion to touch and he did not want to startle the other out of his contemplation.

“That’s why you are working to be a Hero? So you can follow the rest of those idiots into danger just to save some strangers you don’t even know?”

“I want to prove there is more to being a Hero then punching a bad guy in the face and making a few pretty speeches to the media. I will do what I must with the resources I have to save people. Even if that means giving other’s the courage to save themselves. Had those civilians ran from the area and escaped as they were supposed to do than the Water Hose Duo would have never to needed to make that fatal decision to confront the enemy head on. We currently teach civillains to listen to Heroes and to wait for rescue. What if we taught them how to properly respond to an emergency? What if they knew that sometimes the best way to stay alive is to take care of themselves?”

“Your kinda weird for a Hero Hopeful. Most Heroes tend to overlook civilians as resources since they are not allowed to use their quirks.”

“Most Heroes are not quirkless either but that has yet to stop me.”

“Most Heroes would probably call a quirkless Hero a victim waiting to happen.”

“Then most Heroes are wrong. Just because it has never happened before does not mean it could not happen in the future. Just like there is no reason why someone with a Hero legacy could not work for the police.”

“You’re not going to try to convince me to be a Hero? To think I’m being selfish for wanting my own life?”

“Takeshi, I have been told all my life that I could not be a Hero. Why would I try to stop you from being a police officer when you would make an amazing one? Just know when I have my own Hero agency I’ll be requesting your services regularly.”

There was a genuine laugh this time from the other as he took a drink from the bottle. The penetrating look he received this time was more to size him up than a fear that he could hurt him. It was a start. He also still wanted to know more about his quirk and just how similar it was to his father’s. Was it also able to predict where a person would go?

The questions would have to come later. The third round was fast approaching and the other still needed to eat. He was also going to have to leave soon himself if he was to get to the staff room before his teachers came looking for him. He also had to wonder what really happened to Takeshi’s father?

Chapter Text

Izuku had to run to make it back to the staff room on time. Takeshi was a complete wealth of information once he had realized that the Hero Apprentice was not going to try to convince him to change his mind about Hero work. He had definitely become much more friendly after he had told him a few stories about his work with the Fire Station to give the boy a chance to eat.

They had ended up laughing together at a few of the embarrassing stories of when he had first joined the team. I mean how was he to have known that he had been waiting in the Emergency Mortuary Services the first time he had been at the main headquarters? He had gone to the restroom and had followed the directions to the first “EMS” he had found in the directory. He found out later that his team had been frantically looking for him for over an hour when he had failed to show up to the correct briefing room in the Emergency Medical Services area.

He had luckily been found by one of the janitorial staff that had corrected his mistake but his team had teased him mercilessly for a month on how he had rather hang out with dead bodies then listen to the Chief Executive Officer drone on about changes to procedure. Which was really just increasing paperwork and to send additional copies of reports to all Hero Agencies that responded instead of just to the Hero Public Safety Commission as they had done previously.

Izuku had really not missed much by skipping that meeting which really should have just been an email. As much as the others had joked about it, there were no actual dead bodies in the room he had been waiting in and it was a very nice cold room while in the heat of summer. Mortuary Services teams were only activated in dire emergencies when the typical mortuaries at hospitals were overrun by a disaster and could not handle the increased demand. They were joint teams made up of people that could be spared from the other services aside from the leadership roles that were trained for that service along with their other duties so did not have any actual staff on site.

Which really should have tipped him off that he was in the wrong area. He had blamed his lack of sleep from studying hard the night before for the examinations for his medical certification that had been quickly approaching. He had taken a peaceful nap in the room and had not realized a full hour had gone by when the nice elderly gentleman had woken him up. He had found out about his mistake, not to mention the several texts and voicemails to his phone that had been on silent from his team that had been looking for him.

He had never actually told that story to anyone but Kacchan who had called him a dumbass for not going to bed at a reasonable hour. His best friend’s advice had not helped any to actually get him to go to sleep earlier. His mind tended to be overly active when it came to overthinking things. With the important test so close at hand, Izuku knew there was no way to have a peaceful sleep until he had completed the examination. He had been right and had gone home right after it to fall into his bed asleep, his thoughts finally releasing their grip from his stressed out mind.

The door in front of him opened before he was halfway down the hallway and Midnight left the room with Cementoss at her back. He took that to mean someone alerted him of his nearness or they had been watching for him. Izuku fell back into place next to his Literature Teacher somewhat out of breath as they made their way out to the field. Midnight had made a few joking comments about how she had missed him during the games and that the students did not have the same fire in them compared to his own year group. He had to hide the smile knowing that he had been the one to encourage his classmates to go all out the day before.

He did mention that Shuuzenji Sensei was aware of where he was the whole time since he was helping a student and that she would have informed him if his attention were needed elsewhere. The taunting smile on Midnight’s face, not to mention the saucy wink, made him realize that she was well aware of his whereabouts and was just teasing him again.

He really needed to get better at reading her words. He had never had this much trouble comprehending someone before. From what he could tell it was because her talking patterns changed on him so that he could never understand her subtext properly. Since listening to her meant his mind had to try to understand her words and compare it to her tone which were often contradictory to each other but not always. It was taking much longer for his mind to filter out what was subtext to information versus the uncomfortable flirting that she used like breathing water.

Even his body kept betraying him since he would have felt by now that he could at least get used to her enough to stop blushing. Then she would send a look or add emphasis to a word in just such a way that he knew his face was red almost instantly. At this point he could only assume that any time he did not respond to her mannerisms in the way she wanted that she would up her blatant sexuality the next instant in order to gain the effect she was aiming for. He did recognize it was never through touch which made it somewhat bearable but still extremely embarrassing.

He did notice that Cementoss seemed to ignore her antics and the few times she had turned her attention on the other teacher they had been brief interactions. The art teacher was definitely having more fun with his reactions and even when he tried to follow Cemetoss’s example it never seemed to work out at all since it appeared she took that as a challenge. At this point he could only assume that his reactions were amusing to the other which was why she kept pushing him in all directions emotionally. It was somewhat draining and he was glad he saw her in the classroom so very rarely.

He was glad when they left the corridors for the field and suddenly her attention was on the audience again as she strutted her way across the grass where the twelve students that were in the final round stood in front of the stage waiting for their next challenge. He could feel the nervous energy from the upperclassmen as they looked to that same pachinko game that had told them of their previous fates. They would know by now that the final round was always a verus challenge until there was only one winner left standing. It was the variations on how they would be competing against each other that caused this stressed atmosphere.

Midnight led them up to the platform as she greeted the students and prompted the crowd to cheer for their achievements in getting this far in the festival. Watching the students he saw it when their body language relaxed a bit as they took in her words. It had not taken away their determination to win but it had lessened their pressure at the upcoming event. With the roar of the crowd Cemetoss came forward once more with the ball and tossed it up to send it down through the pegs for the last time. Izuku grinned as he had increased the anticipation by having the ball bounce upwards a couple of times before landing in a slot labeled ‘jousting’.

While Izuku knew what a traditional joust was he highly doubted that Nedzu would bring in actual horses for the event. There had actually never been an event in the festival that involved animals directly since Nedzu had gotten his position as the principal. Though he could only think of one case where animals have been used and that was the challenge when the third years were given a timed task of capturing wild animals in the first round. Come to think of it, that had happened the year before Nedzu had taken over as the school’s principal. He wondered if that had anything to do with his sudden rise from teacher to principal at UA the next year.

In his thoughts, he was proven right as the large platform that was an exact replica of the ring his class had used the other day emerged from the ground where two metal boxes the size of a car sat on both ends. Midnight explained that the students were able to move around their box as much as they wanted but if their feet left it at any point that they would be out of the game. During their challenge they would be pitted against an opponent who they would be trying to knock them from the box as it moved around on its own.

Izuku knew there was more to the challenge that was not being said but Midnight did not elaborate any further and any answers he had would be taken care of in moments when the round started. Next we’re the match ups that shocked everyone as they were the same teams that had just passed the round before. A third box was lifted to the platform at the new announcement and the friends that had worked together previously were now going to be pitted against each other as enemies.

Only one from each team would be allowed to go forward where they would then have a single opponent to worry about in the semifinals and finals. Izuku wondered if it would be a free-for-all or if any of the students would try to work with each other against a single opponent first. It would definitely be an equalizer against the two students with quirks that had long distance attacks. Otherwise those two would have a major advantage in a challenge that would have the majority of the round at a distance from each other.

Izuku was betting that the box movements were going to be no more random than everything else at the Sports Festival. In fact he was assuming it was Nedzu or Powerloader that would be controlling the simple seeming creations and making sure that the audience got a good show from this round.

Takeshi was called up first with his previous team considering they had won the last round. Now that he knew more about the general education student’s quirk, Izuku knew that this fight would be a tough one for him. His quirk worked on people only and the boxes would be controlling direction rather than the students on top of them. He was still in shape and would be capable of using his physical strength to knock his year mates off their “horse” with the blunted lance they were given as an aid.

His two opponents did not have long distance attacks but they were Hero students and had passed the exam for that placement. The student from 2-B was able to jump higher and farther with the mutant changes to their legs that gave them almost a spring board in their step. That one would have to be careful since his feet would not be able to leave the ground at the same time to take full advantage of his quirk though it could be used for some quite devastating kicks if he could get close enough to the others.

It was the one from 2-A that had the best chance to win with their quirk of mirror image. That ability gave him a way to create false versions of himself even if they were not solid like Ectoplasm’s clones it would make it harder for the other to hit the correct target. He had been their main attacker during the last round when they were unable to run away so he definitely had fighting skills to go with his quirk. The other had acted more like a scout using his mobility to lead their way with Takeshi’s suggestions. Those suggestions became directions after the boy realized that when he had not followed them that he would have to use his quirk to quickly jump away from collapsing platforms.

The match started and the boxes moved faster than anyone was really prepared for. The boy from 2-B had almost been removed immediately as his balance had not been expecting the sudden forward momentum. Thankfully he had kept his grip on the lance as well as his feet on the platform even if he had stumbled back a few steps. The student from 2-A had created two copies of himself though Izuku knew he could make many more duplicates but the space on the box had limited the numbers he could use.

