Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

.:. A (Not So) Ordinary Day .:.

Watanabe Rokuro considered himself an average man of average means.

He worked full-time in the advertising department at the MaruMart Food Company, which specialized in producing cheap bento meals and other convenience store foods. It was decent, steady work, and while he didn't see himself becoming a manager, after several years he'd slowly worked his way to a rather comfortable position. It gave him a steady income to rent a reasonably nice apartment in central Naruhata while he saved for an even nicer place.

He also had a fairly average social life, though he'd recently broken up with his girlfriend of six months. That had been a bummer, but thankfully his friends hadn't let him mope too long. Last night they'd taken him out to several bars to celebrate his thirty-first birthday, the celebrations going late into the night since none of them had work the next day.

Most of the night was a blur. He had vague flashes of cheering, a drunken fist fight, and a group of girls with blue skin and orange hair cackling as they ran away carrying one of his friends. That last one should probably be concerning since he didn't remember seeing Takashi after that, but once he woke up he had more pressing issues.

Specifically: hangovers sucked when you had Hexa-Vision.

The moment he opened his eyes he regretted it instantly, all six eyes squeezing tightly shut with a hiss of pain as the light violently assaulted him through the gaps in the blinds. A tired, pained groan slipped out as he shoved a pillow over his head. Hexa-Vision, in his humble opinion, was a very average Quirk that didn't stand out much beyond the four extra eyes. It didn't give him any hidden powers, it just gave him an increased field of vision, increased perception to detail, and the ability to see more colors than the average person.

Which is why hangovers sucked when you had Hexa-Vision.

After several minutes he forced himself to get up, reluctantly tearing the pillow away from his eyes. He grabbed a bandana from his bedside table and tied it over the top half of his head to cover up the top four eyes, leaving only the bottom two exposed to minimize the light sensitivity. Still, the light burned when he opened them. He'd glare at the blinds if it didn't hurt so bad.

He got up and shuffled to the kitchen to make himself... a late breakfast, maybe? A glance at the clock on the microwave said it was 1:12. Okay, lunch it is then. He grabbed some leftover curry rice from the fridge and tossed it in the microwave, checking the email on his phone while he waited. Most of it was the usual—spam mail, text from his friend, someone asking if he'd heard anything from Takashi...

Rokuro paused when he saw one saying a package had been delivered. Come to think of it, he did order a custom coffee thermos online a few days ago as an early birthday gift to himself. His stomach promptly sank when he saw the email had arrived two hours ago though. A surge of panic shot through him and he all but flew to the door, fumbling with the locks desperately before throwing it open.

Almost immediately he regretted the impulse when he was fully assaulted by the bright afternoon sun. He ducked his head and shaded his eyes with a pained hiss, the light burning through even his makeshift blindfold to harm the four it shielded. However, when he forced himself to squint he could make out a cardboard box at his feet.

Relief washed over him and with a victorious sound he bent down and scooped up the package, holding it close to his chest. As he straightened up and started to turn he froze though, suddenly noting a black blob not too far away.

It was his next door neighbor, Ai-something or other. Aichi? Aigawa, maybe? He didn't know, they never really spoke. The scruffy man stood at the end of the hall not far from the stairs, holding a plastic bag from the nearby corner store. Evidently he'd been returning from a rare daylight excursion to restock on supplies.

For a moment they just looked at each other in silence, Aijima(?) grumpy-looking with heavy bags under his eyes as always and Rokuro with one arm still shielding the upper half of his head and only two eyes peeking out. After a beat Rokuro just gave a simple nod and retreated inside, closing the door and locking it before slumping against it with a tired groan.

He had no idea what Aimoto (no, that wasn't it either) did for a living, but the man honestly looked like a vagrant. They'd only talked once, shortly after Rokuro moved in, when the man visited to ask him to keep it down during the day since he worked at night. That was the only reason Rokuro didn't freak out at the loud thumps next door at the ungodly hours of four in the morning when the man would return.

Whatever that job was, Rokuro didn't want to know. He didn't want to know anything about the man. He swore he once saw the man with a stab wound, staggering into his apartment just as Rokuro had been leaving for his own job. Another time, Ai—...kawa? Hmm, closer, but still wrong—had left the door open long enough for Rokuro to see inside, and the room had been bare. No furniture, just a suitcase and a sleeping bag.

Yeah, Rokuro didn't know a thing about Aihara, and he absolutely had no interest in ever learning about him. All that mattered was that the guy hadn't stolen his package, whether that was due to him being absent or simply not caring overall unimportant.

Dropping off the box on the kitchen counter, he retrieved the now-finished curry rice from the microwave and sat at the table to eat. As he did he pulled out his phone to search for apartment listings. He'd only bothered staying here as long as he did because it had an easy commute to his workplace, up until the office moved to a new building last year. After that, he only put off searching because Chie—no, Tamiya-san, he mentally corrected himself with a scowl, they had broken up—lived nearby.

Now that they broke up though, he had no reason to stay. He wouldn't be doing much else today anyway with this stupid hangover, so might as well browse some apartments closer to the new office. He paused only long enough to finish eating and carry his dirty dish to the sink, before returning to the seat to resume his browsing with his full attention. Maybe this time he could splurge on one with a balcony, he had a good amount saved up.

As he scrolled through the listings he suddenly felt a sharp stab of pain in his forehead, making him flinch and hiss in pain as he dropped the phone. "The hell?" he growled to himself, reaching to rub his head. "Friggin' hang...ov...ers..."

His voice trailed off as his fingers brushed over the bandana only to feel something hard and bumpy beneath the fabric. Sitting in shock for a second, he frantically tore off the bandana and opened the camera on his phone. It was still set to use the front camera after a deluge of drunken selfies last night, letting him immediately see himself. He clutched the phone tightly as he brought it closer to his face, eyes wide.

"What the fuck," he whispered, staring at the screen. Black, shiny material glistened on top of his forehead over his eyebrows, forming a bumpy-looking ridge. With his free hand he reached up to touch it, the material smooth and slightly warm to the touch beneath his fingertips. "What the actual...gk!"

He cut himself off as his left shoulder suddenly twinged with heavy pain, even sharper than the pain in his head. The phone dropped from his hand as he quickly grabbed at his arm, only to feel the skin... bulging? His head snapped to the side and he didn't know which was worse: seeing the skin shaking and vibrating, as if something was about to burst out...

...or the black crystal that began to break through the skin around his knuckles.

Tears filled his eyes as his breathing began to pick up pace, his whole body shaking. What the heck, what the heck, what the heck...

The last thing he saw was the skin on his arm exploding, another arm bursting forth.

Then, Watanabe Rokuro knew nothing.

Meanwhile in Musutafu, Midoriya Inko stood in her kitchen washing the dishes after lunch. Izuku had already bounced off to the computer room, something about a HeroTuber he liked doing a big charity livestream today. Honestly, Inko would prefer her son go outside and play rather than coop himself up indoors. It was such a lovely spring day outside after all, and the weather had been so dreadful this past week.

Alas, she knew today was not the day for Izuku to go anywhere though. Her baby boy had come home yesterday with fresh bruises and a splint on his wrist after an accident at school. A genuine accident, not some flimsy attempt to cover up bullying. A classmate had accidentally made some light bulbs explode, and a girl who'd been walking past Izuku's desk had been startled enough to trip and crash into his desk. She ended up breaking her arm from how it'd hit his desk.

Izuku had gotten away relatively scot free compared to that poor girl, but the doctors said he still needed to take it easy. In addition to his wrist, his ankle had gotten caught on the leg of either his desk or chair when he'd been knocked over, and it had some minor swelling. Nothing serious, but still enough to advise against any strenuous activity.

What a shame, she thought with a wistful sigh as she glanced out the kitchen window. They were still in the part of March where the season seemed to be in a constant state of flux between winter and spring. The weather had been so dreadful this week, fluctuating between rain that left everything soggy and windy days that made it too much of a hassle to go outside. Today was the first truly beautiful day of spring, and he couldn't even enjoy it properly.

Maybe she would make something extra special tonight for dinner. Last night she'd made katsudon, his favorite, to make up for his bad day at school, but she could get something special. Something to celebrate the start of spring—something with bamboo shoots, maybe? She did recently get a tempura recipe using some from Mister Tachibana...

Mind settled, she left the dishes in the sink to soak and checked the clock. It was only a bit after one-thirty, she could run to the store and pick up the ingredients and be back by three at the latest. She went to grab her coat and wallet, and quickly peeked into the computer room to let him know she was leaving.

Inko stopped herself short though when she saw her son eagerly watching the stream, bouncing in his chair. She was too far away to see the monitor clearly, but she recognized the voice as a HeroTuber who liked to talk about heroes' histories rather than their fights. Things like the evolution of their public image and personas, events that inspired and shaped their careers. Sometimes he even got to interview Pro Heroes.

Fondness swelled in her as she picked up Izuku's excited mumbling. He'd mentioned that a few Pros would be appearing throughout the event, and based on his bouncing she suspected at least one was on screen right now. Seeing him so happy and excited, she couldn't bring herself to interrupt him even just to say she was leaving.

With that in mind Inko turned and quietly crept away before he could notice. The trip would be quick and he said the stream would last for most of the day, so he probably wouldn't notice. Just in case he decided to look for her she wrote a note and left it on the kitchen table before pulling on her coat and heading for the door. As she did she failed to notice the cap of a pen had fallen to the floor not far from the front door.

She did notice when she stepped on it. The cap rolled under her foot and made her lose her balance, not enough to make her fall but still making her stumble a few steps to the side. She swayed towards the wall, her shoulder colliding with it.

In the computer room, Midoriya Izuku couldn't stop bouncing and shaking in his chair as the livestream continued. Mach7, one of his favorite HeroTubers, had been talking about this charity livestream for the past month, and so far it was living up to the hype. It had started with Rock Lock next to him!

They were in a park outside the hospital they wanted to raise money for with a bunch of kids and parents from it, so Rock Lock had shown off one of his tricks and thrown a tile which he locked in place mid-air, and then jumped on it! Then, they went around borrowing some stuff from the kids, and he basically made a whole staircase out of all sorts of things! He even used a water bottle, which he then dunked into a trash can! It was so cool!

After that, another hero named Manual showed up, which had Izuku even more excited because he worked in Hosu, not Esuha City where the show was. Manual had once appeared as a guest on Mach7's videos (and it was so amazing!), and he'd explained back then that his classmate had been a patient at this hospital in elementary school. Izuku knew that this hospital had a special place in Manual's heart, but he still didn't expect him to come out all this way!

Izuku felt like he was hyperventilating as he watched Manual use his Quirk on the fountain to make water animals the kids called out. Usually Manual didn't do stuff that fancy since his Quirk required a lot of concentration, and even now the animals weren't that detailed. But still, Manual was clearly trying so hard to make those kids happy and putting his all into the animal shapes, he was just so amazed and touched by it!

When Manual managed to shape a giant bird silhouette rising from the water, he seemed to reach his limit and the water all fell down with a magnificent splash. Some of the closer kids and parents shrieked with surprise and delight as they got drenches. Everyone began clapping and Izuku joined in too, even if they couldn't hear.

"Wow, that was really impressive!" Mach7 cheered. "I think we're gonna need some towels for that though!"

"Yeah, sorry about that folks," Manual laughed, looking a bit sheepish. "Luckily I had a feeling this might happen, so I came prepared!" A sidekick from his agency and a few nurses appeared on camera carrying towels with Manual's colors, handing them out to the people who'd gotten splashed. He jogged over to talk to them while the camera focused back on Mach7 and Rock Lock.

"Man, not even an hour in and we're already off to a great start!" Mach7 declared cheerfully. "The crowd's having a blast! Yutaro, what's the current donation count?"

"Twenty million yen!" the cameraman declared cheerfully, and a small chorus of cheers rose up.

"That's a strong start, and I hope you keep up the momentum," Rock Lock said with a nod. "The Minakata Hospital has a lot of patients with serious illnesses, so it always needs to replace equipment. Some people's Quirks become a lot more destructive when they get sick."

"That's right," Mach7 agreed with a nod. "I've told all you viewers before how when my sister had a brain tumor, it messed with her Quirk and she started secreting a corrosive mist at random. We didn't even know that was possible, her Quirk is more of the harmless colored mist variety. Luckily it never spread far from her body and the effect was pretty slow and weak, but she melted a total of four beds while getting treated. Hospital beds are not cheap, folks. Even if you've already donated, we definitely wouldn't mind you giving another one."

Izuku just bobbed his head grimly, feeling a bit somber at the reminder. However, the mood didn't last long before Mach7 cracked a smile. "But enough of that! We've still got another five hours to go before we end, so let's raise as much money as possible—and more importantly, put some smiles on these faces!" The crowd around him cheered enthusiastically, Izuku joining in.

"That's right!" Rock Lock agreed with a nod and smirk. "I've got to head out for my patrol unfortunately, but you'll be having more guests after this, right?"

"Oh, we've got a lot of people scheduled to show up!" Mach7 confirmed with a giant grin. "Most are going to be a surprise, but if you want a hint: Yutaro's already FREAKED OUT."

"He's right, I spent five minutes straight screaming," the cameraman laughed, and Izuku's jaw dropped as he nearly fell out of his chair.

"O'Clock is coming!?" he all but screamed, his voice so high it came out more like a wheeze. As a long-time fan of Mach7, he knew Yutaro loved O'Clock. Yutaro said that O'Clock had saved him years ago before they started the series, and ever since then he'd been wanting to meet the hero again.

This was amazing! This was more than just another awesome hero, this was a reunion Izuku and so many others had been waiting for since the videos first started uploading! Of course even without the emotional connection to O'Clock Izuku would still be super-excited to see him. His Quirk was just so cool! It wasn't super-flashy like a lot of Heroes, way more suited for close combat, but—

A loud crash from elsewhere startled him out of his line of thought, making him jolt and nearly fall out of the chair. His head whipped around to stare at the door wide-eyed, the stream forgotten for the moment. What was that? That definitely didn't sound like something getting knocked over or even his mom simply falling, this was much louder.

"Mom?" he called after a second. "What was that noise?" He waited but got no response, and with each second his apprehension only grew. His heart began to hammer anxiously as he got off the chair, turning to face the door fully. Heroes don't hesitate, he reminded himself, and balled his hands into fists as he limped towards the door.

He only made it two steps when he heard confused shouts from the computer, making him freeze and spin around. The crowd had started to shift and move, Mach7 looking at something off-camera as Rock Lock stood tall and attentive next to him. What the...? Was something happening?

Izuku stared at the screen for a moment, curiosity pulling at him, but then he forced himself to turn away and ran towards the door. The live stream could wait, he needed to check on his mom. "Mom!?" he called more forcefully. "Mom, are you okay? What was that—"

The question died on his lips as the living room came into sight, Izuku freezing in place and staring. His mom was near the entrance staring at Mister Tachibana from next door, which made no sense because Mister Tachibana wasn't in their apartment, he was in his. There was a big hole in the wall separating their apartments, Mister Tachibana fussing over his mom whose shoulder was covered in bits of plaster and dust.

"MOM!" Izuku cried more sharply, racing over. "What happened!? Why is there a hole in the wall!? Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," his mom replied faintly, still staring at the hole. "I tripped and fell against the wall."

"Midoriya-san, that's not enough to explain how you made this giant hole!" Mister Tachibana replied sharply. "These walls are sturdy! Trust me, I've fallen against them plenty of times, but the most I've ever seen is a dent! I've never seen someone hit it hard enough to demolish a whole chunk of it!"

"I don't know what to say," Mom said, shaking her head. "I just tripped and hit it with my shoulder! I—I don't know how it did... this!"

The last remark had Izuku's gaze zeroing in on her arm, and he gasped as he noticed something beneath all the dust and plaster. "Mom, your sleeve's all torn up!" he cried, racing over as quickly as his ankle would let him. His mom twisted her head to look at it and her eyes widened at the torn fabric of her coat sleeve. Almost immediately she began ripping the coat off, making Mister Tachibana jolt and shout in alarm.

"Wait, don't move your arm too much—" He stopped short once the coat was gone though, and all of them froze, just staring at his mom's perfectly undamaged arm.

For a moment none of them spoke, and Izuku's gaze flickered to his mom's coat which had fallen to the floor. In her rush to remove it she'd turned the sleeve inside out, and the rips in the fabric were much more clear without the dust getting in the way. The sleeve had been shredded, the rips far too big to fix up. Yet when he turned back to her arm, it didn't have so much as a scratch, even on places where the dust had gotten past the sleeve.

Izuku was a smart child. He knew enough to recognize that his mom's arm shouldn't be fine. Even beyond the lack of scratches or cuts, if she hit the wall as hard as Mister Tachibana said she did—hard enough to make that hole—it should have hurt her shoulder. Dislocated the bone or something, like Goro-kun did in gym class that one time when he fell and hit the ground really hard. Despite that her arm looked perfectly fine though.

Even now she slowly lifted it and tested it by turning and bending it in every direction she could, a look of wide-eyed wonder on her face. "I don't feel any pain at all," she said softly. "It—it should hurt, but... I don't feel anything. It feels perfectly fine."

"It might be shock," Mister Tachibana said, but he sounded doubtful. They stood for a moment longer, and Mom took a deep breath before turning to Izuku.

"Izuku, sweetie, why don't you go back to that live stream?" she suggested, and he frowned. He knew she was just saying that so she could talk to Mister Tachibana alone, and it bothered him they wanted to leave him out of this. Still, he didn't want to cause any trouble, so in the end he just nodded.

"Okay, mom. But you'll come talk to me when you're done, right?"

"Of course," she promised with a smile. "We just... need to figure some things out. Just go enjoy your show for a little bit, okay sweetie?"

"Okay, mom," Izuku agreed, and with great reluctance he turned and retreated to the computer room. Leaving his mom alone after that left a bad taste in his mouth, but... she seemed fine, somehow? Besides, the livestream was still going strong, and he was still curious about what all that shouting had been about right before he left. By the time he reached the room there was even more shouting.

Izuku didn't even manage to reach the computer before freezing at what he saw on the monitor. For several seconds he stood staring in shock, and then he spun and raced out. Mom and Mister Tachibana had gone back to talking through the hole in the wall, but they turned to face him as he entered. "Izuku, sweetie, I thought I—"

"Mom, there's a monster attacking the livestream!" he interrupted breathlessly, and his mom froze. Eyes widening, she turned and followed him back to the computer. Just as he'd said, there was some sort of monster battling the Pro Heroes.

He couldn't think of another word to describe their opponent. It had long, gnarled arms with raw-looking reddish skin that swung around like—like taffy. Its face didn't look remotely human, either, with bulging eyes and a fleshy, hanging protrusion from its mouth with that same mottled red skin as its limbs. The head was crested by white and red protrusions that formed a crown of sorts, and he could see more similar protrusions growing along its arms as it swung at Rock Lock who barely dodged.

The Lock Hero dodged the blow but didn't try to attack it, shouting instead at Manual. As he did the fleshy protrusion framing its jaw abruptly rose and began waving as glowing golden needles shot out. Manual wasted no time, using the fountain to create a wall of water to block the needles. The wall collapsed as the needles exploded on impact, making Izuku gasp.

"Oh my gosh," his mom whispered, hands rising to cover her mouth as the hero duo shouted something more. Izuku watched them surge into motion with a frown, noticing how they gave the monster a wide berth even as it tried to swing its overly long arms again.

"Why aren't they fighting back?" he asked aloud. "There's a lot of people in that crowd, shouldn't they be fight...ing..." He trailed off as he finally noticed one other detail about the monster, a detail that had him suddenly feeling numb:

It was wearing the hospital nurse scrubs.

Neither mother or son spoke as they watched the heroes continue to avoid the monster for another thirty seconds before the camera abruptly swiveled to the side. His breath hitched as it revealed several people had taken shelter behind an earthen barrier of some kind, likely erected by one of the crowd members at the heroes' request. Among the people in view though was Yutaro, the cameraman curled up clutching his leg.

Yutaro rarely showed himself on camera. He had a minor cosmetic mutation that gave him large, curling ram-like horns and fluffy white fleece in place of body hair. Now though... Now his bottom legs sported what looked like—like leaves, and twigs?

Izuku had no idea what was going on, but he and the rest of the world would soon find out.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

.:. Damage Control .:.

Yamada Hizashi did not often visit Naruhata on weekends. The ward was a bit distant from the part of Tokyo where he lived and worked. Besides, on Saturdays he usually liked to just relax at home since he often stayed up until nearly five in the morning on Friday nights. Hosting a late-night radio show was hard work, just because the “On Air” sign went off at 2 didn’t mean he could always go straight home.

Despite all that, when he got woken up at noon by a call from a Naruhata-based used electronics store about someone selling them a bunch of rare CDs, Hizashi hopped out of bed and was out his door by twelve thirty.

The store had become a favorite of his, having first stumbled upon it while trying to visit Shouta (emphasis on try , since the asshole hadn’t given anyone his address). The store turned out to be a hidden gem with an amazing music selection, and since then he’d returned a few times and gotten to know the owners quite well. If they called him about some new stock, he knew it would be worth the trip.

And indeed it was. Hizashi beamed as he sat in the back combing through the box, marveling over the selection. Whoever had sold this box either had no common sense or was absolutely desperate for cash. The box included stuff dating back to the early Quirk era, the sort of things that would make collectors salivate. Hizashi would know, he had to wipe away the trail of drool from his chin at least once so far.

While he sorted through, Koroboshi-san — one of the owners — sat at the table next to him inspecting his recently updated directional speaker. “Have to say, the padding looks much better,” the grizzled old man remarked lightly as he inspected the interior of the neck and lightly tapped the casing. “Material’s sturdier, too. I’m still not crazy about having something so bulky around your throat, but I doubt it’ll break anytime soon. That said,” he set down the speaker with a huff, the device making a notable thump . “It’s heavy as hell.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Hizashi replied with a snort and eye roll. “My shoulders are killing me lately.” He’d only been using the new updated version for a month, but it had been a very long month. His manager had taken pity on him and let him assign all his paperwork to an intern at the radio station mainly because his arms were usually too sore and stiff to lift during downtime.

Koroboshi grunted, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. “Gimme a few days to reach out to some contacts. I’ve got to know someone who can figure out a better material for this that won’t murder your shoulders.”

And that was the other reason Hizashi loved coming here.

Part of the reason Hizashi vibed so well with this place was because Koroboshi had formerly worked in the support industry before retiring. The man always loved getting a look at new gear, and never shied from pointing out how something could be improved. The latest improvements had been partially based on some of his previous suggestions, so Hizashi had been more than happy to oblige his request to bring it along.

“Koroboshi, if you can do that, I will be a loyal customer for life,” he declared, and Koroboshi snorted.

“You mean I didn’t already have your loyalty?” he quipped dryly, and Hizashi shot him a beaming grin.

“Nope, you definitely already did! But I could—”

He was cut off by a loud alarm on his phone, his smile instantly fading as he snatched it from the table. That siren-like alarm was the one used for all emergency notices sent to Pro Heroes within range of an incident, and was only sent in particularly extreme situations. When he unlocked the phone he found a notice with a location pinned on the map.

‘ Villain attacking all pedestrians at Akakusa Apartments. Villain has some sort of crystal coating their skin that can be reshaped into spear-like protrusions, as well as large number of left arms. Villain has already demolished part of apartment complex. Apprehend immediately. ’

His breath caught even before he finished reading it, not needing to check the map to know where to go.

The Akakusa Apartments were where Shouta lived.

“Koroboshi, I’m going to need to take this,” he said thickly, exiting out the app and turning around. The man had already opened the clasp on the back of the directional speaker, and Hizashi gratefully pulled it into place. Minutes later he was running down the street, wearing only his t-shirt and jeans, directional speaker and some knee and elbow pads Koroboshi had lying around.

As he ran he pulled out his phone and opened Shouta’s contact and hit call. Most people might be up and about at two in the afternoon, but Shouta would most likely be sleeping at this hour. He worried his lip anxiously as it rang out, and he didn’t bother trying to call a second time. At least it didn’t go straight to voice mail, so the phone was likely intact and powered on. That meant Shouta was most likely fighting.

He ended up hearing the fight well before he reached the apartment complex. Screams and crashes echoed clearly even from a few blocks away, and if that wasn’t a clear enough sign, he also passed some people fleeing desperately. After seeing people usually run towards villain attacks hoping to see Pro Heroes in action, that wasn’t a good sign. It made Hizashi run a little harder, gritting his teeth in anticipation.

Then, when the battle finally came into sight, he skidded to a halt because what the actual FUCK was THAT?

The villain stood out right away. The black crystal coating its body glittered almost painfully in the sunlight as it swung a freaking mutated-looking blob of a dozen different arms right at a cement fence. If the blow wasn’t strong enough to crumble it, the shiny black spikes piercing through it to the other side definitely weakened its integrity enough to finish the job. The cement collapsed into a pile of rubble soon after the villain yanked back its multitude of arms, releasing an unearthly shriek as it charged at a nearby Pro Hero he only vaguely recognized as a junior from UA.

Hizashi’s jaw dropped as he watched because seriously, what the actual hell? Over the years, he’d met enough people with extreme-looking mutations that most of the time they hardly phased him, but this —something about this just felt wrong . There was just something about the way the villain moved, how its blob of arms flopped around, and that sound it made... All of it just sent an instinctive shiver of foreboding and caution down his spine, much stronger than the usual villain.

He couldn’t dwell on it for long though, and he swallowed as he forced himself to focus on the situation. He quickly assessed the scene: one hostile, with two Pro Heroes engaging it. At least two dozen civilians gawking or trying to retreat, possibly more inside, and it looked like one intern had taken it upon herself to direct the evacuation.

His gaze flitted to the apartment building to get an idea of the damage already done there. Most of it stood intact, much to his relief, but that relief quickly faded when he realized the damage seemed to be centered near the end where Shouta’s apartment was. His stomach clenched with horror as his eyes snapped back to the battle, analyzing the scene desperately as he realized one key fact.

Shouta wasn’t there. He wasn’t fighting it.

Panic seized him for a brief moment before it vanished, replaced by stone cold determination. “Yo, guys, clear the way!” he called in warning to the two Pros. They both turned to look at him and he could see their suspicious gazes, no doubt assessing if he was a threat. One of them startled though, and Hizashi abruptly recognized him as being in the year below his at UA. He clearly recognized Hizashi too and shouted something to the other, and they both jumped out of the way.

With no one in the immediate path between him and the villain or beyond, Hizashi took a deep breath and screamed . It was far from the loudest scream he could do, but it was more than enough. The villain froze just as it had been about to swing at a parked car, its whole body suddenly... shaking? No, not its body, Hizashi realized even while he screamed. The crystal.

As it turned out, his Voice was a perfect pitch for this particular type of crystal.

He felt almost stupefied as the crystal coating shattered, the villain releasing a howl of pain that had him wincing in sympathy. With the shell gone his stomach only sank further though, the villain’s disfiguration now on further open display for all to see. Hizashi had no idea what he was looking at, but this wasn’t like any mutation or Quirk backlash he’d ever seen. Six eyes bulged and rolled lazily in their sockets with glazed looks, the man’s tongue lolling from his jaw which hung just slightly loose. Blood streamed down heavily from his forehead, not that he seemed to care.

Worse though, his arms . The man’s right arm looked normal, but the left one was just a giant mess of limbs coated in blood where crystal had broken through skin. Hizashi’s initial estimate had been generous, because there were far more arms than than he realized. And to his horror the number only grew, the man’s gait tilting towards the side as more and more arms sprouted and started dragging on the ground.

He charged at Hizashi with a mindless look, somehow managing to lift the grotesque limb and reel it back over its shoulder. Several of the palms flopped listlessly with the motion and smacked the nearby fence in the process, confirming in the process that the hands were still powerful on their own without the crystal spikes when the fence collapsed from the light blows.

Shouting with his Quirk wouldn’t help this time. Hizashi yelped as he jumped back just before the villain swung the abominable arm forward and slammed it into the ground. He nearly lost his footing when the blow fractured the pavement and created a crater with a web of cracks around it—but fortunately for him, the villain’s imbalanced weight meant he lost his footing too. He was knocked off his feet with a shout by the force of his own blow, and the other two Pros quickly descended upon him.

Knowing they had it handled and he wasn’t properly equipped for this fight, Hizashi tore away and charged for the apartment building. His heart pounded as he raced to the far set of stairs—the usual one he used had been a victim to the damage—and all but flew up the steps to the second floor. Entering from this staircase felt disorienting, and as he raced to the far edge he silently prayed that Shouta’s apartment would still be there.

His tension didn’t fade when he realized Shouta’s apartment had indeed been spared: the one immediately next door hadn’t been. The floor crumbled away a few feet from Shouta’s door, and he slid to a halt before he could reach the edge and pounded on the door. “Shouta! SHOUTA! If you’re in there, open up!”

No response, and he gnawed on his lip as he pulled out his phone. Please just be at the corner store or something, he silently pleaded as he hit dial. Before he could raise it to his ear he froze though, picking up faint traces of a familiar ringtone beyond the door.

Shit. That meant Shouta was probably inside, so why wasn’t he responding!? If Shouta was alive, Hizashi was forcing the bastard to give him a key. Actually, fuck that , he was going to just drag Shouta to his place after this; he couldn’t stay here anyway.

Since he didn’t have a key, Hizashi backed up and took a running start, delivering a very precisely placed kick at the door near the handle. It hurt to do it with his sneakers instead of his heavy-duty boots, but he ignored the pain, and it only took a few more kicks before it gave in. A quick shoulder-check had him stumbling into the apartment, staring wild-eyed at the largely empty room.

His first thought: holy shit, where’s all the furniture!? While Shouta had finally given him the address in case of emergencies, Hizashi had never actually visited until now. He couldn’t believe his friend would actually live here!

His second thought: there is a giant hole in the wall. Apparently the apartment hadn’t been as spared from the damage as Hizashi had thought, as the wall shared with the one next door didn’t... really exist, anymore. Some of it remained around the edges of the hole, but for the most part it had crumbled away.

He didn’t stare at it long, his focus quickly redirecting to a familiar yellow blob in the far corner. His heart skipped a beat as he raced over, unlatching the speaker so it wouldn’t impede his neck and tossing it to the floor uncaring of any damage. It clattered loudly as he dove to his knees, grabbing the blob and rolling it over to reveal Shouta. Hizashi felt his breath catch at the sight of his friend’s face in the opening of the sleeping bag, eyes closed as if perfectly asleep.

“No,” he whispered, tears starting to form as he stared down. “No, no, no, no, no... Shouta, fuck, no, not you too...” Shouta couldn’t be asleep, not with all that noise from the fighting outside— fuck, from the wall caving in! He grabbed the man’s shoulders through the sleeping bag and began shaking, his voice rising in pitch as he pleaded desperately. “Shouta, please, no, wake up man! Come on, wake up Shouta! Wake up, wake up, wake UP! ”

His voice rose with his Quirk at the last syllable as he threw his head back with a wail, the tears flowing freely. He shouted, letting out all his despair and horror and anguish as he continued to shake his friend—

And then suddenly, his Voice stopped.

He startled at the abrupt disappearance, and his head snapped down to find a pair of very irritated red eyes glaring at him. “Hizashi, get the hell OFF me,” Shouta growled, bangs floating upwards around the opening of the sleeping bag.

The only reason Hizashi’s shriek of delight and relief didn’t bring down the rest of the building was because Shouta still had Erasure activated and muted his Voice.

He wheezed as he grabbed Shouta’s shoulders and pulled his torso upright into a tight embrace, the black-haired man grunting at the sudden impact. With the new position he couldn’t use Erasure anymore, allowing the blond to babble freely. “You’re alive! Holy shit, you’re alive ! Thank fuck, I was so scared when I got that villain alert and you didn’t answer my call—and then I actually got here, and your eyes were closed, and...”

As he babbled Shouta began squirming to get free, but the sleeping bag effectively trapped him in place. “ Hizashi, ” he growled in irritation. “What the actual— is that a hole in my wall. ” The man’s angry threat fell flat with disbelief, and Hizashi loosened the embrace enough to let the other man sit back. Shouta’s gaze never moved from the hole in his apartment wall, eyes wide. “Why is there a hole in my wall.”

“I told you, there was a villain attack!” Hizashi replied. “Holy shit, that guy barely even seemed human, Shouta—”

He was cut off by two shrill shrieks from their phones, startling both of them. Immediately Hizashi pulled out his phone while Shouta unzipped his sleeping bag to retrieve his own, and Hizashi felt his blood chill when he saw the notice.

‘ EMERGENCY: MULTIPLE REPORTS OF PEOPLE TRANSFORMING INTO HOSTILE ENTITIES ALL ACROSS GREATER TOKYO AREA. CURRENT CAUSE IS UNKNOWN. AT LEAST ONE CHILD INCLUDED AMONG REPORTED VICTIMS. ALL HEROES, SUBDUE WITH AS MINIMAL HARM AS POSSIBLE ’

“What the hell?” he whispered, looking up. “Shouta, are you seeing this too?”

“I... I think so...?” Shouta stared at his phone with a bewildered look. Outside they could hear the distant whine of sirens, and Hizashi had a feeling that sound would be the background track of the rest of the day.

“ Reports of the sightings continue all across Japan. Even now, Pro Heroes are still engaged in battle in various cities... ”

Inko felt numb as she stared at the TV screen, the reporter’s voice sounding very far away as she struggled to process what she saw. The collapsed wall to the Tachibana apartment was the least of her worries now. For the past two hours, every news station had been reporting near-total chaos on the streets as villains and what felt like monsters rampaged. A state of national emergency had been declared, everyone told to stay indoors.

Beside her Izuku sat with his legs pulled to his chest, watching the screen with furrowed eyebrows. Maybe she shouldn’t let him watch this, he was only nine after all, but he had already seen the one villain on the livestream. Knowing him, he’d likely try to look it up anyway if she sent him to the computer room, and... well, she didn’t want him out of her line of sight right now.

“Mom, those people don’t look okay,” he said quietly.

“I know, sweetie,” she said just as softly, biting her lip as another battle was shown.

All of these villains looked horrific and twisted in some way, though thankfully none quite as grotesque as the one they’d seen on the livestream. Even now Inko shuddered, unable to forget the way the skin stretched as it swung its arms. However, she didn’t know if that was really a good thing, because these...

These looked like people .

People with glazed-looking eyes, skin discolored and bodies that contorted in odd ways that looked so painful. One clip showed a man in a convenience store uniform with feathers all over his body and limbs that seemed to inflate as he literally bounced out of the path of every blow aimed his way. Another showed a woman dressed in an apron with drill-like growths protruding from her arms, and whose jaw unhinged to a painful-looking extent to release an eerie red mist.

Villain didn’t seem to fit these people at all. Monster seemed closer, like when Izuku had first called her to the computer room, but even that still felt wrong. Both words implied some sort of malicious intent, but these people’s movements seemed more instinctual, more like mindless animals. Even as they fought the Pro Heroes, something just seemed so off.

Inko didn’t know what to call them, just knew she couldn’t look away.

The screen changed again, this time abruptly cutting back to the studio in the middle of an on-scene report. One of the anchors had run off, the remaining one standing up and facing off-screen with wide eyes. Her head turned back to the camera, her mouth pressing into a thin line.

“Everyone, we just got word that Pro Hero Uwabami has been confirmed among those who transformed,” she declared tightly, and Izuku’s small gasp of horror echoed Inko’s own. “There is no video footage of the transformation itself, but reports say the snakes on her head have become vicious and grown larger, lashing out at anyone nearby. Some witnesses also report one of the snakes spewed some sort of mist from its mouth, and that she can now jump as high as two stories. At the moment she is being pursued across Tokyo by multiple Pro Heroes, mostly from roof to roof...”

Her voice faded to the back of Inko’s mind as she covered her mouth, just thinking . Inko knew Uwabami more for her modeling career than her heroics, but even so she was a major household name. However, Izuku would know her much better than she did. When she looked over at her son his face was pale, eyes wide with disbelief.

“That... that makes no sense,” he whispered. “Uwabami—her Quirk is Serpentress. Her snakes just have heightened senses she uses to help detect and find people in disasters, that... It doesn’t make sense , they can’t create mist. And she can’t jump that high. It doesn’t...” He trailed off, his lips wobbling. “It’s like she has two Quirks, but that doesn’t make sense .”

“It doesn’t,” Inko agreed softly, but even as she spoke her head turned slightly to the giant hole in the wall connecting to the Tachibanas’ apartment. They had taped a bed sheet over the hole as a temporary measure and cleaned up most of the debris, but she could still see some dust on the floor below it. Her mouth thinned, eyes flitting back to her arm which looked just as pristine as the last ten times she looked.

It didn’t hurt. It should be cut up or bruised or something ; she saw the state of her coat’s sleeve, the large rips in it. There had been nothing to protect her arm after those rips were made, she should have been hurt. If not her arm, then somewhere else; her whole body had sagged against the wall after crashing into it. Yet the skin remained perfectly untouched, not even the faintest bruise remaining.

If she hadn’t felt herself crash through the wall, felt it break and the plaster jab into her arm and side, she would have almost thought she hadn't actually touched the wall at all. But she had felt that, so clearly. And then there was what Tachibana said, about how the walls shouldn’t break that easily from someone bumping into it accidentally.

Her mind flitted back to the end of the livestream before it cut out, the man with the ram mutation who suddenly had leaves and twigs sprouting from his legs.

What if... Maybe, just maybe, somehow...?

Far across Tokyo, several Pro Heroes pursued the heroine known as Uwabami as she fled across the rooftops. The muscles in her legs visibly scrunched up and coiled like springs to propel her with each jump, the enlarged snakes on her head lashing out at one Pro who got a little too close. One unhinged its jaw and spewed ominous-looking red mist at him, and the man recoiled back and screamed in pain as it grazed his arm.

Todoroki Enji, better known as Endeavor, followed the chase from neighboring rooftops with one of his sidekicks, Kido, watching from a distance for the moment. They had only joined the chase in the last few minutes, having been busy enough handling another one of these... people , whose Quirks had made them a much more volatile threat than usual.

Uwabami still resembled herself for the most part, but even from a distance he could see the discoloration to her skin, and how her legs seemed to bulge with each jump. The mist made him wary of approaching her directly. From the few reports he’d heard, it seemed to have some corrosive or melting effect. Nothing overly powerful, but the people who’d gotten caught in it had the fabric of their clothes stuck to their skin.

That alone wouldn’t usually deter him too much, but he was more concerned whether the mist might be flammable. The last thing he wanted to do was accidentally cause an explosion. Today was chaotic enough.

As he debated whether he should redirect his attention to other targets, one of the Pro Heroes pursuing the heroine flung a mace attached to a chain at her. It made contact with her side and sent her flying sideways with a furious shout, and as she was flung away the snake that created that mist suddenly spit at the chain.

Enji was too far away to see what happened exactly. All he knew was that suddenly the chain had broken, and suddenly the mace was flying right towards Kido. “Watch out!” he barked to his sidekick, hand shooting out towards the bulky projectile as he spoke—

—and at that moment, he felt something in his mind shift and air visibly swirled around his palm, and suddenly the mace was flying towards him .

Enji stared in wide-eyed alarm at the swirling air and suddenly changed trajectory of the macehead. Kido had already reacted at his warning, the bandages covering his body shooting out to ensnare the mace and stopping its flight. It didn’t fall though and Kido grunted in surprise, the bandages wrapping tighter around the mace that was still tugging towards Enji’s hand.

“Endeavor, I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels like it’s being pulled towards you even with my Quirk!” he called, and Enji stared. Kido’s Quirk, Traject, allowed him to alter the trajectory of any object that passed through his bandages. So for the mace to be resisting his Quirk meant something must be actively pulling it...

He lowered his hand and all at once the mace arced downwards, the sudden drop making Kido shout in surprise as it pulled his bandages with it. As he struggled not to not be pulled with it Enji turned his hand to stare at his palm, eyes narrowing. “What the hell?” he muttered. What was that—that feeling he’d had earlier, in the back of his mind when reaching towards the weapon? It almost reminded him of the subtle little shift in his mind when using Hellflame, like a switch being flipped, but...

Then that feeling suddenly surfaced again and the air began swirling above his palm, and this time the flames around his face began stretching towards it.

Enji jerked back as he promptly released Hellflame so the flames would extinguish. The mysterious feeling faded at the same moment, and the air stilled around his palm. His lips curled downwards as he focused on the feeling one last time, and then the air began visibly swirling again. Though he no longer had his flames active Enji could feel a sort of... suction on his face, feel his hair and stubble ripple towards it.

As he watched the small spiral his mind raced, thoughts straying to those... people he’d seen today. The man he’d fought just before this who attracted wood like a magnet attracted metal while spewing acid that ate through metal. The other one with the clear insect mutation, including wings, and expanding muscles. And now Uwabami whose limbs seemed to bulge and uncoil with each jump while her snakes grew larger and spewed harmful mist.

In the background he noted Kido untangle his bandages from the mace, gaze focused on him the whole time. “Sir?” his sidekick asked worriedly. “Sir, what’s going on?”

His jaw clenched as he stared at his palm, air still swirling and trying to lightly pull in his hair. “This is going to sound crazy,” he said slowly, “but I think I somehow developed a second Quirk.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

.:. March 19th .:.

Yagi Toshinori woke up in a bed feeling dazed and confused.

The steady beep of a heart monitor was the first thing he registered, telling him even before he opened his eyes he must be in a hospital. And that... that was part of what made him feel confused. Not the fact that he was in a hospital—no, the fact he was lucid enough to recognize that right after waking up.

Logically, he should have been on painkillers. He should have been so doped up that everything else was left in a muddied haze. He could count the number of times he’d woken up in a hospital on one hand, and every single one of those times had been due to severe injuries that needed urgent treatment. Injuries that called for a lot of painkillers.

Yet other than the usual grogginess from waking up from a deep sleep, he was able to think perfectly clearly. Clearly enough to remember why he would be in the hospital, at which point his eyes snapped open and he jolted with a gasp. His eyes darted around the room as his heart raced, quickly settling on a familiar face seated not far away.

Sasaki Mirai, more commonly known as Sir Nighteye, had a haunted look on his face as he sat in the chair next to him. His hair, usually combed neat and tidy, looked unbrushed with the golden strand lingering out of place next to his face. His suit looked neater, but still a bit more rumpled than usual. One hand covered his mouth, eyes trained on his phone with an almost wild sort of wideness to them.

“Mirai,” Toshinori gasped, and his sidekick—his sidekick startled. Mirai gasped and nearly dropped his phone, wide orange eyes snapping his way as the man stared in obvious shock. His expression soon smoothed out though, relief coursing through him as he jumped to his feet.

“T-Toshinori,” he managed, and then stopped short, eyes flicking over Toshinori’s form. Toshinori let his own eyes wander down to the blankets covering him for the first time, taking in the fact that it really was just blankets. Not a giant mess of wires and tubes like he’d expected. He looked back to Mirai when he heard the younger man suck in a sharp breath before speaking again. “You’re awake... I just might have to become religious now, because that’s a miracle if I’ve ever seen one.”

That was one the weaker attempts at a joke he’d ever heard from the man, the delivery falling flat. “Mirai—” Toshinori cut himself off with a cough. His mouth was dry, so dry. Mirai was at his side almost instantly, pressing a... juice box to his lips? Toshinori didn’t question it, just letting the straw slide in and coat his mouth with refreshing, relieving moisture. Apple juice, he noted distantly. Not bad.

“How do you feel?” the other asked while Toshinori drank, and he had to pause to think it over.

“I feel... fine.” And he did. The grogginess had already vanished, and other than his mouth he didn’t feel any pain. Which... didn’t make any sense. After all, he’d just—

He sucked in a breath and pushed the memory away to focus on the present. Right now, he felt no pain even without pain killers. That meant a good amount of time must have passed, allowing the wound to heal to some degree. Taking a breath, he braced himself as he asked, “How long... How long was I out?” At that Mirai faltered.

“...Twenty-six hours,” he replied after a moment, and Toshinori once again froze because... what? Twenty-six hours? But—how? He—he was beaten so badly. He remembered getting impaled, getting—getting—

He shifted a bit, pressing a hand to his side beneath the covers. Even through the thin hospital scrubs, he could tell he didn’t have any bandages. The spot didn’t feel tender or sore. Nothing felt tender or sore. Even with healing Quirks, that—that shouldn’t be possible. Not in just a single day.

“Mirai,” he said slowly. “What... what happened?”

At that Mirai cracked a small smile and chuckled, but it wasn’t a cheery one. No, the look in his eyes was more manic, his quiet laughter closer to hysterics than anything truly happy or amused. “So much, Toshinori,” he whispered, and his laughter grew a little louder, a little more crazed as he shook his head. “So fucking much, you have no idea...!”

“Authorities are still struggling to understand just what happened yesterday. Most of the victims have been subdued and taken into custody for examination. Meanwhile over one hundred other people have admitted themselves to hospitals for urgent examination across the country, though it’s suspected many more are waiting for various reasons...”

Todoroki Fuyumi listened to the news almost gravely as she sat on the couch of their living room, knees hugged to her chest. Natsuo was in the kitchen looking for snacks right now along with Shouto, and Father was away. Their housekeeper, Minami-san, had headed to her room to take a nap at Fuyumi’s insistence. Later Fuyumi would handle making dinner, but for now, the house felt... quiet. So very quiet. 

Yesterday had been loud and chaotic. Sirens had sounded late into the night, the sounds of battle occasionally drifting close to their house. She and her brothers had holed up in the living room watching the news coverage with wide eyes until Minami-san came to call them for dinner. After that, the woman had kept them away from the news, occupying them all with a few movies until they fell asleep on the couch.

When morning arrived, Fuyumi had been only mildly surprised to wake up still huddled in the living room with her brothers cuddled against her. The fact that she’d woken up naturally meant that Father must have not come home last night, otherwise he would have woken them when he came home. All things considered, his absence didn’t surprise her; the news coverage yesterday had made things seem incredibly hectic.

But then Minami had told them he’d called to say he wouldn’t be home at all, and he didn’t know when he’d be back. It worried Fuyumi, because he hadn’t even called her, and he usually always did that since she was the oldest. Minami had no explanations, just shrugged and said he claimed something urgent came up.

Fuyumi bit her lip as the television switched to show a photo of Uwabami. “At present, Snake Hero Uwabami is the only Pro Hero to have been reportedly affected by yesterday’s event,” the news anchor said. “After being subdued yesterday, she has been admitted to a hospital for urgent examination. No word has been given on her status at this time. More victims’ identities have been verified since then, though authorities have refused to release their identities. It has been confirmed however that the youngest is a second year middle school student.”

That made her suck in a soft breath of horror. Fuyumi herself was only nearing the end of her first year of high school, and Natsuo was only a year younger than that victim. No one understood just what had happened yesterday, but it seemed to be completely random with the victims.

More than that though... The Quirks.

Rumors had quickly spread online about several people claiming to have somehow developed a second Quirk, either shared second hand or claimed directly. The news avoided mentioning it entirely, but pretty much everyone knew about it. Fuyumi had only seen a trickle of it on her phone, mainly from her friends texting her links to clips and posts on social media.

Most of the video clips had a slew of comments calling them out as fake. She remembered one showing a girl demonstrating her obvious chameleon Quirk before lifting books using telekinesis, which led to accusations someone else off-screen was doing it. Another, with a teenage boy who spit out blobs of some kind of colorful ink that splattered in explosions of color on the walls, had multiple users mocking him as Quirkless. Fuyumi had to exit that one because the comments were just so cruel.

Normally, Fuyumi would just dismiss all the claims. People just couldn’t have two Quirks, it just didn’t work that way. Even Shouto’s Quirk was a singular Quirk, the two facets playing off each other directly. Her mom had tried to explain it once when she was little, something to do with chimerism, or hybridization, or something like that, but ultimately it boiled down to a single, very powerful Quirk. People having multiple Quirks just... didn’t happen.

That had been before yesterday though.

No matter how she looked at it, those people who’d transformed... Every single one of them seemed to have at least two Quirks. Maybe if it was just the physical aspect she’d be able to write it off as someone else’s Quirk being used on them, but no two transformations looked remotely the same. Many of them obviously had at least two completely different, unrelated abilities, abilities which couldn’t be explained by physical mutation alone.

Her mind flicked back to Uwabami, in part because the news still showed that photo of her. The media hadn’t released anything, but one of her friends had texted her a link to a shaky cell phone video someone took of the chase. The quality was low, but even then Fuyumi could tell something was going on with her legs whenever she’d jump. And then her snakes had spit... something, she didn’t know what, but it left a hole in a nearby wall.

Fuyumi had no idea what was going on. Nothing made sense.

A crash from the kitchen had her startling and leaping to her feet with wide eyes. That crash was loud, too loud to just be something getting knocked over. “Natsuo? Shouto?” She took off running as she called to her brothers, pounding towards the kitchen at record speeds. “Are you okay? What was… that...”

She trailed off as she burst into the kitchen to find the table and chair completely knocked over... along with the door to the fridge, which now rested against the wall. Natsuo stood with his jaw hanging open, Shouto just staring blankly at the damage. For a moment none of them spoke. Then the fridge door toppled over with an even mightier crash, making them all wince but it knocked them out of their stupor.

“What happened?” Fuyumi demanded.

“I don’t know!” Natsuo whined. “One second Shouto was trying to reach up, and then the next his hand went whoosh and suddenly there was a blast of wind that just knocked everything over!”

“I... didn’t mean to?” Shouto said faintly beside him. He still stared at the fallen furniture, eyes wide with disbelief. “I—I can’t do that though? How did I do that?”

“I don’t know, but dad is going to flip,” Natsuo replied solemnly, and that had them all wincing. Fuyumi bit her lip, looking at the damage. Yeah, they weren’t going to be able to clean this up. They could pick up the table and chairs, but the fridge was missing the door—and on that note, the wall had a noticeable dent in it. None of them knew anything about fixing... that.

As they stared at it she heard footsteps pound behind her, and Minami slid into the room. “What was that—oh my gosh.” The woman faltered at the damage, eyes wide. “Oh my gosh. What did you do?”

“It was an accident!” Natsuo cried.

“How do you rip off the fridge door on accident?” Minami asked incredulously, and Natsuo winced. Before he could answer, there was a sudden burst of wind and another crash. They all whirled to see Shouto standing with palm stretched towards the counter with air just exploding from it, with enough force it actually looked visible. Everything on the counter either blew to the floor or smashed into the wall, leaving small dents and cracks.

As soon as it started it stopped, the wind dying in an instant, and dead silence followed for a moment before Shouto looked at his hand. “...I think I figured out how it works?” he asked uncertainly, biting his lip as he looked at them.

Fuyumi just stared at the fruit bowl now embedded in the wall. “Shouto,” she heard herself ask. “Why did you do that?”

“...I don’t know? I wanted to see if I could do it again...?”

“And you did it in the kitchen... Why?”

Shouto had no answer for that. After several long seconds passed, Natsuo clapped his hands. “Okay! So, we’re running away now.”

“We’re WHAT!?” Fuyumi whirled to face her brother in shock, and he shrugged.

“Fuyumi, Shouto just blew up half the kitchen. Dad’s going to kill us, and then try to figure out how to force him into more training. So, we’re running away! Minami-san, would you be willing to drive us or hide us out at your place for a couple days?”

Their housekeeper palmed her forehead. “Kid, I like you guys, but I need this job, and I am not going to be murdered by your father for basically kidnapping you.”

“Well, I guess we’re on our own then!” Natsuo declared, and turned to Shouto. “Okay Shouto, go pack your bags.”

“Are we really leaving?” Shouto asked wide-eyed.

“Yep! No time like the present, let’s move, move, move!”

“But—but, I still don’t know how I did that.” Shouto frowned at his palm. “Wouldn’t it be dangerous if we left now? What if it happens again?”

“Shouto, you did it the second time on purpose, right?” Natsuo asked, and Shouto nodded. “That’s good enough for me! Let’s go!”

Minami’s palm loudly met her forehead again, while Fuyumi just stared. She would love to write this off as her little brother joking, but she knew him well enough to know he might be serious.

She looked to Minami for support, but the housekeeper was shaking her head. “Screw it, I’m going back to my room,” she muttered, already turning to shuffle off. “If you guys actually run away, I won’t say anything, but I’m not having a role in this.”

So much for being a responsible adult.

Fuyumi turned back to her brothers, her mouth pressing into a thin line. Natsuo had moved to kneel next to Shouto, speaking in reassuring tones. “Come on Shouto, life on the road won’t be that hard. We can go hang out at my friend’s house for a couple days, and then we can go buy an apartment on the other side of Japan.”

“Doesn’t that cost a lot of money though?” Shouto asked doubtfully. “Do you have enough?”

“Shouto, what do you know about finances?” Natsuo asked dismissively.

“I heard dad talking to one of his sidekicks about looking for a new apartment in Tokyo. I don’t know how much your allowance is, but I don’t think you can afford one hundred thousand yen every month.” The number had Natsuo wincing and Fuyumi sucking in a breath. Apartments tended to be very pricey in Tokyo compared to other areas, but it occurred to her Natsuo probably didn’t realize how much apartments usually cost.

“He’s right,” she said, jumping on the opening. “Natsuo, you can’t afford to rent an apartment. And besides, they won’t let you rent one! You’re only in middle school.” Natsuo frowned at that, seeming to think.

“...What about dad’s credit card?” he asked thoughtfully, and Fuyumi wanted to scream. “He’s got that emergency credit card stashed away in the kitchen drawer, right? We can use that to buy a bunch of stuff, return it for cash, and then just—rent hotel rooms, or something!”

That was even STUPIDER than the first idea. However, Shouto—sweet, innocent, naive nine-year-old Shouto—didn’t know how utterly ridiculous this all was, and seemed to be considering it. “Why can’t we just use the credit card to rent the rooms?”

“Because dad would be able to track when the credit card’s used,” Natsuo explained patiently, while Fuyumi felt the beginnings of a headache. “If we return stuff and get cash, he can’t track cash though. Okay?” That seemed to placate their youngest brother who nodded slowly, apparently accepting the logic.

“Okay.”

“Great!” Natsuo stood up and clapped. “Okay! Shouto, go to your rooms and pack your stuff. Clothes and any toys you want. Fuyumi-nee, can you help me find the credit card? Dad told you the PIN code for it, right?” The question directed at her had Fuyumi snapping out of her stunned stupor, blinking and shaking her head rapidly. That was it, this had gone on long enough.

“Natsuo,” she snapped, “You are NOT running AWAY!”

At the last word her voice suddenly rose in volume and took on an odd, echoing quality, bouncing off the walls. Natsuo and Shouto abruptly froze and stood straight to attention, staring at her wide-eyed and alert. Fuyumi slapped a hand over her mouth, her own eyes going wide with disbelief.

“...Fuyumi,” Natsuo said slowly. “What was that...?”

Fuyumi hesitated to answer, suddenly not trusting her voice. She swallowed and forced herself to speak, keeping it to a whisper. “I... don’t know...?” The words were slightly muffled by her hands, but she didn’t dare to remove them.

“Your hair rose,” Shouto said, staring at her. “And your eyes looked really weird.” That had her startling, gaze snapping towards him in shock.

“My eyes looked weird?” she repeated before she could think, and winced briefly before relaxing as she realized her voice hadn’t done the thing it just did. Her hands fell away from her mouth with a sigh, her lips curling downwards. “What the heck was that?”

“...Do you want to maybe, uh, try again?” Natsuo suggested timidly after a few seconds, and Fuyumi hesitated. Did she want to try that again? How did she try it again though? How did she do it at all?

“Maybe it’s like my Quirk, and—and that wind thingy I just did?” Shouto suggested, trying to be helpful. “The wind thingy felt kinda like when I use my Quirk, but—different.” His eyebrows furrowed, obviously trying to think of a better way to explain it, but Fuyumi already felt a chill as something clicked.

“A second Quirk,” she whispered to herself, and her brothers perked up.

“What?” Natsuo asked, and Fuyumi glanced up at him.

“A—a second Quirk,” she repeated more loudly. “People online—a bunch of people say they have a—a second Quirk. Or just, just a Quirk, if they were—are?—were Qu-Quirkless...” Her voice wavered on the last word as she realized just what she was saying. A second Quirk? That was preposterous. People didn’t magically spawn another Quirk—

People also didn’t transform into monsters though.

“Fuyumi,” Natsuo said, voice oddly somber and serious. “Yell at us again.”

“What?” She startled and gawked at him, but he met her gaze resolutely.

“Yell at us like you’re mad!” he told her. “See if you can do it again! Shouto’s right, your hair and eyes were acting weird when your voice did that thing, but I didn’t get a good look so I don’t really know what it did! You were kinda mad when you yelled and you never get mad, and your voice hasn’t done the thing again, so maybe you just gotta yell like you’re mad!”

Fuyumi just stared at him, and when she looked to Shouto he had that same earnest expression Natsuo sported, silently daring her to do that. For a second she just stared because, really? Really? They wanted her to yell at them, just to see if she could do it again?

...Then again, Shouto did just test if he could do the air blast a second time in the middle of their kitchen. And Natsuo had just been talking about how to run away. The fact they wanted her to test it wasn’t surprising at all, her brothers clearly lacked some basic common sense.

And know what? “Screw it.” Fuyumi was always the responsible one, but right now something weird was going on, and her brothers had already been reckless enough. One more reckless Todoroki wouldn’t change a thing. She turned and stalked out of the room, throwing out a loud, “Come on!” over her shoulder.

Her brothers scrambled to follow, no doubt confused, but she didn’t care to explain. She marched straight to the bathroom and slammed her hands on the counter, glaring at her reflection in the mirror intently. If her hair and eyes did something weird, she wanted to see it for herself. She took a deep breath, and shouted.

“What is gOING ON WITH ME!?”

Her voice shifted mid-syllable, pitch deeper and volume higher as the echoing effect sounded again. In her reflection the whites of her eyes bled black, strands of hair rising from either side of her face and floating up like—like horns.

As soon as she registered what happened she jerked back with a gasp and her eyes returned to normal, her hair falling limply as she slapped her hands over her mouth. From the corner of her eye she could see her brothers staring, but they didn’t say anything, and neither did Fuyumi.

Fuyumi’s Quirk was Thermal Expulsion. She could produce and radiate thermal energy—heat and cold—but she couldn’t create fire or ice like Shouto. Basically, she could just make her body and immediate vicinity warmer or colder. A weak and passive Quirk—well, by their family’s standards—and one that had absolutely nothing to do with her voice or making her hair float like devil’s horns.

As she slowly processed this Natsuo spoke up. “Well, it’s official. You guys both got a second Quirk. Man, I’m so jealous,” he added, folding his arms behind his head. “I’m still just stuck with freezing things over. It feels so lame.”

“Do you know you don’t have a second Quirk?” Shouto asked, and Natsuo paused.

“...That, is actually a good point,” he admitted, and nodded. “Alright, I’m gonna go to the dojo to experiment! Come on Shouto, let’s go!” He turned and stalked off, Shouto trailing behind, and it took Fuyumi a few seconds to register what he’d just said. Once it did she jolted and spun around, racing after them.

“Natsuo, you are not trAINING WITHOUT SUPERVISION!”

Her voice changed again, second Quirk no doubt activating again, but she didn’t care. Her brothers were idiots, and she had to make sure they didn’t get themselves killed.

“At the moment, this phenomenon seems to have exclusively affected Japan. Other countries have not reported anything like this, leading many to suspect this is the work of a villain or a network of villains based out of Japan...”

Shouta barely paid any attention to the radio, wishing desperately he could sleep as his head slumped against the car window. Last night had been the single most chaotic night of his entire career, and today was no different. It had been hectic enough he hadn’t even been able to sleep for a minute; the only rest he got was when he’d bundle up in Hizashi’s car to be driven off to the next location.

The public hadn’t been given any official confirmation or notice yet, but Shouta had: whatever happened yesterday, somehow it involved hundreds of people getting new Quirks. It seemed to be most common among children, people with simple Quirks, or people who had always been Quirkless. The transformations were already theorized to be the result of people receiving multiple extra Quirks instead of just one.

Shouta only knew this because as the Erasure Hero, he was in high demand. Suddenly he was getting messages pinging him to every hospital in Tokyo and the nearest prefectures to use Erasure on panicked patients who couldn’t control their newfound powers. His dry eye was reaching new levels of irritating; he’d used up an entire bottle of drops over the past twenty-four hours and was well on his way to finishing a second.

At least he wasn’t alone in his misery. Hizashi had volunteered to chauffeur him everywhere, more because he was probably freaked out by finding Shouta apparently comatose in his half-destroyed apartment. Normally he’d find the blond’s clinginess irritating, but this time Shouta honestly didn’t blame him.

He still had no idea how the hell he’d managed to sleep through his neighbor transforming and breaking a hole in their shared wall. He’d have only been asleep for less than half an hour by that point, he should have been no where near deep sleep. And even then, he was FAR from a heavy sleeper. In a way it was good he was getting called to so many hospitals because he was able to get a checkup during a rare lull, but the doctors gave him a clean bill of health.

Shouta was naturally unsettled by it, but he could only dwell on it during the car rides when he wasn’t being forced to use Erasure on crying and panicking people. Honestly, he’d used Erasure more in the past day than he usually did in probably an entire month. It had never occurred to him that he might have a limit of how much he could use it each day before side effects set in, but he thought he’d find out soon if he had to keep it up.

Thank goodness they were done for now. The Hero Public Safety Commission had actually bent the rules and pulled a few civilians with similar erasure Quirks to help out with the situation. The ability to nullify Quirks was rare and could be dangerous in the wrong hands, so the Commission kept a close watch on people registered with such powers. He’d been relieved at the last hospital by a woman who could cancel Quirks through physical contact. Limited her from people who could make themselves non-physical, but he wasn’t going to point that out. She’d be more useful than him if someone with an invisibility Quirk had been affected, anyway.

Now they just had one last stop, and then they’d go to Hizashi’s apartment. Shouta had already resigned himself to the blond forcing him to move in. He knew Hizashi would probably insist once he saw Shouta’s apartment, but the giant hole in the wall gave Shouta even less ground to argue right now. He’d already silently decided he would claim the bed and force Hizashi to use the couch. Hizashi owed him that much, considering this last stop was a personal one.

“We’re here!” Hizashi declared, the car turning off, and Shouta peeled his head away from the window to look up. They were in front of a small ranch house, nothing too fancy or shabby. Totally average looking and unremarkable.

He waited for Hizashi to exit before following suit, trudging after the blond to the front door. Hizashi barely finished knocking before it opened, revealing a woman with silver hair tied in a bun and fuzzy deer ears that flicked slightly. “Yamada-san, thank you for coming,” she said pleasantly, and her eyes focused on Shouta. “And you as well, Eraserhead-san. Please, come in!”

She ushered the duo inside, leading them down the hall. Hizashi made polite small talk, Shouta kept his hands in his pockets and just zoned out their voices. Damn he felt tired, after this he’d have to sleep for twenty-four hours to make up for this. He only tuned back into the conversation when the woman stopped outside a door and knocked on it. “Goro, Yamada came with Eraserhead.”

“Great, send them in!” a man called, and she slid the door aside for them to enter. A grizzled-looking man stood in the center of the room, grinning at them widely. “Hey Yamada, I hear you had a busy night last night!”

“...You did too, Koroboshi,” Hizashi replied faintly, staring at the books, pillows and tools floating around the room. Shouta eyed the objects silently, mentally huffing to himself.

“I’m guessing telekinesis is new,” he drawled, while thinking to himself, Another one? This marked the third Quirk he’d seen which could be classified as some form of telekinesis.

The man—Koroboshi—laughed heartily. “Yep. It suddenly triggered a bit after Yamada left yesterday. If you’d stuck around a few minutes longer, you would’ve been in for one heck of a show!” he added to Hizashi with a grin. “Anyways, I thought I got it under control and headed home. But after taking a nap today it activated again and, well, I don’t exactly know how to turn it off, y’know?”

Shouta just grunted while Hizashi laughed and made more small talk, he didn’t care to listen to it. Couldn’t even if he wanted to, it was hard to focus with such little sleep. “I’m just going to erase it now,” he declared bluntly. “Make sure you’re clear of anything.” Koroboshi nodded and Shouta activated Erasure, hair rising around his head like a halo.

All at once everything in the room dropped with a series of crashes, and even before they hit the ground Shouta had already blinked and went to pull out the bottle of eye drops. Yep, he’d need to get a refill soon.

“You sure you don’t want to go to a hospital or something?” Hizashi asked while he applied them. “You should probably get this checked out.”

“I should, but I’m not going until folks have a better handle on this,” Koroboshi replied, crossing his arms with a huff. “You know I worked in the support industry, I know a bit more about how this stuff works than the average person. It could be weeks before they make any headway, and once you check into the hospital, no way you’re getting out until they have some sort of idea what the hell’s going on. I have a life I’d rather not put on pause, thank you very much.”

Shouta should probably try to argue that, but he didn’t feel like it. He could respect this man’s desire to avoid a lengthy hospital stay; Shouta would absolutely do the same thing. “For the record, I’m not coming back to erase it if you have problems again,” he said flatly, and the man flashed him a grin.

“Figured not. Now go back home or whatever and get some rest. You look like you haven’t slept in a month.” An exaggeration, but Shouta had been up for over twenty-four hours, and before that he’d been awake for thirty-six aside from a short two hour nap. He definitely needed sleep, he was impressed he’d managed to remain so functional. Especially after using Erasure so much in such a short time. Guess I don’t have a limit outside the cooldown.

“I’m beat too, so no complaints here!” Hizashi proclaimed next to him with a loud yawn. Shouta glared at him, because unlike him Hizashi had gotten to sleep here and there while they were at the hospitals. “C’mon Eraser, let’s head out.”

Shouta grunted and followed after him, not bothering to say goodbye to Koroboshi. He barely even nodded at the woman who’d let them in, ignoring Hizashi’s chatter and heading straight to the car. Thankfully he hadn’t locked it, so Shouta was able to just climb inside and close the door, slumping against the window and closing his eyes.

Right now, it was so tempting to just fall asleep. And he almost did before he heard the other door open, followed by Hizashi climbing inside. “Okay, let’s go home!” he declared. “I’d offer to stop by your place to pick up your stuff, but it’s pretty much a crime scene and last I heard the floor in your apartment actually collapsed, so that’s not an option. Good thing you don’t actually have anything, right?”

He laughed but the sound was pointed, a certain scolding edge to it. “I had a suitcase,” Shouta felt the need to point out. “And my sleeping bag, and a laptop for work. That counts as having something.”

“...I am telling Kayama-senpai tomorrow,” Hizashi declared flatly, and Shouta groaned miserably. Great. Now he’d have her on his case too. Goodbye peaceful, quiet life. Maybe they’d let him move out on his own again after a few months. He could try to just run away, but they’d chase him down unless he left Tokyo entirely, and he’d rather not move and learn a whole new area.

“Just drive already,” he grumbled, and Hizashi obliged silently. The radio came back to life, this time a talk show with the hosts discussing the reports online of people with two Quirks. The hosts were debating whether it was actually true, one arguing against it, but Shouta already knew it was. It would only be a matter of time before the authorities had to issue official confirmation, if only to encourage people to admit themselves to the hospitals for immediate examination.

Shouta had no idea what the hell was going on with the world and how all these people had suddenly spawned extra Quirks, but he didn’t care right now. He just wanted to go to Hizashi’s house and go to sleep for the next year. Sadly, the year wasn’t an option, so he’d have to settle for “until the Commission called him back to work” instead. Hopefully they’d at least wait until tomorrow.

Still, he’d be lying if he claimed he wasn’t curious about what caused this whole mess.

Toshinori felt numb.

He didn’t know how else to feel as he stared at the tablet Mirai provided him, slowly scrolling through article after article. His heart pounded faster and faster as he saw videos and photos of people with monstrous deformities, showing signs of more and more familiar Quirks. The mist Uwabami’s snakes spewed, the drill-like growths on that one woman—damn, that one nurse whose arms had stretched and pulled at the skin in such a horrific way...

“The media hasn’t been given confirmation yet, but many people have also developed a second Quirk,” Mirai told him, drawing his attention. His voice was quiet and subdued, more tired than Toshinori had ever heard him. “I only know because some of them have been admitted here. There was a woman who could teleport in a range of two meters at a time who almost accidentally came in here. I saw a young boy with a clear limb mutation who can change the color and texture of his skin while I was in the hall, as well.”

Toshinori’s jaw clenched as he grit his teeth, his mood grim. “And you said,” he said slowly, “This started yesterday? After I...?” He trailed off, but Mirai nodded.

“Yes. Right after you defeated All For One.”

All For One.

Yesterday after so many years, Toshinori had finally managed to defeat the foe who had plagued him and his predecessors—had finally managed to avenge Nana’s memory, and end this cycle after two hundred years of conflict. The battle had been savage and long, and by the end, Toshinori didn’t really expect to come out in one piece. He couldn’t even celebrate though, not now.

Defeating All For One had somehow done—this.

It had scattered every single one of his stolen Quirks all around Japan.

Toshinori sucked in a breath at the thought, hands shaking around the edge of the tablet. Before passing out he remembered seeing a dark cloud with red lightning sparking through it, letting him know something would happen, but he hadn’t expected… what could you even call this? The emergence of Quirks was the only thing in history that came close. A second, sudden Quirk boom, impacting people at random.

Not even he had been spared. The sole reason he was in such good condition now—the sole reason he was even awake, let alone alive—was because he had gotten some sort of healing Quirk. Mirai said they’d found him in some sort of state of regeneration, though it hadn’t really helped with the worst of his injuries. When he had tearfully used his Foresight on Toshinori he saw Recovery Girl kissing him and the healing accelerating, which prompted them to call her.

Of all the Quirks to receive from his foe’s demise, the fact he got a healing Quirk that left him in perfect shape left him wanting to laugh. It was almost like some last slight against his fallen nemesis, that All For One’s own power had ultimately been what saved Toshinori’s life. He couldn’t enjoy the irony of it though, not when that same event warped so many innocent people into mindless monsters.

He knew enough from Nana and Gran Torino to understand that those people were beyond saving. All For One rarely gifted people multiple Quirks, as it tended to overload their brains and leave them mindless. Over the years he had occasionally given relatively useless Quirks to particularly pesky foes, to leave a message that could be at times heavier than if he had simply killed them. According to Nana, he had done it to a friend of her mentor’s, and had later taken back all three Quirks just to show it couldn’t be reversed.

Toshinori just felt grateful that some people hadn’t been adversely impacted by this. That they didn’t get corrupted by the extra Quirk, that their bodies seemed to accept the second Quirk. That didn’t mark the end of the battle though. Based on the data Mirai had received and pulled up in one of the tabs, the distribution of Quirks seemed to be mostly random. There would be a high learning curve for some of these Quirks, and others might not mesh well with the owner’s original one.

He sighed tiredly as he held out the tablet to Mirai to take it back. “When do you think I’ll be cleared to leave?” he asked. He’d already been missing from the public eye for over twenty-four hours, missing the worst of the disaster. Mirai had worked with the PR department at his agency to issue a statement that he’d had a sudden case of appendicitis to explain his absence. Which... explained the mountain of presents already gathered in one corner of the room.

It was one of the most ridiculous excuses he’d ever heard, but then, he couldn’t really come out and say he’d been injured in a battle with a villain and needed to recuperate. People would want to know who that villain was, and that would lead to public unrest and questions he’d rather not answer.

Still, the public needed All Might now more than ever. He could surely at least make some sort of showing, even if he was supposedly “recuperating” from the nonexistent operation.

Mirai frowned as he took the tablet from him. “I don’t know,” he admitted slowly. “The doctors and Recovery Girl want to keep you here for observation. We don’t know how that healing Quirk... works...” He trailed off as he looked at the tablet, blinking slowly as he turned it over in his hands. “...Toshinori. There are glowing handprints on the edges of the screen.”