The three boxes looked like they were moving to impact with each other though Izuku saw the subtle movements that were starting to angle them from an actual crash though he would bet they would be side by side in moments. Takeshi had the shortest distance to the center since he was coming from the side and his box passed through before looping around and aiming to go through again.

That told Izuku if they were making the boxes turn that they would only have a forward motion and would not be having them move backwards. That would make it easier for the participants to stay on the vehicles. Though it was possible they would not use the full capabilities of the boxes at this time and wait to use them to increase the difficulty in the following rounds when there were only two opponents.

It seemed almost like magic when the three boxes finally met at the center with Takeshi sliding by the middle right before the other two made it there and slid through as well side to side with each other for a moment due to their speed. The students had tried to use their lances against each other but were adjusting to the weight of it in their hands and fought against the wind that was created at the speed they were going to actually hit a target.

The boxes never stopped moving as they set themselves up again for another pass through. Takeshi’s box was actually moving him into one of the positions with the longer straight away. This let Izuku know that the middle position would probably alternate with each pass until one of the boys was knocked off their feet and removed from the game.

The speed of the boxes increased slightly as they moved toward each other again. If he was not measuring the distance in his head, he probably would not have noticed change and figured that each pass would increase the speed of the mounts until the students would be fighting their ability to continue standing on the boxes more than their opponents.

Takeshi had been able to control his lance well enough to aim at the next pass but it had only unbalanced the 2-B student though the 2-A student had taken advantage of that and had used their own lance to knock the weapon from the boy’s hands while he tried to keep on his feet. The lance clattered to the ground as the boxes continued to move, readying the next pass.

It seemed that the loss of the lance was not enough to remove the student from the game though the cement below the lance had engulfed it so that the way was clear as the boys were coming closer together again. The small cooperation of the two against the 2-B student was already in the past as the student from 2-A aimed their lance at Takeshi considering him the larger threat now that the other was without a weapon.

Unfortunately it had been his turn at the center shortway path so while his attention was on Takeshi, the 2-B student and used the mutation in his legs to quickly speed to the front of his box getting in reach of the other boy and kicked his leg out to impact the boy at the direct center of his back and pitching him to the cement below where he rolled a couple of times before the cement block he was on moved the body to the side closest to Izuku and the box he was riding one disappeared into the platform with the downed lance.

Jumping down from the stage he moved to the boy that was already starting to get up. He frowned as he looked back at the two students still in motion as he waved away Izuku’s help as he used his eyes to double check to see if falling from the speed they had been going had hurt him at all.

“How the hell could he tell which one I was? My mirror copies are perfect!”

“He used your shadow.”

“What?”

“Only you have a shadow attached to your form unlike your duplicates. He probably noticed during the second round and used that knowledge to pick you out in order to attack directly. He was better off without using his lance anyway. It was hurting his balance and his upper body strength was not able to support it to the best of his abilities.”

“Oh.”

“If you're not hurt, you should make it back up to the stands with your classmates. Takeshi-san should have won by then.”

“The Gen Ed kid?”

Izuku paused and gave the other person a glare at the tone he had used for the boy. Even with his visor on, the other was able to see the look and took a step back knowing he had said something wrong.

“He may be in General Education, but that does not make him any less than you. If it was not for his guidance the three of you would have been plummeting to the ground within the first minute of the last game. He quickly adapted to using the lance which gives him the advantage of reach. The other is locked down from using the full capacity of his quick since he is not allowed to jump with it. Not to mention his quirk will allow him to know the direction the other will try to move in order to evade his attacks. I give it two more passes at most.”

There was the cheer from the crowd that had both boys turning back to the center of the ring where Takeshi lifted the lance above his head in triumph as the other boy picked himself off the floor and started walking in the direction of the closest exit. Izuku ignored the other and he moved to the side of the platform where he would be able to intercept the other before his feet touched the grass.

He doubted the other needed any medical treatment considering the way he was moving easily but it was a good excuse to get away from the other boy. He did not have time to deal with the hurt feelings of someone that discounted someone so easily after seeing his amazing abilities first hand.

Hmm, that was different. He had just met Takeshi and already he was growing attached. Maybe it was a sign he should try to introduce him to some of his friends. Melissa would probably be as interested as he had been about how to replicate his quirk into a support item. He would have to think about it more.

Chapter Text

The next group up was the second place team from 2-A. It did have the hothead from earlier who could potentially take it too far yet again, but with a transformation quirk that turned his fists into sledgehammers he really doubted he would be able to keep hold of the lance for long.

He could say the same thing for the girl with the emitter quirk that could produce a liquid that Izuku predicted was poison from her hands considering how the other two had been very careful not to allow her to touch them the whole time. Producing a slippery substance like that would make it harder to grip the lance and as far as he could tell she could not expel the substance far from her hands as a projectile attack.

It could be used similarly to Mina though in helping her mobility as she had demonstrated in the second round. But since the quirk was concentrated in her hands only, it was clear that she did not have the same balance and ability to use it as easily. It also was not much use for her to coat the top of the box with the poison since it would also make it easier for her to fall off without the traction as the speed of the vehicle would hinder her ability to stay on.

It was the boy with sunglasses and a hoodie that had really caught his attention. The fact that he had been allowed to wear both of those items when typically the students were not allowed accessories meant that they were support items. He had been forced to use the blind fold in the second round since the hot head insisted on both his sight and hands free and the girl was a mobility specialist that needed her sight more. That meant he had not really been able to show off his quirk.

If he had used it in the first round, Izuku had missed it in the mix of the other students but he had recalled that he had passed somewhere near the top of the pack so he was either lucky, skilled, or a combination of the two. With the hoodie, Izuku was betting on some sort of quirk that dealt with temperature that he would need the extra layer of clothing to help regulate his body. From his study of the students in the upper classes he was able to narrow down the boy and realized it was a heat ray that the student was able to produce with his eyes.

That meant those glasses were there because his quirk was considered dangerous even though he could turn his power off and on. It gave him an immense advantage since he had a long distance attack that could make short work of the other two students. That was as long as he was willing to hurt them. Heat was invisible to the naked eye so it would be hard to tell when he was actually using his quirk. From the reports he read it was either on or off with no variable of intensity.

A short burst of his power could easily start fires and the more he concentrated on anything flammable the more terrible the destruction. Against people, his ability could create burns and literally boil the water under a person’s skin as it cooked the flesh. Though that would take time before it got to that point. It was one of the more powerful quirks he had ever heard about and would be devastating if he used it in a hidden sniper role. It was a shame it only worked on organic materials and needed direct eyesight for it to work.

The girl surprised him by creating large amounts of her poison and spreading it over her body like a lotion but then included her clothing and hair as well. Izuku would bet that she was using her quirk to counteract the distance attack of the heat ray. It was a good thing that these students were classmates and probably knew the strength and weaknesses of each other’s quirks. It would be like that when they went pro since it was hard to hide your abilities when they were paraded out in the open for publicity.

The hothead seemed confident and had tossed the lance to the ground not even bothering to pick it up as his hands turned into weapons. Since they were not organic they would be able to block the effects of the heat ray but only if he could determine where it was taking effect since while the sledge hammers he created were large they would only be able to cover so much of his body.

In fact the boy with the quirk vision was the only one to seem to be using the lance normally as the girl stabbed the tip into the top of her box to pierce it and wedge it down to create a vertical pole for her to hang on to. A very intelligent move since she had needed to use her quirk for protection and would need the extra support of the grip over an attack to stay on the box. It also let him know that the girl was stronger then she let on to be able to do that sort of feat to a metal object.

The boxes started to move again in the same pattern once Midnight indicated the start of the match. It seemed both the hothead and the girl recognized their biggest threat and had made the effort to ensure that they both had the boxes at the ends leaving the middle for the boy with sunglasses. Even with the unnamed alliance, the student still seemed confident as he removed his glasses and looked straight at the hothead.

His target immediately started to move his hands in a circular pattern. With no way to know where the other’s sight was concentrated on, he used his quirk to ensure that the quirk was never given an unobstructed view for long. This method worked for a bit but he was only halfway down the path when his shirt caught on fire. Rather than try to put it out he continued his pattern to block the other’s sight.

Izuku nodded as he understood that the time and motion it would take to put out the small fire would put him in greater danger from the other. While the two boys battled, the girl was not being idle as poison dripped from her hands as she hurriedly created more to the point of overflowing. As her box came close to the middle one her hands flew out and the poison gathered in them was arched out to rain onto the top of the other as the hot head stopped his pattern long enough to send his sledgehammers crashing down onto the box of his opponent at an angle to tilt it up.

The box was heavy enough it had not tipped over but with the poison spread along the surface, it was enough to make the boy scramble to stay onto his platform. He might have been able to make it for another go around but the girl had followed up on the attack and used one of her long legs to sweep him off his feet, dumping him to the ground as she used her own lance to keep herself from falling off as well.

Crouching low on the platform she kept her eyes on her next target as the boxes moved to their next pass. Placing her body around the lance to give her body more stability, she started producing more of her poison to ready for her next attack.The final boy moved up to the front of his box wanting to be as close as possible for when they came into range of each other. He had already taken care of the fire though his clothes still bore the marks from it.

While the girl seemed ready for the other to attack her box, tipping it in a similar manner she had probably not expected his other hand to aim for her lance and it cracked through the wooden frame to shatter it. Without the support of the lance and her body coated in the liquid of her quirk she too fell from her box leaving the winner of the match as the hothead who seemed more intelligent than Izuku had expected considering how quick he had been to attack.

But then his best friend had similar mannerism so he would not judge this book by its cover. Izuku had already moved to check on the first boy who had replaced his sunglasses immediately after he caught his breath from the fall and waved him off with a good natured smile. He still looked him over but agreed that he was perfectly fit before the girl had been moved his way.

He did not offer to help her up considering that she was still coated in her own poison but she was quick enough to do it on her own and had caught up with her classmate to go back into the stands where the rest of their friends waited. Even after losing she seemed quite perky rather than disappointed as he would have suspected.

The match had been over in moments as the next group scrambled to get onto the new boxes that emerged due to the damage of the ones that had previously been used. The group from 2-B consisted of three boys that had mutation quirks. Their agility and maneuverability were well used in the last round.

One had deer-like antlers that protruded from his head and seemed mostly human but the way he walked let Izuku know that his legs were shaped in a way to match his antlers. Another had large scales along his arms with claws in place of his hands and feet that reminded him of some great lizard. The last was the biggest and tallest of the lot with a tail reminiscent of a large cat. There were no other outward signs of his mutation unless he smiled and you could see his large jaw and rows of sharp teeth.

With animal characteristics, none of them seemed to have issues with their balance as the boxes started to move. In fact the reptilian mutant had even used the claws on his feet to dig them into the box for extra stability. This was the match that took the longest so far as none of the combatants seemed willing to work with each other to defeat the third and their physical abilities allowed them to dodge or withstand the attacks of the others.

The lance had fallen away from the hands of the reptile first but he had not seemed to miss it much as his mutation already gave him a longer reach. It was the deer mutation that had been sent staggering back and off his box when the cat-like boy had finally been able to land a solid hit to his body with his lance. With that there were only two left. The boy with the only lance remaining tried to use the same tactic on the reptile-like student but his natural defence was too great and he barely moved when the lance shattered against his body.

Without the lance, he tried to punch the other but kept having to dodge the claw like hands. It did not take much longer for the boy with cat traits to finally be knocked off his perch though he had still landed on his feet when he hit the ground. He walked off the platform on his own and made it over to the deer-like boy that stood next Izuku. Following their interactions, it was clear the three of them were fast friends as they teased each other and waited for the last boy to leave his adoring audience.

Izuku was grateful there had not been any incidents that had needed his attention in the round so far. It was so different from his own sports festival the other day. He wondered if the school did that on purpose. These challenges were technically more difficult but the ways to actually be injured had a smaller window.

The last three to make it onto the field was an interesting mix. One of the girls in the group had been the one with the blindfold and had been carried the whole time. Considering her face was shaped like a wolf, he figured she had used her sense of smell to a higher degree than the others and had still been able to contribute to the group while depending on them for their movements.

The boy that had carried her had a strength enhancement quirk that depended on how much sunlight he could absorb through his skin. Which meant he probably had not had much issue carting around another person for a long period of time. It also explained why he had rolled up the arms of his top and pants to give his skin as much access to the sunlight as possible to continue building his strength.

The last girl had been their scout and sniper in the last round. He recognized her as a trained gymnast from her movements and used her quirk to materialize glass marbles from the air and sent them out with great accuracy with a flick of her finger. As far as he could tell from the last round, the speed of the marbles was similar to a slingshot. Not as deadly as a bullet but with her aim, speed did not always matter.

The sniper had actually aimed for the center box when they were released to take their places. It was a smart move for her quirk. It placed her in range for both of her opponents and she already knew that they would want to take her out first as the biggest threat.

The match started explosively as marbles appeared out of nowhere and shot off in both directions in quirk fire. From what Izuku could tell her quirk was limited to her fingers aside from her thumbs. That meant she could only create up to eight of them at a time but once she flicked them at a target would be able to create a new one in its place.

The boy had tried to withstand the fire of projectiles but had gone down from the onslaught. The mutant girl was able to dodge a few of the attacks but was also hit a number of times. From the winces, he knew there would be bruises where the marbles had hit their target.

He had made it to the side of the boy and felt along his head for the bump that had taken him down. He had been smart enough to bring his arms up to cover his head since he knew he was not fast enough to get out of their way but the sniper had still found a way to get a headshot in from her angle that had laid him out cold. From what he could tell, this was not the first time that she had used this attack and the smooth shape of the marble had not penetrated or broken any of the bones.

He had still helped the boy into the stretcher that the medical robots had brought out knowing that head wounds could still cause internal bleeding and it was safer to have Recovery Girl give the all clear on this one. At least he was sure that there were no spinal injuries and the areas that had been hit by the marbles would only bruise if left alone. That meant that a single kiss from his mentor should be all that was needed to fix the other up.

The remaining opponents were not giving up their spot as easily. The emitter was now able to put her complete focus on attacking the other girl but aside from her agility to dodge attacks it was clear her mutation also gave her the strength to withstand the attacks. Then when they were in close combat, Izuku realized the girl with the mutant quirk was also a trained fighter as she moved her lance more like a bo staff and used it to sweep the sniper off her feet and onto the ground.

Even though she had won, leaving the platform was another matter as the stress lines by her forehead let him know that she was in pain. The sniper had been just fine leaving the battlefield but she still accepted the gummies when he offered them to her. She had definitely gone all out with her quirk to make so many attacks in rapid succession. Even if she had not gone down in that last attack, he doubted she would have been able to keep up the pace much longer anyway.

Izuku moved with the winner back to the corridors to allow her to keep her dignity as Midnight stalled the tournament and cued Present Mic to give the audience a recap of the finalists. They had both seen the way she had moved and were trying to give her more time to recover. Thankfully she had a bout before she would have to get back on stage.

“I assume with the amount of times you have been hit you would rather not go to Recovery Girl for your injuries?”

“I can’t afford the loss of stamina now. I will be fine with a quick break.”

“You are going to be stiff but as far as I can tell nothing vital was struck. If you win your next match you will be going directly to the finals without a breather. By that time your bruises are going to hurt more and your movements will start to be strained. Do you really think that will be a smart move when fighting a guy with sledgehammers for hands?”

“Not much I can really do about it. I need my awareness to avoid hits from that lizard so I’ll just have to take my chances.”

“Or you can use a bruise cream I can give you to apply to your skin now to help with the inflammation if you promise to let Recovery Girl check you out after your final match.”

“You got it.”

There was that look in her eye that Izuku was starting to recognize. They all said the right words but they would probably “forget” to get it looked at if he did not push. He still handed her the promised medication.

“Great. I’ll escort you after your last fight.”

All he got was laughter in return as the girl entered the locker room and he turned about to get back to the field knowing that there was only so much time the others could stall for him to get back in place.

Chapter Text

Izuku made it back out to the field and took his place behind Midnight again with a nod to her indicating everything was fine. He was happy to note that his time spent with the 2-A girl had not been very long. He did worry that the next fight would be quite short and not give her much time to apply the cream and rest for her upcoming battle.

Takeshi had a good match up in the last round. Both students he had been up against had only been part of his team because they were forced to be together after their other classmates had paired up. They were the ones that had not been expected to contribute all that much to the groups or advance in the festival by their peers. Being picked last was never fun but it worked to Takeshi’s advantage when it came to his fight against them.

He admitted that it was still a feat for the general education student to beat them since they had more training and experience with combat scenarios but neither would probably make it beyond sidekicks or go pro in a remote region of the country that did not see many high level villains. Of course that could change easily if they had more motivation to enhance their abilities. Both had been so dependent on their quirks that when faced with an obstacle that required outside the box thinking, both had been stumped by the challenge.

Takeshi was not a fighter but he thought well under pressure and seemed to stay calm. Both would be a benefit for him in his chosen career in law enforcement. His next opponent was definitely going to give him trouble as his abilities seemed to be almost made for battle. His quirk was powerful and the boy had already proven that he had no issue with damaging the vehicles with his strength. Even with the longer range of the lance. Izuku had witnessed how easy it was for the other to shatter one from his last match.

The general education student he was starting to befriend seemed to be of the same mind as he hesitantly took his place on a box and positioned himself at the very front of the vehicle. Izuku was betting he was going to use his lance to protect his perch more than try to withstand an attack. Of course it did not help that the Hero student mimicked his location on his own box while turning his hands into the sledgehammers. The anticipation on his face was a stark contrast to the resignation on Takeshi’s.

The round started and both boys had to regain their balance as the boxes shot out from their stationary position at a speed far faster than they had experienced before. It was very clear from their faces that neither of the boys had been prepared for the change from their last match which had been fast but similar to a Vespa. What they were riding on now was equivalent to a car on a freeway.

The vehicles also moved in a more chaotic pattern as it weaved back and forth on their way to the center of the platform. Izuku could see the path they were taking that would still have them almost collide with each other but the progression made it harder for each to easily stay on or determine where or when to launch an attack now that they were fighting their boxes as well as each other.

Takeshi crouched lower to the ground. It increased his balance and helped protect him from tumbling over the edge when the vehicle shifted to a new angle of approach. He had even been forced to use one of his hands every now and then to keep his place on the box. That would be an issue since the lance was too long to be easily used without only one hand. At the speed they were going, the wind would make it harder to keep the weapon steady and he did not seem to have the strength required to work with it single handed.

His opponent had hunched forward his sledgehammer hands reaching the top of the moving box but seemed to have no issue with the jerking motions or the speed as he flew down the arena. Izuku was betting that the sledgehammers were quite heavy and were able to keep him in position easily because of that. With that kind of quirk, he was probably used to their weight and would have little issue using them in close combat. Especially since he only needed access to one of them to attack.

The two boxes crossed paths in moments and as he expected, Takeshi was not even able to lift the lance up to defend or attack with while the sledgehammer from the other cut through the distance and caused a large dent into the side of the vehicle that actually sent it off course for a moment before it righted itself as it started to turn around for another pass. Izuku focused on the general education student that was staring at the warped metal he was clinging to. He saw the moment of decision as the boy hurled himself off the top of the box and rolled safely away from its path.

He had given up in face of the stronger and more dangerous opponent. Takeshi had analyzed his chances of actually being able to win the fight and had chosen to lose on his own terms. Cheers roared around them as the crowd was on their feet. Unfortunately, his opponent seemed more angry than gratified at his win. As he jumped from his own box and started to stalk over with a look of murder in his eyes. His hands were still transformed into deadly weapons even with the battle won.

Cement encased both of the fighters’ feet in seconds as Takeshi was sent moving to the edge of the platform where Midnight and he waited while the winner was locked to the ground. The audience probably had no clue what was going on as they applauded the finalist but Izuku knew they had to use this chance to get Takeshi out of the other boy’s sight until he calmed down from his adrenaline rush.