Toshinori startled. “What!?” Mirai lifted the tablet to show him its back and sure enough, there were glowing palm prints on either edge of the device, lining up perfectly with where he’d gripped it. Toshinori blinked slowly and looked at his hands. Hesitating, he slowly reached for the covers and lifted it, and in the shadows he could see more handprints along the sheets and the side of his shirt.

For a moment neither of them spoke. “...You’re sure I have a healing Quirk now, right?” he asked faintly.

“...Yes, yes I am.”

“And you don’t think that maybe... the glowing handprints are a side effect of that healing?”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

Two Quirks. Toshinori got two Quirks from his nemesis. He templed his fingers near his forehead, grinding his teeth. Nana, give me strength.

The day of March 19th was supposed to be unremarkable for all of Japan. The downfall of All For One would never be public knowledge, and no one would have any reason to remember that day.

Instead, it would now go down in history as the start of the Second Quirk Boom. If the appearance of Quirks shook the world, then this was the aftershock.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

.:. Five Years Later .:.

"Bye mom, I'm off to school!"

"Alright dear, have a good day!"

Izuku waved to his mother as he headed to the door, buttoning the last button on his gakuran jacket and tugging his backpack over his shoulder. The second he opened it he froze though, finding himself greeted by a heavy sheet of rain beyond the walkway leading to their apartment. "...Mom, I think I need an umbrella," he called.

"Kiyomi-chan again?" his mother called, sounding faintly amused, and he sighed as he nodded. His mother soon appeared holding an umbrella and a clear plastic poncho, helpfully tugging the latter over Izuku, bag and all. Now properly equipped to brave the rain Izuku ventured outside once more, his mother waving all the while.

When he reached the first floor he found a haggard-looking Yumamori-san, one of their neighbors, standing next to a sulking little girl. Seven-year-old Kiyomi had a rather adorable Quirk called Mermaid that gave her shimmering scales of many colors along her limbs and neck, along with gills to breathe underwater.

As of three months ago, she had also developed a second Quirk, which as far as they could tell created small, centralized rainstorms when she got upset.

"Rough morning?" Izuku asked with a smile, and the girl's mother smiled tiredly.

"Kiyomi-chan really doesn't want to go to school," she explained with a tight laugh, and Izuku shot her a sympathetic smile. He felt a bit bad for the woman, as Kiyomi's tantrums had caused her to miss more than one day of school since the storms could happen indoors too. He'd seen a lot of furniture come and go since the second Quirk manifested, and naturally her school wasn't too keen on her ruining her classrooms.

"Hang in there," he said, and headed away from the storm with a small sigh. The radius is a bit bigger today, he noted, as the rain covered part of the neighboring building as well. Either Kiyomi's Quirk was getting stronger as she matured, making it harder to control... or she had zero control issues and was doing it on purpose. It could go either way with that girl. At least it got lighter once you moved away from the epicenter.

He ditched the poncho a block later and put it in a plastic bag he'd started carrying just for Kiyomi's storms, glad to have shielded his backpack. The year had only just started, but he'd already gotten a major paper assigned that he'd spent hours on last night. He'd rather not have it ruined. He still felt embarrassed remembering having everything ruined the first day.

Izuku didn't dwell on it long, as halfway through the walk to school a familiar voice called out. "Midoriya-senpai, wait up!" He felt himself smile as he turned to see another boy with red hair and a white headband with a honeycomb pattern racing towards him, waving excitedly.

"Hey, Hachinose-kun," he greeted. "Rare to see you in the morning. You usually get to school first, don't you?" The other boy grinned and folded his arms behind his head, matching Izuku's pace as they continued to Aldera.

"Yeah, but my mom overslept. Do you have any idea how hard it is to wake her up?"

"Not really...?" Izuku replied, and the other boy paused.

"Oh right, you've never met her," he realized aloud. "Anyways, she's like impossible to wake up. We used to joke she had a secret second sloth Quirk back before, y'know." He shrugged vaguely, and Izuku nodded, his smile just a little tighter as he turned forward.

"Yeah." It had now been five years since the Second Quirk Boom. Even now, no one understood just what caused so many people to suddenly spawn a second Quirk, and why so many others had turned into monsters that day. The only things people knew for sure was that it only seemed to impact people in Japan that day, and that for the most part, children or people with "weaker" or more passive Quirks were more likely to get one.

Overall, not many people got directly impacted by the boom though. It was estimated that all across Japan a little over two thousand cases existed total, including the people who became monsters and villains who didn't report it. An exact number hadn't been found, in part due to the fact that some people only manifested the second Quirk later. Honestly, the original estimate had been closer to half of the current one, but over the past five years it seemed that the second Quirk was just dormant in some people until some stressful event made it manifest.

That was how Izuku got to know Hachinose Rikuto, his underclassman. The boy had been nervous about starting at Aldera, his family having moved to Musutafu all the way from Hokkaido for his father's work. The stress of starting middle school in a new place surrounded by strangers had caused his second Quirk to activate. Carapace, as they came to call it, was a transformation-type Quirk that caused his skin to shift into a crab-like shell.

Needless to say, it had been a traumatic experience for the younger boy. Izuku happened to be passing by the stairwell where he'd hidden, and had ultimately talked him through his panic attack. Since then they hadn't necessarily become friends, but they occasionally spoke at school and Izuku helped him figure out how to use Carapace as well as Hexagon Shield, his original Quirk.

Right now, Hachinose was one of only a handful of students at Aldera to spawn a second Quirk. There was a girl in his class who could control the length of her hair and now had the added ability to trace bioluminescent patterns in her skin. There was another boy in his year who could see in multiple color ranges, including in infrared, and then got the ability to burp rainbows (Izuku had already filled three whole pages debating with himself about whether the two Quirks were somehow related). It was weird, but neat.

Last year they'd also had a boy who could breathe in any environment, and then got one that let him basically realign and move his bones whenever he wanted. That had been interesting, though most of Izuku's classmates disagreed. Izuku missed him, he always smiled and was friendly to him. Probably because Izuku was one of the only kids who didn't treat him badly.

In any event, Hachinose stood out at their school as the only kid whose two Quirks could actually be pretty good for Heroics. For that reason, he had become fairly popular so they didn't hang out too much. But Hachinose always went out of his way to smile and say hi, since Izuku had been the first one to help him understand his Quirks.

Even now, Hachinose excitedly chattered about some of the progress he'd made since the last time they spoke. "Look, I can make them bigger now, see?" he said, rolling up his sleeve to show the hexagon tiles printed on his arm. He grabbed one and peeled it off, the marking filling with a translucent reddish-orange energy, and Izuku perked up as it expanded to roughly the size of his head.

"Wow, it really is bigger!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Last time it was closer to this size!" He made a gesture with his hands to show the original size, slightly smaller than the current tile, and Hachinose grinned.

"Yeah, it's awesome! I still have trouble making multiple hexagons though, it feels like if I make them bigger I'm limited in how many I can make." Hachinose's original Quirk, Hexagon Shield, allowed him to pull off the hexagon markings and basically use them as shields. The shields could float freely, and he could connect more tiles to make them larger.

To that end Izuku suggested helpfully, "Maybe instead of making them bigger, you should try to remove more at once then? They'll all connect in the end anyway, so you might be able to cover more space." That had Hachinose perking up.

"Quantity over quality, huh?" he mused, and beamed. "Yeah, I'll try that later! Thanks, Midoriya-senpai!"

"No problem," Izuku replied, and the two fell into a companionable silence as more students came into sight. Soon enough some of Hachinose's friends appeared to usher him off, leaving Izuku to finish the walk to Aldera alone. His smile faded slightly as he adjusted his grip on his backpack's straps, stepping through the gates with a slightly heavy heart. As he got closer to the classroom he could hear more and more whispers, but he did his best to ignore them.

The Second Quirk Boom had left an indelible mark on everyone in Japan, whether it impacted them directly or not. In the case of the Midoriya family, it stood out for two reasons. First, Inko had developed a second Quirk they later dubbed "Burst Dash" which allowed her to launch herself forward short distances with a destructive momentum. It also came with added durability, which was good news considering what happened when she first manifested it. Even now, they still called it "Crash" sometimes.

Second: Izuku had not gotten a Quirk.

It had been disheartening to realize that even now, while several other Quirkless people had reported gaining a Quirk that day, he had not. His classmates had been less than pleasant after realizing this, mocking him even further. Izuku tried not to let it dishearten him too much, but for a while he'd been particularly despondent since his dreams of being a Pro Hero seemed to be even further out of reach.

Still, he didn't let himself lose hope. The rise of people discovering their second Quirks later gave him silent hope that his might just be another late one. The fact that Hachinose, who was already in middle school, could develop one then seemed to encourage the fact. Even Kiyomi had only manifested hers this year; it wasn't impossible that his might be there right now, waiting for the right moment to make itself known.

And if he didn't get one... Well, he'd become a Pro Hero anyway. Izuku had his heart set on that goal for as long as he could remember; he wasn't going to give up just because he might not have a Quirk.

As he slid into his seat and got out his notebook, he couldn't help the curl of longing in his chest though. With the advent of the Second Quirk Boom, Izuku's fascination with Quirks hadn't just grown stronger. It had been allowed to bloom and reach new levels, his hobby reaching near-professional levels of expertise by the time he started middle school.

There had been a lot of people who suddenly needed Quirk counselors, which led to a long wait time. Izuku already had a reputation at school for obsessing over Quirks, so it hadn't taken long for some of his classmates to approach him for an opinion for themselves or affected family members while they waited to meet actual professionals. It was a nice reprieve from the constant isolation and bullying, so he'd been more than eager for the opportunities.

The collection of notebooks once titled "Hero Analysis for the Future" had been redubbed simply "Quirk Analysis" to reflect the new variety of Quirks featured inside. After speaking to so many different classmates, neighbors and other people's Quirks, he had already reached Volume 20. Even some of his classmates who didn't get a second Quirk had come to him for an analysis of their own Quirks. Beyond just being given more opportunities and information to practice with, people actually relying on his skills for once had also gotten him to brush up on a lot of the actual academic and medical research behind Quirks, at least what was freely available online and at the library.

It didn't change the fact he was alone though. At the end of the day he was still the weird Quirkless kid who mumbled to himself all the time. Some people might be a little nicer now, but they weren't friends. And Kacchan made up for any leeway he might have gotten from his other classmates.

The blond stalked into the classroom with a scowl like always, but this time he seemed a bit angrier. Considering he was partially drenched, it wasn't surprising. Izuku winced, realizing he must have crossed paths with Kiyomi and her mother. Usually Yumamori-san took the seven-year-old to a candy shop to try to calm her tantrums, and that shop intersected with Bakugou's route to school.

He shrunk back as Kacchan stalked to his desk, dropping the backpack on the floor with a wet squelch before plopping into his chair. Thankfully his ire didn't seem to be directed at Izuku this time, more just directed at the world as a whole. That, and moving a lot in a wet uniform would be annoying. Still, by the time lunch rolled around he would be dry enough and probably take out some of his frustration on Izuku.

The thought made him bite his lip. Once, he and Bakugou Katsuki had been best friends; even now he still considered the other boy one of his only friends. But after Izuku got diagnosed as Quirkless while Kacchan manifested the ever-flashy Explosion, a rift had grown between them. Bakugou had taken to taunting and bullying him, getting harsher and harsher over the years.

Most of the bullying took the form of verbal abuse, with some shoving and fighting here and there. Occasionally he'd make an explosion in front of Izuku to startle him, and sometimes he'd burn some of Izuku's stuff. Fortunately Bakugou never used his Quirk directly on Izuku outside of a few instances as children, mainly because he understood how dangerous and volatile that power could be. Kacchan might've been… well, an asshole, but he wasn't a villain.

Izuku quietly sighed to himself as the teacher arrived to call the class to order. Today was probably going to be stressful.

Izuku was right: today was stressful.

Surprisingly Bakugou hadn't bothered him at lunch, but some other kids had instead. The bento his mother had painstakingly made had been spilled on the floor, the contents inedible, and Izuku had to get food from a vending machine instead. At least that paper for literature was safe and dry. Bakugou had actually exploded since his own paper had been ruined by the water.

On a brighter note, Bakugou had decided to vent his frustrations on Hachinose instead.

Normally "venting out his frustrations" would be a bad thing, but in this case it was honestly more amusing than anything. Hachinose's second Quirk had made him a bit of a celebrity overnight at Aldera, the combination seeming to guarantee him a one-way ticket to heroics. Previously only Bakugou had been a clear contender, so to have an underclassman steal his thunder had sparked his competitive side.

What made it amusing was that Hachinose didn't know who Bakugou was. Izuku had tried to explain it to him multiple times, but it never seemed to click with the younger boy. Hachinose vaguely recognized Kacchan as "that upperclassman who always challenges me" but never retained why. Izuku honestly couldn't tell if Hachinose was genuinely forgetting, or just messing with him.

Every time Kacchan challenged him to something, it ended with the blond yelling in frustration regardless of the outcome. Even today, after winning a speed eating contest at lunch, Kacchan had been left fuming when Hachinose congratulated "Bakuno-senpai" on his victory. Izuku thought Hachinose just enjoyed all the free food offered by their classmates.

It had been a funny break in an otherwise long and stressful day. Eventually the day came to an end and Izuku headed home alone as always, though before he left he found some tacks in his shoes. It wasn't often people targeted his stuff like that—Kacchan actually got pissed whenever it happened because it was so "cowardly" in his view—but Izuku had gotten in the habit of checking just to be safe.

After pouring the tacks onto the floor and getting some startled and concerned looks from the other kids around him, Izuku had decided he'd earned a treat.

One text to mom to let her know he'd be late and half an hour later, Izuku sat at a small bakery eating a slice of chocolate cake. On days like this he felt it important to treat himself so his mood wouldn't get too low. He browsed hero forums on his phone idly as he ate, snorting at all the memes and clicking every discussion or analysis that seemed interesting.

While scrolling down the page one title caught his eye and Izuku nearly choked on his cake when he read it: 'All Might in Musutafu?' He quickly jabbed the link with all the force he could muster, and found a thread discussing rumored sightings of the Number One Hero in Musutafu starting this morning. Izuku nearly squealed with delight as he read each post, a few people chiming in to claim they'd seen him firsthand.

Why would All Might be in Musutafu? The man traveled all over Japan fighting villains, but Musutafu wasn't a crime hot spot or anything. If anything, the proximity to UA made it one of the most well-patrolled cities in all of Japan, if not the whole world. When you had dozens of Pro Heroes all taking a day job at one location, they tended to like patrolling nearby to keep the commute short.

Maybe if he got lucky, All Might would be here for a few days, and he'd be able to see All Might in person? Actually, what if All Might was patrolling right now? His body began to thrum with excitement at the thought, and he nearly inhaled his cake in a rush to finish and go searching for his idol. In his rush, he ate a little too fast though, and nearly choked on it for different reasons than before.

As he choked a heavy hand patted his back a few times, helping dislodge the sweet from his throat. "Slow down, kid!" someone chuckled behind him. "I know the cake's good, but you should savor it, not try to eat it all at once!" Izuku took a few breaths to make sure his throat was clear before turning in his seat with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little excited," he said with a half-hearted laugh. "I just found out some really great news, and I wanted to hurry up and go." The man who'd patted his back merely smiled, seeming more amused than annoyed. He was incredibly tall for someone without a mutation Quirk, with shaggy-looking blond hair and bright blue eyes that contrasted his lightly tanned skin. He had a rather lanky build, not too thin but still less muscular than he'd expect of someone of that height.

"That's alright, but don't rush or you'll choke," he warned, and Izuku nodded.

"Right, thanks." He turned back to finish his cake at a more sedate pace, after which he dumped his trash and hurried out to go find All Might.

Unknown to him, his hopes would be in vain and also had already been half-answered. The man he wanted to see had just left the same restaurant Izuku had, his work already done for the day before Izuku even saw the post. It was an unremarkable encounter, one neither would have reason to remember.

However, in a mere twenty four hours they would meet again.

And when they did, nothing would ever be the same.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

.:. A Hole New World .:.

The day Izuku's life changed started normally.

He woke up to his alarm, the booming sound of "I Am Here!" echoing through his dreams. Like every morning, he reached over to lightly bash All Might's head to turn it off, the brief pinch of the two hair spikes digging into his hand waking him up further. Yawning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, blinking blearily as he willed the last of his sleepiness to leave.

And then his fingertips brushed against some kind dip in his palms.

The feeling caught his attention, rubbing against it just to be sure. Yep, he could feel some kind of small indentation on both hands. Izuku lowered his hands and peeled open his eyes to look at his now-open palms, and sure enough each had one small, circular hole in the very center. For several seconds he just stared at them blankly, mind still caught up in the last dregs of sleep. He blinked slowly, head tilting ever so slightly.

Then he abruptly startled and most of his sleep vanished because he had holes in his palms.

Yeah, his day was "normal" for about thirty seconds.

Now much more awake and alert, he raised his hands closer to his face to look between each one rapidly. The holes really didn't seem that big, barely the width of the very tip of his pinkie. Were they actually there? Was he still half-asleep and just dreaming? He blinked and rubbed his eyes again before taking another look.

The holes were gone.

Once again Izuku just stared at his palms, confusion reaching peak levels as he saw them blank. "What...?" he muttered out loud, eyebrows furrowing. The skin was now whole again, as if the holes never existed. And maybe they never did. Maybe it was just a dream, a hyper-realistic dream while on the edge of sleep? But... he'd felt them, hadn't he? He'd felt his fingertips brush against it when he closed his hand to rub his eyes.

After several seconds he sighed and got up. No point in dwelling on it now. He went about the rest of his morning routine in relative silence, but his mind kept going back to those holes. Despite his initial disbelief, the sudden disappearance still felt disappointing. He hadn't actually expected them to randomly disappear when he rubbed his eyes to check.

Those brief few seconds seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day. It must have thrown him off more than he initially realized, because his mom ended up commenting on it during breakfast. "Is something wrong, sweetie?" she asked, sounding vaguely worried as she sat across from him. "You seem quieter than usual."

Izuku shrugged as he nibbled on the last of his toast, swallowing before answering. "Uh, not exactly...? I just, I guess I had a hyper-realistic dream or something right before waking up, or something...? It's just, when I first woke up I thought I saw holes on my hands, but they're gone now."

"Holes?" Inko repeated, glancing back at him with a frown. "Honey, you don't think...?" She trailed off, not daring to finish the thought aloud, but he knew what she meant. Could it be a Quirk?

"I don't know," he replied, and he honestly didn't. The holes hadn't even been there for a full thirty seconds before vanishing, and he had no idea how to make them appear in the first place. "I guess I'll just keep an eye out today and see how it goes? Anyways, I need to get going if I want to get to school on time."

"Alright," his mother agreed. "Let me just grab your lunch for you." As she spoke she twisted to face the counter where the bento box sat, and Izuku gave a small jolt as it began floating towards them. She had used her Quirk thousands of times, but this time he almost felt a small surge of energy, or adrenaline, or, or something, watching her use it. Maybe it was because of how the holes were still on his mind.

He glanced down at his bare palms with a slight frown. If the holes were a Quirk, maybe it was some kind of suction or vacuum Quirk? Like he could suck things towards him, sort of like how his mother could attract small objects towards her. Or maybe it did the opposite, and created gusts of air to push stuff away?

The thoughts haunted him even as he pulled on his shoes. His thoughts stalled briefly when he opened the door though. "Hey mom, can you grab the rain poncho for me?" he called.

"Huh? Oh, sure." His mom appeared a few moments later, holding out the plastic poncho and its accompanying bag. "Kiyomi-chan again?"

"Looks like it," he replied absently as he shrugged it on. The rain was more of a light drizzle, not as heavy as yesterday but still unpleasant to walk through without an umbrella. Kiyomi must have only just activated her Quirk, and he'd rather not get caught in it once it got heavier. Izuku made sure his backpack was covered before stepping outside. "I'll see you after school, mom."

"Okay sweetie, have a good day!" Inko waved him off before closing the door, Izuku hurrying down the street before the rain could pick up.

Izuku found his mind wandering as he walked to school. Today Hachinose didn't show up to join him, leaving him plenty of time to ponder about those holes. He glanced down at his palm and frowned, willing the holes to appear, but of course nothing happened. If they did exist and weren't a figment of his imagination, maybe they only appeared when he actively used them?

He paused and took a deep breath, before thrusting one palm out towards a nearby tree. 'Okay, suck up those leaves!' he silently ordered himself, thinking back to his mom's Quirk.

Nothing happened.

'...Okay, blow them away!' he amended.

Nothing happened then either. Old man Murata shot him an odd look as he passed by on his morning jog though, making Izuku wince and smile sheepishly before continuing on his way. Okay, so obviously that wasn't enough to work. Maybe he was doing it wrong? Maybe it was a pure transformation-type thing, with no emitter abilities? If so, maybe he could make more holes appear on other parts of his body?

He abruptly stopped as an image of his face with holes in place of freckles flashed through his mind, and gave a full-body shudder.

"Please no," he whispered to himself as he kept walking, shoulders hunched a little higher. As much as Izuku would love a Quirk, that one was a bit too creepy for his liking. It'd probably just freak out everyone around him, and also, imagining holes all over his body felt kind of disturbing.

(His mind flashed back to that live broadcast several years ago, that nurse whose arms stretched out like taffy with the raw-looking flesh forming the tiniest rips.)

(He promptly locked that thought away, and silently mourned the loss of the four-month streak of not thinking about that particular transformation.)

Izuku kept wondering about the holes the whole walk, only stopping when he came across a villain fight. A giant of a man had climbed atop Tatooin Station, a bullet train station on an overpass that crossed over a street. That was a disaster waiting to happen if Izuku had ever seen one, and the man had already knocked down part of an electrical pole which had been caught by Death Arms.

Backdraft and Death Arms had taken up crowd control, the rescue specialist making a water fence to keep people at a safe distance, while Kamui Woods confronted him. Izuku craned his head to watch with unabashed awe as the wooden hero leaped onto the tracks, neatly dodging the villain's attacks.

"Assault, robbery, and illegal use of powers during rush hour traffic," he intoned as he dodged a giant palm that slammed onto the tracks where he'd been standing. "You have violated many laws, and it's time to face justice!" He swung out his arm as he spoke, and Izuku let out a delighted gasp as he saw the wood beginning to warp and twist into spiky branches.

"Here it comes!" he called, recognizing the hero's special move.

"Show us something flashy, Tree-Man!" the man next to him called. Izuku couldn't hear Kamui from this distance but he could imagine the Pro's voice as he mouthed the name of the attack to himself, eyes sparkling with delight and his body thrumming with anticipation.

"Preemptive Binding Lacquered Prison!" The hero's arm shot forward at the last part, branches practically exploding forth and stretching towards the villain. The villain started to dodge to the side even before Kamui moved, one hand reaching for another part of the building. No doubt he planned to grab it and try to topple it.

At the same moment, a loud shout rang through the air and Izuku turned his head to see a giant woman flinging through the air towards the villain. "CANYON SNIPE!" Even as he watched she began rapidly shrinking, closer to the villain's size as she delivered a kick to his arm with both feet. The sudden impact led to a loud crack and sent him almost tumbling over with a pained shout, and the woman continued to shrink to a more normal size.

Those few split-seconds gave Kamui Woods's attack the time needed to reach him, wrapping around his body like a wooden cocoon. Several people gasped as the now normal-sized woman disappeared into the wooden bindings, the arm she'd just kicked pulled towards the villain's side as he fell directly onto said side.

"Damn, is she okay?" the man next to Izuku sputtered, but Izuku's mind was already whirling.

"No, those bindings are too tight for her to be in them," he mumbled to himself. "If she was inside, there'd be more space, Kamui Woods wouldn't do it. And her size changed, so maybe..." He trailed off as he saw a flash of purple and gold against the wood binding the villain's arm, and a few seconds later the woman seemed to spring into existence, arms flinging upwards with a smile as she turned to face the crowd.

"A flawless victory!" she called, and then yelped when Kamui Woods abruptly whacked her on the head.

"Miss Measure, you can't just fly in at the last second like that!" he scolded. "I could have hurt you!"

"Oh, come on, it's not THAT dangerous! And that guy was totally reaching for that corner of the station to try to knock it down!"

"At that distance his arm wouldn't have reached it in time!" As the two bickered loudly the crowd was somewhat quiet, watching with a faintly mystified air.

"Miss Measure?" someone muttered. "That's a new name..."

"Think it's her debut?" someone else asked. The bickering seemed to reach its peak as the heroine stamped her foot before spinning back to the crowd, leaping onto the street below. The crowd grew hushed as she rapidly grew until she towered over even the giant villain, flashing the crowd a smile.

"Everyone, it is so nice to meet you!" she called with a bright smile. "I am the Multisize Heroine, Miss Measure, and today marks my entry into the hero scene! I look forward to serving all of you!"

Paparazzi seemed to spawn instantly, cameras flashing as she struck a pose. Izuku could hear the excited chatter grow, watching with wide eyes as she turned to pick up the bound villain and lower him to the street for police. A multisize heroine? That implied she could grow and shrink. It could be one Quirk, but—

No, it's two, some instinctive voice declared, and something about that felt right. Pro Heroes with two Quirks were still relatively rare, as only a few established Pros had developed a second one during the Second Quirk Boom. Most people to get a second Quirk had been young or otherwise had Quirks not really suited for Heroics, after all. But now that five years had passed, there had been enough time for more people affected by it to go to high school and graduate from heroics programs.

"Come to think of it, there were some articles about hero students getting new Quirks after the second boom first happened, and one of them mentioned a female student with a gigantification Quirk who got a shrinking one... Miss Measure looks like she might be around that age, so it could have been her. Having two Quirks will make her really popular by default, but that's also a really dangerous combination and can cause a lot of damage if she's not careful. She must have used the extra few years to focus on her training..."

Even as he mumbled Izuku pulled out his notebook, scribbling away his thoughts. It was just so rare to see a Pro Hero with two Quirks, and it really got his mind whirling. "Hoh, taking notes, are we?" the man next to him commented, startling him out of his thoughts. When he glanced over the man was grinning at him good-naturedly. "You're a real fanboy, aren't ya? You wanna be a hero too?"

"Absolutely!" Izuku replied with a bright grin, and the man laughed.

"That's great! You sound sharp, so good luck to ya!" Izuku smiled and thanked him before returning the notebook to his bag as police began ushering the crowd away. The diversion hadn't taken too long and he continued the trek to school, feeling grateful he didn't need to take the train given the tracks had been damaged. As he left the scene of the battle behind he felt his smile fade though, glancing at his palm once more.

"So, as third year students, it's time for you to think seriously about what you want to do with your lives. And you know what that means: it's time to fill out handouts for your future plans." Izuku's homeroom teacher lifted a sheaf of papers as he faced the class, a wry grin on his face as he added, "But even if I do, you're all pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?"

Izuku's classmates erupted into cheers at the remark, all of them showing off their Quirks. The energy in the room felt more palpable than ever as he twisted in his seat to look around at the displays of power, limbs twisting and stretching in various ways and bodies warping with the effects of their Quirks. He paid little attention to the teacher's reminder that they couldn't use their Quirks in public, his mind buzzing with anticipation.

Everyone's Quirks felt so incredible. Most of them were what most people considered "weak," but that didn't make them anything short of amazing. He felt a quiet sense of awe at each and every one of them, but none filled him with as much quiet excitement as Kacchan's. Sparks flickered around his hands as he scoffed, his taunting remarks lost as Izuku's gaze focused on the blond's hands.

Explosion was such a powerful Quirk, and one absolutely fitting of a Pro Hero. Bakugou would absolutely be one of the best heroes, and Izuku absolutely couldn't wait to see his career unfold.

In his awe it took him a few seconds to notice the room had gone silent, and when he glanced up everyone was looking at him. He blinked and tilted his head, stammering a confused, "What?"

Everyone immediately burst into laughter, and Bakugou sprung from his seat to slam exploding palms on Izuku's desk, the force nearly knocking Izuku's chair over. Whatever he said next was lost on nim, Izuku just staring at his hands and the wisps of smoke drifting from the wood beneath his palms. He had probably seen Bakugou's Quirk in action even more often than his mom's, but today it felt particularly mesmerizing for some reason.

What if those holes could produce explosions too? Izuku discarded the thought immediately and hoped that wasn't the case. As much as he loved Bakugou's Quirk, having his own version of it would just feel wrong. Also, I'm still not even sure those holes were real! Why am I thinking about it so much—hold on, did Kacchan just say UA?

He finally, finally tuned back in to Bakugou's rant, only catching the tail end of it. "...bother, got it!" he snapped, and Izuku stared at him blankly.

"...Um, I'm sorry, I didn't catch any of that?" he said meekly after a few seconds.

The classroom erupted into even more laughter, their classmates' howls only barely drowning out Kacchan's explosions and shriek of rage.

The rest of the day passed in a similar manner. Izuku found it harder to focus than ever, taking notes in class on autopilot while his mind kept straying to his classmates. He couldn't stop thinking about their Quirks after that morning, there was just such a wide variety. From Hina-san transforming her hand into fire, to Urabe-kun who could stretch his neck side-to-side, to even Oniguro-kun's eyeballs popping out of his head. All of them were so amazing.

At lunch he holed himself away in the classroom intending to scribble some more notes and ideas about the holes in his palms (which he still couldn't say for sure existed). He filled out five lines on a fresh page before he ultimately got distracted by a flutter of movement from the window. Kazemaki-san was creating spirals of wind around her palms to scatter flower petals made by a girl from another class, Izuku pressing his face to the glass to watch in awe.

The scene was just so mesmerizing. He could see the petals peel off the girl's skin like stickers in the light breeze, but it obviously didn't hurt given how she laughed. Another girl from the year below joined in, blowing some bubbles into the mix with the same gesture as blowing a kiss. This was obviously meant to impress Hachinose, who sat not far away watching and cheering.

The show only lasted a couple minutes before stopping. Then Izuku got distracted by another pair of students outside as one used a Quirk to trace lines in the air that made animated drawings that faded after a few seconds as he told a story. And then another kid nearby shook a rock with glowing hands and cracked it open to reveal a geode...

Long story short, Izuku kinda forgot about lunch until the last five minutes. Everyone's Quirks were just so interesting! He filled out like three whole pages with notes and ideas on eleven different people, which made that one page with only five measly lines on the holes feel kind of underwhelming.

I still don't even know if that was real or not, he thought as he glanced over it. School had ended and everyone else had begun heading out, Izuku lingering to wait for the initial rush to thin out. He took the opportunity to review his notes and continue to ponder, well, everything. It was rare for him to fill out three pages in such a short time, but then again, these weren't exactly his best work.

Usually he liked to dedicate multiple pages to each Quirk, including basic analysis of abilities, basic observation notes, hypothetical questions, potential applications. All pretty basic stuff. This time his attention just kept flitting about though. Every time someone new used a Quirk, he'd lose interest in the last one and start a new section full of rapid-fire bullet points. It made for a chaotic and hectic read.

Suddenly the notebook was yanked out of his hands, surprising him, and he snapped his head up to see Bakugou looking over it with a scowl. "What the hell are you up to now, Deku?" he growled as he flipped through it, his two friends crowding around with taunting grins.

"Yo, Katsuki, what's that?" one of them asked. "A diary or something?" Rather than respond Bakugou slammed the notebook on Izuku's desk.

"Why the hell are you randomly taking notes on everyone?" he demanded, meeting Izuku's gaze with a scowl. "You've been zoning out all day so I thought you'd be up to something weird, but this is just stupid! Didn't you already write down all that creepy stalker bullshit by now?"

"I... don't actually know why I did that?" Izuku responded slowly. His answer seemed to actually throw Bakugou for a loop, his scowl fading momentarily as the green-haired boy awkwardly shrugged. "I... just feel really weird today, I think? And I don't know why I did that, so, uh..." Several seconds passed as he trailed off, no one speaking. "...Can I have that back?"

Given how long he'd known Kacchan, he wasn't surprised that he responded by exploding the notebook and throwing it out the window.

"Look, Deku," he growled, hands sparking as they rested on his desk. "You've been acting really weird all day, but I don't care about that. Just don't even bother applying to UA, got it? You don't even have a Quirk!"

Suddenly Izuku's mind flashed back to homeroom that morning, and he finally started to realize just what had gotten Bakugou so worked up back then. He had heard something about UA, though he couldn't remember it clearly. Still, the threat made him frown, something defensive curling in his chest. "W-we don't know that for a fact though!" he argued. "A lot of people are getting their new Quirks later, like Kiyomi and her storm Quirk last year, or Hachinose-kun when he first—"

"Don't mention that bastard!" Bakugou slammed his hands on the table with explosions powerful enough to scorch the wood, leaving Izuku in awe the table hadn't broken under the force. His eyes snapped to Kacchan's hands almost instinctively, and he had to consciously tear his gaze away to focus as his childhood friend spoke. "That two-Quirked extra's got nothing to do with this! I don't care what Quirk you might get even if you do get one! With that bastard around I won't be the only student from this garbage dump to get into UA, but I'll still be the first! So don't even bother applying!"

He turned and stalked off, his friends throwing some jeering comments as they followed. Izuku paid them no attention though, focused on Tesaki's overly-elongated fingers as he waved and Zenshi's sharp teeth. Both such small, minor Quirks, but no less fascinating—wait, Kacchan threw his notebook out the window. Crap.

Izuku groaned as he quickly packed the rest of his stuff before going to search for it. To prove that today just couldn't go well, he found it in the fish pond because of course he did. He sighed as he retrieved the soggy notebook, looking at it with a grimace. Good thing he used (mostly) waterproof ink these days after some other accidents... That wouldn't help all the entries written in pencil though.

He sighed as he began the trek home, shoulders slumped in disappointment as he held the notebook to his chest with one arm. Today hadn't been too rough, but somehow this felt like an oddly fitting end. Still, what was up with his attention flitting around so much? He'd always been interested in Quirks, but they'd never distracted him to the extent they did today. The thought made him frown, deciding to try to avoid crowds and just get home.

Maybe then I can actually focus on that thing with the holes...

Izuku stopped walking at the end of an underpass, stretching his free hand out from the shade so the sunlight illuminated his palm clearly. Still no sign of the holes he'd seen and felt that morning, just clean, unbroken skin. Once again he had to wonder if they actually did exist, given he'd only seen them for a few seconds total. It felt kind of silly to be so hung up on it so much, but he couldn't help it. Part of him had hoped that they were real, because that would mean he now had a Quirk.

Lost in thought, he almost didn't notice the rumbling noise behind him. He did notice the metallic clang of the sewer lid bouncing and shifting in its opening though, and he turned to see something green and liquid rise out of the small holes carved in it. Eyeballs rolled around the mass before settling on him, and he saw teeth spread in a crooked grin. Izuku's breath caught at the sight—a mutation Quirk?

Is his body made of sludge? It looks like it, it's too dim to see clearly in the shade but I think it's slightly translucent. Is the sludge closer to a liquid or a solid? Is the sludge sticky? Can they wear clothes, or would it make fabric too wet? Maybe they have to wear rubber clothes? Do they leave behind a residue whenever they touch stuff? They don't seem to be constrained to a human-shape. Can they shapeshift?

"A medium-sized invisibility cloak... perfect!"

It took a few seconds for the words to register, still caught up in his thoughts. Huh, is it just me or are the teeth changing size? Are they the same material as the rest of his body? Can he manipulate the hardness of them? What about eyes? Also come to think about it, if he's translucent where are his internal organs? Are THEY made of the same stuff? I can't see them even this close—wait, why is he suddenly so close, and ohmYGOD DID HE JUST ABSORB ME!?

And that was how Midoriya Izuku stood and did absolutely nothing as a man made of sludge lunged and wrapped around him like a slimy anaconda.

By the time he realized what was happening his mouth and nose were already covered by green liquid which had a consistency closer to mud than water, but that didn't matter because he couldn't BREATHE! Izuku had absolutely no oxygen in his lungs, and like any person suffocating, his first instinct was to take a deep breath.

That just made more sludge pour into his mouth. CrapcrapCRAP.