He wished he had more time to talk with the boy, but there was no time for niceties as he told the other to return to the stands with the rest of his class. If Takeshi seemed shocked by his more professional attitude and the loss of their earlier easy going manner he did not comment but there was a look in his eyes that seemed to wait for him to berate him for giving up after all his bravado of being just as good as the Hero students.

Izuku knew that look all too well but their time was quickly running out and he gently pushed him towards the exit and than placed himself directly in front of the opening just as the winner of the match was finally released from his bindings.Thankfully the hot headed boy seemed to regain his thoughts as he stormed off in another direction towards the locker rooms. Izuku would bet that he was going to find something to punch and release a bit of his energy on. With sledgehammers for arms he was not really worried about him damaging himself but Cementoss would probably have to repair something in the lockers rooms before the third year’s festival tomorrow,

Since he would be fighting the winner of the next match, he knew that the other would want to stay in the area to observe his next challenger. Izuku was not worried that he might go looking for his last opponent while the next match was going on now that they were out of each other’s sight. His best friend could be that way too. It at least probably meant that the boy respected Takeshi’s strength. For him to get that worked up about the other’s actions meant he had expected more from the general education student.

Izuku could understand that disappointment. Takeshi had been at a disadvantage but he had still given up rather than try something to even his chances. He had observed the boy’s intellect from the last round and knew that he could have found a way to turn things around. Giving up the way he did told Izuku a lot about his character and his fears. He suspected his father’s disappearance had affected him more than he was willing to let on. He had focused on the potential danger and rather than trying to overcome it, he had folded.

Not every Hero faced off against villains. His calm and calculating ways could be a benefit in an emergency but he was right in not joining the Hero course. He felt the other teachers probably saw the exact same waste in potential that he did. Being a Hero was more than a perfect quirk. A Hero had to have no hesitation or conflict about what they were doing. His fears would make him a liability on the battlefield. Other Heroes or civilians could be hurt while he took the time to get past his doubts.

Ectoplasm may have offered the boy a spot with the other Hero students, probably thinking that being around the new classmates would encourage the proper attitude from him. Heroes were a determined bunch and if they had really wanted Takeshi in the Hero Course they would have found a way to convince him. It soothed him a bit that the boy was still planning on using his quirk for good and any police station would know how to best utilize his gifts while giving him the protection he needed.

His attention focused on the next match that was starting soon as Present Mic introduced the mutant reptile type from 2-B back to the platform. His claws were already out as he dug them into the top of the box. He had clearly seen the speed that he would be experiencing from the prior match and was already preparing for it.

With his claws out Izuku saw how much faster he was mounting his vehicle and wondered how well he would be able to climb up a steep surface. Most mutant types only had some parts of the animal they resembled. So while he had the claws it did not mean he would have the additional joints that allowed many reptiles to scale walls without the danger of falling.

If he weighed the same as the average person with his body type, that would also hinder his ability to climb unless his bones took after his animal side and were less dense and almost hollow. Considering the strength he showed earlier, Izuku doubted that possibility but he would love to explore the natural abilities the other had. Most of the kids he had helped growing up had not been mutant types, the few that were, had not had the massive changes associated with the visual mutants.

Even here at UA, after he had made friends with Tsu, Mina, Pony and to some degree Tokoyami. He had not really had the chance to work with their enhancements. Most had been very willing to talk about them though. Pony in particular was very open about her differences and had been more than happy to talk about the mutant types in her class and the Heroes she knew about in America.

Considering the amount of American Heroes she had been able to talk about intimately made him realize she was from a Hero legacy herself. If anything he was betting that her mother was or related to the Hero Cow Lady considering all the Heroes that worked in the area she was from. It made sense as to how she had been able to go to UA so easily after coming from an American school system. Even if she had taken the entrance exam like everyone else, her family connections in the Hero world would have been needed to allow her to take the exams here in the first place.

He would bet her father’s citizenship had been used as an excuse to disregard the stricter channels that Rin would have needed to use as a Chinese National. He would have to ask her about that later. Their friendship had not gotten to that point and from the talks he had with the other girls in her class, she had not mentioned her parentage to them at all beyond her father and stepmother.

Izuku could understand the hesitation after the actions her stepmother had done to distance her from her father’s family. Not to mention that after all the small hints from their talks and his knowledge of American life from his father, he was almost positive that Pony was an accidental child from a night of fun and her parents had never actually been married. It would explain the treatment she was receiving from her family here and her avoidance of the topic.

His mind focused back on his current duties as the mutant wolf girl had stepped out to the field without any indication that she was hurt as Present Mic hyped her up to the crowd. The bruise cream was only a stop gap measure but it was enough to keep her in fighting condition for now. Even with her injuries she had a very good chance of making it to the next round. The reptile mutant was fast and strong but he was not a trained fighter.

He had not even bothered picking up his weapon this time around and had left the lance on the ground. He probably remembered how easily he lost it in the previous match and did not want to give the other the opportunity to unbalance him when it was ripped away again. While the reptile mutant had the advantage of a longer reach with his claws compared to his opponent’s, if the girl could use the lance as a Bo staff as she had done previously there was a chance she could turn the tides.

Making it to the platform, she took off her shoes and revealed her own set of clawed feet. They were nowhere as big as her opponents, but they would probably still be very useful in keeping her attached to the top of the smooth surface of the box. Grabbing her lance she jumped up gracefully onto her mount and settled herself ready for her next challenge.

There was an air of determination from both fighters that had been lacking in the previous match. Their focus was absolute on each other as Midnight called the start of the game. The boxes sped across the platform and seemed to cause no trouble to either of the contenders. The claws on their feet stuck firmly into the top of the vehicles. Only their upper bodies swayed with the jerking movements and instant direction changes they were faced with.

The biggest difference between the two as they moved towards each other was that the reptile mutant stayed mostly still only moving his head to keep locked on to his target. The wolf mutant moved her whole body changing her form as their distance from each other grew shorter.

Izuku was worried she would tire herself out at first before he realized that she was working to keep her lance between the two of them at all times, once again treating it like a bo staff. Her movements were to give her opponent a side angle view of herself making her a smaller target and protecting her body.

Izuku had thought the boy from 2-B was a close combat specialist with his quirk. He changed his mind when he saw the amount of care the other was making to keep herself safe. Izuku was now almost certain the boy’s quirk had another aspect of it that he had not shown so far. In moments the crowd roared as they witnessed the long blue tongue streak out from the boy aimed straight at the girl. It did not seem as versatile or as long as Tsu’s but it extended his reach and could clearly be used as an attack.

The girl seemed prepared for the move and had used her lance to block the tongue from reaching her. He had expected the boy to reel his appendage back for another attack but instead claws erupted from the girl’s hand and speared the tongue to the wood of the lance and a horrible cry came from the boy as he tried to pull it away on instinct but instead the tongue was held fast by the girl which let him know the she had far more strength than her body had indicated.

There was a frantic jerking coming from the boy as he tried to free himself but the girl was able to use his panic to catch him off guard as she lifted the lance and started to roll the tongue along it’s surface trapping more on it before planting the tip of it deep into the top of her box. The two boxes passed by each other in a blink and while the lizard mutant tried to ignore the pain long enough to attack the wolf mutant, she had been able to easily evade his attack with her faster agility.

Within moments the match was done as the boxes moved apart and Izuku winced when the tongue had grown taunt and the boy had been forced to release his hold of his vehicle before it could be ripped out by the force. He had landed on all fours on the platform and the girl had thrown the lance back at him the moment his feet had touched the ground.

Izuku had already started pulling out his disposable gloves that were a size larger than he normally had to fit over the fingerless ones he used for his outfit. The boy was being sent over to him by Cementoss and had reached him before he had been able to get the second glove on. The Hero had left the girl behind to soak up the praises of the crowd drawing their attention away from the injured student.

Izuku had paid attention to the fact that the girl had not once touched the tongue with her hands and knew that there was a good chance it produced a mucus. The blue tongue with his other characteristics had narrowed down the type of reptile he was related to along with what he remembered from his medical records. Blue tongued stinks were not rare but he could not recall another Hero with those characteristics.

“How sensitive is your tongue? Has the bleeding stopped?”

The boy did not speak but he did open his mouth and partly extended his tongue out giving him permission to examine it. Carefully using his fingers, he felt around the torn edges of the still bleeding puncture wound.

Thankfully, Izuku did not feel any foreign objects in the torn flesh which would have been his biggest worry since the lances were made of wood that could have left splinters and the girl’s claws could have also left behind something by accident as well.

“Recovery Girl should be able to heal this up without a problem. Is the mucus something you can control?”

There was a shake of the boy's head even though he had already removed his hands from the injury. It was clear that talking was beyond him at this point whether from the pain or the damage Izuku could not tell.

“Keep your tongue out and allow the blood and mucus to flow out of your mouth.”

He said handing the other a thick bandage that would be able to absorb the liquid as it fell as he started them moving towards the exit. He may have not felt anything in the tear but the small trickle of blood should be able to remove any foreign bodies too small to feel with his gloves. The mucus could not be allowed to pool in the opening since its properties could be stopping the natural healing of the body.

He was glad that the nurses office was not far or he would probably need a bucket to contain the fluids that was currently dropping to the cloth the boy was obediently holding below his mouth to catch everything. He wrote a quick note and handed it to the boy. The final would be started soon and the other was fully capable of getting to Shuuzenji Sensei on his own. Not like the other would be able to shrug this injury off. Not when he could not speak and the blood showed little sign of stopping.

“Give that to Recovery Girl. She’ll get you fixed up in time for you to shine on the winner’s podium. Great job today by the way.”

He saw the brightness in the boy’s eyes at the praise and was given another nod as he headed into the tunnels towards the infirmary. Izuku turned as they parted and raced back to his position next to Midnight as the cheers for the finalist were starting to die down. There was just one more match to go and he was glad that everything was going as planned. All his worries about debuting just seemed silly to him now.

Chapter Text

The boy with the sledgehammer quirk was already back on the field without Present Mic calling for him first. He seemed very excited for his next fight and was pacing in front of the cement platform. The wolf mutant was still waving to the crowd but Izuku could tell that her attention was all on her next opponent. It made him realize that the girl’s classmate was actually using an intimidation tactic to get her riled up.

With both finalists from 2-A, they had known each other for a while now. The boy may seem to be all rage and muscle, but there was a brain under there as well. It made Izuku wonder how much the boy relied on his perception of violence. Sledgehammers were rather unforgiving in an attack. While you could swing with less force, miscalculation might be fatal. Thinking back, the boy never actually hit someone with his weapons. The blows were always just missing the other students or aimed for something that would hinder his opponents.

On the other hand, the girl had shown a complete willingness to pierce her claws into another. She could be counting on the fact that Recovery Girl was nearby to heal anyone she hurt or that the place where she had sunk into the flesh of the other was not likely to be too dangerous for her opponent to recover from. Izuku imagined that of the two of them she had the better control and was more confident in being able to attack her prey without putting them in mortal danger. .

Mutant types really had the advantage of being born with their quirks instead of coming into them like the other types. You have to learn early on how to account for the differences in their bodies so you would not hurt yourself or others. It was like breathing for many of them by the time they went to preschool and started socializing. He knew her claws were sharp enough to dig into the box, he was curious how they would handle the sledgehammers on her opponent.

In a way it was lucky that he had a transformation quirk and could handle the loss if her claws were able to break though. It would be a much more difficult thing to heal the claws of the girl if they were the ones to break, that was of course if Recovery Girl was not on hand to fix them. He did have to wonder if they two had fought each other before in class to see how their natural weapons matched up against each other.

Izuku was an agility fighter like the girl and knew all too well the weaknesses that were associated with his build. He had power and strength but he would never be able to compete directly with many of the strength based fighters in his class. The boy was built like a tank. He had power but his strongest point was his natural defense. Of course with the way he was acting he would probably give the girl all the openings she needed to defeat him unless he had another plan.

New boxes were lifted up to the arena floor and the girl made her way to her new mount and jumped up to the top of it with barely a sound. Even the sound of her claws tearing into the smooth surface of the metal seemed quiet compared to the stomping of the boy’s feet and he made his way to his own box and climbed up the side of it. As he reached the top he manifested his sledgehammers again and positioned them on the box by his feet.

He had to hunch his back a bit to make it work with his wider and more stable stance he used as he planted himself at the front of the box facing his opponent. It was clear that both teens were expecting a new level of difficulty from the boxes. But as Midnight called the start of the match, both students were shocked into motion as the boxes rotated spinning them around like a top as they flew down the platform at each other.

The girl moved to the center of her box abandoning her range for increased freedom of movement. Since it was no longer obvious which direction the boxes would meet up at. It took longer for the boy to reposition but he also made his way further from the edge to focus on a corner. It increased his area of effectiveness but would require him to be able to pivot fast enough if he was facing the wrong direction when the two of them got in range of each other.

With the speed increased, they were next to each other in moments and the boy could barely bring his sledgehammer up to attack before they had already passed each other by and the boxes were spinning back around for another pass. The girl had tried to use the lance the moment they were in range but the weapon had missed its mark and had been whipped out of her hands when the boy stomped firmly on the tip to keep it from moving to attack him before adding the weight of one of his weapons to it.

Izuku wondered briefly if the girl should have used her claws to keep the lance in her possession since she lost her range advantage with it gone. But it was clear that the boy was stronger and heavier than the girl. If she had tried to keep it, she would have likely followed it off her box giving her opponent the win. With the lance abandoned, her claws had erupted from her hands as they faced off against each other again.

The smile on the boy’s face was the first he had seen, clearly in his element as they raced forward. In a moment the boy must have realized that the angle of their approach would put his back towards the girl and he made a surprising move retracting one sledgehammer and leaving the other in the ground. He then used the sledgehammer as an axis point as he turned his body around to face the other direction and had his weapon back in time to catch the claws that had been headed straight for him.

The claws caught on the weapon but did not penetrate it, answering that question for Izuku. Unfortunately for the boy with both his arms occupied he was unable to stop her other hand that did not have its claws out from gripping him further up his arm and tugged him hard enough to make him stumble. That was enough for her to release one of her feet from her box and trip the other before the two boxes moved out of each other’s range again.

The boy looked like he was about to recover his position and take on the girl again when a familiar shadow flew overhead and Izuku looked up to yell at Midnight that they were getting unexpected company as the large flying monster circled above them. There was a ripple among the crowds from the Heroes and Sidekicks in the audience that also spotted the intruder.

Then a roar of cheers as the audience that had not yet noticed anything wrong shouted when the boy landed on the ground unable to keep his place on the box. Neither student seemed to realize the looming danger but Cemetoss seemed well aware as both contestants were zooming towards Izuku in moments. Midnight was already moving to the center of the stage where the literature teacher was already positioning himself as she called back her instructions to Izuku.

“Get them to the lockers. Their classmates will be joining them shortly. Recovery Girl will contact you if your help is needed in the infirmary.”

“Affirmative.”

Izuku called to her back automatically even though both of their attentions were already on their individual duties. Midnight was using her microphone to get the audience's attention and get them to stay calm. So far the monster had not attacked but Izuku knew well the speed that particular creature could achieve and wanted his charges out of the open as soon as possible.

“Let’s go! Run as fast as you can to the tunnels. We need to meet up with your class now!”

The two immediately started running to the exit hearing the urgency in his voice. Izuku was glad these two were Hero students. They were trained to follow instructions from Heroes. Both seemed to take his authority without question. The girl was almost to the entrance to the building with her speed and instincts pushing her limits. The boy was slower and Izuku paced himself to stay behind him though he could have probably matched the girl if he pushed himself.

“What’s… going… on…?” came the huffed question from the boy as they moved closer to the exit.

“Trouble. Conserve your breath to run faster and I’ll explain when we are in a safer location.”

Izuku tried to soften the clear reprimand in his voice. It was not the student’s fault that he was frustrated by how slow they were moving. Or the fact that something was wrong. The monster had given up his advantage of a surprise attack and was currently circling the field. Staying up that high but in visible range put all the Heroes and Sidekicks on alert. Without someone with flight capacity in the arena, they would be forced to wait for the actions of the monster. Of course there was one Hero in the stands the mastermind behind the attack probably did not account for.

“I AM HERE!”

A smile followed hearing those words as they had finally made it to the exit. All Might would be able to make short work of the monster and everything will be fine. A shame he would have to wait to witness his Heroic deeds later but he wanted to catch up with the girl and make sure both students stayed in place.

Entering the locker room he nodded seeing the girl already seated on one of the benches breathing heavily. He wished he had water with him to help ease their cool down but his medical pack did not have the full range of gear that the duffles he used on his internship in order to keep them compact. The hard candies he gave them seemed to help though.

“I am sure you are aware of the attack in the cafeteria that happened not long after the new school year began?” He received nods from both and continued. “A similar monster that we believe is part of the same group was sighted in the area and we are unsure of its intentions.”

“Are we just expected to hide away here until the coast is clear? We are learning to be Heroes, shouldn’t we be…?”

Izuku cut off the girl with a sharp wave of his hand and almost smiled when he realized the movement was reminiscent of his friend Iida. Seemed like he was picking up a few habits from being in his company.

“Have you somehow received your Provisional Hero Licence before the rest of your classmates? Are you able to legally go up against villains without supervision?”

“You could supervise us!” The boy said, punching his fist into his palm eager to go out there again.

“I’m a Hero Apprentice under a Medical Support Hero. I’m not able to go out there either.”

“Then what good are you?” Izuku did not like the tone in the boy’s voice but he ignored it. He already knew Medical Support Heroes were akin to Sidekicks by many ignorant people. Did absolutely no one research Recovery Girl anymore? Why did no one remember how powerful the elder Hero was in her youth?

“I’m on standby for Recovery Girl. I am staying with you until the rest of your class makes it here so you will have safety in numbers.”

“Then what?” The girl said with her gaze intent on him. The wolf eyes on her seemed to view him as prey. As if they considered his weaker now. It seemed the boy was not the only one that had a different opinion on his abilities.

“Then you stay here with your friends and wait for the all clear while I make sure everyone from the other classes made it down.”

The two of them did not seem to like his answer but they slumped down on the bench knowing that they would not be changing his mind. Izuku appreciated their willingness to go out and fight but he would be put through the wringer by all his teachers if he allowed them to put themselves in danger.

As an emergency medical technician he knew how hard it was to wait for the all clear. Still he was given a task and he would still have to follow through in case there were more dangers. Izuku stiffened at that thought.

Why would the flying monster not attack? What purpose could there be to cause panic which he knew would be happening in the stands now that the audience was aware of the danger? He patched his phone to the only person that could answer his question that he would not be bothering while they dealt with their own duties.

“Mel?”

“Oh hey Izu. You were right that thing was definitely man made. I can’t believe you fought that thing on your own.”

His friend’s voice came through clearly from his visor but he did notice that the boy and girl next to him in the room did not seem to hear her reply. They would have to talk later about how amazing her tech was since he had not thought about that. The two of them were respectful enough not to interrupt him though as he talked which was definitely a point in their favor.

“I ran from it, not fought it.”

Izuku replied, careful of his own words since he did have company. They had already proved to be intelligent and he did not want too much of his personal issues getting out to the rest of the school. He had enough rumors out there about him already. They would easily think that he was talking about what happened earlier today rather than a previous fight with that thing.

“Give yourself more credit. You captured that thing on your own. Uncle scared it off but knowing him he will be able to catch up to it soon.”

“It ran away?”

“Almost as soon as All Might made his presence known. Instincts to fly away from a stronger predator most likely.”

Izuku did not like that. Yes, the monster showed natural instincts when it came to attacking prey but did not have the intelligence to realize when to be scared or when something could hurt it. It was getting very clear to him that the creature was being used as a distraction and that they might be facing a far more complex attack from the previous ones when they were only dealing with a single opponent.

“Where are you now? I don’t hear the crowd around you.”

“Uncle put me in the announcer's box with Present Mic and Eraserhead before going after that thing. It was the reason why he took so long to respond when it appeared.”