"Wow, you're making this really easy for me, kid!" The villain's voice sounded right next to his ear as he wrapped around him, leaving Izuku's hands largely free. He began struggling madly, panic taking over as he tried to clamp his mouth shut to no avail. His stupid reflexive inhale had cost him dearly, releasing what little oxygen he'd still had and bringing him that much closer to suffocating.

Flailing his limbs did nothing. Prying at the man's arms did nothing, fingers just sinking into the goo-like body. Even at this range he couldn't really see into the man's body, but his eye was close enough that Izuku could see it was more solid-looking than the rest of it. So it was probably made of a different substance—

Focus! He screamed at his flighty mind. He was drowning, and he still wondered about this guy's Quirk!? What was wrong with him today!? Was it because he woke up with those weird holes—those holes. His mind flashed back to his first thought that morning, that they had some sort of suction or vacuum feature. It hadn't worked when he tried to do it during the walk to school, but now...

If a Quirk was ever going to activate, now's the time! Izuku dug both palms into the sludge around his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and concentrating and praying. He could feel the sludge all around him, could feel it against his open palms. Come on, holes, open up and suck it up! Did he need to use some sort of trigger? Some visual trigger in his mind? Some people with Emitter Quirks described stuff like that.

He pressed his eyelids tighter as he focused on the feeling of the sludge against his skin, squeezing them so tight that spots soon appeared. Among those spots appeared a... a light, if you could call it that. It didn't exactly look bright, instead having a sort of murky feel to it that reminded him of the sludge encasing him.

Good enough! Izuku imagined himself reaching for it, hoping this would work as a visual anchor or something. His fingers flexed and twitched as he pictured himself grabbing onto it, and he swore he could feel it. It felt not quite solid, but also more substantial than he'd expected, and a bit slippery. The fact he could feel it gave him a spark of hope, that this was how Quirks were supposed to work and feel.

Izuku offered one last silent prayer to whatever deities might exist that this Quirk could suck up the sludge, and pulled.

Toshinori had been pursuing the sludge villain for the better part of an hour. He'd stumbled across the fiend in the midst of robbing a local store, and when he'd promptly inflated into his All Might form the coward had fled to the sewers. That... had been less than enjoyable. Toshinori wouldn't shy away from something like that, but he'd definitely need a shower when this was over.

Especially since he had the bright idea to use his glowing handprints to help light the way.

He openly grimaced as he raced through the sewers, skimming for any signs of the villain. The sewer water wasn't the same murky green as the villain's body, but it still had a rather disturbing brown tint that easily hid the sludge. He'd caught sight of the villain several times only for him to sink deeper into the depths where Toshinori couldn't see him as well in the darkness. He had to come up for air sometime though.

A loud scream rang from above, making him stop. His head snapped back to see a sewer lid, having almost missed it since it apparently wasn't facing the open sky and thus lacked any light. Around the small holes he could see traces of a green residue of some kind, which coupled with the scream was all he needed. He sprung upwards and burst out of the sewer, the lid bouncing against the underside of a bridge with a loud clatter.

Normally upon making his grand entrance, Toshinori would spout his famous catchphrase to assure any victims. 'Have no fear, for I am here!' This time the words never left his mouth though. His eyes skimmed the scene to assess the source of the scream, and he found himself frozen.

Sprawled on the ground was a nude man, fortunately lying on his stomach but clearly unconscious. Next to him was what looked to be the sludge villain, except he was much smaller than before and wore a middle school uniform. His mouth tore open with a warped-sounding cry, teeth sliding around as his head snapped towards Toshinori with wide eyes, and even in the shadows of the underpass he could see one more key difference.

The villain he'd fought had red irises. This person, however, had green.

He stood in stunned silence as he surveyed the scene with widening eyes. This wasn't the villain he'd been chasing. All his years of experience allowed him to quickly discern all of the minute differences between this child and the culprit he'd been pursuing. For some reason he couldn't discern though Toshinori felt a sudden pang of dread as panicked eyes settled on him, a panicked cry echoing with that same warped quality the villain had.

"A-All Might, h-h-help," a considerably younger voice cried.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

.:. Hole in One .:.

The day Izuku's life changed had started normally—actually, no, that was a total lie. Abnormal days don't always start out as abnormal from the very second you open your eyes. Considering it took less than a minute of being awake to notice the holes in his palms, he couldn't say his day started "normally" at all.

He still wouldn't have predicted that it would end with him turning into sludge.

Tears threatened to spill as he looked down at his hands, the green sludge constantly morphing and wobbling as they struggled to keep a hand shape. What was even happening anymore? His whole body felt wrong, his uniform rippling and bulging as his new sludge form continually shifted under it. It maintained a generally human shape thankfully, but he couldn't fully control it.

Izuku had no idea what was going on. As it stood, he had only one clue. The villain who'd tried to suffocate him now laid unconscious next to him, looking remarkably plain and not made of sludge. Did... Did I do that? he thought distantly over his panic. It was the only explanation he had. One second he was normal and the guy was made of sludge, and now their roles were reversed.

The holes. He'd been trying to make them appear again, hoping they'd absorb the sludge or—or something. And when he thought back, when he tugged on that odd light he thought he did feel something enter them. But how the heck did that turn him into sludge!?

A panicked whine slipped out, his voice just slightly warped, and he winced as he felt his teeth slide around with the motion. Wrong, everything felt so wrong! Was he hyperventilating? Could he hyperventilate? Did he even have lungs!? No, of course he had lungs or he wouldn't feel like he was suffocating, and he probably had all the other internal organs too. Oh god, what if he could feel them—

The metallic clang of the sewer lid crashing into concrete snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see a large figure land next to the opening. If Izuku had proper eyelids his eyes probably would have widened as the light outlined a familiar silhouette he'd only seen on television in the past.

All Might.

His heart soared instantly even as that unending dread continued to wash over him. How long had he dreamed of meeting the Number One Hero? Of course, Izuku had never imagined it would be anything like this, even without the part where he was made of sludge. He took a deep, shuddering breath, absently noting he did have lungs as he turned to face his idol.

"A-All Might, h-h-help," he choked out. Everything would be fine now that All Might was here.

As if his words were all the man needed he sprung into action, racing over to Izuku's side. "Young... man?" he asked, hesitating on the last word, and Izuku nodded, then quickly stopped as his entire head threatened to slump over. "Can you explain what happened here?"

"I d-don't know!" Izuku cried. "O-one second I was walking home, a-and then th-this guy made of sludge came out of the sewers, and t-tried to—t-to—" He couldn't even force out the word, feeling his breathing pick up as he remembered the horrible feeling of suffocating. "I c-couldn't breathe, my m-mouth and nose were t-t-totally covered, a-and... a-and..." A high-pitched sob slipped out, his whole body shaking.

He almost died.

It only hit him now how close he'd come to death. In his initial panic over, well, everything, he hadn't really thought about the fact he'd nearly suffocated.

"Young man, please calm down!" All Might's voice drew him back to reality before his thoughts could spiral too much, and he looked up to see his idol crouched in front of him. "Tell me, where did that villain go?"

Izuku's gaze flitted to the nude man next to them. "U-um..." He lamely lifted a hand to point at him, grimacing as he saw his slimy "fingers" sort of sag with the motion. All Might stared at the man in silence for a moment.

"...I apologize, but believe I might need some more information." That made two of them.

"I think... it's my Quirk?" Izuku started hesitantly, and after years of wishing he had one, he didn't really feel all that excited about it like he'd expected. Probably because he was in shock over the whole "almost died" and "turned into sludge" thing.

"You think..." All Might trailed off, and Izuku could almost see the gears turning in his head. "Young man, could it be you've just developed a second Quirk now?"

Oh, thank the stars All Might was so smart and experienced. He picked up on the situation immediately just from Izuku's jumbled stammering, as expected of the Number One Hero. "Y-yeah," he confirmed with a shaky nod, feeling his chin drip with the motion. "I-I just, I woke up this morning with holes so I tried to make them appear again hoping they'd do s-something, and th-then... this happened?" He shrugged lamely to gesture at his body.

"Holes?" All Might echoed, and Izuku bobbed his head again. The Number One Hero hummed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, visibly considering the situation, much to his relief. Izuku's mind felt too frayed to think clearly right now. "Hmm, I don't see how holes relate, but... Perhaps if you try using your Quirk again, you can undo the effects?" Izuku paused and stared dumbly at him.

Somehow, that hadn't occurred to him.

"...Right, yeah," he muttered, nodding more vigorously and ignoring the yoyo-like sensation on the bottom of his head. "Okay, j-just... gotta use it again. Visualize it... again. Right." He closed his eyes to focus, and then paused again as he realized something. "Oh, I do have eyelids! Guess that shouldn't be so surprising actually, since having your eyes open all the time would dry them out... unless the sludge would lubricate it? But then how would you sleep at night, wouldn't the light get in the way and distract you? Would you need a sleeping mask? Or could the eyeballs just sink in deep enough that the light wouldn't matter—"

All Might made a faintly choked sound of surprise at that. "Um, young man? I think you're getting a little... distracted?"

Izuku's eyes opened briefly, and he stared forward into empty space with a deadpan stare. "...What is wrong with me today," he groaned, and then closed his eyes to try to refocus. Okay, the visual of the light was what worked last time. Probably, anyway. He did transform after grabbing it. It didn't take long to conjure an image of the light, and he reached for it.

Except... it didn't feel solid this time? Or like it existed?

When he imagined himself wrapping his hand around it, he couldn't feel it like he did last time. If he had eyebrows they'd probably furrow in consternation as he tried to grasp the feeling from before. After a few seconds he decided it just wasn't working, and opened his eyes to look at his dripping, shapeless hands.

"Is it because I don't have the holes?" he mumbled to himself. "Wait, but my hands are made of sludge now. Can I make them appear again? Am I—am I stuck like this if I can't make them!? Was it a one-time use thing!?"

"Calm down!" Once again All Might's voice cut through his panic before it could fully form, and Izuku snapped his head to look at him. The Hero didn't have his trademark smile, but it wasn't a frown either. His expression was more neutral, and still had an air of reassurance. "Listen, I know using a new Quirk can be confusing. What is your original Quirk like? Maybe if you think about that, it can help you figure out how to use it."

Izuku stilled at the suggestion. For literally anyone else, that probably would be a good strategy, in fact it was one he'd recommended to a lot of people. But for himself though... "A-actually," he said slowly, ducking his head shamefully. "I was... Quirkless." If he had a regular face he'd be grimacing, but for now he could just feel the back teeth slide downwards, the sensation almost making him shudder.

All Might was silent to his declaration, and Izuku didn't dare look at him to see his reaction. "...Yes, I suppose that does complicate things," he finally said, and Izuku hung his head with a groan. "But, fear not!" All Might continued, and Izuku found his gaze returning to the hero to find him flashing his giant gleaming grin. "It is too soon to fall into despair! Perhaps you need to approach it from a different angle? You mentioned holes, correct? And your body seems to be rather, er... fluid, I suppose," he settled with a slightly awkward half-shrug. "So, perhaps you can form the holes on this body?"

"...Form the holes?" Izuku looked at his hands again, watching the sludge drip and softly wobble. That... he probably could do that. Maybe. He wasn't sure it would work, but he could at least try.

"Also, how did you visualize your Quirk when you used it?" All Might continued, making Izuku glance at him again. "Perhaps if you talk it out, it can help you better understand how to do it." Izuku nodded slowly, absorbing the words and letting his mind wander back.

"...I squeezed my eyes really hard until I saw spots," he started slowly. "And then I saw this... light?" He frowned, a hand reaching for what should be his chin as he began mumbling to himself. "Well, I call it that, but it also... wasn't. It's hard to describe, it kinda had a weird... aura to it, I guess? But it stood out, so I tried to grab it, and I swore I felt it, and then I... I pulled it."

He stood up a little straighter, realization starting to sink in. "I thought maybe the holes could suck up the sludge, so I tried to imagine myself pulling. So maybe... Maybe the light wasn't just my imagination, but something I actually grabbed and pulled into me? So maybe... Maybe it's... inside?" He closed his eyes as he spoke, focusing more on... himself. It felt kind of weird at first, because he didn't know what he was doing, but then it was like instinct took over.

His mind seemed to enter a trance-like state. Within seconds the same light he'd seen before appeared, and already he could tell it was different from when he'd tried to imagine it. It radiated that odd, murky quality, a feeling of dampness present in the dim glow. Izuku imagined himself reaching for it, and when he pictured his hand touching it, he felt it. He felt it, slick and slimy against his palms.

Now that he held it though, he had no idea what to do with it.

Touching it didn't do anything. When he opened his eyes, he was still made of sludge, making him frown again. "Okay, I think I found it, but it didn't do anything," he muttered. "Is it because my hands weren't actually touching something this time? It does seem to be tied to the holes, so..." He trailed off, thinking hard.

And then, his gaze flitted to the unconscious villain.

No matter how Izuku looked at it, that light reminded him of the man before... whatever his Quirk did to him. As Izuku studied him, a thought slowly began to form. "I'd been grabbing at the sludge when I used my Quirk, and the holes were definitely touching it when I pulled on it. So, maybe... Maybe the light isn't actually my Quirk, but instead..." As he mumbled he reached out to press a hand to the man's back, closing his eyes. It took only a few seconds to find the light again and take hold of it.

Last time I pulled, so what if I push it?

As he imagined himself pushing the light forward, he felt a small surge of something, followed by a sensation of change. The fluid sense of instability vanished, his body feeling more structured and defined. The skin below his palm felt wet and slimy, his hand sinking into it slightly—and he could feel it on the skin of his palm.

His eyes snapped open with a gasp, and sure enough, his hand had turned back to normal, confirming his body had reverted with it. So, too, had the sludge villain, his unconscious form beginning to start to seep and expand into a puddle.

Izuku's face lit up in a brilliant smile as he pulled his hand back, his eyes sparkling with delight as he turned his palm to see the small hole in it. "I—I did it!" he exclaimed. "I used my Quirk again!" Then he froze as the gravity of his words sank in, and his smile dropped as he jolted upright with a gaping mouth. "I have a Quirk!"

With the danger and panic finally gone, the excitement he'd expected finally crashed over him. At long last, after fourteen years of dreaming, ten years of hoping, five years of praying, Izuku had a Quirk. He didn't know what the Quirk was exactly just yet, he'd only used it two times now in the span of five minutes. But based on what happened, he felt it was pretty obvious.

"I can take Quirks," he realized, voice soft with awe as he stared at the holes in his palms. "I think that light was his Quirk. That's what I sucked up. That's... That's amazing!" No wonder he'd been so weirdly focused on everyone's Quirks today, it must be a secondary function of it. A Quirk that could take and transfer Quirks would probably have some other minor abilities directly related to Quirks.

Wow, this Quirk really was well-suited for him. Izuku already loved analyzing Quirks, so it was a perfect match. The thought made him perk up, rapidly looking around the underpass before his eyes settled on his notebook lying several feet away next to his backpack.

He darted over to snatch it up, ignoring the burnt and soggy condition as he flipped through the pages. Notes, he needed to start writing notes! There was so much to think about now! Izuku reached a blank page and opened the backpack to grab a pen, turning to write before pausing.

Hold on. He had his notebook, and All Might was here...

ALL MIGHT WAS HERE! How could he forget about that!? "Can I have your autograph?" Izuku blurted, spinning to face his hero. His hopeful smile soon vanished though. All Might was staring at him with his jaw hanging open, his eyes blown wide enough he could see the blue in them even in the shadows.

Suddenly, Izuku felt very self-conscious, shrinking back under the stare. "A-All Might, sir?" he stammered nervously. Did he do something wrong? Oh, crap, he did. "Wait! Am I in trouble for using my Quirk!? I'm sorry! I know it's illegal to use it on someone else, but it was a panic reaction and I didn't even know I had a Quirk for sure! I promise I won't ever use it again on someone without their permission, and I'll register it right away! I'm not going to jail for it am I!?"

His panicked rambling seemed to snap All Might out of his stunned stupor, the man sucking in a sharp breath before flashing his brilliant, gleaming grin. "Of course not, young man!" he declared in that booming baritone, and Izuku sagged in relief. "One can hardly fault you for using your Quirk for the first time under such circumstances. Most delayed Quirk activations are triggered by highly stressful or dangerous situations, and this certainly counts as the latter!"

"R-right, I guess that's true..." Hachinose had activated his Quirk from the stress of his first day at school, and from what he heard Kiyomi-chan's rainstorm Quirk first triggered when some bullies hit her. They didn't get in trouble back then, and those times didn't involve life-threatening situations where a villain was trying to actively murder them.

Using your Quirk on another person was still bad, but seriously. The guy was trying to kill him. Izuku could feel the blood drain from his face as he realized once again just how close he got to dying. "I think he wanted to kill me and use my body as a puppet," he said slowly, voice ringing oddly hollow in his own ears. "He was trying to stuff himself into my mouth while suffocating me... Did he plan to enter my body and control it form inside? How would that work? My body's not hollow. Was he going to push out my internal organs?"

The last question had him physically blanching, unable to stop the gruesome image of his organs being forced out of whatever openings existed. "Er, perhaps it's better not to think on that too hard," All Might said, once again stopping Izuku's worse thoughts before they could get, well, worse. When he glanced over he found the hero had retrieved the unconscious villain and somehow scooped him into a large soda bottle while he'd been distracted.

How did he do that? Izuku wondered as he watched the man screw the cap on it. It wasn't like he could just pick up sludge—or, could he? Actually, on that note, how did the villain's whole body fit in the bottle!? Sure, it was one of those big two-liter bottles, but could you seriously fit an entire grown man's worth of sludge into a single bottle?

...Actually, know what? He didn't care. Izuku decided he was sick and tired of thinking about the sludge Quirk so much, and gladly focused on All Might as he spoke again. "Well, this has certainly been an... eventful capture," he declared, slipping the bottle into a pocket on his cargo pants. "And it's been a very eventful day for you, hasn't it young man?"

"Yeah, it has!" Izuku confirmed, bobbing his head with a small smile as he glanced at his palms again. The holes had vanished once again, but he didn't mind. He knew now they were there, waiting for his Quirk to activate, and that was all that mattered. As he stared at them his vision started to blur, the familiar sensation of tears burning his eyes. "I can't believe I finally have a Quirk..."

He sniffled quietly, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, but his smile never faded. It wobbled as he felt his cheeks grow wet, his chest warm with contentment. His whole life had been leading up to this moment, and he had a Quirk. "I can finally be a Pro Hero..."

All Might coughed, and that was enough to make Izuku jolt and quickly wipe away the tears, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Did he really just cry like that in front of All Might? Of course he did, he was crybaby Deku after all. "I understand this is a very exciting development, but procedure must be followed," All Might said. "How about I drop off this villain at the police station, and then you can come to my agency to go over your report?"

Izuku's brain short-circuited briefly at the last part, mind going blank. "Wait, you want me to go to your agency?" he blurted.

"Indeed I do!" All Might confirmed, and flashed him a blinding grin. "It's not every day someone activates their Quirk for the first time, and you just went through quite a traumatic experience at that! Submitting a report at the police station might feel a bit, ah, uncomfortable. I believe filling it out at my agency will give you time to process it in a more comfortable setting in your own time. If you wish to, that is," he added.

This... Was this real? Was this really happening? Was All Might seriously inviting him to Might Tower? Tears started forming in Izuku's eyes for a different reason, and his head bobbed more vigorously than ever before. "Y-yes!" he choked out. "I'd love to go! Th-thank you so much, sir! I-if it's not too much trouble, I mean," he added, losing some of his steam and face falling as he frowned anxiously. "You must be so busy, I mean, you're All Might. Do you really have time to spend with someone like me?"

"My boy, of course I do!" All Might assured him with his famous smile, and Izuku felt his own smile return, feeble and wobbly as it was. "Your Quirk is very unique and has a lot of potential, young man. I know some people who would be very interested in it, and might be able to help you better understand how it works before you submit the formal registration." Izuku felt some of the tension seep from his shoulders, his anxiety replaced with awe.

"Is my Quirk really that great?" he whispered, but he already knew the answer. The ability to take and transfer other Quirks was one of the most potentially powerful Quirks he'd ever heard of. How many Quirks interacted specifically with other Quirks? He'd only had it for, like, ten minutes now, and he was only just starting to wrap his mind around how awesome this power truly was.

"I believe it is," All Might confirmed, and his voice was softer now, more quiet, but it still carried a note of power that made Izuku swallow and nod.

"Thank you, so much," he whispered, willing himself not to cry.

"Give me a moment to text my associates, and then we'll be off!" All Might said, pulling out a cell phone. "Ah, by the way, what is your name, young man?" Izuku snapped straight at that, feet clicking together and arms stiff at his side.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku, sir! It's an honor to meet you!" He dipped into a bow as he spoke, fighting off the rising tears. In response All Might laughed, the booming sound echoing off the concrete walls of the underpass.

"Lift your head, young Midoriya! You don't need to bow to me!" Izuku raised his head as told, rubbing away the tears while All Might used his phone. After a few seconds the man made a triumphant hum and slid the device into his pocket. "There, sent! Now, come here so we can go!"

"Come... there?" Izuku stared blankly as All Might turned around and bent down, and the imposing Pro Hero gave a hearty laugh as he glanced back.

"You don't think I intend to simply have us walk there, do you? It will be faster for you to hop on my back so I can get us to the police station!" Izuku's jaw dropped, only able to stare in shock as All Might turned his head forward once more. "Now, hop on! We have a lot of work to do tonight, so the sooner we leave the better!"

...This was officially the best day of Izuku's life.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Sasaki Mirai sat at his desk going over paperwork as usual. Even after leaving his partnership with All Might to form his own agency three years prior, he hadn't fully stopped assisting with the paperwork for the Number One Hero. A receptionist from Might Tower had stopped by to deliver the latest batch of paperwork, a substantial stack that easily doubled the amount his own agency generated in a week. Given this was only half the amount Mirai dealt with on an average day during his time as a sidekick though, he considered it a trivial addition.

As he finished the last one in the stack his cell phone rang on the corner of his desk. "A message is here!" Toshinori's voice declared, and he perked up at the custom ringtone he'd set for messages from his former partner. He immediately snatched up the device and unlocked it, a chill washing over him as he read it.

'Mirao emergwncy Might Tower NOW will explain in e0 minuted'

The text was riddled with typos, unusual for Toshinori, but that only hammered in the urgency and panic behind it. Mirai quickly deduced he'd meant to type 'Mirai emergency Might Tower NOW will explain in 30 minutes' based on the nearest keys to each mistaken character.

Even without details, the urgency in it had him leaping from his desk and heading to the door. "Awata, something's come up, I'll return later!" he called as he passed his sidekick, the blue girl snapping to attention. "If I'm not back, lock up the office."

"You got it, boss!" she replied, mock-saluting as he walked away. The paperwork could wait. He could only imagine what could possibly have All Might sending a text like that.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

.:. Izuku's Best Day Ever .:.

Toshinori was internally screaming.

Only decades of experience keeping his trademark smile even under the grimmest of circumstances kept him from visibly showing his panic as he leapt across the rooftops. He felt far too conscious about the weight against his back and the thin arms wrapped around his neck for support. Even if Midoriya hadn't been actively shouting with each jump, a mixture of delight and adrenaline, he'd have been conscious of it. This was far from the first time he'd carried someone, and it would be far from the last, but never had it filled him with so much anxiety.

From the moment the boy had first started rambling about his newfound Quirk, Toshinori had been filled with an inexplicable dread. Even as part of him immediately made note of the similarities he'd desperately tried to ignore it, to convince himself he was overreacting. Even when the boy mentioned "holes" he tried to persuade himself it meant nothing.

But when the boy's body transformed and his hands became normal—as the villain turned into the sludge form he'd been chasing—Toshinori knew. He couldn't lie to himself anymore. The sight of those holes on his palms vanquished any doubts he might have:

This boy, Midoriya Izuku, possessed All For One.

Being in such close contact with someone possessing that Quirk made every nerve stand on edge. Even if Midoriya wasn't All For One, he couldn't shake the image of his foe with those very hands. He'd never actually seen All For One use his true Quirk in person, only those that he'd accumulated with it, but seeing Midoriya return the villain's Quirk gave his imagination plenty of fodder to imagine how it might have looked when used by his old foe.

Letting Midoriya off his back while he entered the police station to drop off the sludge villain with promises to file a report later had been a relief. The second he had the kid climb onto him again that anxiety and unease had returned. Even if he knew that All For One couldn't take One For All, he now had three other Quirks, also ironically from his nemesis.

Toshinori suspected the only reason he hadn't broken down was because this wasn't All For One, but a boy. A boy with green hair and eyes and a bright smile, far brighter than anything he'd ever seen on his nemesis. Despite all his instinctive fear, the boy lacked the malice All For One possessed.

...Maybe.

Hopefully.

The truth was, Toshinori didn't know what to think. He couldn't think clearly. Every instinct was screaming to get away from this child, to defeat him before he could do any more damage despite not having done anything yet. It was irrational and Toshinori knew it, he couldn't look at this kid and think clearly when he had All For One's Quirk.

All For One was dead. His Quirk was supposed to be gone with him. Yet Midoriya showed up with his Quirk now. The Quirks weren't just similar, it was the same Quirk. And while the fact that his Quirk had only awakened now made it clear he'd been one of the many impacted by the Second Quirk Boom, Toshinori had never imagined that that Quirk itself would be passed on.

Thank goodness they couldn't really talk while he was jumping around like this. If Midoriya were to speak to him, he wasn't sure he could answer. He landed on the roof of his agency with no small amount of relief, letting the boy down a final time. "We are here!" he announced grandly, but paused when he saw the boy's wide-eyed look and pale face.

His heroic instincts overcame his irrational anxiety and unease, feeling a pinch of concern. Had jumping around like that been too much for the boy? "Er, Midoriya, my boy? Is everything okay?"

"...I am on top of Might Tower," Midoriya whispered. "This is amazing." That... was not the reaction he expected. The boy's mouth slowly curved into a smile, a high-pitched squeak not unlike a dying animal slipping out as he looked around. "I'm on top of Might Tower! I never even thought I'd see the lobby in person, let alone stand on the roof!"

Toshinori couldn't help it. The boy's overwhelming enthusiasm made him smile brightly and give a hearty laugh. He just hoped that it didn't sound as high-strung as it felt. "Well, you're not just going to be on the roof, my boy! We still need to go inside!" Wide green eyes snapped to him, the boy's jaw dropping again. The look of sheer awe and amazement made him question how he'd ever felt so nervous around the boy, even if he had All For One.

Ah, right. All For One.

His smile became just ever so slightly strained.

"Come along now!" he said, gesturing for Midoriya to follow him to the large glass doors that opened to the floor with his office. None of his staff came up here while he was out, guaranteeing plenty of privacy. "I need to speak to someone real quick, so I'll call my secretary to stay with you." Yowai-san was a very nice woman, and she was also Quirkless. That would make it safe enough to leave her with Midoriya, no chances of accidentally stealing her Quirk. Or intentionally stealing it, either.

Fortunately, Yowai was actually already waiting right inside the door, a faint frown on her face. "All Might," she started, and paused when she saw Midoriya trailing behind him with wide, sparkly eyes as he stared around in wonder. She faltered, staring at him blankly before turning to Toshinori. "...Um, sir? Did you kidnap a child?"

"What?" he yelped, startled by the accusation. "Why would you think that?" Yowai gave a feeble shrug. Luckily Midoriya seemed to have missed the exchange, staring at a poster with a hanging jaw.

"This is a framed limited edition poster of your Silver Age team-up with Endeavor," he whispered, voice closer to a wheeze than actually speaking. "I never thought I'd see one in person, most of them were said to be lost in a mysterious fire..."

Toshinori coughed to hide his laugh. "Er, y-yes, they were." Amusingly enough, that had been only the latest in a long line of mishaps regarding attempts to produce that poster. Only one batch had ever been produced properly. The second attempt had been derailed by broken equipment, a third by corrupt image files leading to a rather... abstract-looking product that would haunt his nightmares. In the end when a villain attacked the factory and burnt it down, everyone agreed the poster had been cursed and just gave up on it.

"It's even more amazing than I ever dreamed," Midoriya whispered, and then paused. "Wait, did she say something about kidnapping?"

"Not at all!" Toshinori laughed. "Midoriya, this is Yowai Kimiko, my secretary. Yowai, this is Midoriya Izuku. I found him being accosted by a villain, and I thought it would be more comfortable to work on his report here than the station!"

"Oh, I see." She nodded in understanding, though she still looked a bit suspicious. It wasn't every day Toshinori brought in a random stranger after all. "By the way, you have a, ah... guest, in your office."

Oh thank goodness, Mirai was here. Toshinori didn't let his relief show. "Thank you! I was hoping he'd be here! Can you please get Midoriya some snacks and refreshments while I speak to him? Perhaps give him a tour!"

"A tour!?" Midoriya squeaked, his eyes bulging so far they looked ready to pop out of his head. The awe and admiration was stronger than anything he'd ever seen from any other fan.

"Of course, sir," Yowai agreed, with that undertone of, 'You owe me an explanation later.' She turned to Midoriya with a smile. "Come along, Midoriya-kun. I'm sure you've had a busy day, so let's start in the kitchen and raid All Might's snack stash."

"All Might's snacks," Midoriya whispered, practically vibrating as he followed her. Toshinori waved them off with a smile as he headed to his office, only letting it fade to a grimace when their voices disappeared. Dear Nana, the boy with All For One's power was going to his kitchen to raid his snacks. This had to be the most surreal day of his life.

Twenty-seven minutes. Twenty-seven minutes since Mirai had gotten that text from Toshinori. Sixteen since he'd arrived at Might Tower.

Mirai paced around the office anxiously, waiting for his former partner to make his grand entrance and explain what in the world was going on. The trip to Might Tower had been incredibly quick, even if he had to run one stop light on the way, and he hadn't wasted a moment going to Toshinori's office to wait. Yowai, his secretary, had been a bit confused by him showing up out of the blue but she didn't question it.

The sound of the doorknob turning made him stop, spinning to see his old friend slip inside. Immediately Mirai knew something was horribly wrong. Toshinori's face looked grimmer than he'd ever seen, eyes haunted and the corners of his mouth downturned in the faintest grimace. The only good news was that he didn't seem hurt, but he knew that there were many things that could harm the man much more than physical injuries.

"Toshinori," he greeted sharply. "What happened? What's going on?" Toshinori didn't reply right away, locking the door and walking to his desk. He swayed ever so slightly as he moved, like a man walking to his death and only making Mirai's stomach sink further. His stomach then outright flipped when he saw Toshinori reach under the desk.

Not many people knew, but Toshinori had a secret button built into the desk. One perk of being the Number One Hero was access to incredible technology not generally available to the public, including ways to instantly soundproof a room. Though nothing visibly or audibly happened to indicate the change, Mirai knew no one would hear them anymore. This was serious, this was very serious.

Toshinori collapsed into the chair, leaning forward with his fingers steepled against his chin. A deep, shuddering breath slipped out, shoulders tense as he closed his eyes. "All For One is back."

Those words made Mirai's mind go momentarily blank, taking a few seconds to process it. "WHAT!?" he blurted, physically recoiling. All For One was back? But he was dead! They saw his body—they cremated it!

"A kid this time," Toshinori confirmed gravely, and Mirai felt like he'd been punched. "Green hair, freckles. Still in middle school."

"A... child?" Mirai whispered. All For One killed a child? His expression schooled itself immediately into something more professional and serious, forcing that instinctive fear down. This was serious, he could panic later. "Do you know the child's name?" He didn't expect him to, or rather he hoped not, but—

"Midoriya Izuku," Toshinori groaned, and shit. Mirai hadn't heard that name in any cold cases or on the police bands lately, so the murder must be fresh. Tsukauchi would have called Mirai up the second he suspected Toshinori or All For One had any knowledge or involvement with it, so he doubted Toshinori had stumbled across it in police records. With the haunted expression on his face, Mirai suspected he'd either seen the murder firsthand, or found the body with some taunting note listing his name.

"Do... do his parents know?" he asked, and Toshinori grimaced.

"No, not yet. It... It just happened, right before I texted you." This was just confirming all of Mirai's worst fears and making him wince. Damn, he really did see it himself then.

"Did you tell Tsukauchi? Or any other police?"

"Not yet," and dammit Toshinori, "I wanted to speak to you first."

Mirai took a deep breath to compose himself. "Okay. I understand. Yes, that's rational I suppose," he murmured to himself, and hesitated. "And... did you see him yourself? Are you absolutely sure it's All For One?" Could it be a mistake? Could it be an imposter claiming his name? Please be an imposter.

"He stole and returned the Quirk of a villain I was chasing," Toshinori confirmed miserably, dashing what little hope Mirai had left. He pulled his hands away from his face to stare at his palms, eyes narrowing as he hissed, "He had those holes in his palms, Mirai. Those exact same holes..."

Mirai was silent, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he silently counted to ten. There was absolutely no denying it: All For One was back. "We can't waste a moment," he declared. "We should call Gran Torino and Tsukauchi immediately to arrange a meeting."

"Yes, I suppose we should," Toshinori agreed, sounding reluctant. Even now he still had a slight fear of his old mentor, but Mirai couldn't spare any sympathy. He couldn't even offer to call them himself, he had another more important task.

"I'll... look into contacting Midoriya's family," he murmured, looking at his feet with a tight frown. "I'll figure out how to tell them the news with Tsukauchi later, so you just focus on gathering the others." He saw Toshinori raise his head at that, looking faintly confused.

"What? Mirai, hold on, isn't that a bit hasty to decide that right now? Shouldn't we wait until we know more?" The genuine confusion in his tone startled Mirai, looking at the blond incredulously.

"Wait?" he repeated. "Toshinori, their child is dead! Don't you think they should know?"

"Dea—" Toshinori stopped and blinked, staring at him blankly. "...Er, Mirai, I think there has been a grave miscommunication."

Now it was Mirai's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about? Didn't you just say All For One is back?"

"I—yes, I did, but—"

"A phone call is here!" They startled as Toshinori's voice suddenly boomed through the room, both instinctively checking their phones. Mirai found his dim, just as Toshinori answered his.

"Yowai-san?"

"Uh, All Might?" Yowai's voice came over speaker. "Uh, I think I might have broken the kid...?" Toshinori blinked at that while Mirai looked on in confusion.

"I... What?"

"I don't know. One second we were in the kitchen raiding snacks, then he saw that framed picture you have with Lunch Rush, Thirteen, the Wild, Wild Pussycats and all those other rescue heroes from that one earthquake a few years back, and then he just started mumbling! Listen!" She went silent, and Mirai realized he could hear a very faint mumbling in the background. After a few seconds she added, "Also, he's writing in a notebook."

"...Er, I think that's normal for him," Toshinori said sheepishly. "Midoriya-kun rambled quite a bit when we first met." Mirai nearly jumped at the name, focusing on Toshinori with renewed laser-pointed sharpness as he continued, "I'm guessing he's talking about Quirks?"

"Yes, yes he is. And from what I've heard him say, I am now terrified of Tiger's Quirk. Please make him stop."

Toshinori coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Yowai, but you'll need to endure this a bit longer. I still need to talk to Mirai. I'm sure you can find something to snap him out of it."

"...Yeah, know what? You're right." There was an eerie calmness to her tone that made them both tense. Mirai had gotten to know Yowai well enough before leaving to start his own agency to recognize the distinct prelude to mischief. Sure enough, "Hey Midoriya-kun, do you want to see the room with All Might's reject merchandise?"

"All Might's reject merchandise!?" came a very high-pitched yelp. "You keep some here!?"

"Only the stuff that turns out so bad it's good! We've got a whole room we like to call the 'Hall of Shame.' I think you'll get a kick out of it!" Toshinori winced, eyes going wide with horror, but before he could say anything and try to stop her the phone hung up. For a moment they just stood in silence, staring at the phone.

Then, Mirai took the opportunity to speak. "...By any chance, is the 'Midoriya' you just mentioned Midoriya Izuku?"

"...He is," Toshinori confirmed after a few moments, and Mirai nodded.

"So when you said All For One is back, you meant..."