“Good stay with the Heroes, I don’t want…”

“Oh they already left to help with crowd control. But the door is locked and I promised to stay here. I’m glad you called, I was starting to get bored.”

Izuku had a bad feeling about this and turned towards the door when he heard the loud banging of metal. Too late he realized it was coming from his connection to Melissa and not from down in the tunnels where he was.

“Stay in the room!”

He shouted as he ran out without explaining what was happening to the others. He wanted to call someone else but he needed to hear what was going on with Melissa. He started to record his call dreading the need to listen to it later for more clues. Her scream killed a small part of him as he heard the sound of metal tearing in the background. He was so far away from her location. Once he got to the upper levels with the public, it was bound to be too chaotic to get through.

He made a decision and turned around to go outside. With his bolas he would be able to scale the stand faster than trying to weave through the crowds. In his ear, he heard one final scream before all there was only static. Knowing he would get nothing else he called Recovery Girl.

“Little busy right now. Stay where..”

“They took Melissa.”

“I’m sorry? Who took who?”

“Melissa. My friend from I-Island. She came for the Sports Festival with her uncle. The flying monster was a distraction. There is at least one more in the stadium and it took Melissa.”

“Where?”

“She was in the announcer's box when they took her. I hope Present Mic and Eraserhead are still in the area to get back there but they left to help with the evacuation of civilians. I don’t know how to contact them”

“Why would she be in there?”

“I assume All Might asked to keep her safe until he returned.”

“Are you telling me villains have kidnapped All Might’s Niece!”

“Where are you?”

“On my way to the booth now.”

“Stop. Go to the Infirmary. Heroes will be able to get to the location faster and Nedzu is going to need your help.”

“But Melissa…”

“If they have her, she is already gone. Get to the infirmary now. They would not have gone through all this trouble to kill the girl. You have to trust me now, Midoriya. We will get her back. Or that damn oaf is going to destroy large parts of this town to get her back.”

If he was not so scared for his friend he might have laughed at hearing All Might being referred to in such a derogatory way. He did trust his teacher and so turned around once more to head to the infirmary as requested. He had to pass by the other students that had finally made it down to this level and were heading towards their separate locker rooms. He was glad for the visor more than ever now that it hid the tears in his eyes as forced his way further from the scene of the crime.

He had to be smart about this. Recovery Girl was right, they would not have gone through all this trouble just to kill her. But why had they taken her? What had made her a target out of everyone else in the stadium? Was it the same reason they had made him a target in the previous attacks? Izuku picked up his pace as he tried to think more about the missing people in the information that Nedzu had given him. His eyes widened. They had only looked into people with quirks that could make up the monsters. How many quirkless people like him had gone missing?

Chapter Text

Izuku did not even think why Shuuzenji Sensei would direct him to the infirmary. He had opened the door to find the place completely devoid of life. It only confirmed what he had known already from the background noise he had heard in the earlier conversation with his teacher. She was out there dealing with the crowds and handling evacuation proceedings with the other Heroes. She was good but she could not magically appear in the office with him.

For a moment Izuku considered just leaving, knowing that just staying put while his friend was in trouble was beyond him. He trusted Recovery Girl but she might have missed something. No one here really knew Melissa like he did after all with All Might chasing after that monster. What was he going to tell her father? Did he have to tell All Might? They were never going to let her visit him again once they got her back. They would get her back. He could not consider any other outcome.

“Midoriya?”

Izuku blinked hearing his name being called from further in the room. Searching the room he saw the face of the principal coming from the computer and rushed over to the chair glad he had someone to help.

“Here Nedzu! You got to help! Melissa has been…

“Midoriya, I see you in front of the computer but without a microphone I won’t be able to hear you. Call this number.” The Hero said as he held up a white card with a phone number on it.

Izuku scrambled to pull his phone from his medical pack as he internally kicked himself for thinking that the other could magically hear him. He knew about the camera systems throughout the school for their safety but Recovery Girl would never allow listening devices in her spaces. They dealt with too much protected information for that to be a viable option.

As he typed in the number to his phone he wondered if he could find a better way to do this. His visor was brand new and already he was looking at improving it. Of course any more and it would become too unwieldy to be practical. Maybe some kind of wrist control that he could type commands into so he did not have to depend on the few numbers he had set up in advance in his contacts. Melissa would love working on that with him.

It only took a single ring on the phone before he was connected but before he was able to let Nedzu know what was going on another voice he vaguely knew spoke. For some reason he was patched into a conference call and considering the background noise there were quite a few people already involved.

“All Might does not have a niece. This is some sort of mistake.” Came the puzzled voice of the detective he had worked with a couple of times. Tsukauchi’s quirk would normally be useful but he had never seen the Monster speak. Even if All Might came back with the flying one it was doubtful they could get information from it.

“The person in question is Miss Melissa Shield. She is the daughter of renowned support technician David Shield and All Might considers her family. Whatever their biological connection is does not matter. We need to get her back.” Nedzu seemed to already have the facts which was a relief. Of course, even with the small bit of time it took him to get here, Recovery Girl probably explained the whole situation and the principal who had gone through the video footage before getting everyone together.

The computer screen in front of him changed as he was suddenly seeing a series of video feeds from the different participants in the call. Along with Nedzu and the detective was a very tired looking gentleman in a suit he did not recognize, a woman that he assumed was a scientist from the white coat with the lab behind her, and the Hero Sir Nighteye. He noticed one more box that was currently black labeled Heritage and smiled at his mentor’s thoughtfulness.

“Detective, I can verify the importance of the girl. Not that it matters who she is. The fact that any villain was able to enter the school and kidnap somewhile while All Might responded to the incident is troubling.” Sir Nighteye said though his attentioned seemed to be on his phone rather than the meeting. Izuku knew he was frowning since it was an obvious misdirection tactic. He had seen both All Might and Sir Nighteye do it a number of times with the press. There was something about Melissa that the Hero knew and did not want to get the others here to find out about.

“All Might is still not answering. What else do we know about this creature?” He said finally placing his phone down after another moment. Unspoken was the real question on why it was taking so long for the number one Hero to take down something that had been previously captured. Izuku was also curious about that since All Might was definitely stronger and it had not shown any abilities that would have been able to withstand against such an opponent.

It was the woman’s turn to talk. “The analysis of its blood work shows a similar makeup to the first monster that appeared at the school. We assume that they are indeed correlated and from a similar source.” That made Izuku see red for a bit. How was there any blood work when he had been told that the thing had been freed before samples could be done? Why had they lied to him? His father needed that report.

“I was told that no blood work could be done due to the situation of the second’s disappearance.” The voice of the principal was polite but there was an edge of a bite to it. It made Izuku glad that he was not the only one left out of the knowledge. Either the woman did not hear the danger or it didn't bother her and went on.

“The blood extraction was not done under normal means. We only received it a few days ago when the officer that had been put on leave after the initial capture had returned and found traces of blood on his uniform. It was only luck that we were able to get a viable sample since the blood was dried and had to be removed from the cloth. Not the most ideal situation and we are still working on identifying the potential DNA markers that could lead us to the victims.”

“The school should have been told immediately that there had been an update to the case. You must understand my position. How are we to protect our students when information is being withheld?” Oh yeah, Nedzu was angry. He was glad it was not him that was on the wrong side of the principal at that moment.

“You would have received the final report. Nothing that happened today could have been avoided with the little they were able to learn so far.” It was the tired man who finally spoke. And paused to clear his throat as he continued. “A Hero Public Safety Commission team was monitoring the situation. If anything of relevance had been revealed you would have been notified.” Well that explained who the last person was and his relevance to the call.

“Have you run the blood work against the individuals that the creature showed signs of having a shared quirk with?” Izuku asked the question before he thought better of it. There was a pregnant pause and he wondered if he was supposed to have stayed quiet.

“Why is there a child on this call?” It was Sir Nighteye that broke the silence. He looked quite unhappy with the new development.

“That child is the Hero Apprentice Heritage and the one who fought against both intruders that came into the school unannounced. He was able to guide the first away from the student population until Midnight showed up to put it to sleep. He faced the second by himself and was able to capture it on his own. He is also friends with the victim” Izuku blinked at hearing his accomplishments this way. They were a bit embellished but Nedzu had to have a reason for making him seem more able than he actually was.

“Missing persons Izaki is a match. We are still working on finding the other three.” The scientist seemed to accept Nedzu’s response and had answered his question. That confirmation was all he needed to think about other possibilities.

“What of Tsubasa? Was there a match for him?” Izuku pushed, needing to know that answer now more than ever.

“Tsubasa? I was never given that individual as an option to run against.” The puzzlement in the scientist’s voice only made him want to push more.

“That is because he is dead and his body burned to ashes. We already ruled him out of the search.” The detective interjected.

“I know that is what the papers I was given said, but there were far too many similarities between his wings and the wings of that creature to be a coincidence. The actual likelihood of the wing patterns being that similar are like two different people having the same fingerprints. Please make the check.”

“It’ll take some time to locate a sample of a deceased individual to run it against the blood but I’ll make it a priority.” The woman nodded, having a direction she could take her investigations to.

“We also need a copy of what you already have even if it is not complete.” Izuku said, pressing his luck. She had complied so far and he still needed more from her.

“Nedzu. You can not allow him to send direct data to his father. We need to monitor the information that gets released. I know he gave us some insights in the past but I must insist on this point.” This time the detective seemed very adamant. It was very clear that even without his video being used in the conference, the detective knew exactly who he was.

“I trust my student in this matter…” Nedzu said standing up for him. It made Izuku feel good to have a teacher support him like this. UA was so different from his old schools.

“Oh, it’s not the son I am worried about. Heritage has never lied to me. Hidden information for understandable reasons but never lied. It’s his father that I don’t trust.”

That bombshell rocked through Izuku as his eyes opened wide. What had his father done to make the police detective distrust him? His father never lied. What had caused this animosity? He then recalled the only interaction that he had seen between the two and realized they had both been very cold to each other at that point. Izuku had thought it was because his father was being over protective and the detective was just trying to do his job while following policy. Did something else happen?