"The Quirk." Toshinori hunched over the desk, pressing his hands to his head. "His Quirk is back, and manifested in young Midoriya just today."

"I see." This was marginally better than his initial assumption, but still serious. "Perhaps you should start from the beginning."

Izuku was having the best day of his entire life. He got a Quirk, he met All Might, and he was now walking through Might Tower. He got to see All Might's fridge (and he had a full page in his notebook dedicated to its contents), and see all sorts of photos and pictures from various events he'd never released to the public! Private photos of him helping with relief aid and meeting with other heroes, clearly treasured memories that weren't just for publicity!

And now he was seeing a bunch of merchandise no one even knew existed.

"And this here is a plushie from a proposed line of costume swaps!" Yowai declared, lifting up a doll of All Might dressed like Midnight. "No, we have no idea who the heck suggested adding Midnight to the mix, but it looks beautiful, don't you think?"

Izuku could only manage a broken squeak, too excited to form proper words. He'd heard rumors of the costume swap line, and had been so disappointed it hadn't come to fruition. But now he knew it was real! He had the proof in the form of this felt doll with All Might wearing Midnight's dominatrix outfit, complete with a removable red mask and a little whip! He could only imagine how the Midnight one would look like in his costume.

"Why Midnight?" he asked, unable to help himself. "Their builds are so different, even in plushie form, it's a really odd choice."

"I think they chose pairs randomly. I hear there was one of Endeavor dressed as Gang Orca," Yowai added with a smirk and conspiratorial wink.

"How does that even work? Gang Orca has a mutation Quirk."

"Two words," Yowai replied solemnly. "Orca hat." Izuku burst out laughing at the mental image, unable to help himself. The idea of an Endeavor plushie wearing a hat shaped like Gang Orca's head felt surreal. Almost as surreal as those sticky-hand toys based on All Might's head, with his famous spiky bangs being the sticky part. Izuku had seen many unforgettable things today.

Really, despite how horrible it had been to almost drown in sludge, this past hour had more than made up for it. First he got to ride on All Might, and now he got to tour his agency? Yowai even let him wear a reject hat that had All Might's famous hair spikes but twice as big and orange, with printed arms flexing on either side above the ears. And a super-fluffy scarf that turned out kinda creepy when they tried to pattern it after his sleeves of his Golden Age costume, complete with his fists at each end.

Izuku quickly understood why the scarf had been rejected, because when they heard a door open he jumped and those fabric fists bounced up into his face. "Yowai? Young Midoriya—oh." Izuku spun to see All Might had entered the room, standing a bit rigid as he stared at him with a rigid smile. "Er..."

"Midoriya was just trying out some of your reject merch!" Yowai supplied smoothly, patting Izuku's shoulder. "Right, Midoriya?" He nodded, the scarf's fists bouncing against his chest with the motion.

"Yeah! I can see why it's all rejected, I mean the fists have hit me in the face like three times so far, and the hair on the hat feels really heavy. I feel like I'm going to tip over half the time. N-not that that makes it bad or anything!" he added hastily. "It's still your merchandise, so it's really incredible, all of it! Even the body pillow!"

All Might winced at that, and Izuku heard a muffled snort. "Ah, yes, the body pillow where you were printed so wide it wrapped around the entire case," a dry voice remarked, and Izuku snapped even further to attention, jaw dropping.

"Wait, Sir Nighteye!?" he blurted, eyes bulging as he stepped to the side. Sure enough he saw All Might's former sidekick standing behind the hero, formerly hidden by his bulky figure. The green-haired man examined the body pillow in question with a critical frown on his face, clearly displeased.

"I never liked the idea of making body pillows in the first place," he remarked disdainfully. "And the quality of this sample is quite shoddy even beyond the print."

All Might coughed into his fist. "Er, enough about that. Thank you for showing him around Yowai, you can get back to work now."

"My pleasure!" Yowai replied sweetly, and turned to Izuku who had already begun unwinding the scarf. "And remember, I'm giving you full permission to tell everyone you know about the Hall of Shame!"

"Thank you!" Izuku said with a beaming smile, and Yowai smiled before taking the scarf and hat. She gingerly set them on their pedestals with a reverence fitting for any All Might merchandise, and then gave her employer a salute before heading off. (Was it Izuku, or did All Might's smile look weirdly strained?)

"Anyways!" All Might said, snapping his attention back. "Midoriya, this is my former sidekick, Sir Nighteye! As you, ah, already seem to know," he added lamely. Izuku didn't respond, just staring in awe at Nighteye.

Sir Nighteye looked even more incredible in person. The man had always been one who preferred the background, so not much official merchandise existed of him prior to striking out on his own. However, his business suit looked even more sharp and crisp than Izuku imagined, and the glint in those golden eyes just spoke of endless intelligence.

"Hello, Midoriya," he greeted with a nod. "All Might told me about your situation. You just activated your Quirk today, corre—is that a plushie appendix?" He faltered mid-sentence, and Izuku blinked before looking down at his hand.

"Oh, y-yeah, it is," he said with a sheepish laugh. "I forgot I picked it up..." The toy appendix had to be the most ridiculous piece of reject merchandise of all. It was colored with All Might's famous red, blue and yellow color scheme, and had his famous trademark bangs.

"...Right, because of the... appendicitis," Sir Nighteye murmured after a few seconds. "I completely forgot that existed. May I see it for a moment?"

"S-sure, it's not mine anyway, so..." Izuku held it out obligingly, and the sidekick-turned-pro took it silently, their hands brushing briefly as he did. As they did Izuku felt a small tingle run up his spine, surprising him. What was that?

"The material is incredibly soft," he murmured appraisingly. "If not for the design, this could have been good to sell for charity purposes. The color scheme is a bit much, though—" He paused then, seeming to think for a moment. "Midoriya. Does your mother have green hair?"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked. "Uh, y-yeah, but why—wait! Is it your foresight?" He lit up with a gasp, eyes sparkling. "I've heard rumors you can see the future, but no one knows how your Quirk works! If you used it just now, then maybe that's the weird tingling I felt when our hands touched? Is it contact-based then? Can it see far in the future? If you saw my mom, then it must be at least a while because we live in Musutafu. Unless she's going to show up here, but that's unlikely unless you called her..."

He fell into a trance-like state while mumbling to himself, oblivious to the shocked stares he was getting. "Your foresight must be at least somewhat long-range then... Unless it's not actually foresight like the rumors say, but a form of telepathy or psychometry, and you read people's thoughts enough to predict their moves and seem like it's foresight. Either way, it's at least not a physical Quirk, which is rare among Pro Heroes who head their own agencies, so it must be at least a little strong. Unless it's based purely on your own skills—"

"That is very perceptive." Izuku jolted at Nighteye's voice, abruptly remembering he wasn't alone. His face immediately flared bright red with embarrassment, flinching as he glanced at the former sidekick.

"I'm so sorry, I guess my mumbling is really creepy, huh?" he muttered, shoulders hunching uneasily as he grimaced. "Really, I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize at all," Nighteye assured him. "That was quite astute of you. However, you said something about... tingling?"

"O-oh, right. When our hands brushed against each other, I felt this weird... jolt, I guess?" Izuku frowned as he glanced at his hand. "I guessed that was your Quirk, but was I wrong?"

"People don't usually feel it when I use my Quirk," Nighteye responded with a frown. "I did, however, use it on you briefly to check something." Izuku perked up at that.

"Wait, you did? What did you see? Did you see my future? How far did you see? Or is it actually telepathy—" He stopped when Nighteye held up a hand to signal for silence.

"It's hard to answer your questions when you don't give me a chance," he commented with a wry half-smile, making Izuku shrink guiltily. Oops. "To begin, my Quirk is indeed foresight. I'd rather keep all the details and conditions private for now, as it is crucial that no one knows, but you are correct that it involves contact. Which makes the fact you noticed somewhat concerning. I can only assume it's related to your Quirk."

"My... My Quirk." Those words had Izuku standing a bit straighter, his eyes growing wide as he looked down at his palm. "That's right, I have a Quirk now!" In his excitement over coming to Might Tower, he'd almost forgotten. "I can't believe I finally have one of my own! It's still so new though. Wait, All Might said he knew someone who might be able to help," he realized abruptly, snapping wide eyes back to the pair. "Was he talking about you?"

"Among other people," Nighteye confirmed, and Izuku felt like he'd be perfectly fine if he died right there and then—actually, no, strike that. If he died now, he wouldn't be able to learn more about his Quirk! His life was only just beginning!

"Young Midoriya," All Might said, and Izuku spun to face him with wide, sparkling eyes, ready to absorb every word his idol had to say. "Your Quirk is very unique and has a lot of power, as I'm sure you've realized. In fact—"

"A CALL IS HERE!"

Izuku jumped as All Might's voice boomed into the silence, startling all three of them. On reflex all of them reached to their pockets to check their phones, but only Izuku's screen was lit up. And when he saw the name his stomach sank. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Sir Nighteye asked, and Izuku looked up sheepishly.

"I, uh, kinda forgot to call my mom and tell her I'd be late...?" There was a brief silence, and then Nighteye just hung his head with a sigh.

"Midoriya, please answer your phone," he said, turning to leave. "Toshinori, please go change out of your costume. I'll go prepare the car."

"The car?" All Might repeated while Izuku slid his finger across "accept" on the screen.

"Yes. We'll be dining with the Midoriya family tonight."

And that was how Midoriya Inko called her son in a panic only to be greeted by a high-pitched screech.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

.:. Dinner at the Midoriya House .:.

"I hope the food's okay. I would have tried to make something better, but I didn't have much time to go buy more ingredients on such short notice." Midoriya Inko looked almost frantic as she sat at the table, picking a piece of pork from her stir fry with chopsticks. "You're not allergic to anything, right? Oh dear, I should have had Izuku ask while we were on the phone—"

"No, we're not allergic to anything Midoriya-san!" Toshinori assured her quickly. "And if anything, we should be the ones apologizing! We're the ones who sprung this dinner on you without warning!"

"Yes, the burden is on us," Mirai agreed with a nod, plucking a piece of pork from his own plate. "And your cooking is perfectly fine, Midoriya-san. Wonderful, even."

"Yeah, you really outdid yourself with this stir fry!" Midoriya—Izuku, not Inko—declared after swallowing another bite. "It tastes so good!"

"Well, if you say so..." Their hostess offered a wobbly, nervous smile before she plopped some pork in her mouth, averting her gaze as she chewed. Her nervousness was only rivaled by her son, who looked split between being starstruck and panicked by Toshinori's presence as he focused on his meal.

This had to be the most awkward dinner of Toshinori's life. Mirai had effectively invited himself and Toshinori over to young Midoriya's house for dinner, nearly giving the boy and his mother a heart attack. Toshinori himself had to spend five minutes talking to the woman on the phone assuring her that her son was perfectly fine, and apologizing for technically kidnapping him without telling her.

Really, he'd rather not be here. The fact he had to come as All Might only added to the strangeness of the situation. They'd had to basically sneak him through the door in a large coat to avoid being seen. It felt so silly when he now had a transformation Quirk at his disposal, but as Mirai pointed out, Inko (who'd insisted on using her given name during the meal to avoid confusion) had spoken to All Might, not Yagi Toshinori.

At least the stir fry was good. For something made on short notice, it tasted fantastic. Toshinori felt like internally crying, when was the last time he'd eaten someone else's homemade cooking?

Inko cleared her throat, breaking into his thoughts. "So, you said Izuku has a... Quirk, now?" she asked, and the younger Midoriya perked up while Toshinori and Mirai exchanged sly glances.

"Yeah! It's some kind of transfer Quirk, I think? I think I can take Quirks from other people, and I think I'm more aware of them too. Or at least, I could barely focus on anything at school today because of it. And apparently I felt Sir Nighteye use his Quirk on me, when that's not supposed to happen...?" Inko nodded along as he spoke, smiling shakily.

"A-and you found it, when a villain tried to... kill you?" she asked, her voice cracking on the last bit. All of them winced at that, Toshinori and young Midoriya grimacing in synchronization.

"I apologize for letting that villain get so close, Inko-san," Toshinori said, bowing his head. "It is my fault your son got into danger."

"No, no, don't apologize!" she said, waving her free hand. "You can't catch everyone right away, and you captured the villain in the end and now Izuku's fine!"

"Yeah!" young Midoriya agreed, bobbing his head vigorously. "And I got to go to Might Tower afterwards, which was so amazing! Honestly, this is probably the best day of my entire life," he added, smiling sheepishly as his eyes lowered to his food. "I got a Quirk, I got to meet you... I honestly kinda forgot the sludge villain thing happened." Inko smiled warmly at her son's enthusiasm, some of her tension fading.

"I still would prefer it never happened at all, but you really did make Izuku's day special," she said as she glanced back at Toshinori. "Even if his Quirk finally came in, this would have been a lot more traumatic if you hadn't been there. Thank you so much, All Might." He winced at hearing his hero name.

"Er, if you want, please call me Yagi," he offered with a weak smile. Young Midoriya nearly choked, but thankfully Mirai easily dislodged the food with a deft chop to his back while Toshinori continued, "Using my hero name in a private setting feels rather, ah, stiff and formal."

"Alright, Al—Yagi-san." Inko nodded, looking a bit flustered as she said his name. Her eyes fell to her plate and for about a full minute after that no one spoke, just eating in silence. This really was the strangest dinner of his life.

Eventually Mirai gently cleared his throat, breaking the awkward tension. "Well, in any event, we at least learned your son's Quirk," he commented, and Midoriya perked up as he bobbed his head eagerly.

"Yeah! I mean, it did technically appear this morning, but I never would have thought it would have anything to do with Quirks! Even if I'd made the holes appear again, I'm not sure I would have tried to use it on a person without knowing what it did first. I was honestly just hoping the holes would suck up the sludge!" That made Inko pause, a distant look on her face.

"...Izuku," she said after a moment. "How big are those holes?"

"Oh, um..." Midoriya looked at his empty palm thoughtfully, and from his seat Toshinori could see it lacked any holes at the moment. "They're about the size of my... thumbnail, I guess?"

"I see," Inko said faintly. "And so if it could suck up the sludge, what, exactly, did you expect to happen?" Young Midoriya opened his mouth but stopped short, and even Toshinori found himself contemplating it. The sludge villain had been quite large, and with such tiny holes...

"...I am really lucky that's not how it worked," Midoriya whispered, face pale as he stared at his palm. "Where would it even go?"

"Let's... not think about that," Toshinori suggested weakly, and they all made soft noises of agreement.

"Anyways, what's that toy you brought home?" Inko asked, clearly trying to change the topic, and Toshinori felt a keen desire to crawl away and hide somewhere as her son lit up.

"Oh, that's a rejected plushie of All Might's appendix!" he answered brightly, and his mother stared at him blankly.

"...What?"

The rest of the meal passed in relative peace after that. Midoriya eagerly regaled them with the events of the day, happily chattering about the Hall of Shame much to Toshinori's masked dismay. Why did he agree to let Mirai build that place for his rejected merchandise? And how did Mirai and Yowai convince him to give Midoriya the rejected appendix plushie!? Alas, he would probably never know.

Eventually dinner came to an end, the stories with it, and Inko took the empty plates to the kitchen while the rest of the group moved to the living room. "Izuku, can you do me a favor?" she asked as she came back, carrying three cups of tea for herself and her guests.

"Sure mom, what is it?"

"Can you please go take a shower? And change out of your clothes?" The boy looked puzzled at the request and glanced at Toshinori and Mirai, clearly confused by being asked to do so while they had company.

"Uh, sure, I guess, but why...?"

"Well, you said you turned into sludge, right?" Inko asked with a tight smile. "And before that, that villain was trying to suffocate you with sludge, right?" The boy opened his mouth, paused, and then grimaced as he tugged at his sleeve.

"...Y-yeah, I should probably go wash off," he said feebly. "I mean, I don't feel like there's anything on my uniform, but I could just be... uh, yeah." He glanced at Toshinori, clearly reluctant to leave, and he offered a reassuring smile.

"Go ahead, your mother's right. Honestly, I should have offered you a change of clothes at the agency," he added with a sheepish laugh. "You should really go clean yourself now. We've kept you long enough."

"R-right, I guess you have a point. I'll be back in, uh, half an hour, I guess?" With a few more reassurances Midoriya awkwardly headed off to his bedroom to fetch some clothes. Once the bathroom door closed his mother sighed and settled in an armchair with her cup of tea, and turned to face the Pros with a frown.

"Yagi-san, Sir Nighteye, I can't take it anymore," she declared, making them both tense. "There's a reason you're here specifically, right? I know my baby's special, but I can't imagine the Number One Hero would go out of his way to spend so much time on this unless it was something important." The two Pro Heroes exchanged a brief glance at that. Years of working together made it easy to communicate without actual words, and soon Mirai nodded and turned to face her.

"Midoriya-san, I'll be blunt," he started. "Your son's Quirk is incredibly dangerous, and it bears a powerful resemblance to that of one of the worst villains in the history of Japan." Inko stiffened at that, her eyes wide as he continued, "This power is one that can cause great temptation to its owner. We have good reason to believe that, if not trained carefully, he could pose a major threat to society."

Toshinori winced at the almost brutal nature of the statement as Inko gasped, her hands flying over her mouth. "My baby, a villain?" she whispered, horror and disbelief clear in her voice. "You can't possibly mean... No! He, he wouldn't hurt a fly!" She shook her head furiously, and Toshinori's heart went out to the woman.

He so desperately wanted to believe her, to agree and offer reassurance, but the fact was, he didn't know Midoriya Izuku enough to know if she was right. No one was born evil and cruel. If any Quirk had the potential to corrupt its owner, it was All For One.

"Or," Mirai interjected before her panic could spiral further, "he could become a powerful hero with proper guidance. That... seemed like something he'd be interested in, based on how he was talking earlier. Do you know if it is?"

That remark seemed to make her regain some semblance of her composure, her mouth pressing into a firm line as she nodded her head. "Of course," she said with no hesitation or doubt. "Izuku's wanted to be a hero for as long as he's been able to talk. I remember when we went to the Quirk specialist, and found out he was Quirkless..." She trailed off, her expression wavering as her head bowed to stare at her tea.

"He... He was so sad and heartbroken," she whispered, "but he still never stopped dreaming. When the second Quirk boom happened, he was so full of hope that he'd get one..." She shook her head and released a shuddery breath, looking up with a frown. "Is—is my baby's Quirk really that dangerous?"

Mirai glanced at Toshinori, silently deferring to him on how to proceed. This was, after all, Toshinori's story more than his. The secrets of One For All, and by extension information about All For One, were ultimately his to tell. Mirai had taken the initiative to start the discussion, knowing Toshinori would be lost on how to even begin approaching it, but from here it was all up to him.

Toshinori frowned down at his cup of tea, still untouched since she gave it to him. He could see his reflection in the liquid, the strong, sharp angles in his face that persisted even in his muscular form. After a moment of hesitation, he took a breath and raised his head to meet her gaze, steeling his resolve.

"The villain Sir spoke of is the man who killed my mentor," he started lowly, and could see her freeze at that. "I spent the entirety of my career chasing him down, tracking his empire and fighting his minions... I cannot go into detail, for your own safety, but I cannot stress how much damage that man caused before he died. And your son..." He scowled as he glanced down, thinking back to that instinctive dread and horror when he first saw the boy's true appearance after returning the villain's Quirk.

"His Quirk is too similar. I cannot, in good conscience, allow that sort of power to be left unsupervised. I do not know your son as well as you, but I do know that if any Quirk would be able to corrupt its owner without proper guidance, it would be that one."

"We're also concerned for his safety in general," Mirai added with a frown. "If word of a method to transfer Quirks were to spread, many Quirk traffickers would do anything to get their hands on it. In their eyes, it would be a sort of holy grail."

"Traffickers?" she repeated, her face rapidly paling, and Toshinori grimaced.

"The man I mentioned is dead, but his followers may still exist," he admitted grimly, before shaking his head and saying, "No, they almost certainly do. They would likely try to turn your son into a—a second coming of him. Try to warp him to share their ideals." It would only be logical, since the boy literally had All For One's Quirk.

"Truthfully, the main reason we decided to come tonight is to explain all this to you as soon as possible," he continued. "I am admittedly still in shock at seeing... another Quirk so similar to that one, so I'm not thinking as clearly as I usually would. I don't think it's fully set in yet," he admitted shamefully. "In the meantime though, we wanted to make sure you didn't register young Midoriya's Quirk just yet, as we feel that would only endanger him. The fewer people who know, the better."

Inko was silent at that, staring at them in mute horror as she absorbed the information. "So then... What do you want us to do? Do you want him to just—just pretend he doesn't have a Quirk? To just stay... Quirkless? Do you really understand what that would mean for him?"

That had Toshinori flinching and gritting his teeth, because he did. He remembered the stigma of being Quirkless when he'd been the boy's age, and he could only imagine it had gotten worse. "That's actually one of my concerns," Mirai commented, leaning forward. "Tell me, Midoriya-san. Has your son been bullied for his status? Suffered any discrimination?"

Toshinori openly winced at the blunt questioning and shot his former sidekick a disbelieving stare, but then his head snapped back when he heard Inko murmur a faint, "Yes." The woman looked miserable as she stared at her teacup, just as untouched as theirs. "Izuku... His classmates have always been so cruel to him, they made fun of him and avoided him for being Quirkless. He'd come home with bruises a lot when he was younger," she added, making Toshinori's eyes widen with horror, "so I know there was physical bullying too."

"Did the school ever do anything about it?" Toshinori questioned, unable to help himself.

"To an extent, yes, but not all of the teachers were that attentive. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can't blame them," she sighed. "Supervising twenty children with Quirks and making sure they don't hurt themselves would take up so much time and attention. Honestly, with some of the stories Izuku told me, it's a miracle that any teachers have the patience to deal with all those kids. It's gotten a bit better in recent years though. After the second Quirk boom, a lot of his schoolmates went to him for advice for themselves or family members, since he likes Quirks so much, so it cut down on some of the bullying."

"So he was already passionate about Quirks then, hmm," Toshinori murmured, recalling the notebook. Inko smiled faintly as she nodded.

"He always has been. Last I checked, I think he's filled... seventeen notebooks on Quirks, I think?" The number had them both startling as she idly continued, "I don't know what number he's on since he buys them himself now, but he's been keeping those notebooks since he was a child. This Quirk... I honestly couldn't have picked a more fitting one for him." Her smile became more fragile then, as if it could break at a moment's notice, before she sighed softly. "I just wished the second Quirk boom could have gotten him some more friends, too."

If Toshinori's heart hadn't been ready to break before, that last sentence was the final blow needed. "I see," Mirai murmured with a frown. "I apologize for asking about such a sensitive topic. One of the easiest ways to sway Midoriya would be to prey upon any past trauma or discrimination, though. A history of bullying would be an easy motivation to use to push him towards revenge on society."

Inko frowned and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I'd like to say that would never happen, but honestly, I'm sometimes amazed he doesn't feel more angry. His heart is so big it never ceases to amaze me, but... I can't help but worry." Her head ducked at that, guilt and concern palpable in the hunch to her back. "He's only a child, and no one is that strong. It feels like I've always been waiting for him to hit his breaking point, and I don't want to see that."

"No parent would," Toshinori murmured somberly, and set the now-cold cup of tea on the end table. "Inko-san, you have our word, we'll do everything in our power to make sure that your son has as bright a future as possible."

"We intend to speak to some associates about this tomorrow," Mirai added. "I already have some people in mind who would be able to better help plan how to handle this situation. Until then, we must ask you to avoid registering his Quirk. We will, however, figure out a way to ensure he won't be harassed any further for being supposedly Quirkless," he promised. "Even beyond the concerns I outlined, his happiness and sense of security is a high priority."

"At the very least, we can probably register him with an analysis Quirk or some other invisible Quirk," Toshinori suggested with a wry smile. "Based on what you've said and the little I've spoken to him about the subject, I think he could pass off his analysis as one. Though, he might need to transfer schools since he's apparently known for it already at his current one..."

Inko paused then, her head slowly raising with an odd glint in her eyes. "Wait... Izuku can take Quirks." The remark had the two Pros pausing, a sudden tingle of dread filling Toshinori.

"...Yes, he can," Mirai confirmed after a few moments. "Midoriya-san, what are you—?" He stopped himself as they heard the bathroom door open, and all three adults turned to see the younger Midoriya trotting into the hall in a t-shirt saying "pajama shirt" and sweatpants.

"Izuku, that was fast," Inko observed. Her son had a sheepish look on his face, scratching the back of his neck as he laughed.

"Yeah, uh, the water suddenly went cold. Again."

"Again?" Toshinori echoed in faint surprise. This apartment building didn't seem that cheap or old like the usual kinds to have water temperature issues like that.

"Oh dear," Inko sighed. "One of the neighbors tends to mess with water temperature. It's something to do with his second Quirk, he can't really control it."

"Where is this neighbor located?" Mirai asked curiously, and mother and son exchanged a look.

"...Three buildings down," Inko answered, and both men stared at her. "It apparently affects all buildings within the block. He sent a letter explaining it to all the apartments when he moved in three years ago."

"Sometimes the water will freeze in the pipes," Midoriya added with a weak laugh. "It can get warmer too though, so that can be really nice in the winter. But once I heard our next door neighbor scream because it was too hot."

"...That is... scarily impressive," Mirai murmured, while Toshinori silently pondered what in the world All For One would use such a Quirk for. Then he imagined a shower that suddenly reached boiling point, and had to suppress a wince. He decided not to ask about the specifics of the Quirk.

"Well, anyway, this is perfect timing," Inko said, breaking his line of thought. She turned to face her son, hands primly folded on her lap. "Izuku, you know how to take Quirks now, right?" Her son was surprised at the question, and glanced at his palms with a frown.

"I think so...? I've only done it the one time, but I think I get how it works."

"Then, Izuku, I want you to take Burst Dash."

Today had been full of surprises, to the point Izuku thought nothing could surprise him anymore, but he was proven wrong. His mom suddenly offered for him to take Burst Dash, and then surprised him again when she explained why.

"Sweetie, we don't think it's safe for your Quirk to be public," she told him. "It's such a wonderful power, but if the wrong people find out about it, they might try to kidnap you or make you use it."

"But, I would never use my Quirk for evil!" Izuku protested with a wide-eyed frown, aghast at the very notion. "I don't care what they might say or do, I would never stoop that low!"

"Even if they threaten me?" his mother asked quietly, and that had him freezing in horror, his eyes going wide. She frowned as she met his gaze, clearly unhappy with her words but forcing herself to continue. "Izuku, you have such a big heart and I know you'd never turn to evil willingly, but that heart also makes it easy for people to take advantage of you. If they were to use me as a hostage, or some other innocent person, could you... could you honestly say you wouldn't give in?"

The words hit Izuku like a brick, his stomach sinking. Using hostages to force him to use his Quirk? He didn't know which notion made him feel more sick: using his Quirk for evil... or an innocent person getting hurt because of him.

"I—I could go get Heroes," he tried to argue, but he could see Sir Nighteye shaking his head.

"No, you won't always have that luxury. If someone were to, hypothetically, kidnap you and a classmate on your way home from school, and threaten to murder your classmate if you didn't take a Quirk from someone, what would you do?" Izuku just stared in horror, his chest twisting uncomfortably at the mere hypothetical.

"Why would they do that though?" he whispered. "I mean, I'd just be taking my Quirk for myself, r-right?" Sir Nighteye paused at that, his eyes narrowing.

"...Midoriya, for one who's so analytical of Quirks, you seem to have overlooked a very significant possibility," he remarked, confusing Izuku before he continued, "If you can take Quirks and then return them, then who's to say you can't give those Quirks to someone else?"

The possibility had Izuku freezing, his jaw dropping as the implications slammed into him. Taking and giving Quirks to someone else? That absolutely made sense. He'd have to test it to be sure of course, but there was nothing guaranteeing he could only return a Quirk to its original owner. The sludge villain's Quirk had been inside him after all, and the villain himself had felt empty. No connection seemed to exist anymore.

"That's why we can't tell anyone about your Quirk," his mom continued firmly. "All Might and Sir Nighteye came here to discuss this with me and warn me about the dangers, and I agree. I don't think it's even safe to register it." She met his gaze as she added, "And that's why I think you should take Burst Dash and register that instead."

There they were again, those amazing, incredible words that took Izuku's breath away. "Mom, really?" he asked. "But—but why? I mean, I get why you want me to hide it, but you want me to have Burst Dash?"

"I do," she said with a nod. "Izuku, honey, you do have a Quirk now, and I can't let you pretend to be Quirkless and get bullied for it when I have a perfectly good Quirk you could have instead. You'll be able to use it better than I ever would."

Izuku felt like crying, feeling himself start to tear up. All the years he'd spent studying and getting lost in awe over Burst Dash came crashing into him. How many hours had they spent experimenting with it to answer every question he had? How many pages had he dedicated to notes on that one Quirk? Izuku felt like he knew Burst Dash as intimately as the back of his own hand, and the thought of actually having it for himself filled him with a sudden sense of desire he couldn't ignore.

"As neat a solution as this appears to be, we can't be hasty about this." Sir Nighteye cut into the moment, and the mother and son turned to face him in mild surprise. He had a critical glint in his eye as he studied them, speaking smoothly and evenly. "Midoriya-san, giving away your Quirk isn't a decision to be made lightly. While it would solve some of our immediate problems, it would cause some more as well."

"That's right," All Might agreed with a nod. "I admire your tenacity about helping your son, but this is a heavy decision. Can you really say you won't ever regret giving away your Quirk?"

Under other circumstances, All Might's words would have made Izuku hesitate. As much as he wanted a Quirk, he couldn't stand the thought of leaving his mother Quirkless for his own personal benefit. However, there was one fact that the two Pro Heroes seemed to be missing, and for that reason he wasn't surprised by the resolution and determination on his mother's face when he looked back at her.

"Burst Dash is my second Quirk," she said, and the two Pro Heroes clearly hadn't expected that. She waved a hand and All Might startled as his tea cup floated off the end table and slowly floated towards her, explaining, "My original Quirk lets me attract small objects to myself, and I use that a lot more than Burst Dash so I won't miss it. A lot of people don't even know I have Burst Dash," she confessed with a small smile. "It's a very... physical Quirk."

"On the day of the second Quirk boom, mom actually tripped and made a hole in the wall with it," Izuku couldn't help interjecting, smiling softly at the memory. "We still call it 'Crash' sometimes as a joke."

"I do tend to crash with it a lot," his mom agreed with a quiet chuckle. "I barely ever use it because it's so hard to control, so if I lose it, people won't notice. I can count the number of people who've actually seen it on one hand."

"In that case, that might actually work," Sir Nighteye murmured, and Izuku perked up hopefully. "My other concern was that it would be suspicious for your son to spontaneously develop an identical copy of your Quirk while yours seemingly vanished. But with this... We can probably register it under a different name, and tweak the description a bit so they're not completely identical." He nodded to himself as he spoke. "This would also explain why I saw Midoriya make a hole in the wall in my vision."

And everyone else froze at that, Izuku's jaw dropping. He had so many questions about Sir Nighteye's Quirk now, but now was not the time or place. Not when he had a chance to get Burst Dash right in front of him. His attention turned to All Might instead, silently seeking his approval for the plan. The man seemed startled by the sudden attention, and fidgeted before clearing his throat.

"Ah, yes, I suppose I can't object anymore either," he said, and Izuku's heart soared. "This resolves all my concerns as well. So as long as your mother fully consents to it, I cannot see any reason to disagree." And now Izuku turned to his mother, eyes wide with hope, and found a warm smile.

"Izuku, sweetie, please take it."

He fidgeted for a moment, glancing between the three adults, waiting for one of them to change their minds. When none of them did, he nodded. "Okay, I'm ready. I, uh, think I need to be touching you for it to work, maybe?"

His mother nodded and held out her hand. He reached out and took it, squeezing his eyes shut and focusing on feeling out Burst Dash. After a few seconds, he saw two... should he keep calling them lights? There wasn't really any 'light' to them, but that was really the closest thing he could think of to compare them to. In the end, he decided he'd just call them for what they were: Quirks.

One was thin and floaty, but almost felt like it could support him if he wrapped himself up in it, like a hammock. The other was clear and cool and sharp, like a piece of crystal but less solid, always flowing around and turning in on itself. He paused for a moment, weighing his options. He hadn't really thought about how different quirks might look to his Quirk (what should he call his Quirk anyway? Even if he didn't register it, it'd still be good to have a name for it).

Maybe there was some way to get a sense of what Quirks could do by looking at them like this? That would be a really good tool for helping people manifesting new and difficult Quirks. He'd have to figure out how to tell them apart at some point, especially for people with multiple Quirks. Maybe—

"Honey, you're rambling again." Izuku almost cringed at that, but stopped when he considered it might break the connection. "Just pick one and try taking it. It's okay if you take Pull by accident, we can just do it again."

Izuku nodded and pulled the sharper Quirk toward himself, blinking a few times as he adjusted to the feeling. He glanced down at his hands just in time to see the holes in them close and vanish.

"Hmm... I don't feel any different," his mom said, stretching her fingers experimentally. "Were you able to take it okay?"

"Oh yeah," Izuku said. When he closed his eyes, he could see the pattern dancing under his skin, and if he tried really hard he was pretty sure he could actually feel the quirk. "Can you still use your Quirk? Pull, I mean?"

She reached out and made the familiar flicking motion with her hand, and one of her chopsticks sailed smoothly towards her. "Looks like it. So that means..."

Izuku looked down at his hands again, practically vibrating with excitement. "It means I can be a hero!" he shouted, bracing his legs to jump for joy.

"Not in the house!" Nighteye and his mom yelled in unison, and he stopped sheepishly.

"We'll arrange for someone to help you train, both with your mother's Quirk and your own. Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks," Nighteye said. "Until then, just... try to be careful with them."

"R-right, sorry." Izuku nodded, but couldn't wipe off the smile from his face. At long last, he had a Quirk. He felt like his life was finally beginning for real.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

.:. Crash Course .:.

It was a normal day at Aldera. A few minutes remained before class would begin, and most of the students had already arrived. Everyone filtered into the room and hung about like usual, chatting about the latest news or griping about homework. Midoriya Izuku hovered near the open door, helping steady a poster that had gotten loose while another student taped it up.

Bakugou Katsuki looked as surly as ever as he trudged into the classroom, which while not abnormal, seemed worse today after getting delayed by a villain attack. It had nearly made him late, so his scowl was a bit more pronounced than usual when he stomped towards his desk.

"Out of the way, Deku," he grumbled, shoving Izuku with his shoulder as he passed. The shove wasn't that hard, but it still made the green-haired boy lose his balance, stumbling a few steps towards the wall as he tried to regain his footing. He staggered and twisted his torso so his shoulder collided with the wall.

And then there was was a flash of light and a magnificent crash. The room fell into abrupt silence as everyone turned to stare at the brand new hole in their wall. Izuku sat in the midst of said hole, legs still in the classroom but the rest of his body firmly in the hallway and covered in plaster and dust. Small bluish-green hexagons still flickered in the air around him, already rapidly fading.

For a moment, all was silent.

And then, everyone exploded, Bakugou much more literally than the rest.

"MIDORIYA GOT A QUIRK!?"

Two weeks after getting Burst Dash, everyone at school found out about it.

It was probably the busiest day of Izuku's school career. His classmates mobbed him almost instantly, their excited shouts and cries drowning out Kacchan's angry yells. The teacher had come running at the sound of the crash, as had several others, but instead of getting mad he'd sent him to the nurse's office to make sure he hadn't been hurt. Then the principal arrived to congratulate him, and called his mom since they hadn't actually notified the school yet.

The attention never let up once after that. When he got back to his classroom for second period he was mobbed again. Word spread fast, and between classes students from every grade would come by to gawk at the hole he'd left. And at lunch, he found a small crowd waiting at the door to pepper him with questions. At the end of the day more students mobbed him, and he ended up 'accidentally' using Burst Dash to flee once he reached the school gates. One useful perk: it gave him a speed boost that made it easy to outrun his peers.

By the time he reached the train station and got onto one, he all but collapsed onto an empty seat. Honestly, Izuku didn't know what to make of the attention. He had always been more in the background, so having everyone seeking him out was jarring. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if he'd just told them instead of accidentally showing it off the way he did, but they wanted to finish working out the details of the registration before telling the school.

Guess we'll have to finish that today, he thought with a sigh, turning his head to watch Musutafu zoom by. It only took fifteen minutes before his stop arrived, and from there another ten minutes of walking before a now-familiar building came into sight. The Mighty Fitness Gym was a decently-sized gym that modeled itself with All Might's branding, partially because All Might actually did own it. Izuku only learned this fact because the man had suggested he go there to train his new Quirk.

He dropped off his school bag in the locker room like always and changed into his training clothes before heading to a private back room to train. Five seconds after closing the door, he felt a sudden sense of dread and instinctively leaped to the side. That dread proved well-founded because he only barely managed to avoid a flying kick aimed at his side.

"WHY DO YOU DO THAT EVERY TIME!?" he cried.

"To keep your reflexes sharp!" came the gruff response, and Izuku groaned as he turned to face his mentor. Gran Torino was a hero Izuku had never heard of, and whose name he had come to regret knowing. The man had apparently retired for the most part many years ago, but he came out of retirement to teach Izuku at All Might's request. It had only been a little over a week since they started training, and Izuku already felt mildly traumatized by the experience.

The small old man huffed as he crossed his arms. Despite being the shorter one, it felt like he was somehow looking down at Izuku. "Your mom told me about the call from your school. So you couldn't even wait until we got all the registration details sorted out, huh?"

"It just kinda... happened," Izuku said with a grimace. "At least I didn't get in trouble with the school...?" That had been nice at least, he didn't get lectured or anything. If anything, his teacher had seemed happy for him. "I kinda expected them to be more upset about breaking the wall."

"That's because your school is run by brown-nosing idiots who want to profit off your success," Gran Torino replied flatly. "They see you have a Quirk with a potential for heroics, and between that and your grades they're banking on you making it into UA so they can boast about a graduate becoming a hero." That had Izuku pausing, and he felt himself deflate a bit.

"O-oh..." The school did show some obvious favoritism towards Bakugou and Hachinose, both from the faculty and their classmates. The thought of the latter had him freezing, eyes going wide with horror. "Wait, are my classmates going to be crowding me every day!? I barely made it through today, I can't go a whole year dealing with—gack!" He yelped as Gran bopped him on the head with his cane.

"Boy, it's only been a day," he groused. "You can worry about that later. For now, any ideas on what name you'll give it? Or your other one, for that matter." Izuku frowned as he rubbed the spot Gran had hit.

"I still don't know what to name my actual Quirk," he admitted. "I've come up with a lot of names, but none of them feel right. But as for Burst Dash..." He paused, thinking back to how he'd crashed through the wall, and how his mother had done the same thing the first time she'd used it. "I might as well go with Crash. I mean, today was basically a repeat of when my mom first used it, and we already sometimes called it that as a joke anyway, so..."

Gran snorted at that. "Took ya long enough to decide. And the name's accurate, given how much crashing you do." He nodded at the large, colorful foam blocks set up around the room. They looked similar to the ones used in gymnastics, only these were taller than Izuku and had weighted centers. Izuku had been using them for training on how to crash into stuff: seeing how much force would be needed to knock them over, controlling the force of his dash. That sort of thing.

Knocking them over tended to be hit or miss so far with how heavy some of them were. He had basically destroyed the foam padding on one to reveal the hard, dark core, though, which had been kinda painful to hit. Burst Dash—or Crash, now—shielded him from serious injuries while it was active, but slamming into something that hard still left him sore.

"So should I keep charging at them like usual?" he asked, and Gran nodded.

"That's a start. Yesterday you managed to knock over all the green ones pretty consistently, so see if you can knock over a blue one." The blocks had different weights based on the color, with blue being around the middle range.

Izuku sighed as he nodded, turning to face the nearest one. Activating Crash so far felt much simpler than trying to activate his other Quirk. It didn't require much concentration, just imagining himself channeling energy into his legs. He could actually feel the power build up in him, and when he took off running he saw a flash of blue and green in the corner of his eyes.

He crashed into the block with his full force, successfully toppling it over. He hit it so hard, in fact, that when it rolled over it kinda carried him with the roll, flinging him into the air with a startled shout. Izuku reflexively folded his arms over his face as he went crashing onto the thickly padded mat, the impact knocking all the air out of him with a pained gasp. Nothing broke, but that still really, really hurt.

As he laid groaning in agony a shadow stretched over him, and he opened his eyes to see Gran looming over him. "Kid, you deactivated your Quirk on your descent again," he pointed out gruffly. "You wouldn't be this sore if you used it." Izuku blinked slowly, wondering if he could speak when it felt like his lungs still lacked about half the air they usually held.

"C-couldn't," he wheezed, struggling to get the word out. "Quirk... wore... off..." Crash had a time limit, followed by a short cooldown period. It wasn't his fault that it wore off while he was still in the air!

"Then you need to work on extending the duration. That, or figure out how to use the right amount of force to not send yourself flying when you knock something over. Why'd you go full force, anyway?" He lightly tapped Izuku's side with his cane, not too hard but still reminding Izuku that area was still sore. "Now get up and try again, but don't try to charge it like an elephant."

"...Yes, sir." Izuku reluctantly dragged himself to his feet, taking a few seconds to catch his breath as he staggered to face the block. With a deep inhale, he channeled Crash to his legs once more, and charged forward.

"Based on all my research, it seems that Midoriya Izuku does, indeed, possess the Quirk All For One itself, and not a copy or relative to it."

Nedzu's words had Toshinori sagging his seat tiredly, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know if that's a relief, or makes this worse," he groaned, and Mirai gave a soft hum of reassurance.

"It's not exactly a surprise," he pointed out. "We'd already been operating under the assumption that it's the same Quirk. At least we know what we're dealing with."

"Yes, but I'd still prefer that Quirk not exist at all," Toshinori murmured to himself with a grimace, but his words went ignored. It had been two weeks now. Two weeks since he found the boy who received his nemesis's Quirk. In that time they'd been busy, contacting the very few people who knew the true story of All For One and the second Quirk boom to alert them of that situation.

Given everyone's busy schedules, today marked the first time they had all been able to meet in person. Minus Gran Torino of course, but he was busy training Midoriya so his absence could hardly be faulted. The meeting had been hosted by Nedzu on UA's campus, inviting Toshinori, Mirai, Shuzenji Chiyo (better known as Recovery Girl) and Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.

"I never would have thought that All For One would be distributed by the second Quirk boom, too," Naomasa mused quietly. "I thought it would have died with him."

"Well, if it scattered all the other Quirks he collected, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising," Mirai sighed. "We shouldn't have assumed it died with him. I'm more interested in why it went to Midoriya though. From what I know, the Quirks seem to be distributed rather randomly from what I've seen, with a few exceptions where it meshes with the original Quirk. But All For One seems to be a decent fit for his personality."

"I did consider that he may have a genetic predisposition for it," Nedzu commented. "A Quirk like that would be powerful, so I thought it might be biased towards someone with a familial connection. However, his family history is easily verifiable and shows no space for All For One to subtly insert himself. It seems to be largely random chance."

"Not entirely random," Shuzenji murmured, eyes narrow as she leaned back in her chair. "Remember, Midoriya Izuku was Quirkless prior to the boom. Statistically speaking, the strongest Quirks tended to manifest among two demographics: people who had no Quirk, and young children. He would have been nine at the time, so he managed to fit both demographics."

"Still, would that have been enough?" Toshinori couldn't help but wonder aloud. "I know the Quirkless population is small, only twenty percent, but..."

"Twenty percent is the total on a global scale," Shuzenji pointed out. "That number can be broken down further by nationality and age. In the last Japanese census prior to the second boom, only about eleven percent of the people registered as Quirkless were younger than eighteen. I imagine by the next one, that number will be even lower, even disregarding the ones who gained a Quirk in the boom." The number had Toshinori jolting in his seat, eyes going wide.

"The battle with All For One happened in the Nagano prefecture, which is close to Musutafu," Mirai murmured thoughtfully. "And we know Midoriya Izuku still lives in the same apartment as he had then. If he was the closest Quirkless child, it may have latched onto him as the first viable host."

"A plausible hypothesis, but unfortunately near-impossible to confirm," Nedzu remarked. "At least, not without breaking several laws to check previous censuses in detail. In any event, the specifics of why Midoriya Izuku got it do not matter, so much as what we do now." Everyone nodded grimly, sitting a bit straighter as they got to the heart of the meeting.

"Gran Torino has already started training him in using his mother's second Quirk," Mirai reported. "On that note, he apparently used it today at school, so we'll have to finalize the details for the registration by this weekend. Fortunately we were already on track to do that though."

"Speaking of his mother, how much do we tell her?" Naomasa asked. "I know you gave her a rough outline of the situation without naming All For One directly, but we may need to fully read her in so she can understand the situation."

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it," Toshinori declared with a grimace. "I'd rather not tell her everything, but with the circumstances as they are, I suppose that may not be an option."

"It's not," Shuzenji agreed with a cool nod. "She has a right to know, as does the boy's father. He's stationed overseas on a medical expedition right now, isn't he?"

"Yes, and that makes notifying him much trickier," Mirai said with a frown. "We've been speaking with Midoriya Inko about how much to divulge, and so far she's told him about Burst Dash, but not the specifics of his actual Quirk. We're not sure how safe it is to divulge any of this over a phone call or video chat, even if we were to use a highly secure, encrypted line, which could draw the wrong kind of attention all on its own."

"Paranoia is our best ally," Nedzu said with a sage nod. "This is one secret we absolutely cannot risk exposing to anyone we cannot completely trust, especially so soon. Unfortunately, we may not be able to give Midoriya Hisashi the full details until someone can brief him in person."

"His background at least checks out," Naomasa commented almost wryly. "No criminal records in Japan, US or anywhere else. Not even a single parking ticket. The only reason he has any records was because of a speeding ticket from a faulty radar in the US. It got dismissed since most cars on the market can't hit 300 miles." The number got some soft snorts from the others, lifting the mood slightly.

"One thing I don't miss from America were those speed radars," Toshinori chuckled. "One officer tried to issue people tickets for running past them with their Quirks. Luckily those all got thrown out and he was reprimanded." It was an amusing memory from his time in America. He remembered David Shield had actually fallen to the floor laughing when Toshinori showed him the ticket he'd received in the mail after one busy patrol.

Still, as amusing as the memory was, the good mood couldn't last forever with the subject at hand. He found himself sobering quickly as he thought of Midoriya Izuku. With Burst Dash, he could probably manage to move fast enough to trigger the radar devices, and that Quirk didn't even specifically enhance his speed. With All For One at his fingertips, he could probably get the right combination of Quirks to shut down the devices if he ever desired such.

They couldn't allow the boy to fall to the temptation that the power of All For One provided. From what he knew, the boy lacked a single malicious bone in his body, but that may not always hold true. Not with a power like that. Right now, the only reason Toshinori wasn't more panicked by his existence was simply the fact that the boy had always, always idolized heroes and dreamed of being one. Hence why Nedzu had called them here specifically.

"Nedzu, you'll make sure he gets into UA, correct?" he asked, meeting the mammalian principal's beady eyes. "Into the heroics course?"

"Of course," Nedzu agreed without missing a beat. "With a Quirk like that, I can't imagine anywhere better equipped to handle his training than UA, and I am not saying that just because I'm the principal. UA has the facilities, faculty and funding most suited to handling his needs. I've already begun planning how to best handle his admission. With the next year still so far out, I can't plan everything in advance, but it does give me time to change some policies to better suit the situation. The main challenge will be if he can pass the exam."

"Wait, you're having him take the normal exam?" The decision surprised Toshinori. While Burst Dash, from what he'd seen and heard from Gran, seemed to be a fairly powerful Quirk, that didn't necessarily mean he'd pass the entrance exam. "Can't you enlist him as a recommendation student instead?"

"There are two issues with that," Nedzu answered. "First, UA currently has up to six slots for recommendation students each year. As such, those students will be subject to heavy scrutiny and attention from the public—and the Hero Public Safety Commission. And as I'm sure you're aware, the more attention Midoriya Izuku receives, the more precarious his situation will be."

"...O-oh, that's true." They had decided from day one that the Commission absolutely could not be allowed to know about All For One. Toshinori had already resolved himself to keep its existence a secret from as many people as possible anyway, but Mirai and Nedzu had been particularly vehement about that. After seeing how heavily they lobbied against it, perhaps he should pay closer attention to the Commission's handling of private matters.

"What's the second point?" Naomasa asked curiously, and if it were possible, Nedzu's smile grew.

"That one's much simpler: who would have the clout to recommend Izuku?"

That point was... even more obvious in retrospect. With its limited number of recommendation slots, UA wouldn't accept recommendations from just anyone. Typically it had to be someone recommended by a faculty member, a hero in the Top 100, the Commission, or some other politically powerful or influential figure. And as it stood, Midoriya knew no one in the hero industry.

Well, almost no one.

All eyes turned to Toshinori, who blanched. "Recommending him would be very unwise," he murmured, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't need to be told how disastrous that would be. Getting recommended by the Number One Hero would be an instant recipe for paparazzi and endless public scrutiny if it got out. The poor boy wouldn't know the meaning of the word "privacy" anymore.

General exam it was then. Good thing Gran Torino had already agreed to train him. Toshinori offered a silent apology to the boy for having to endure the training. It's for the greater good.

"Besides," Nedzu chirped. "Recommendation students still have to pass another exam, which is more rigorous than the general one. We only directly accept recommendation students under very special circumstances. So in reality, Midoriya would have an even harder time passing since he'd be up against people who'd trained specifically for that exam."

"...A-ah, I see." Toshinori had a lot of research to do, it seemed.

"I'm sure he'll do fine," Mirai said. "More importantly, I think it would be good to have a teacher who's aware of the situation once he enrolls, just to be safe." That had Toshinori jolting in his seat, spinning to look at his former sidekick in disbelief, but his silent protest went ignored as he continued, "All For One is too dangerous to be ignored outright. Even if he focuses on using only his mother's Quirk, the temptation to take other people's Quirks is too risky for us to ignore. He may very well end up taking one on accident in a high-stake situation like when it first activated."

That had Toshinori reeling, sucking in a breath as he looked away and remembered the sludge villain. Remembering the sheer terror that had filled the boy's eyes once he realized how close to death he'd come, how he could barely even bring himself to recount nearly being suffocated... If the boy hadn't possessed All For One, he could have died, or at the very least been seriously injured before Toshinori found them.

"Yes, I suppose with internships that is a risk," he murmured reluctantly. "Quirks are instinctive in dangerous, life-threatening situations." At the very least, Burst Dash probably wouldn't have helped against the sludge villain as much as All For One would.

"Toshinori and I are too busy with our work to teach here though," Mirai continued. "So we'd likely need to read in someone else." Toshinori flinched. While he knew it was logical, the idea of telling someone still filled him with a certain innate revulsion. Telling them couldn't be restricted to just vague details like with Midoriya Inko, the teacher would need to know exactly what they were dealing with.

"Not to worry!" Nedzu chirped brightly. "I already have a faculty member in mind who would be a tremendous help. And I can assure you, no matter how many of them ultimately find out, I have the utmost faith and trust in all of my faculty to keep this matter discreet."

Toshinori still didn't like the idea, but he nodded along anyway. If Nedzu trusted them, that was good enough for him. The mammalian principal wouldn't trust just anyone after all. "We'll take your word for it," Mirai said on his behalf. "In any case, we can't afford to be careless. I don't need to remind everyone here how dangerous All For One can be if the user goes down the wrong path. As much as I want to have confidence in this young man, we cannot allow another All For One to rise. In the worst case scenario..."

He trailed off, expression darkening, and everyone fell silent. No one wanted to risk another All For One rising. Toshinori had barely survived the first one, and that was with the stockpiled power from seven other predecessors. Given how much time young Midoriya had already devoted to studying Quirks before he received this terrible power...

For the sake of Japan—no, the world, Toshinori hoped Midoriya Izuku would become a fine hero.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

.:. Trick of the Light .:.

"Midoriya-senpai, your Quirk sounds amazing!"

Hachinose had sparkling eyes as he looked at Izuku, his awestruck look and smile reminding him of a puppy. This was not an altogether new occurrence with the younger teen—he tended to look like that whenever Izuku gave him advice on his own Quirks—but it still left Izuku feeling more than a little flustered.

"Uh, yeah, it's pretty neat," he agreed, looking down at his bento. Hachinose had basically ambushed him at the start of lunch before he could sneak off to eat in private, as he'd done every day since he accidentally used Crash. The other boy had all but forced Izuku to let him tag along to the rooftop, and had spent the time peppering him with questions about his progress with it. "The learning curve has been kinda rough, and I definitely have a lot more bruises now, but the training's really paid off."

As he spoke he saw something fly towards his head, hand shooting out to catch it almost unconsciously. Blinking in surprise, he glanced down to see it was a bottle of green tea from one of the vending machines. "I'll say! Your reflexes are way sharper!" Hachinose had a sharp and mischievous grin, and Izuku shot him a sour look. He unscrewed the cap and took a sip, making the other boy startle. "Hey, I got that for me!"

"Then you shouldn't have thrown it at me," Izuku retorted after he finished a big gulp. A few months ago he probably would have just given it back without drinking it, but a few months ago he hadn't been subjected to Gran Torino. Being around the cantankerous old man had toughened up Izuku's soft, sensitive heart, just a little bit. It had to, given the man kept pranking him every other time they met, throwing light (but not cruel) insults, and greeting him with flying kicks to the face.

The thought gave him pause, a devious idea forming. "...Hey, Hachinose-kun, do you want to come to training with me today after school?"

The second-year perked up at that, dropping his chopsticks as his mouth formed a small "o". "Really? You want me to come training with you?"

"Sure," Izuku agreed with a smile. "I've been training at this one gym since my Quirk came in. It would probably be a really good place for you to train, too." It wasn't even a lie, Izuku had idly noted some of the equipment and facilities would be a good fit for the other boy's Quirks.

Hachinose became quiet at that, looking more contemplative. "There's not a fee or anything if I tag along, is there?" he asked, and Izuku shook his head.

"There is if you become a full member, but you can come for free as a guest and try it first. And if you decide you like it, students get a discount." He knew Hachinose's family had slightly tighter finances than most, so he wouldn't spring any burdens on him he found absolutely unnecessary. Izuku's membership pass let him bring up to two guests at a time to the gym for free, and besides, he really did think the other boy could benefit from the Mighty Fitness Gym.

His response seemed to reassure the other boy, who nodded more eagerly as he picked up his chopsticks again. "Alright, then let's go! I can't wait!"

Hachinose hadn't exaggerated his impatience. After classes ended Izuku didn't even make it to the door to the classroom when Hachinose burst in, eagerly dragging him to the train station. He chattered excitedly the whole train ride, and when they reached the gym his excitement reached even higher levels.

"This place is AMAZING! Look at all that equipment! I've never seen treadmills in so many different sizes! Or whatever those things are! Oh my gosh, that window—is that a parkour area!?" His eyes practically bulged from his skull as he stared slack-jawed at a glass wall revealing a room that reminded Izuku of a giant playground, with tall ramps, walls, and other obstacles. It even had a bunch of rock climbing walls in the back.

"Yeah, it is, though I don't use it," Izuku confirmed, grabbing Hachinose's wrist to gently lead him away. He opened the door to the training room he used and gestured for the other boy to go in first. "Come on, I train in here. By the way, might want to make a hexagon shield right by your waist. Yeah, right there is perfect."

"This place is so cool, senpai!" Hachinose babbled as he dutifully made a few hexagons form by his waist, head twisted to continue looking back at the rest of the gym over his shoulder. "I can't believe you come here every day—hold on. Why did you tell me to—URK!" He cut off with a pained yelp as he stepped inside only to be hit by a white and yellow blur right where he'd made the hexagon shields. The tiles bounced against his side and shattered at the impact, and he was sent crashing to the floor.

The living projectile huffed as he landed in the doorway, eying Izuku disdainfully while Hachinose quietly groaned on the (thankfully padded) floor. "Brat, did you have him enter first on purpose?" Gran asked flatly, grabbing his walking cane from where he'd left it by the door.

"I have no idea what you mean," Izuku replied, the perfect picture of innocence. Hachinose groaned again as he sat up, rubbing his shoulder. The hexagon shield had protected him from the worst of the impact, but he'd still been hit hard enough to get knocked down, and he didn't have anything to shield him from the floor.

"Dang, that kinda hurt... Good thing the floor's padded—hero!?" He jumped as he finally looked at Gran Torino, taking in the man's full costume. "Pro Hero!?" His jaw fell open once more, and Izuku couldn't help his smile as he stepped forward.

"Hachinose-kun, this is Gran Torino," he introduced. "He's been helping me train since Crash came in because our Quirks are kinda similar. At least the impact part, anyway?" He turned to Gran while Hachinose openly gawked to add, "Gran, this is Hachinose Rikuto, an underclassman from Aldera. He's a year younger than me, but he has two Quirks that are both amazing!"

"Does he now?" Gran huffed, glancing at Hachinose who'd taken the opportunity to stand up. He sharply straightened at the attention and dipped into a stiff bow.

"It is an honor to be in the presence of a venerable and experienced Pro Hero such as yourself, sir! I am only a child, and know I cannot compare to your years of experience and training—"

"Cut all that formal crap, I know you've never heard of me," Gran interrupted.

"I didn't know who he was either," Izuku added, sensing the underlying cause for the redhead's overwhelmingly stiff and formal greeting. "Gran wasn't really a big hero, and he retired years ago." All at once the tension vanished from Hachinose, slumping with a relieved sigh.

"Oh thank All Might. I thought I was supposed to know who he was. N-no offense, sir!" he added quickly as he spun to look at Gran. "I mean, I don't want to make it sound like you weren't an amazing hero or anything—"

"Kid, stop with the blabbering, you're giving me a headache," Gran said irritably, and Hachinose quickly shut his mouth. "I only got my license in the first place as a favor to a friend. Like this brat said, I'm mostly retired. I don't care about being recognized by a bunch of snot-nosed kids or anything like that." He turned to Izuku now. "More importantly, I know you didn't bring him here just to use him as a human shield."

"Of course not!" Well okay, mostly it was to get back at Hachinose for throwing a bottle at him, and Gran for kicking him every time he entered, but still. "You said I might be ready to move on to sparring. Hachinose is younger, but like I said, he has two amazing Quirks. He's been training for the heroics program since the second one came in last year, so I thought he might be a good sparring partner."

"I'll be the judge of that," Gran huffed, turning to face Hachinose who stood incredibly tense with his arms at his side. "Normally I'd count you getting hit in the side like that against you, but this kid obviously set you up so I'll let it slide this time. Those tiles did a good job at absorbing the blow, too."

"Thank you, sir!" Hachinose perked up at the praise. "Hexagon Shield was my first Quirk, so I'd already been training it for years. But to hear a pro say it's good—"

Gran interrupted him with a sharp whack to the head with his cane. "I said it did a good job absorbing the blow, I didn't outright praise it. I haven't seen enough to judge it yet."

"Oh," Hachinose said lamely, shoulders slumping with disappointment. Izuku suppressed a smile at the exchange. Gran was a harsh and strict instructor, but he knew he'd see the potential in Hachinose's Quirks.

"His other Quirk is called Carapace. It's a transformation type that gives him a hard, crab-like shell. I thought between that and Hexagon Shield, he might be able to stand up to Crash. Or, you know, at least give me some targets that I'm actually supposed to try to break."

"Please tell me you mean the shields and not me," Hachinose said with a cringe, and Izuku winced.

"Of course I mean the shields! I'm not going to try to break you! But I was thinking we could work on testing the limits of Crash, and also expand the strength of the shields! Same goes for Carapace. I've never seen it really in action in a battle, you know? Like, at most we just did some tests like throwing textbooks at you. And I've never done any training against a Quirk, so maybe I can get some new ideas on how you can improve them if we spar."

"...Wait. The training's for your Quirk, but you're still trying to think of ways to improve mine?" Izuku paused as Hachinose looked at him with large eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am?" he said after a beat. "I mean, yeah, the training's mostly for me, but if you're going to help me, you should get something out of it too, right?" He shrugged awkwardly, while Hachinose's eyes began sparkling.

"You're so selfless, senpai... So cool... That's it!" He pumped a fist into the air with a ferocious shout and bright grin, startling Izuku. "You're too pure, Midoriya-senpai! You're totally going to be Number One someday, I'm calling it now! With a spirit like that you can't be anything lower than the top ten! And when you do, I'll be your first fan! Got it?"

He grinned, sharp and full of confidence, and despite how overwhelmed Izuku felt by the other boy's energy he found himself smiling and nodding. "Y-yeah, got it." Even now it felt so odd to have someone openly support his dream with such fervor. As the two smiled at each other Gran huffed.

"That's sweet and all, but you still haven't shown me anything," he declared gruffly. "My job is to train Midoriya, not you kid. I've already done my time as a teacher, I'm not looking to pick up any more classes of snot-nosed brats. But he's got a point about needing a partner. So show me those shields again so I can see what we're working with."

Hachinose perked up at the request, giving a sharp, "Yes, sir!" as he immediately peeled off several tiles from his arm to create a shield. Izuku grinned, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump even more. Training today was going to be amazing!

Sorahiko wouldn't lie: when he first heard the news that a child appeared with All For One, he'd been horrified.

When All For One died, he, like all the others, had thought it was over. He thought Nana and all her other predecessors could finally rest in peace, that the chain had finally ended. He thought he could rest, could hang up his cape and never, ever have to wear it again. But instead that man's power remained, as if mocking them that not even death could stop him.

That was why he'd agreed to train Midoriya. To see with his own eyes just who had inherited this power with potential for such great evil. A power so unique and dangerous that its name became synonymous with its user, to the point it was quite possibly the only Quirk he'd ever deemed inherently evil. After all, he had never once imagined All For One the man without All For One the Quirk.

Two months had now passed since Sorahiko first met Midoriya Izuku, and in that time he reached a crucial decision.

"The kid doesn't have a single malicious bone in his body," he told Toshinori over the phone. "I've seen bees with a stronger vicious streak than him. Granted, hornets can be nasty on a good day, but the point stands."

"So you don't think he's likely to turn out like... you know?" Toshinori's voice sounded anxious even over the phone, and Sorahiko snorted and rolled his eyes.

"It's admittedly too early to say for sure, since we've been focusing on his mother's Quirk, but so far I'd say it's not too likely. Kid invited a classmate to help train this week, and spent half the time helping him improve his Quirks instead."

"Wait! By training, d-do you mean—?"

"No, I mean Crash, you moron. We're not training that one with a random kid." Irritation bled into his voice, and to his credit Toshinori fell silent. Sorahiko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, counting to three before he continued. "Look, I get why you're all worked up. Hell, being around that Quirk still gives me the creeps. But this kid isn't All For One. Treating him like he is will just make it a self-fulfilling prophecy—and I'm sure Sasaki can tell you all about those."

"I know that," Toshinori sighed. "Really, I do. By all accounts, young Midoriya seems like a fine young man who truly wants to do good. But still... To see that Quirk still exists..." He trailed off, and Sorahiko could almost hear his grimace.

"I don't blame you. I'd prefer this Quirk died with that man. But it didn't, and we got lucky it ended up in the hands of Midoriya instead of someone more crazy and malicious. Like I said: the kid's good. Can't sense a bad bone in his body. We got lucky, Toshinori, I'll say it again, and we need to make sure he doesn't end up swayed by the other side. And to that end, we need to start training him on that part of his Quirk."

The declaration was met with heavy silence, which Sorahiko had expected. The idea of training someone to use All For One—training them to take Quirks—made his skin crawl and his blood curdle. He hated the idea just as much as Toshinori, it felt like a slippery slope. But they had to do this, if only to make sure Midoriya wouldn't trigger it accidentally in a high-stakes situation.

And boneheaded as he could be, Toshinori probably knew that too, because he didn't try to argue. "You want to use one of my Quirks, don't you?" he asked grimly.

"Besides One For All, you have a total of three now." And wasn't that ironic: that Toshinori had somehow acquired not one, not two, but three Quirks in the fall of All For One. "We can't have him test it on just anyone, and out of everyone in the know, you've got the best set. Sasaki and Tsukauchi's are too passive to really test. Same goes for Nedzu, but that also carries the risk of messing with both their heads in ways we can't predict. Heal would be the best choice if it didn't need an injured guinea pig to test it. Jet's the next best, but it's also a mutant. The reports say that sludge guy woke up fine and dandy after he got it back, but I'd rather not see how ripping it out of my body at this age could go wrong."

The remark was met with a quiet groan. "No, I don't either. You're right, I really am the only choice we have for this... I suppose you want to do it soon since you're asking now?"

"The sooner, the better," Sorahiko agreed. "I'd like to do a test by the end of the month, but don't push yourself if you're not ready. This is a big thing to ask, so don't feel pressured to do it. Having you break down over it will just traumatize the kid."

"Alright, I understand. I'll... I'll call you when I'm ready, Gran. I should get going now, Yowai is waving at me through the window, and I'd rather not keep her waiting."

"Alright. Try not to let her bite your head off."

"...No promises," Toshinori chuckled, and after a quick farewell hung up. Sorahiko set down his phone with a sigh, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his recliner.

"What is the world coming to, Nana," he murmured softly to himself. "I'm asking a holder of One For All to willingly give a Quirk to the holder of All For One." There was an unspeakable irony there, even if it was just meant to be temporary. Not for the first time, he wondered how Nana would respond to them training someone to use her nemesis's—her killer's—Quirk.

And yet at the same time, he wondered how she would respond to Midoriya.

He hadn't been lying when he told Toshinori the kid was good. What he didn't say was how much that kid reminded him of Toshinori and Nana herself. The influence from "All Might" was strong and obvious enough in the way he smiled and clearly worshipped the idiot (seriously, even his backpack was All Might themed), but traces of Nana existed too.

The kid was empathetic and had a kind heart, truly valuing the happiness and safety of others above even his own happiness. The kid was the kind of person who'd sacrifice himself if it meant saving others, which was a problem in itself that they'd have to work on. The kid didn't just lack a single selfish bone, he might almost be too much of a pushover. However, in terms of people to end up with All For One, this was honestly one of the best outcomes they could have hoped for.

He couldn't say it enough: they really did get lucky Midoriya Izuku inherited All For One.

Izuku was on edge the moment he walked through the door to the training room. For starters, Gran Torino didn't greet him with a flying kick this time. That alone was strange enough to set off alarm bells in his brain and leave him wary. Immediately he dropped to a half-crouch, eyes darting around the room suspiciously until it settled on two figures conversing near the back.

One he recognized instantly as Gran Torino. The other, meanwhile, was basically Gran's opposite. Tall and lanky, easily seven feet tall, with a thin, angular face that looked almost like a skeleton and shaggy-looking blond hair. Izuku found himself staring as they continued talking, the stranger having to bend over while he spoke. Side by side, the two looked like something out of a cartoon given how radically different they were.

His arrival hadn't gone unnoticed of course. The two had briefly glanced his way and quickly wrapped up their conversation before approaching him. "You're early," Gran huffed, looking only slightly irritated.

"Y-yeah, the train was a little ahead of schedule today. I think it got thrown off by a villain attack this morning?"

"Ah yes, I heard about that," the blond man commented with a nod. "The power was cut off for nearly an hour before abruptly starting up again. They decided to fix it tonight after the trains stopped for the night. I don't use the train much, so I only heard about it from Yowai." Izuku looked at him with surprise at that, recognizing the name of All Might's secretary.

"You know Yowai-san?" he asked. "Do you—do you work with All Might too!?" His excitement began to rise as he spoke, his shyness around the stranger evaporating slightly at the prospect of meeting another of All Might's employees. The question had the man staring at him in shock though, while Gran Torino frowned up at him.

"Toshinori, are you telling me he doesn't recognize you?" he groused, and the blond—Toshinori, apparently—laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Ah, th-that is... I never had a reason to show him this form?" he replied.

"Didn't you go to his apartment?" Gran deadpanned, and Izuku frowned as his confusion grew. He'd never met the man before, so he must have visited while Izuku was at school or something, right? Gran sighed and turned to face him. "Kid, this walking skeleton is All Might."

Record scratch. Brain freeze.

All Might?

"ALL MIGHT!?" Izuku yelped, spinning to stare at the man with his jaw hanging open. Taking a deep breath, the man's body then inflated, that lanky frame bulking up and filling with bulging muscles while Izuku's jaw felt ready to fall off.

"I am here!" he announced in that booming voice of his with his trademark laugh.

(Briefly, Izuku was reminded of Oniguro-kun's eyeballs and how they popped out of his head. Mainly because he wondered if his eyes looked like that right now.)

"You can transform?" Izuku managed to wheeze out, and the man laughed.

"Yes, I can! It's one of my additional Quirks, Muscular Morph. I use it to transform into a less conspicuous form without my muscles. Granted, I also don't usually make myself look quite as thin as today," he added with a more sheepish chuckle. "I just wanted to be absolutely sure no one would recognize me. I'm still just as strong, but it's much easier to strain my muscles while using it so I use it purely to hide my identity."

"I see," Izuku muttered, brain already churning with the new information. "It must condense the muscle mass then, rather than erase it completely. Your body is so thin though, your face looked skeletal with it, so that raises the question of what happens to body fat—hold on, did you say you had an extra Quirk? No, extra Quirks? As in plural?" Izuku jolted as the first part of All Might's explanation abruptly registered, and the man laughed.

"Indeed I did, young Midoriya!" he confirmed with that bright, shining smile, and Izuku's brain felt ready to short-circuit.

"Wait, are you saying you got multiple Quirks from the second boom?" he asked slowly. "I mean, I heard about the hearing, but you got two?"

The question made Gran snort. "The enhanced hearing thing's a myth started by the public, we just didn't bother clearing that one up because it wasn't worth the effort. But yeah, this idiot somehow got three Quirks," he announced flatly, and Izuku's brain definitely short-circuited. Three Quirks? All Might got three Quirks?

"How are you even functional!?" he blurted, staring at the number one hero with a mixture of awe and horror. He hadn't heard of anyone getting more than two additional Quirks without something going horribly wrong. One only needed to look at that livestream and all the other cases of "Kaijin" from that day, as the victims of the horrific transformation had become known.

The most common trend was that most of the victims had a total of three identifiable Quirks, including their original, though a few people had only two. It was speculated the sudden awakening of additional Quirks was too much for their brains to handle, leaving them in a mindless state fueled purely by instinct. Instincts that tended to lean towards violent rampages like monsters in old kaiju movies like Godzilla or Ghidorah.

Was it even possible to get that many Quirks at once without it overloading your brain? But this was All Might, so why would he lie? Also, how!? Wait, would Izuku be able to hold multiple quirks? He hadn't even really given any thought to a limit like that.

The man laughed again, though this time it was more quiet and almost awkward. "Yes, well, I can't blame you for being so surprised," he chuckled. "Honestly, we do not fully understand why it didn't, ah, overload me like all the others either. We have some theories, but we'll probably never know for sure."

"But wait, you had appendicitis at the time, didn't you?" Izuku asked, and then froze, color draining from his face. "Wait. Did—did Muscular Morph destroy your appendix somehow!? No, wait, forget that, isn't the heart a muscle!? Does it get affected by it too!? Oh my gosh—"

He cut off with a sharp yelp as Gran whacked him over the head with his cane. "For crying out loud, stop overthinking and scaring yourself!"

"To answer your question, no, none of my Quirks contributed to my health issues," All Might explained. "In fact, one of them helped me recover faster." Izuku perked up at that, eyes sparkling with curiosity as All Might explained. "I happened to get a Quirk we call 'Safe Mode' that day, which sped up my recovery! It put me in a comatose state for twenty-six hours, though."