He also did not like how the man from the Hero Public Safety Commission seemed more interested in the conversation. His father mentioned having to get permission from the Commission before entering and working in Japan. Was there something else that happened the first day he arrived in Japan that he had not told them? His father was a Japanese citizen, he should not have gone through this rigorous security or scrutiny that was currently applied to him even with his foreign project. Izuku was going to ask his father a few hard questions the next time they were alone.

“Hisashi Midoriya is a model scientist and friends with the victim's father David Shield. He has been nothing but professional. He would also never put his son in danger. I don’t know what he told you or what brought this up but I would trust him to look out for his son’s best interests. That would be taking down these intruders and stopping the attacks.” Nedzu said, trying to stop that train of discussion. This was not the place to go in depth on why the detective was wary of his father though he was dying to find out for himself.

“Detective, the Commission would be interested in knowing everything that Dr. Midoriya has been given access to as well as his insights.” Izuku squirmed at the pronouncement from the tired man. He badly wanted to text his father a warning about what was being discussed. His phone was sitting next to the monitor where he had left it after connecting to the call. No one would not if he contacted his father since he did not have a camera on him.

Except Nedzu would know since he was probably monitoring the camera for the room. If he started texting someone, the principal would have a very good assumption it was his father he was getting in contact with. That might hurt him and his family more than sitting still and waiting for a time when he could ensure his privacy. What could he even tell him? That the detective did not trust him? That the Commission was interested in him? This had to be a mistake. His father was just his father. Right?

Before anyone could bring up anything more about his father, a new window pop up into the conference with a second and more familiar tired man. Though for once there seemed more anger than tired in his eyes. “The door was torn apart on the outside from a blunt impact. Thing had to have been as strong or stronger than All Might to get in that door. No signs of struggle on the inside. Victim was not a combatant. No signs left of her presence.”

That struck something in Izuku. “Did you find glasses?” He said grabbing his phone and locating the video app they used. If he was right she might have on the recording glasses she was using the other day to take video of him and his friends. There were plenty of opportunities today to research the quirks and abilities of the second years to improve their own work in support gear.

“No, nothing. No blood either from the creature from destroying the entrance.” Aizawa told him as he finally got his shaking fingers to log into the portal. He was glad that at this point his teacher did not even question his sometimes odd requests. Maybe in the future he would be able to remember to explain things as he went but he was too excited at the possibilities and did not want to give them false hope.

“I got video! She was wearing our special recording glasses at the time of her capture. Looks like she is still sending data!” Izuku explained as he tried to take in the scene from his phone. He saw a sparse dark room from the side. There was a slight movement that was regular enough he would bet came from her breathing which told him that she was still alive. With the position of the camera, he was guessing she was probably sleeping.

A notification popped up on his phone that made him direct his attention away from the video to realize the cacophony of voices in his ear asking for updates. It seemed he had tuned them out with his attention fully on his friend. He accepted the notification request knowing immediately what it was and a new window appeared in the conference with the footage he had been staring at.

He would have to ask Nedzu how he was able to do that later. He also had to remember to wipe his phone of anything he did not want his mentor to know about. Especially with this new development with his father he would have to make sure that there was nothing in his phone that would harm his family. It made more sense why his father had protected his tablet considering the speed at which Nedzu was able to access his own device.

“As far as I can tell, she seems to be unconscious but unharmed at the moment. I don’t see any exterior lighting so I doubt there are any windows or doors that lead to the outside. The fact that we are receiving a live feed means she does have cell reception, so at least we know she is in a populated area and not too far underground to mask the signal. The strength of the video feed means she is probably still in the Musutafu area in somewhat close proximity to us.”

“I thought he was a Medical Support Hero Apprentice, Nedzu.” The detective said the accusation clearly in his voice. Apparently he had made it on the police officer’s shit list as well. At least he seemed more resigned than angry about it.

“I told you he was my student.” The rat said without a single shrug.

“He goes to UA. They are all your students. Why didn’t you tell me he was your personal student? How long have you been training him?” Tsukauchi said going into detective mode as he tried to get information out of the principal.

“I can’t take all the credit. This one came to UA like this. I am merely helping mold him to Intelligence Support.” The grin Nedzu gave seemed to silence any more questions. Though Izuku wondered how long that would last considering the questions still in the detective’s eyes.

He already assumed Nedzu was working on trying to triangulate the source location of the video feed while answering the other’s questions. It would be better to leave that to the principal since computers were not really his thing beyond the basic use of them. He split the screen on his phone to create a new area to work in and left the live feed up on the left in case something new appeared in it that would require their attention.

In the new window that he noticed was being mirrored on the conference call he backtracked the video to what he remembered being right before the creature was sighted. He saw the view of the arena below at the start of the last match in the third round. The focus of her glasses seemed to be on the female contestant which made sense since she probably pegged her as the winner of the match as he had.

He turned the sound on for the video feed and heard the familiar loud and jovial laugh of his favorite Hero when the video froze. Tapping on his phone he realized he was no longer in control of his device and looked up to see the Forensic Scientist and Aizawa Sensei no longer on the screen.

“Midoriya. You have two choices. You can take off your visor and leave it and your phone in the room to meet up with Eraserhead in the announcer’s box. Or you can stay. Know that if you stay you are responsible for any and all knowledge you learn about Japan’s number one Hero.”

Izuku’s mouth ran dry for a moment hearing how serious Nedzu was when he gave him his options. He wondered what could be so terrible that they had to go to these lengths.

“Nedzu. Is this wise?” Sir Nighteye said before he could answer. “All Might has a right to his privacy. This boy may be your personal student but he is still a child.”

“Have you been able to contact All Might? If not then it is my decision as his mentor to what he is allowed to be privy to.” Nedzu said cutting off any more objections.

Izuku could see the detective was also displeased by this turn of events. But it did not matter, he was going to stay and do his best to get Melissa back. The four people on the screen were more worried about All Might than his friend. She needed someone in her corner to get out of this in one piece.

“I’m staying. Any secrets that Yagi-san has are safe with me.” The use of the name All Might had given him seemed to assure everyone about his place with them. Nedzu only nodded and he found he had received control back of his phone and he moved to start the playback once again hoping he had chosen correctly.

Chapter Text

The video blurred a bit as Melissa turned to look at All Might. Even in casual clothes there was no denying who he was. With his body frame and coloring there was just no hiding the Hero. Thankfully the tickets that Nedzu had procured for him had been a box similar to the one his family had purchased for the day before. Further back from the field but at least somewhat private. It made Izuku wonder if Nedzu had known about Melissa’s connections all along. Why else would he give up such a premium spot for free.

Izuku regretted not being able to talk with Melissa earlier that day. She had understood when he explained through a series of texts that he had been too busy the whole morning. She did want all the details about his conversation with Present Mic and was glad he was finally doing something about the situation at the fire station. She had been wanting him to take a stronger role in that for a while and was more than willing to help him come up with things to say on the radio show.

They had already had plans to meet up after the tournament. Melissa had been so excited that she would be able to work with his Hero costume directly. It would also have been nice to get to know Yagi as a person. In a way, he somewhat envied his parents for being able to spend a whole day with his favorite Hero. Of course he would probably get all the details from his mom later on. She did have a way of opening people up and learning all about them.

Did she know about dad? His father always said that his mom would find out everything one way or another. As much as he talked with his dad, he also knew that his parents were communicating regularly too. She would have to have known whatever had made the detective suspicious about his family. For now he was glad that had not included himself or Tsukauchi would have made a fuss about him being able to stay and continue helping the investigation.

“I think you should probably ask her before making her shoes that can withstand her claws so she does not have to go barefoot but I doubt she would be able to say no to a Shield. I know I never could.”

All Might was clearly responding to Melissa’s over exuberance of making support tech for everyone she met. Izuku agreed that in a real life situation, the wolf mutant would need the protection of shoes to safely work in the field. He would be happy to work on that with his friend since that would be useful to any number of mutant quirked Heroes. Once a design was made it could then be custom built for those that had those needs.

Just like so much other equipment they created. The real work was making sure that it could be adjusted depending on the needs and body type of the potential users. Much like clothing you found in the store, support companies tend to build for the most common sizes and shapes that way the same piece of equipment could be used by the most amount of Heroes.

What Melissa and he did was find ways to look out for those that did not have that as an option. Like the wolf girl that Melissa focused on again with her glasses, her choices were limited due to her mutant parts and the conformity of available equipment. Custom work was more expensive but if they could design for variables there were ways to make the support market more equitable for Heroes.

The real puzzle for him was Yagi’s interaction with Melissa. If they were not uncle and niece as the others insisted, then they were definitely something else similarly related. The looks that All Might sent his friend, the way he talked to her, and the similar physical traits and coloring. Izuku had not questioned it at all when Melissa introduced him as her uncle because he could see the resemblance. He could also tell that the two of them had similar habits that only came with prolonged exposure around each other.

Was Melissa… All Might’s daughter? His mind raced to what he knew of David Shield the few times they had talked and his only interaction with him when he first met Melissa on I-Island all those years ago. They looked nothing alike. He was still very clearly her father. She loved him and would talk endlessly about his projects. But was it a biological connection? It was possible that David was raising his friend’s child. Who was her actual mother then? Izuku knew from his friend that she had died giving birth to Melissa but what was her connection to the scientist and the hero?

Sir Nighteye was right about All Might being one of the most private Heroes out there even if he was number one. He never talked about his personal life in any of the interviews and appearances. Izuku should know since he had seen every last one of them. The Hero made a very clear separation between his work and personal time. Izuku always thought it was because All Might really did not have a private life and was pretty much always at work. If there was any large-scale danger, All Might would almost surely be there. Not exactly the environment to raise a small girl all by themselves.

”Uncle look! She is so much stronger than she appears. I wonder how much she can actually lift. Enhanced strength traits are somewhat rare in female mutants but it definitely seems as if she has them. I wonder if it is something with her muscles or changes in her bone structure. I’ll have to ask Izu about it when we meet up later.”