"And that's why you didn't make any statements after the boom," Izuku realized slowly. "You got an additional Quirk so you were put into quarantine like everyone else who went to the hospitals." His mom had chosen to delay going to a hospital when Burst Dash came in for that very reason. They didn't know how long the quarantine would last and they had no one to watch Izuku, so she'd decided to wait for the initial clamor to fade.

"That is indeed the case," All Might confirmed with a nod. "Of course, we decided not to release any of my Quirks to the public for my own safety. Letting someone know I have a healing Quirk that renders me comatose would be dangerous after all! And I do like the privacy from being able to transform," he added with a quick wink. "You never realize how nice it is to go on a quick jog in the mornings until you don't have to worry about being recognized by everyone."

Izuku just continued to stare in amazement, still awestruck that All Might had more than two Quirks. He could absolutely understand why All Might would hide both those Quirks. "But wait, you said you got three, right?" he pressed. Rather than answer, All Might laughed and briefly patted his shoulder.

"Yes I did!" He withdrew his hand and pointed at Izuku's shoulder, and the teen twisted his head and jumped when he saw a glowing white handprint left on his sleeve.

"Wha—glowing?"

"Glow Ink," Gran Torino supplied for him with a snort. "Just leaves a glowing mark, any color he wants. It's definitely the most useless of the bunch, and the one we want you to try to grab."

Cue Izuku's brain shutting down for probably the fifth time since walking through the door. "What?"

"We've been training you to use Crash, but that's not your core Quirk," Gran told him gruffly. "Crash is good, but your original Quirk needs training too. Otherwise you might end up with a repeat of that sludge villain." The reminder had Izuku wincing and sucking in a sharp breath. He'd like to say that wasn't possible, since taking Quirks was such a conscious process, but if he ended up in the same position again... Yeah, he'd probably reach for the attacker's Quirk on instinct.

"You also need to practice returning them," All Might added. "So far you've only used your Quirk two times, once on the sludge villain and once on your mother, but you only returned the first Quirk. Since I have three additional Quirks, we decided I would be the best option, especially since Glow Ink is so passive. If you have trouble returning it right away, it won't impact me."

"Yeah, that's true," Izuku mumbled to himself. "I haven't used my original Quirk much, so I don't fully understand its mechanics, just that it gives me a sense for Quirks... And Glow Ink's an emitter Quirk, so it won't have as much of a negative impact on either of us if I make a mistake. I should also practice on people with multiple Quirks so I can try to tell them apart..."

He mumbled quietly for a few more seconds before All Might gently cleared his throat, startling him out of his musings. "Well, since you understand, let's get started!" he said, holding out a hand. "Midoriya, please use your Quirk and pull out Glow Ink."

Izuku gulped and nodded, taking a breath as he willed his original Quirk to surface. Though he hadn't used it, he had practiced manifesting the holes while lying in bed at night, so the holes appeared in his palm almost instantly. Izuku placed his trembling hand against the palm of All Might's much larger one, and tugged the same way he had at the villain.

The effect was as immediate and blatant as if someone had flipped on a floodlight right in front of his face, except that it didn't hurt. As his senses adjusted, he could slowly make out the Quirk nestled deep inside All Might, something as unfathomably huge and bright and strong and hot and unreachable as the sun. His attention was drawn to it immediately like a moth to flame, a sense of awe and grandeur washing over him.

The only thing it could have been was All Might's original power, the one that had let him rise to the top. It made him want to stand there forever, to bask in it and let its gravity draw him closer, but Izuku forced himself to tear his attention away. Even if this was just a test, even if he'd somehow been able to, he could never bring himself to mess with something that amazing.

As he turned away, his thoughts brushed against a small handful of other Quirks, pebbles in comparison to the first one, but glowing like small moons in its rays. The smallest Quirk was covered in what felt like little bare branches that kept growing smaller and smaller, and Izuku was pretty sure he could feel it reaching down into every cell of All Might's body if he focused hard enough.

The next quirk felt kind of dense and swollen, like a sponge filled to bursting, and clung to Izuku's hand in a weird way when he brushed it. He wasn't entirely sure, but he guessed that this might be the Quirk All Might had used to disguise himself. He didn't spend too long on that one; it reminded him a little too much of the feeling of his body wobbling and shrinking while he held the Sludge villain's Quirk.

Finally, there was something that wrapped around Izuku's hand and made him think of finger painting and sticking his hand in cool creeks, of the scratch of a pencil on his hero notebooks. This one was almost glowing in a literal sense, but it wasn't like the almost-blinding 'light' of All Might's great big Quirk. This light was softer and smaller, quieter in a way; more like fireflies than anything. This was the one All Might had told him to look for, he was sure of it.

With a deep breath, he closed his hand around it and dragged it towards himself. When he pulled his hand away from All Might's, there was a glowing green handprint left behind in the center of the hero's massive palm.

"Well, looks like it worked," Gran Torino declared a snort, but Izuku could barely pay the success any mind.

"What... what was that?" he asked, feeling almost dazed. "The big Quirk. I mean, I know you've never really revealed anything about it, so I understand if you can't tell me, but..." He trailed off, unsure what to even say. Even now, he felt like he could see the light on the back of his eyelids whenever he blinked.

"I'm afraid I'd prefer to keep that one to myself," All Might answered after a few moments, and Izuku felt a pang of disappointment, but he didn't dwell on it long. His eyes quickly returned to All Might's palm, eyes lighting up as he looked at the handprint.

"I took Glow Ink," he said, a wobbly smile starting to spread. "I took Glow Ink!" He quickly looked down at his palms, scrutinizing them intensely. He could feel its energy focused around his hands, flexing his fingers in wonder. "My hands don't look any different, so it's not directly tied to my skin like paint. Earlier when you used it on me your handprint was white, but the one I left on you is neon green—wait, did I stain your skin!?"

He shot All Might's chest a horrified look, but was met with a cheery laugh. "Relax, Midoriya! You can remove it."

"I can? How?"

"...Er." All Might's grin faltered, and Gran gave a tired sigh.

"This idiot's not gonna be much help. All his Quirks came weirdly naturally to him, it's an instinct thing for him. Though that one did have a bit of a learning curve at first."

"Instinct..." Izuku frowned down at his palm. If All Might could use it on instinct alone, then... maybe he could too? Okay, how do you usually erase finger paint? Well, that didn't help because you couldn't, really. But it did make him think of wiping marker from a white board, and after a moment's thought he awkwardly reached out and swiped his palm across All Might's hand.

To his delight it worked, the handprint vanishing. "It works! I just need to picture myself erasing a whiteboard! But what about making the marks?" He glanced at his palms with intense concentration once more, and soon marched over to the foam blocks. He slapped his palm against one, and frowned when it didn't leave any marks. "Okay, so that didn't work. Maybe if I...? Oh, I just need to think of leaving markers!"

He beamed as a handprint remained when he peeled away his palm, neon green just like the first time. Success! But All Might left a white handprint, not green. Maybe the color varied for the user? Or maybe he needed to experiment and practice more? Also, did it need to be a handprint? It felt like some of the power was concentrated in his fingers—and it was! His face lit up as he traced a long, glowing green line with his index finger.

As he continued leaving handprints and marks Gran Torino and All Might watched in silence for the most part. "He looks like a toddler just discovering crayons," the older of the pair remarked with a quiet snort.

"He's certainly enthusiastic," All Might agreed with a soft chuckle. "When I first got it, it was more annoying than anything. I could never control when it would activate in those first days." Even as he spoke Izuku drew the outline of a large tree, and let out a delighted noise when he managed to change it to a different shade of green. From the distance they could hear him mumbling about brown not working, making All Might smile softly.

Watching him now, he couldn't help but feel his chest grow warmer at the obvious childlike wonder the boy sported. It almost made him regret what came next. Almost. "That's enough experimenting, my boy," he called. "It's time to try to return it."

Izuku turned in surprise at the call, feeling his shoulders slump with slight disappointment. "Oh... okay." He'd just figured out how to start changing colors, managing to add some red apples and a yellow flower, though he couldn't get brown to work for some reason. Still, he couldn't ask to hold onto it any longer. It was still All Might's Quirk after all.

All Might held out his hand as Izuku returned, the teenager clasping it and closing his eyes. Just like when he'd returned the sludge villain's Quirk, finding Glow Ink inside himself took little time. Unlike then the void in his mind had two lights this time though, and he barely needed a glance to recognize them as Glow Ink and Crash. It made sense they'd exist in the same space in his mind, but it was still a surprise.

Returning Glow Ink was a quick and painless process. A gentle push had it drifting back into All Might and rejoining the other lights there. When he opened his eyes again and pulled his hand away, All Might gave his hand a brief squeeze before letting go. His palm now had a bright yellow glow, making him perk up.

"Well, looks like it returned just fine!" All Might said, and quickly slapped Izuku's palm to return it to normal. "Good work, young man!"

"Thanks," Izuku said with a smile, though he felt strangely... hollow. Returning Glow Ink left him feeling just a little emptier, even if it didn't belong to him.

He didn't get to dwell on it long though, because his senses suddenly blared with alarm as he felt something like a shift in the air and dropped into a roll. He moved just in time to avoid a flying kick from Gran Torino, which instead hit All Might dead-center in the chest and sent him flying back into the wall. Izuku found himself wincing sympathetically; even if the wall was padded and All Might had endured worse, he'd hit it enough to remember how it felt.

"Enough of that," Gran declared, turning to face Izuku with a stern look that had the teenager standing ramrod straight. "We still need to work on Crash. And since All Might's here, it's a perfect opportunity for you to have an actual human crash test dummy instead of these foam blocks."

"I get to train with All Might!?" Izuku blurted, eyes sparkling with delight and not noticing the way All Might slumped in dismay at being volunteered without his consent. When Izuku turned to face him the hero quickly pasted on a beaming smile, chest puffing as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Of course, young Midoriya! I'd like to see your progress as well. Now, come charge at me with Crash so I can see what you've got!"

At this point Izuku had too many amazing days to label just one as the "best day of his life," but this was definitely going to be in the top ten.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

.:. The Heights Alliance .:.

Izuku thumbed through his notebook for the third time that night, though by the end of his second time through, his last-minute strategizing had turned into something more like listless skimming. He glanced at the clock then sighed, flipped the notebook shut, and turned off his desk light. It was earlier than he'd normally turn in, but tomorrow was a big day, and there was no point staying up late getting ready if he wasn't actually doing anything with the time.

Surprisingly enough, he reflected, he was probably more worried than if he'd been taking the exam a year earlier. Back then, he'd more or less taken it for granted that... well, not that he'd get in, but that if he really wanted it badly enough he'd get in, somehow. Ten months of hard training with Gran Torino, All Might, and Hachinose had thoroughly shown him just how laughably naive that idea had been.

Still, despite his worries, those same ten months had replaced that optimism with a much quieter, firmer sense of confidence and pride. While he was still on the lean side, he'd packed on a lot of muscle, enough that he was able to give Haichinose a real fight without either of their Quirks in play. He had Graft, an amazing Quirk that he got to call all his own, even if it was the sort of thing he'd need to be super careful with. And he had Crash, the Quirk his mom entrusted to him and that he'd spent so long working to turn into something he could use to help people.

He finished getting ready for bed and hopped under the sheets. Even with all the nervousness and excitement, sleep came sooner than he expected.

Izuku sucked a sharp breath in through his smile as he spun around, taking in the entrance of the UA campus. This was it, today was the day.

"Oi, Deku, outta the way! Watch where you're going!"

Izuku spun around one more time to see Kacchan stalking past him, some fascinating hybrid of cocky grin and death glare on his face. "R-right."

"So, you had the nerve to show up anyway, eh?" He shot Izuku a glance over his shoulder, and Izuku swore that smile looked just a little more dangerous. "Sure you don't wanna back out now and save yourself some embarrassment?" He barked out a laugh at his own comment and turned back towards the exam building, thankfully leaving before Izuku had to figure out how he was supposed to answer that.

Ever since he'd 'manifested' Crash, everyone at Aldera had started treating Izuku differently, and apparently Kacchan was no exception. Oh sure, he was still a jerk, still shouted at Izuku a lot, but it felt like he was getting shouted at the same way Kacchan shouted at everyone he could get away with mouthing off to (and a few people he couldn't). He'd even tried roping Izuku into a few of his competitions with Hachinose, though the fact that Izuku had mastered the art of making himself scarce years ago kept him from ever succeeding. He really wasn't sure what to make of that.

Izuku shook his head and slapped his cheeks a couple times to clear his thoughts. Kacchan wasn't what he needed to focus on right now. Today was about taking his first real step towards becoming a hero. With that in mind, he held his head high and began making his own way towards the building.

Five seconds later he kind of wished he'd held his head a little less high. If he had, maybe he would have noticed the bump in the pavement.

Halfway to his face hitting the ground, Izuku felt the tingling sensation that he'd learned to recognize as a Quirk being activated nearby, mixed together with a floating sensation that almost made it feel like he was underwater.

"Are you alright?"

He flailed for a second to try to see who was talking to him, which was a bit harder than he expected since he was floating a few centimeters off the ground and couldn't get his feet under him. Sure, he could probably move himself around with Crash, but he had a sneaking suspicion that putting craters in UA's campus might not be the best way to make a good impression. He didn't flail for long before someone put a hand on his shoulder and helped pull him back to Earth.

"It's my Quirk. Sorry for using it without asking, but it'd be bad luck if you fell, right?" The girl who'd helped him gave a soft smile and pressed her hands together, and he felt her Quirk end.

"It's no trouble, thanks for the save!" is what he meant to say. What came out instead was more along the lines of "Bwuh uh hm—Wait, do you have a telekinesis Quirk? That's so cool! My mom has one too, but it only works on things below a certain volume and pulls them towards her, but you can hold a whole person! How do you activate it? What are..." He trailed off as he realized he'd started rambling again. "That... was kind of rude of me, wasn't it?"

"Maybe a little," she chuckled, not seeming upset, "but it's fine. Anyways, we should get inside before we're late!"

"Right!" Izuku bobbed his head vigorously, and hurried inside after her along with all the other examinees.

The next five hours were full of tense silence and the furious scratch of pencils. When the proctors called for the end of the last written portion, the relief and anxiety felt palpable. After that everyone was given an hour break to stretch their legs, shake off some of their nerves, and grab lunch from UA's cafeteria. When the hour ended, Izuku joined the crowd that headed to the auditorium for the hero course hopefuls who'd be taking the practical exam.

While he waited for the presentation to start, he caught sight of the girl from earlier and offered a hesitant wave. He must have caught her attention, because she waved back and made her way over to where he was sitting. Izuku felt mildly frozen because he didn't expect her to actually come over and sit with him. Was he supposed to say something to her? How do you even talk to girls?

A few seconds later the lights in the auditorium dimmed, saving Izuku from the potential awkwardness, and a blond man in a leather jacket took the stage. "Welcome to the show, listeners!" Present Mic greeted them enthusiastically, voice filling the entire room. "Everybody say 'HEY'!"

Silence greeted him for the most part, along with a few awkward murmurs, while Izuku felt a buzz of excitement at seeing the Pro. He of course already knew all the teachers at UA were heroes, but seeing him in person was just so cool!

Mic shrugged off the lackluster response as he continued. "I'll quickly present to you all a rundown on the practical exam. As it says in the application requirements, you listeners will be conducting twenty-minute mock urban battles after this! Bring whatever you want with you! After the presentation, you'll be heading to the battle center specified on your examinee card, okay?"

He paused after that, but was once again met mostly with silence, and he huffed. "Seriously, nobody? Geez, you guys really are low energy. Anyway!" he continued. "You'll be facing down five different types of enemies during your battle! The first three are faux villains worth an increasing number of points based on their level of difficulty."

As he spoke, silhouettes of the villain robots popped up on the screen, marked with one, two, and three points. "Your goal, dear listeners, is to earn points by using your Quirks to immobilize these faux villains. You can also earn one point by helping another examinee immobilize a villain of any level. However, keep in mind that unless you make the final blow, you only get that one point, even if it's a three-pointer!"

"So they want us to cooperate...?" Izuku mumbled to himself, and could hear nearby people murmuring similar sentiments to each other. The chatter didn't last long though as Mic quickly barrelled on.

"The fourth enemy type," another silhouette appeared on the screen, "is worth zero points, and is just there as an added obstacle. There's only one in every battle center, and if you're smart, you'll just avoid it as much as you can. And then!" His voice took on a grander note, his grin somehow growing even wider as he raised his arms. "Last, but certainly not least, the fifth type of enemy you'll be facing will beeee... UA's very own teachers!"

Izuku managed to avoid going on a mumbling spree, but he was still one of several people in the audience who couldn't contain their gasps of surprise as the screen changed to show silhouettes of several Pro Heroes. This time the chatter was a lot more audible, the voices around him ranging from excited to worried and anxious.

"Stationed at each battle center will be several teachers playing the part of villain leaders. If you capture one of them or help another student do so, you'll score ten points! And unlike the robots, that means everyone involved gets ten points," he added, which only made the excited hum in the room grow louder. "Watch out though! Because these pros will be holding nothing back, and getting bogged down fighting them could cost you precious seconds and points! And of course, attacking other examinees or any other unheroic actions are prohibited!

"Well, that's just about all from me!" he declared. "I'll leave you listeners with one last present—our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Go Beyond... Plus Ultra!"

This time, everyone did respond to him, their eager screams ringing through the entire room. "Plus Ultra!"

"Everybody go break a leg! Or maybe not. I don't want the school nurse on my case."

After that, everyone began filtering out of the auditorium to head to the buses. "Hey, where are you going?" the brown-haired girl asked, and Izuku glanced at the card he'd been given even though he'd probably committed its contents to memory by this point.

"Battle center A," he said, and she grinned.

"Me too! Do you want to maybe work together?" The question genuinely surprised him, making him startle and snap a wide-eyed look at her.

"Wh-what? Why?" He didn't mind, but they barely knew each other.

"Well, it's just I'm kinda nervous?" she admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, I want to be a rescue hero, so while I know my Quirk can probably do fine against robots, going up against them still makes me feel nervous. Especially since Present Mic mentioned we'd be going up against heroes." She briefly grimaced at that, and Izuku could certainly relate. Even after meeting Gran Torino and All Might on a regular basis, the idea of potentially fighting Pro Heroes made his stomach flip.

"I don't mind," he said. "I'd feel better having someone on my side too. But why me? You don't even know my Quirk, or uh, my name..." He trailed off as he realized they hadn't even introduced themselves.

"Right, I guess we forgot that part," she said. "My name's Uraraka Ochako! And you're Deku-kun, right?" She said it so cheerfully that Izuku almost didn't die a little inside.

"Um, no?" he squeaked, and her smile faded.

"Huh? But, that guy back there..." She trailed off, and only then did Izuku remember that Kacchan had called him that.

"Oh, uh, that's not actually my name," he said awkwardly. "My name's Midoriya Izuku. It's just a nickname from, uh, reading the kanji in my name differently. I don't really like it that much." He shrugged, not really feeling up to explaining the full history behind it.

"Really?" She looked interested. "And here I thought it was kinda like a play on 'Dekiru,' like 'you can do it'! It sounds kinda cool to me!" Izuku perked up in surprise, nearly bowled over by the last part. She thought it was cool? Really? Uraraka didn't look like she was lying or setting up to insult him further by lowering his guard.

She just... genuinely liked it?

In his minor state of shock he found himself nodding. "I-I mean, if you put it like that, I don't think I mind you using it then. So, um, nice to meet you, Uraraka-san."

"Nice to meet you too, Deku!" She beamed at him before getting serious. "And now that we've got introductions out of the way, back to the team-up! I don't know your Quirk, but you seem pretty nice which is a big plus. But also, all those questions you asked about my Quirk make you sound really smart! You must know a lot about Quirks, right?" Izuku stiffened as she pressed him, but then nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah, I do. Quirk analysis is kind of my hobby. I'm really sorry again if those questions were creepy..."

"No, don't apologize!" Uraraka admonished him, much to his surprise. "I don't know much about the teachers at UA! I didn't do any research on them before the exam because I didn't want to get too excited if I ended up failing! So I'll feel way better if I'm with someone who can help figure out their Quirks!"

Izuku could relate to that. He hadn't bothered looking up who worked at UA since last year, and even then UA didn't publicize all of its teachers. Though he'd probably be able to recognize most of the Pro Heroes on the spot anyway. Still, having someone else on his side would be a huge relief. "Alright, sounds good to me," he agreed.

"Thank you so much," Uraraka said with a bright smile. By that point they'd reached the buses, and they fell silent until they climbed aboard and claimed a bench. Only then did she turn to him and restart the conversation. "So, uh, what is your Quirk, anyway?" she asked sheepishly.

"Oh, it's called Crash. Basically, I can launch myself around like a cannonball. My body's also got a kind of force field that gets stronger the faster I'm going, so it protects me from getting hurt too badly. And also uh, breaks stuff," he added with a sheepish laugh. "We named it 'Crash' for a reason." Her eyes widened at that.

"Does it protect you from fall damage?" she asked excitedly, and he nodded.

"Y-yeah, partly anyway. Past a certain point there's diminishing returns. I haven't tested it too much, but I probably wouldn't handle something like terminal velocity much better than everyone else."

He could practically see the gears turning in her mind. "So... what if I drop you from really high up?" she asked, and then held up her hands to show off the pink pads on her fingertips. "My Quirk's called Zero Gravity. Basically, I can make stuff I touch weightless and float until I release it." Izuku perked up at that, eyes shining with curiosity.

"Oh, so it's not telekinesis? That's really neat! Do you have a range on how high you can lift stuff? What about weight? Can you use it on yourself—and I'm doing it again," he realized with a groan. He slouched in his seat, and Uraraka looked like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"You really do like analyzing Quirks, don't you?" she snickered. "It's okay, really! And um, to answer all that, I can float people and construction equipment for a bit, but bigger stuff takes more energy. And I can't use it on myself for long without getting nauseous. But!" She perked up, a fire in her eyes. "I could definitely float you up to two stories and drop you from there!"

Izuku thought over it for a second. "From that height, I'd... probably be fine? I've never tested it with falling from on top of a building or anything, but I've managed to charge along the ground for a similar distance to two stories. But..." He frowned then, something occurring to him. "There's a cooldown to my propulsion, so I haven't really had the chance to try moving myself around in midair without something to brace off of yet. If you were just floating and dropping me, I'm not sure how good my aim would be."

"Oh..." Uraraka frowned too. "We could try it from a short height first?"

"Uh, excuse me?" They both startled at a voice to their left, and they looked over to see a boy in the seat on the opposite side of the aisle twisted to look at them. He had spiky brown hair and wide-set eyes, and his grin seemed a lot friendlier than Kacchans's. "Sorry for cutting in like this, but I overheard you two, and I think I might be able to help?"

"You overheard us?" Izuku asked, and the other boy chuckled.

"Yeah. Not in a creepy way!" he added quickly. His smile became a little more awkward now, probably because he realized he'd been eavesdropping. "This part of the bus is just kinda quiet because everyone's... concentrating, I think?" Izuku glanced around at that, and sure enough most of the other examinees in the nearest rows had looks of intense concentration as they stared forward, probably trying to figure out their own strategies.

"Okay, but so you think you can help?" Uraraka asked, and the boy nodded.

"Yeah. My Quirk's called Solid Air."

Izuku sat a little straighter at the name. "Oh! Does that mean you can solidify the air and make platforms and stuff like that?"

"Yeah, exactly!" the boy confirmed with a nod. "Not gonna lie, I was kinda anxious about how well it could work against robots. But I heard that strategy about you crashing into stuff from way up high, so if we all team up, maybe, uh..." He trailed off. "Uh, sorry, but I just realized I don't know your names?"

"Oh! I'm Uraraka Ochako!" Uraraka beamed at him.

"And I'm Midoriya Izuku," Izuku added.

"Great! My name's Tsuburaba Kosei!" Tsuburaba grinned before continuing, "Anyways, so I heard that part about Midoriya dropping down onto robots, and so maybe Uraraka could float us both up high, and I can make a platform for him to jump off of?" He shrugged. "I was kinda planning to drop stuff on robots from really high, but I can't really make anything like stairs yet so I was thinking of finding a building with rooftop access and go from there. Having you float me up would make it way faster."

The suggestion definitely had merit. Izuku couldn't guarantee that Crash would work if he just fell, so this would negate some of his larger concerns. He also had another idea from Tsuburaba's initial plan. "If you can use your Quirk to make platforms, Uraraka can float herself higher than her usual limit," he mumbled. "Then you two can both drop stuff on robots from high up, so you'll get more than one cooperation point for yourselves, too. If it's just me using Crash the whole time I'd be the one racking up the most points, so this would let you guys get more than just cooperation points."

"And this could totally let us get the drop on teachers, too!" Uraraka added, an almost vicious grin on her face. "I can float us all super high, and then we can just scout teachers from the air!"

"Yeah!" Tsuburaba bobbed his head eagerly, his own grin growing even wider. "We can totally ambush them and they'll never see it coming!" As the pair flashed each other near-matching looks of determination, it occurred to Izuku he'd found two very competitive people to team up with. Maybe that should intimidate him but instead his anxiety about the exam faded, just a little bit.

With these two at his side, he had a feeling he'd do fine.

It only took about five minutes for Izuku's thoughts to prove correct.

"Well, that trio in Exam Site A is doing well," Midnight commented with a coy smirk. On one of the many screens in the control room, the trio of Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako and Tsuburaba Kosei could be seen wreaking havoc on the robots. Even as she spoke, the green-haired boy dove off another invisible platform to crash into one of the three-pointer robots, eliciting a low whistle from her. "2234 is just demolishing them."

"2234, 1217 and 0133 are all from different prefectures, so they almost certainly didn't know each other beforehand," Nedzu remarked as they observed the carnage. "They must have come up with the strategy while heading over."

"Well, that's a definite point in their favor," Ectoplasm murmured, marking something on his clipboard. Midnight leaned over to him with a smirk.

"Think they'll go after one of your clones soon?"

"At this rate? Probably." Ectoplasm had distributed his clones across each testing site as "villains," since he could produce up to thirty-six clones at a time on good days. Controlling such a large numbers could be challenging, but given that they each commanded a decent number of robots, they didn't engage directly in combat too much. Today he'd produced a total of thirty clones to make management easier.

The door opened and Present Mic strolled in, having just returned from the nearest exam sites. "I'm back! Did I miss anything?"

"Senpai, be quiet!" Thirteen admonished with a harsh shush, gesturing to a yellow lump on the floor and adding, "Eraser's sleeping!"

There was a brief pause as everyone turned to look at the yellow sleeping bag in the corner of the room. Then, they burst out laughing. Midnight and Mic almost doubled over, and even Ectoplasm and Nedzu chuckled. Given the light snickering audible from beneath their helmet, clearly Thirteen found it funny too.

"Oh man, you guys still haven't woken him up yet?" Mic asked as his laughter tapered off.

"We tried, but it's Aizawa," Midnight replied, her eye roll audible in her voice. "You're the only one who can ever wake him up these days."

"At least he doesn't try to kick the poor man," Recovery Girl huffed, and Midnight raised her hands defensively.

"I said I was sorry!" she protested while Hizashi strolled over to the sleeping bag. Everyone promptly covered their ears as Mic grabbed the slumbering hero's shoulders, taking a deep breath.

"ERASER!" he screamed, voice only slightly enhanced with his Quirk. "WAKE UP! RISE AND SHINE! IT'S TIME TO—gh!" He cut off abruptly as Aizawa's eyes snapped open glowing bright red, erasing his Quirk and silencing him.

"I'm awake," he growled sharply, and his hair fell down as his eyes lost their red sheen and he rubbed at them. "Did the exam start yet?"

"Yes, we just hit the five minute mark!" Nedzu confirmed cheerfully. "So far the exam has been rather average, all things considered—ah, look at that. Another of Ectoplasm's clones was destroyed in Site C." Everyone glanced at the monitors to see a boy with silver hair and matching shiny skin and a girl with orange hair and one giant fist cheering as they exchanged a high five.

"That makes two down in that site," Ectoplasm commented. "Someone else got another one there about a minute ago. A boy with some kind of tape Quirk managed to completely ensnare it. It managed to escape, but a girl with a frog mutation tackled it to the ground from behind. Ground which was covered in purple orbs that stuck to its body."

That got a low whistle from Mic. "Guessing you couldn't remove them?"

"No. I couldn't shake them off, and they stuck to my limbs so I couldn't do much. You can see it on that screen over there." He nodded to one of the screens where his clone had been pinned to a wall with the purple orbs lining its joints. The clone didn't even bother struggling, having already deemed escape a futile effort.

"That looks like a successful apprehension to me," Thirteen declared.

"And it's a nonlethal takedown," Aizawa added with a nod of approval. "Most of these brats focus on force. That group's good. They already split up, though, so it must've been a lucky combo than actually planned." The others nodded in agreement, but then paused as the screens showing the trio suddenly flickered, along with several others from Site C.

All at once the jovial mood vanished, everyone more alert and on edge. "Uh, bossman?" Mic asked. "What's going on?" Nedzu was already typing away rapidly on his personal computer, filtering through the list of examinees for Site C. He opened one profile and gave a soft "aha!"

"Just as I thought, Examinee 1048 in Site C has an electromagnetic interference Quirk," he declared. "Most likely, he pushed its limits while using it on a robot, and it caused interference on the cameras as well. I had considered this a possibility when reviewing the application and made note of it." The teachers relaxed a bit at the explanation. Exam applicants' Quirks had interfered with the cameras in the past, so this was nothing new. As long as it wasn't a villain, they saw no reason to worry.

However, while most of the tension faded, Ectoplasm suddenly went stiff and sat straighter in his chair. The sudden shift had the tension returning tenfold, all eyes snapping towards him. "Nedzu," he said sharply. "One of the remaining clones in Site C just tried to command a robot with the remote, and it didn't respond."

There was a sharp intake of breath from a few of the others. "It messed with the remote?" Midnight asked, and Ectoplasm nodded.

"Not just that remote. None of the remaining clones in Site C have their remotes responding, either."

"So what, the robots are just standing there doing nothing?" Present Mic asked, but beside him Aizawa tensed, eyes going wide.

"...No, they're not," he said, voice rising with mild alarm, and everyone immediately followed his gaze just in time to see a three-pointer fling a hair-covered boy through the corner of a building.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

.:. Attack of the 50-Meter Robot .:.

All at once everyone was alert, eyes trained on the monitor as they watched the beast-like boy crash through a wall. Two walls, actually, thanks to being thrown at a building's corner at a diagonal angle by the robot. It managed to take out the whole corner, leaving him limp on the pavement as.

"What the hell, they're still fighting the kids?" Midnight snapped. Even as she spoke Nedzu turned to the console and typed away, ears twitching.

"They're not responding to the console, either," he called, voice slightly more urgent than usual, and everyone's stomachs sank. The robot charged through the hole after the fallen boy, but fortunately didn't make it before getting intercepted by a street lamp. The light fixture came courtesy of another applicant whose body had bulked up with muscles, who swung it lamp with a furious shout and successfully crushed its head. Another person, a boy with a second set of scaled arms, ran over to help lift the fallen boy, who thankfully seemed to be dazed rather than unconscious.

There was some relief at the rescue, but not much. Other applicants were still being attacked by other robots on other screens, fending off the vicious assaults with varying degrees of success. "I'm heading over to Site C!" Recovery Girl barked, leaping off her chair and racing for the door. "Someone call the bus drivers and tell them to be ready!" Mic didn't waste a second obliging, pulling out his phone to make the call while the others spoke rapidly.

"The robots are all officially rogue, and their behavior is more hostile than usual," Aizawa said sharply. "I've never seen them attack kids with that much force."

"I suspect that the interference switched their protocols to the ones we normally reserve for third years and graduates," Nedzu surmised grimly. "That, or the locked protocols for intruders, which have seen much less testing in comparison. Either way, this is dangerous."

"Who's at Site C?" Midnight demanded, leaning over to stare up at the screens.

"Cementoss and Hound Dog were assigned there," Nedzu replied, tapping away at the console. "However, I can't reach them. The interference must have also shut off the communications with their radios. I don't think they'd know the connections are down since we don't usually speak over the radios outside of emergencies."

"Shit," Aizawa breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache start to form. "And since both of them can handle themselves individually, they won't be using their remotes except in clear emergencies, so they probably don't realize the robots are rogue either. Ectoplasm, are either of them near one of your clones? Can you get a message to them?"

"I only have three clones remaining—two," he corrected with a wince. "Damn, a one-pointer just destroyed one. Two clones left in Site C."

"I'm sorry, did you say a one-pointer destroyed your clone?" Mic yelped, having just hung up with the bus driver.

"Yes I did," Ectoplasm confirmed gravely. "It barrelled into the clone with its full body."

"I know your clones are less durable overall than the average human, but one-pointers are supposed to be the weakest," Thirteen murmured, the eyes on their helmet growing wide. "If one managed to destroy your clone, then the students..."

They trailed off, not needing to finish that thought, and the tension in the room reached peak levels as the gravity of the situation fully set in. "I'm sending my remaining clones to alert the others," Ectoplasm said briskly. "Hound Dog is close to one of them, but Cementoss..." He glanced up at the screens, where Cementoss could be seen still fending off some kid who was trying to deliver a flurry of blows at him.

"That's on the total opposite side of the site," Mic realized in horror. "At this point you might be better off asking kids to just—just basically play telephone and scream 'the robots are rogue' until it reaches him!"

"That's assuming none of the two-point robots attack him," Nedzu said ominously. "After observing their activity so far, I believe the one- and three-point robots have the third-year and graduate protocol active. The two-point robots, however, most definitely have the intruder protocol. Specifically, the Level 3 variant."

"And what does that entail, exactly?" Aizawa asked, already dreading the answer.

"They'll begin with non-lethal attacks towards identified threats, the same as the other high-level protocols. However, they will also escalate force as other drones on the network are destroyed, focusing their efforts on targets doing the most damage until they're incapacitated by any means necessary. They'll ignore or protect non-combatants, but right now, every one of those students attacking the drones are marking themselves as a combatant."

Midnight suddenly made a choking sound, eyes going wide and face even paler than it already was. "Nedzu," she said slowly, voice high-pitched and tinged with hysteria. "Is the zero-pointer in Site C responding to you at all?"

The silence following that question was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Shinsou Hitoshi was having a rough day.

He came to UA fully expecting the entrance exam to suck. The written part was fine, he had absolutely zero concerns about that part. He'd studied his butt off for the entire year leading up to this moment. No, what made him absolutely dread today was the practical portion.

See, Hitoshi had absolutely nothing to help him against robots. He completely lacked any sort of physical Quirk, and while he'd done some exercise to prepare for the exam, it still didn't do anything against—again—robots. He hadn't even known he would be fighting robots today, but he'd learned long ago not to expect things to go his way. Most of the graduates from UA had much flashier and combat-oriented Quirks than him, after all.

Present Mic revealing the cooperation points and the fact that teachers would be there had been his only hope spot. Teachers were human. Humans were susceptible to brainwashing, unlike the robots (which he did try to use his Quirk on, just to be sure, and no dice). And ten points was nothing to scoff at.

Hitoshi couldn't face a teacher alone though. He knew his limits, and if they didn't respond to his taunts, questions, or anything else and just attacked him, he'd be screwed.

The thing is, he didn't know if he'd be able to find someone to work with him. He wasn't exactly the most social guy, and he didn't want to brainwash someone and force them to work with him. So far he'd netted five points through the cooperation point system, but that had been by using himself as a distraction for the robots when stumbling on fights. The other kids hadn't stuck around long after a quick "thanks" so it's not like he had a chance to ask them about teaming up.

And now the robots apparently switched into high gear.

He cursed as he ducked into a building to evade a rampaging robot duking it out with another applicant, his heart pounding furiously. "What the fuck," he hissed under his breath. The robots had become way more vicious suddenly. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear one had tried to lop off someone's head just now! The kid did have a body that transformed into smoke, so maybe they were programmed to know the applicants' Quirks?

The thought made him snort derisively and roll his eyes. "Wouldn't even need anything on me," he grumbled as he walked through the building, glancing out the windows. He could see at least two ongoing battles from just this one wall, one on the street directly outside, and another on a neighboring street visible through a gap between two buildings facing this one.