Melissa explained as she watched the first pass between the two of the contenders. Her commentary made him smile, glad to know that he was the first person she thought of when it came to finding out about a person’s inner workings. It also made him wonder if she knew they were not actually uncle and niece. Seeing how happy she was, he knew he would never be able to ask her about it himself.

Maybe David would be the better person to ask. Wait, has anyone actually told her father about her kidnapping? He had not even told his own parents about the incident and he knew at least his mom would have been watching the broadcast. His father had probably only watched his debut and maybe a bit of the first round before going to sleep considering his schedule.

His mom must be so frantic now even if she only knew about the appearance of the aerial visitor. He never even considered what the press would make of this turn of events. It was almost a surprise that she had not tried to contact him yet. He made a promise to himself to at least text his mom that he was fine once he finished the playback.

”I’ve been wanting to ask you about the boy.” Izuku’s eyes widened and he really felt like he should not be watching this anymore. This was a private conversation between his friend and… whatever Yagi was to her. It was hard not seeing the man instead of the Hero now.

”Izuku? What about him? Do you want to take him on at your Hero agency! Oh, Uncle he would be so excited.” Izuku’s mind went blank thinking of the possibility of interning with the All Might. He was the Hero he most admired, but it was also something he had never considered. There would be so much attention directed at him if he actually was spotted interning for the number one Hero.

He could barely think of how he would handle being on radio with his teacher. What if he encountered the press in person when out with All Might on patrol. Actually, there was no “if” about that. The press always found the number one Hero. He was not ready for that kind of attention. Maybe Sir Nighteye would be the better Hero to shadow during internships if he was invited. If they invite him at all. Melissa could just be jumping to conclusions. Izuku felt he was right when he heard Yagi cough in surprise and seemed out of words for a moment.

“Well… uh… you see, the Might Tower does not actually allow interns without a provisional license… for safety reasons. Mirai usually handles them as well…his hands seem to be a bit full with his current intern. You can always ask him about adding another though.”

He heard a frustrated noise that was not part of the playback and looked up to see that Sir Nighteye did not seem happy about how easily All Might had made it his problem. Izuku made a note to himself to reject any offers from the Might Tower. He did not want to impose and definitely did not want his connection to Melissa to be the only reason he received a chance no one has ever gotten before.

”I was more curious about when the two of you started dating.” It was Izuku’s turn to make an inhuman sound and his face turned redder than all the times Midnight had been able to cause that reaction. Thankfully, Melissa seemed just as shocked with the question from All Might from the answering silence before she started laughing.

”Oh you got me. I thought you were almost serious for a moment. Just don’t do that with dad. I think he is already halfway trying to find a way to adopt him and bring him into the family for real.” There was another cough and louder male laughter that sounded forced. Yeah, that had been a serious question from the Hero even if he was trying to play it off. Izuku made a note to explain his sibling-like bond with Melissa before he received a shovel talk from the number one Hero.

The laughter cut off abruptly and the video in the glasses blurred though Izuku could still catch a few things flying by and the audio picked up Melissia questioning Yagi before being overwhelmed as he heard the cheers of the crowd which marked the end of the tournament. That meant All Might had seen the monster in the air and had taken Melissa to safety before anyone else had reacted.

The video was able to focus again as Melissa stood in front of the familiar door to the Announcer's booth but Yagi was nowhere in sight. The glasses looked around the empty hallways indicating that his friend was also looking for her missing uncle. Izuku frowned, thinking the Hero had left his charge alone without instructions when the man in question came from around the corner in full costume.

That kinda explained to him why the Hero never seemed to have a day off. Did he always come prepared to work? It had not occurred to him that he would take the time to change out of his casual clothes. Not that he could blame the Hero since he also sported David Shield’s work and knew how protective it was. Then again if Sir Nighteye had not been able to get a hold of him for this long, the flying monster must be giving him more trouble than he thought.

”Uncle, what’s going on?” Melissa said concern in her voice for the first time. She must realize what All Might putting on his costume meant.

”Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I just want you out of the crowd until I can get back to you. Your dad will never forgive me if I let anything happen to you.” There was that look again. He might have said he was doing it for David but he really did love Melissa as well. Or was he talking of himself when he mentioned her dad?

The video moved up and down for a moment indicating that Melissa was nodding to his statement before the Hero turned to the close door. He knocked twice and stepped back confident that the door would open. There was more movement and a large part of All Might’s back was taking up the video meaning that Melissa took a position behind him.

It seemed like a natural move for her to do which let Izuku know that it was not the first time she had taken shelter behind the number one Hero. He may have tried to reassure her but she was smart enough to know that if he was dressed in costume and was hiding her away somewhere that there was danger. In moments, he saw the face of his homeroom teacher peek out and give the number one Hero a questioning look. Behind him he could hear Present Mic trying to calm down the panicking crowds and reassure people that everything would be taken care of.

”All Might? Look we don’t…” Aizawa Sensei started to talk but another blur of motion and Izuku was greeted with a close up of his teacher’s face who did not seem at all amused with having a girl presented to him.

”Keep her in the booth. I’ll be back for her later.” Then the video showed strands of blonde hair in front of the camera caused by the wind generated by All Might’s speed. Izuku now understood why Sir Nighteye was a logistics expert if that was what All Might considered an information briefing.

There was a heavy sigh that Izuku recognized having heard it a number of times in class as the hair was pulled away from the frames. They were met with an even grumpier look from his teacher who also seemed unimpressed with All Might’s way with words. ”…and you are?”

”Melissa, Sir.”

Aizawa Sensei moved away from the door, giving her space to come through. Entering she looked around before zeroing in on Present Mic who was trying to give information on how best to leave the stadium and to remain calm. He gave her a look, clearly measuring her threat level in an instant, not even pausing his work with the crowds. It was times like this that really showed what a professional Present Mic was with all his outward bluster.

Melissa moved to the large windows that looked to the outside just in time to see All Might leaping up to take care of the creature. Izuku was able to hear her gasp at the first sight of it. He figured she would recognize it from his description of it from their talks but it was another thing to see it in person. It was definitely the same monster that had tried to attack him in the field when he had been on his own. It had the same basic flying movements and being able to see its wings spread out in flight just made him even more sure that a part of Tsubasa was in there.

With All Might trying to apprehend it, it immediately changed tactics and flew away. The Hero had missed him in the first attempt by probably expecting it to attack rather than retreat. It was his second attack that really got Izuku's attention as a black portal appeared out of nowhere and the thing swept through it to appear out of another similar portal far enough away to just be out of reach.

That was what was taking All Might so long to take down the villain. He would also bet that the portals would be in perfect eyesight of the Hero so that it would entice him to continue the chance rather than give up and turn around. It was leading him away from the school. His thought of it being a distraction was completely confirmed when it did it again by sailing through yet another portal this time coming out at an angle so All Might could not predict where it would go.

He revised his thoughts to realize it was a “they” that were working in tandem to keep the Hero busy. Had the flying monster been able to use warp gates before it would have definitely used it to get out of the sticky situation on their last encounter. It was also not intelligent enough to be able to realistically stay away from the number one hero on its own for this long. Whomever it was definitely had their own eyes on the creature to be able to keep it out of combat. That kind of powerful quirk had to be in a registry somewhere.

When the figures of the monster and All Might were tiny specks in the sky, Melissa looked down and observed the mass hysteria going on below. Izuku winced at the scene, understanding why Recovery Girl had to leave the infirmary to do crowd control. People could easily be trampled in that mess, not to mention high emotions meant people could accidentally discharge their quirks. Thankfully there were a number of Heroes and Sidekicks in the crowd but not nearly enough for the amount of civilians that were trying to evacuate as quickly as possible no matter what was in their way to the exit.

”I need to get out there Sh…Eraserhead. The intercoms are just like white noise to them now that they can’t see All Might above them to protect them. I can’t get through to them at all. Present Mic said as he rose to his feet and turned off the sound to his microphone. Melissa had turned to look at him as he spoke to the other Hero who had taken his own spot at the window and was texting on his phone. Izuku was betting he was using the birds eye view from the box to direct the other Hero teachers to the areas where their presence was needed the most.

”Head to Gate D on the 2nd floor. There is a natural amplifier there that can increase the effectiveness of your quirk without you killing your voice again. I’ll let you know if your attention is needed elsewhere.” Aizawa Sensei said, holding up his phone and confirming to Izuku what he was doing. He turned back to the window without another comment and started texting again having seen something that would need a Hero to help out.

”Hey little listener, sorry about the chaos. Not everyday you get to see Heroes at work right? You hold tight with Eraserhead here and I’ll show you some really cool tricks you can do with this equipment when this is all over.” Present Mic said with his signature finger guns to Melissa as he walked out the door without even waiting for a reply. Izuku still liked that he had taken the time to acknowledge his friend and try to comfort her without knowing who or why she was there. There was more than one reason that Eraserhead was an Underground Hero besides his quirk working better as a surprise.

Melissa turned back to the window, seeming to realize that Eraserhead was too busy to entertain her. Knowing her like he did, she was probably more interested in seeing the action below anyway. There were multiple Heroes out there using their quirks to aid them in getting the civilians out safely. Izuku had a feeling that she would be thinking of better ways to have a mass exodus and how to provide gear to Heroes that could help in the efforts.

Izuku knew that he would want to review the footage later when Melissa’s life was not on the line. His friend had a good sense of the flow of action and was able to focus her sights on Heroes currently working and aiding those around them. It was not until there was a curse that her gaze went back to the Hero still in the room.

”I have to handle this. I’m going to lock you in this room until I get back. It will take someone as strong as All Might to break through that door so as long as you do not open it for them you will be safe. You understand me girl?”

There was a nod from the video as the camera moved back around to the window. Izuku wanted to yell at that screen for his teacher to stay knowing what was to happen not long after that. But he heard the sound of the door closing and the lock being engaged. Not a minute later he was greeted with the sound of her phone going off and the one sided conversation the two of them had before her kidnapping.

As she talked to him she had moved to a corner of the room and picked up the small but heavy mic stand from its place on the console and removed the microphone. Izuku realized she had picked up the only available “weapon” in the room and had placed herself in the most defensible position. He was happy to know his concern had gotten through to her even if she had still been kidnapped in the end.