The battles were vicious and frenzied, the applicants' faces screwed with determination. A boy with blades on his arms sliced through one while another threw purple orbs at its feet to hold the robot in place. Hitoshi's stomach churned with envy as he looked away and turned down a hallway leading to the opposite end of the building, lips pulling into a scowl.

He wouldn't be any help there, or against any of these robots. He didn't even feel comfortable acting as bait anymore, not with how hostile they had become. Present Mic hadn't mentioned a "phase two" or anything like that to suggest a difficulty increase, but it must have been a hidden portion of the exam to help weed out weaker applicants.

Applicants like him.

"Quirk discrimination strikes again," he scoffed, peering out a window near a doorway leading outside. Another fight was happening not too far away, so he turned away and went to seek another exit.

The next doorway he found had no windows nearby to check but led to an alleyway, and when he glanced out he saw no fights nearby. He darted to the neighboring building and stuck close to the wall, cautiously peering around the corner. Empty street, though he could hear shouting in the distance. He took a chance and bolted, racing as fast as his legs could carry him while looking for suitable shelter.

A mechanical whir and sharp yell sounded too close for his liking, so he diverted into one of the buildings. Most of them lacked doors thankfully, just empty shells meant to simulate a city. As far as he could tell, the last one didn't even have stairs leading to the second floor. They at least had hallways and rooms though, which is what really mattered.

One of those inner rooms in this one had a light in it, making him freeze and tense warily. None of the buildings seemed to have electricity because again, empty shell and all that. None of the robots had lights either though, and more importantly, he could hear voices, so he proceeded carefully and peered inside.

To his surprise Hitoshi found a small group of four teens huddled in the room, their quiet chatter cutting off as he appeared. One, a girl with "hair" that looked like a jellyfish, gave off a warm glow that illuminated the room. It made everyone else's eyes glint in an almost eerie way when they turned to look at him. For a moment no one spoke, just staring at him awkwardly.

Finally a boy with spiky ridges along the sides of his neck and his arms sighed and waved at him. "Don't just stand there, get in here," he said, and Hitoshi quickly scrambled inside.

"You guys hiding out too?" he drawled, and got a series of nods.

"Yeah," said a girl with tiger-like stripes in her hair and twitching ears to match. "The robots just got way too tough, y'know? I've got claws, but they're not tough enough to cut through metal."

"We were working together," added another boy who looked considerably plainer than the rest, gesturing to the jellyfish girl, "But I saw one send someone through a wall and couldn't take it anymore. Most of us don't really have super-physical Quirks, so the robots are too strong."

"I hear that," Hitoshi sighed, sitting down against one of the walls and running a hand through his hair. "This is too much."

He was done. Tapping out. Call him a quitter, but he wasn't suicidal. He knew his limits, and these robots were just too savage for him to fight against. One hit from those things and he'd snap like a twig. He'd applied to Gen Ed as a backup for a reason. He'd rather take his chances with the Sports Festival.

Outside they could hear fighting, the noise only slightly muffled by the distance. It still felt too close for his liking, and apparently the others agreed because Jellyfish spoke up. "Um, how many points did you get before—uh, you know?" she asked, giving an awkward shrug. "We were just talking about that when you came in."

"Five," Hitoshi said dryly, and got some sympathetic hisses.

"Damn, and I thought my seven was bad," the boy who'd waved him in muttered. That really didn't help Hitoshi's nerves.

"I'm definitely not making it in," Tiger groaned, letting her head thump against the wall behind her. "I only got twelve, and I think I did pretty bad on the written part too. I mean I'm not dumb, but it was just—nerves, y'know?" That got some commiserating groans.

"Written exams put an unfair amount of pressure on us kids sometimes," plain guy declared with a scowl. "Adults seem to totally forget how friggin' stressful it can be! My one teacher always says, 'Don't let it consume your life' one sentence and then tells us 'this test will be fifty percent of your grade' the next!"

"Fifty percent?" Hitoshi repeated, and the boy scoffed.

"You know what I mean!"

"I do," Jellyfish sighed. "I didn't even want to take this stupid exam, I want to be a marine biologist. But my mom thinks my stingers could be 'so good' for hero work. She signed me up for exams at a bunch of hero schools." That had a bunch of sympathetic winces from the rest.

"And yet you helped someone anyway," Tiger remarked, gesturing to the plain guy, and the girl's face literally glowed pink, as did her jellyfish hair.

"Hiro and I go to the same school! Of course I'd help him! I was planning to ask the teachers after the exam to just mark me as a fail if I did get enough points to pass!" Tiger had a definite smirk on her face, mischief visible in her golden eyes.

"Oh, so you two are on a first-name basis?" she purred, and the pink glow grew more intense.

"Th-that's not! We're not—" Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a loud chorus of screams, making everyone freeze and a chill run down Hitoshi's spine. Those weren't the same shouts they'd been hearing as examinees clashed with the robots with all their might. No, this was something more frantic, more desperate. Those were screams of absolute terror, and the thought made his blood curdle.

A heavy hush blanketed the room, everyone tense and on edge. The pink glow had given way to blue again, the jellyfish girl scooting closer to the plain guy. Even with the tint to the light, Hitoshi could tell everyone's faces had drained of color. "What... what was that?" the guy with the ridges on his body whispered.

"I don't know," plain guy whispered, and for a moment everyone was still. Hitoshi's eyes narrowed as he slowly got to his feet, drawing everyone's attention. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to check it out," he murmured back, and saw some of them recoil.

"Seriously?" Tiger hissed. "You heard those screams! That's not just fighting!"

"Yeah, and that's why I'm going to take a look," Hitoshi retorted sharply. "If something's really wrong, we need to get the hell out of dodge. And we won't know if no one looks." The others had no counter for that, and Hitoshi turned and slunk out of the room alone. He circled the halls and peered through the windows, finding all the nearest streets to be empty. So it wasn't nearby at least.

After a moment's hesitation, he slipped outside and started down the street towards the direction he thought the screams came from. The ground in that direction was uneven and broken, and he was pretty sure it hadn't been damaged before. When he turned a corner the destruction became more apparent, the ground chunky and uneven with the devastation stretching down almost an entire block. One of the buildings even had part of the wall was missing.

More importantly though, he could hear loud whimpering and some sobs that way, making him pick up his pace slightly. He stuck close to the buildings since the ground was more even there, and when he reached the last one he peered around the corner cautiously. The area looked like how he imagined the epicenter of an earthquake, the ground broken up in a ripple-like pattern. Several teenagers were curled up on the ground, hands on their heads or hugging their torsos as they quietly cried and sobbed.

Only one kid wasn't actively curled in the fetal position, a pink-skinned guy with a rock-shaped head. He leaned over another person in the epicenter of the ripples, tears streaming down his face, and when Hitoshi looked at the other person he felt his eyes widen in recognition at the blocky gray figure. He wasn't overly attentive to Pro Heroes like some people, but Cementoss was pretty recognizable. The man hunched on the ground shaking like a leaf, murmuring something Hitoshi couldn't hear.

Worse yet: there was a robot about to attack one of the kids.

Hitoshi's eyes blew wide open as a two-pointer raced towards a fallen girl, the scorpion stinger-like "tail" rearing up ready to strike. "Move blue-hair!" he shouted, and the girl jolted and raised her head with wide eyes as she finally noticed the robot. She rolled away just as the stinger came swinging down and crumpled the ground where she'd just been, making her shriek with terror.

The robot's stinger got stuck in the pavement, and Hitoshi took advantage of it to charge forward and grab the girl's arm, yanking her to her feet and dragging her towards Cementoss. She stumbled after him while sobbing, babbling almost nonsensically. "Make it stop, make it stop, wanna go home, don't wanna do this anymore..." Hitoshi ignored her rambling, attention focused purely on the Pro Hero.

The rock-headed teen looked up as they approached, tear tracks visible on his face. Cementoss however remained on the ground and didn't even look at them, murmuring under his breath. "Too much, too much, not again, I can't do this anymore..."

"What's going on?" Hitoshi demanded. The other boy inhaled sharply, the frill-like appendages on the back of his head twitching briefly.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I-I'm so sorry...! I d-didn't... d-d-didn't...!" He trailed off into indecipherable whines and whimpers, and Hitoshi felt his stomach sink. He still didn't know what was going on, but clearly something happened to Cementoss that was making him like... this, and he didn't seem like he'd be recovering anytime soon.

Hitoshi heard a crash and glanced back at the two-pointer, heart sinking as he saw it had freed its stinger from the ground. Worse yet, it now turned to face them, the red glass glinting ominously as it caught the sunlight.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, SHIT. Hitoshi whirled around to see the other boy's face had become five shades paler. "Please tell me you have a Quirk that can take out that thing," Hitoshi pleaded, but the boy rapidly shook his head and Hitoshi mentally cursed again. Shit, this was bad. Clearly the girl was no help, and none of the other teens in the area seemed likely to recover from this whatever in the next five seconds either, and brainwashing wouldn't work on robots either.

It didn't work on robots, but it did work on people.

Hitoshi whirled around to stare at Cementoss, the man still mumbling to himself and shaking like a leaf. "Cementoss!" he barked. "Sir, you need to get up! We can't fight that thing!"

"I can't," the man choked out, squeezing his eyes shut. "I—" All at once his face went slack, eyes opening to reveal a familiar glazed look. Hitoshi felt the familiar tug of his Quirk at work, letting him know he'd taken control of the hero.

"Use your Quirk to destroy that robot," he ordered. Cementoss lumbered to his feet in silence, turning to face the robot. The rock-headed boy jumped back with a look of alarm as the hero slammed his palms on the ground, the already-fractured pavement erupting into a jagged cement wall that shot out towards the robot. It ripped straight through the center of the charging robot, sparks flying everywhere as it was torn in half.

Relief flooded Hitoshi as the two halves fell to the ground, shoulders slumping as he heaved a giant sigh. Then he heard a high-pitched breath from the girl that bordered on a sob, making his blood run cold. She was staring nearby with an even paler face, and when he looked over he saw two more robots circling around the corner of a nearby building, heading straight for one of the fallen teens.

Oh crap. Hitoshi's stomach sank as he spun to face Cementoss. "Destroy those robots, too!" he shouted, pointing to them. "And be careful not to hit the guy on the ground!" The hero did as told in absolute silence, another wall shooting towards the approaching robots.

As he watched the cement wall impale one of the robots, it occurred to Hitoshi that using a Pro Hero to destroy the robots might be an unheroic act. Cementoss had been weirdly unresponsive, sure, but that might have changed now that Hitoshi brainwashed him. It could have jarred his mind from the effects of whatever Quirk made him act like that, because it had to be a Quirk.

Okay, he decided. I'll release him after this and see if he's in his right mind. If not, I'll just have the rock-headed guy help me move people to safety. He seemed to be more in control of himself than anyone else here, even if he was crying and whimpering, so Hitoshi felt it a safe bet that he'd be able to help.

Before he could do that though there was a sudden, distant boom, the earth shaking hard enough to make them all fall. Cementoss managed to keep his balance while Hitoshi landed on his rear hard. "What was that?" he grumbled, feeling sore, but when he glanced at the other applicants he saw them both staring in the distance looking the palest they'd been yet.

A cold dread washed over him, and when he slowly turned his head he physically recoiled at what he saw. A giant monolith of a robot towered over the artificial skyline, the beady red "eyes" glowing ominously on its blocky face as it faced their direction.

"Holy shit," he choked out, feeling himself start to shake. That thing. That was the zero pointer? That wasn't a villain, that was a freaking walking disaster!

It took a single step, head bobbing briefly as it moved forward, and the ground shook again. That was all it took to jar Hitoshi out of his stunned stupor. He scrambled to his feet without ever taking his eyes off it, feeling nothing but horror. "Run," he whispered shakily, and took a deep breath. "Everyone, RUN!"

They didn't need to be told twice. The rock-headed boy grabbed the girl's hand and dragged her away. Hitoshi tore his gaze away from the monstrous robot long enough to see that a few other examinees had appeared, helping to drag some of the fallen teens to their feet and away from the devastation. Hitoshi didn't follow, quickly turning to Cementoss who still had the glazed look in his eye of being under Hitoshi's control. He had turned to follow the crowd, and panic welled in the teen.

"Stay!" he barked, voice choked with fear, and the hero immediately halted and turned back. Screams echoed loudly all around them as people fled, coming from all over the arena. Hitoshi inhaled sharply as he turned back to the robot. It wasn't heading directly towards them, but it was still coming in this general direction.

Screw it. "Cementoss," he called, hands clenching at his sides. "Use your Quirk to protect everyone and trap that thing."

The sight of giant cement walls suddenly erupting around the Zero Pointer could be seen even beyond the walls surrounding Site C. The sight flooded everyone with relief, some of the examinees actually collapsing and crying that they wouldn't have to deal with it on top of the other robots.

For his part, Hitoshi just felt numb. He sat on the ground breathing heavily, head held in his hands and his body shaking. Beside him Cementoss stood gazing upon his work, almost eerily calm compared to his earlier countenance. "I won't lie, I didn't expect someone to use me to stop the Zero Pointer," he remarked almost idly. The effects of whatever Quirk had hit him had worn off when Hitoshi released his control thankfully, but that left the teen feeling anxious instead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. Now that the adrenaline had worn off he realized just how stupid he'd been, to use his Quirk on a teacher to take out that thing. The Zero Pointer was just that—zero points. It was an obstacle to avoid, not something to be defeated. His adrenaline had just been so high after seeing that girl nearly get crushed by a two-pointer's tail, all he could think was how that thing could kill someone by just stepping on them.

But obstacles didn't attack people. Attacking it had been pointless.

"You certainly won't score any combat points from that. It's not even an assist, really," Cementoss mused, echoing Hitoshi's thoughts and making him cringe. "You should probably get some from the other ones you had me destroy though." That had Hitoshi looking up, mildly surprised.

"But—why?" he asked in disbelief. "I wasn't—that wasn't..." He trailed off uselessly, searching for words. "That was your Quirk, not mine. I didn't do anything." It felt like he had acid on his tongue as he admitted it. While he'd planned to brainwash a teacher if he got the chance, he wanted to use it to subdue them, not destroy robots. Using someone else to destroy robots without their direct consent didn't feel right, made him feel like he didn't earn those points.

Cementoss however seemed to disagree. "Before you arrived, a robot attacked another kid," he said, catching Hitoshi's attention. "He must have had an empathy Quirk of some sort, because suddenly we were all on the ground and it felt like I was paralyzed with fear. I could tell something was wrong, and could hear you shouting when that one robot attacked that girl. If I had been in control of myself I would have intervened, but I couldn't do anything."

He glanced over at Hitoshi, expression serene and steady. "You used your Quirk to protect yourself and others when I couldn't. You earned any points you'd get from those robots if you'd destroyed them with your own hands."

Hitoshi could only stare at him wide-eyed, stunned by the praise. For so long others had been wary of his Brainwashing Quirk, and even after he got a second one from the Quirk Boom that caution remained. To have a stranger—and a Pro Hero, no less—outright praise him for using it, was... was... He didn't even know.

As he struggled to come up with response the sound of footsteps rushed towards them, and they turned to see one of the clones of that guy in a trenchcoat. Ectoplasm, if Hitoshi remembered right. "Cementoss, is everything alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry if trapping the Zero Pointer disrupted the exam at all, though." Hitoshi winced guiltily, and Ectoplasm seemed to freeze at that.

"You... You don't know?" he asked after a moment, and Cementoss frowned, immediately looking alert and on edge.

"Did something happen?"

"One of the examinees had some sort of electronic interference Quirk. They used it around the halfway mark and it completely severed the control over the robots and reset their active protocol. The one- and three-pointers had third year and graduate protocols active, while the two-pointers had the Level 3 intruder protocol." A chill ran down Hitoshi's spine. He didn't know what the last one meant, but he could at least tell that third years and graduates would probably call for a more serious level of difficulty than middle school students.

Judging from the way Cementoss froze at that, he was probably right. "What? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"The Quirk took out the communications, too, and my remaining clones were on the opposite ends of the site. It seems that a quarter of the robots were unaffected because they were outside the range of the initial pulse, but the rest went rogue. Two of my clones were destroyed by them."

"And the Zero Pointer?" Cementoss asked grimly, and Hitoshi felt his breath catch. Fuck. He didn't even think of that.

"We don't know yet," Ectoplasm replied. "It didn't respond to the remote commands, but we don't know if the protocol got reset to something else." He glanced at the cement walls encasing the robot, adding, "Since it hasn't tried to break free, hopefully it was set to one of the passive settings to just walk around. Power Loader's heading over to check it out now to be sure. But if it hadn't been stopped, and it was set to something more hostile..."

He trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. Hitoshi just felt like the world had frozen, unable to help the growing horror as the gravity of the situation sank in. If he hadn't ordered Cementoss to stop it—if that thing had been left loose to stomp around... If someone had been in its path, injured or unable to move...

A sickly taste filled his mouth, and he doubled over and spewed his lunch on the ground.

Izuku was mildly terrified of his new friends.

Were they friends? He didn't know for sure, but they seemed to think so and he was scared to try to contradict them. While he'd dive-bombed several robots and racked up an impressive score for himself, Uraraka and Tsuburaba had quickly found their own vicious groove. The ground was littered with craters from Uraraka dropping robots into each other, and Tsuburaba had dumped his own fair share of debris on them too.

(Have you ever seen a piece of rebar drop from three stories to stab through a robot? Izuku had, and it was terrifying.)

Their collaboration had climaxed with them successfully managing to apprehend Snipe. The man had been attracted by all the crashes from their general direction, and Izuku had played distraction while Uraraka and Tsubaraba went higher and higher. When they spiked a piece of cement hard enough to create a small crater right behind him, Izuku had taken advantage of his stumble to tackle him to the ground. After that, Uraraka had gleefully floated the man up until they plopped him onto an air platform five stories up in the air, and he called "Uncle".

Again: his new friends were terrifying.

The exam had finally ended and the trio headed back, the others happily chattering about their point totals. "I think I got 54!" Uraraka declared cheerfully.

"I got 51," Tsubaraba boasted with a proud grin. "Midoriya, what'd you get?"

"I lost count around 40." That had been when he'd crashed into two robots at once, and the debris from them had skewered a third robot not too far away. He wasn't sure how that one would be counted, since it hadn't been intentional and someone else was fighting it at the time. "That one was before we took down Snipe though, so I guess I at least have 50?"

"Think we all got enough?" Tsubaraba asked, and Izuku shrugged.

"Probably? They don't really release the results to the public, so I don't know what the usual minimum score would be. But I mean, I feel like fifty is pretty high since the robot with the highest value was three points, and teachers are worth ten, so..."

"I think we have a really good chance!" Uraraka declared with a grin. "We took down so many robots, guys! We're an awesome team!"

"Heck yeah we are!" She and Tsuburaba high-fived and Izuku smiled, feeling some of his post-exam tension drain. He'd come into the exam feeling so anxious and worried about getting enough points, but now he felt more confident than he ever would have predicted. He'd found some new (terrifying) friends, had racked up an impressive number of points, and had even helped take down a Pro Hero! At this point he thought he might be surprised if he didn't make it into UA.

Unless his ego was just getting too big.

That depressing thought haunted him as they went to the first aid tents to get checked out. To his disappointment Recovery Girl wasn't there, but he didn't dwell on it long as the medical staff checked them over and gave them all a clean bill of health. Once they left and passed through the gates, the exhilaration and adrenaline from the exam wore off, and Izuku realized just how tired he was. Running around for twenty minutes straight and attacking robots had taken a lot out of him.

Clearly he wasn't the only one who felt that way. "I'm beat!" Uraraka declared. "I'm probably gonna just crash on the train home."

"I would too, but I'd probably miss my stop," Izuku commented.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna pass out in my hotel room," Tsuburaba said, surprising them both into stopping.

"Wait, hotel?" Izuku asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I came here from Kagawa Prefecture, so it was either spend like six hours going home after the exam or get a hotel room." The information had Izuku jolting and his eyes going wide. Kagawa Prefecture was on Shikoku, a completely different island from Honshu. He knew students came from all over Japan for the entrance exam, but he didn't really realize just how literal that was until now.

"Lucky!" Uraraka said. "I live over in Okayama Prefecture, so we decided to just get a train ticket home." Okayama Prefecture was certainly closer than Kagawa and still on Honshu, but it was still in another region entirely than Shizuoka, which housed Musutafu and UA.

"Wow," Izuku breathed. "I got really lucky being born here, huh?"

"Oh, you're local?" Uraraka perked up at that. "Then if we all get in, you have to show us all the sights around here, Deku!"

"Yeah, you're the official tour guide!" Tsuburaba grinned, and Izuku felt flustered.

"Uh, s-sure, but there's not that much to see," he rambled anxiously, scratching the back of his neck. "Musutafu doesn't really have many super-unique sights or anything, I mean besides UA and the local hero agencies of course. Oh, but there's a couple museums I guess, so..."

"We're not talking about that!" Tsuburaba cut in. "I'm talking places to eat, places to train, the works!"

"Yeah! I want to know all the places only locals know about since I'd have to move here anyway!" Uraraka bobbed her head eagerly, grinning at him. "I'm counting you to show us all the best thrift shops if we get in!"

"Yeah, of course," Izuku agreed with a small smile, and felt the butterflies in his stomach settle a bit. He really hoped they all got in. It'd be nice to have some friends.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

.:. A Reason to be Proud .:.

While waiting for the results of the exam to come in, it was only natural Izuku didn't let up on his training since it would take a couple weeks. He partially regretted this decision, mainly because every time he went to the gym it ended with him covered in fresh bruises.

"Urk-!" Izuku collided with the padded wall backfirst and stuck there for a second before sliding down with an almost cartoonish squeaking sound.

Gran shook his head as he watched Izuku moan, arms folded over his chest. "Like I thought, your cooldown's still giving you too much trouble to meaningfully chain things together."

"Yeah, I guess picking up something like flight right away would've been a little too much to expect," Izuku mumbled as he got up. His voice became more eager as he added, "But my cooldown, thrust, and duration have all improved since we started training, so if I keep training Crash, I should be able to do it eventually!"

"Mm," Gran half-agreed. "Why the sudden interest in midair combat, anyway? Isn't that the sort of thing that makes more sense to wait until you're in school to start thinking about?"

"Maybe, but I'm already a decade behind everyone else in developing my skills. Even with a strong Quirk, that's something I'm going to have to work to overcome. Plus, someone I met at the exams had an anti-gravity Quirk that could let people float around, so that got me thinking!"

"Anti-gravity Quirk," Gran repeated and nodded. "Oh, right, you were telling me about that. The cute one, right?"

"Yeah, that's h—wait, cute?" Izuku felt his ears heat up. "I-I don't think I said anything like that! I-I mean it's not that she's not cute, I just don't think I really thought about—wah!" He dropped to the ground just in time for Gran's kick to brush the top of his hair, then used Crash to push himself along the ground to the other side of the room and roll into a crouched position. "That was dirty!"

"'Course it was! You still get sidetracked way too easily, but at least your reflexes are getting better. Now, if you're serious about maneuvering midair, we're gonna have to work out the basics of it down on the ground first. Focus on your coordination and pacing, and see if you can keep your guard up against me. Ready?"

Izuku lifted himself up into a ready position and nodded, and Gran charged.

He went home that evening sore, tired to the bone, and a little frustrated with not having much to show for today's efforts, even if Gran Torino's response had been uncharacteristically encouraging. All that melted away, however, when he walked through the door to a familiar aroma.

"Katsudon?"

"Yep. Almost ready. Could you set the table, sweetie?"

"Sure."

As Izuku got out the tableware, he found a thick envelope sitting face-down at his place at the table. "What's this?"

"It came in the mail for you today while you were out. I didn't open it yet."

Izuku finished setting the table, then glanced at the address and—yes, it's from UA! He tore the top off the envelope and slid out the contents. There was paper, like he expected, but also a thick metal disk. Actually, he was pretty sure he'd seen these before, as part of some promotional merch thing. Didn't they usually—

"Hello!" announced a giant, shrew-like face that suddenly appeared in midair. Izuku stumbled backward with a startled squawk, accidentally dropping the hologram projector in the process. Thankfully, the little thing was pretty sturdy and kept on playing.

"I hope this recording finds you well, Midoriya-kun."

Izuku's eyes lit up. "I can't believe it! That'—"

"Principal Nedzu of UA, hero name 'Mr. Principal.' Correct! I'm flattered you recognize me," the recording replied. "And no, this is not an active conversation, but I would genuinely be surprised if you did not recognize me. Unfortunately, due to some unexpected technical difficulties forcing us to reevaluate our scoring across the board, we're a bit pressed for time, so I'll cut right to the point,"

Reevaluating the scoring? Izuku didn't like the sound of that. Wait, did that mean he might not have passed? He'd thought he did pretty well, but—

"There's no cause for alarm," the recording assured him. "As a matter of fact, you scored fifth place out of the entire practical!"

"...What?"

A scoring chart popped up behind the principal, displaying a series of names and numbers. Kacchan's was right at the top, with 117 "villain" points but zero... rescue points? Next were three people he didn't know named Kendo, Shinsou, and Tetsutetsu (and wow, the guy in third had a lot of rescue points), and then his own name. 57 villain points, and 25 rescue points. Three spots below him was Uraraka in eighth, and then another two spaces down in tenth place was Tsuburaba.

He really hoped the projector had a replay feature, because his brain short-circuited for most of the Principal's remaining speech as he stared at his score. He knew he'd had at least 50 points, but he got 57 villain points, and 25 rescue points for a grand total of 82. Out of hundreds of people, he had the fifth highest score.

"...dorms," Nedzu was saying when Izuku finally remembered he should probably pay attention. "And welcome, Midoriya Izuku, to your hero academia! I look forward to seeing you once school begins. Goodbye for now."

"...I got in." Izuku whispered in disbelief. His initial shock gave way to excitement, practically vibrating as his face broke into a brilliant smile. "I got in! I'm going to UA!"

"I knew you could do it!" Inko beamed as she set dinner on the table. "Why don't you sit down so we can eat?"

"Oh, right!" Izuku promptly sat down, and paused as something else occurred to him. "Wait, did he mention dorms near the end?"

"You short-circuited and stopped paying attention, didn't you?" Inko asked with a smile, and Izuku ducked his head with embarrassment. "Well, UA has dorms. From what I heard they started them to help people with difficult Quirks or ones that needed special accommodations, but this year they're opening them more to the public."

"Really?" Izuku asked in surprise. "I knew they added private dorms after the Quirk Boom, but I haven't heard about them opening to public this year. I feel like that would be all over the news..."

"It hasn't been officially announced yet," Inko explained, and Izuku paused.

"Wait, then how do you know?" His mom smiled coyly at that, while also looking a bit flustered.

"Well, actually... I got a job offer to work at the dorms." It took a few seconds for her words to process, and when they did Izuku dropped his chopsticks, jaw dropping in tandem with them.

"Wait, what!?" he blurted, and his mom nodded.

"Well, a few weeks ago I visited Yagi, and he told me they were looking for someone to work at the dorms. Since they're opening it up to a wider range of students, they thought it would be good to have someone live on-site as a 'dorm parent' of sorts. If I take the job, we can still keep the apartment and come back on weekends and holidays so we don't have to stay on campus all the time, but if you decide to move into the dorms..."

She let the sentence hang there, and Izuku stared dumbly as he continued to process it. Slowly he picked up his chopsticks again to resume eating, because he would not waste good katsudon. "So the school offered you a job if I want to stay at the dorms?" he asked before taking another bite.

His mom nodded. "Pretty much. It's up to you, though. The things they said about the opportunities there sounded really good, but this is your big thing, Izuku. I don't want you to feel pressured into anything. If you don't want to stay there, or even if you want to go without me, I'll support you."

"Are you kidding?" he asked, eyes sparkling. "It's the chance to live at UA! And of course it's fine if you come! ...Um, if that's something you want, I mean," he added, feeling suddenly sheepish. He didn't want to pressure her to uproot her life for him. He'd already put her through so much between his early diagnosis as Quirkless and everything else that came after getting Graft.

He had nothing to worry about though, because her eyes filled up with pride and tears. "Oh, Izuku, you always do watch out for everyone else, don't you," she murmured, and then nodded, mind apparently settled. "Alright, I'll call the school in the morning and begin getting things set up."

The two of them excitedly bounced plans and ideas off each other for the rest of the evening. After they both turned in for the night, Izuku pulled out a box and started packing up some of the basics he'd need once they moved to the dorms. The move might not be right away, but he just felt too excited. Packing just one box right now wouldn't hurt.

When he'd filled it up, he pulled out his phone to charge for the night and saw that there was an unread message notification. He must've forgotten to unmute it after finishing with Gran Torino.

As soon as he opened it up to check the message, his eyes bugged out. A text from All Might.

'I heard the news! Congratulations on being accepted. Do you think you'd be able to swing by Might Tower some time this weekend? I have something I'd like to discuss with you.'

Five minutes later he sheepishly apologized to the neighbors who had pounded on their door worried about the "dying animal cry" they thought they'd heard.

Toshinori sank into his office chair and leaned back with a sigh. This... might be a mistake. It might be better to skip over his plan entirely, just give the boy a more formal congratulations, ask some vague questions about his plans for the future, nod sagely and send him on his way.

But no, he couldn't do that. He'd already asked the boy to make the trip all the way out here, and he'd been keeping a close eye on his development over the past several months. Mostly indirectly through Gran, but the point remained. And at the end of it all, he felt compelled to admit what Gran had told him so long ago: the boy simply wasn't All For One. And since he wasn't, he deserved to be judged on his own merits.

"Boss?" Yowai's voice crackled over his intercom. "Midoriya's here."

Nana help him. He reached over and pressed the response button. "Thank you, Yowai. You can go ahead and send him in."

A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Midoriya, practically vibrating with excitement. "All Might! It's good to see you again!"

"You too, young man," Toshinori replied with a smile, and gestured to the empty chair facing him. "Why don't you come in and have a seat."

Midoriya did so, somewhat dwarfed by the size of the chair. It wasn't uncommon, most of Toshinori's office furniture was quite large, but Midoriya was still a bit short for his age. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"I did! First, I wished to congratulate you on your acceptance into UA. Fifth place is quite impressive. It certainly sounds like you applied yourself well."

The boy was practically glowing at the praise. "R-really? But, wait, how did you hear about that?"

No one told him yet? "Super hearing! Ha, but seriously, I don't want to risk spoiling any surprises if you don't already know. I doubt I'd hear the end of it. For now, I'll just say a friend of mine teaches at UA and I heard it through the grapevine. Anyway!" he said before Midoriya could ask about it. "On to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I have a graduation present for you."

"A graduation present from All Might!" the boy squeaked. "Amazing, I'd never even imagined something like this, I wonder what it—" He fell into a spiral of muttering, and Toshinori picked up references to some of his rejected merchandise. He resisted a cringe and cleared his throat to get his attention, making the boy stop. "Oops, sorry."

"It's quite alright, Midoriya-shounen." He stood up and walked over, Midoriya rising as well on reflex before Toshinori held out his hand. "To commemorate this occasion, I'd like to offer you Glow Ink."

Midoriya stared at his hand in disbelief, slowly turning to meet Toshinori's eyes. "You want me to take one of your Quirks?" he whispered.

"I do," Toshinori confirmed with a nod. "Particularly that one. I'm afraid my others are a bit too crucial to my work, but I think you'll enjoy Glow Ink anyway." That was an understatement. The boy had been so excited the few times that he'd gotten to use it as part of practice that whenever Toshinori needed to ask for it back he felt like he'd just kicked a puppy. "Take it, Midoriya-shounen, in recognition of the great hero you're going to become."

It had been a long decision, but somehow it just felt right. Though he'd never voiced his fears of the Quirk's original owner, he felt he owed the boy something for this unspoken wariness. It was a peace offering of sorts, a silent offer of support and a wish for Midoriya to become a hero.

Midoriya hesitated for less time than Toshinori would have expected before taking his outstretched hand and squeezing his eyes shut. Toshinori forced himself not to tense as reddish-black sparks of energy briefly flickered out from the point of contact, and a moment later Midoriya released his grip and smiled. "I got it."

"Excellent! Now, I would recommend not making this one public. You wouldn't be the only person to have received multiple Quirks, but it still might invite some difficult questions and attention that you'd be better off not dealing with, given what usually… well." He supposed he didn't need to spell it out for the boy, given his reaction to his own revelation of having multiple quirks.

"Got it," Midoriya said with a nod. "Hmm... maybe I should ask for some support gear that leaves glowing marks for my hero costume, so I have an excuse if I ever have to use it for some reason?"

"Now there's an idea. Anyway, I apologize for having to cut our meeting short, but I do want to get in a little bit more patrolling before the day's over. Do you mind if I escort you to the elevator?"

"O-of course not! Thank you so much!"

It wasn't until Midoriya waved goodbye and the elevator doors shut that Toshinori released the tension he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. Yowai walked up beside him. "Good kid?" she asked, and Toshinori had to pause.

"...He's still getting his feet under him, but yes, I believe he is." And he meant it. The boy did seem good, wanting to do nothing but help others, and he hoped that spark of goodwill would never fade from his eyes.

"Mm. You and his mother must be so proud." Yowai spun around and headed back to her desk.

Toshinori startled and turned to follow her. "Hey, now hold on just a second, what do you mean by that?"

To say Aizawa Shouta felt tired would be like saying the sky was blue or water was wet. Shouta always felt tired to some degree, a fact which got some teasing. At least this year his colleagues found it justified. Class 2-A, while not his direct responsibility thank goodness, tended to drain everyone who came into contact with it.

He felt an overwhelming need for an eight-hour nap (his equivalent of a multi-day hibernation by anyone else's standards) by the time his hero ethics course ended. Thank goodness he had a free period afterwards, and lunch after that. They had arranged his schedule very carefully.

He had just wrapped up his lecture when the door opened to reveal Hizashi there for his English class, smiling brightly as usual. "Hello, listeners!" he announced grandly in English. "Are you all ready for another day of English?" He got a chorus of half-hearted "yeahs" and one very enthusiastic "YES MIC-SEI!" that had even Hizashi flinching slightly, while Shouta felt his eye twitch. How the hell did anyone have that much energy?

He stuffed his papers and files under his arm and trudged to the door in silence, though he slowed when Hizashi nudged his arm in passing. "Yo Eraser, before you head out, bossman wants to see you," he commented, and Shouta felt his face sour further.

"Right, thanks," he grunted, and headed out for Nedzu's office. So much for that nap. Maybe it was for the best though, he'd probably end up sleeping through lunch. Again. Why did he bother teaching instead of just sleeping all day again?

It didn't take long for him to reach the office, and he didn't even bother trying to knock, just skipped straight to reaching for the handle. Nedzu called "Enter" before he even touched it, just like every other time, and Shouta dutifully slipped inside and closed the door. As usual, Nedzu sat at his desk with paws folded peacefully and a smile on his face, a steaming pot of tea and two cups already waiting.

Shouta eyed the tea warily. That was not a good sign, that meant he expected the meeting to last more than five minutes. "You called me, sir?" he asked as he hovered by the door.

"Take a seat, Aizawa-kun!" Nedzu chirped, and dammit, that meant the meeting would probably cover his entire free period. He resisted a sigh as he prodded over to the chair facing the desk and sank into it, noting Nedzu had gone out of his way to switch out the super-plush one for one with a stiffer back and seat. Given Shouta fell asleep in that chair last time, he didn't blame the rodent or whatever he was. (Kayama's latest theory: quokka. Given that many quirked animals came from Australia, she might actually be onto something this time.)

"Is something wrong?" he asked, skipping straight to business. He hadn't slept through any classes since early last semester, and even that time he had the excuse of recovering from a fight gone sideways. He also hadn't expelled anyone since January. (That brat had deserved it, kid kept pulling pranks despite repeated admonishments, and everyone knew not to mess with his coffee.) Last he checked the current batch of students in the first and second years had shaped up, too, so not that.

"No, nothing of the sort," Nedzu replied cheerfully. "I wanted to talk to you about next year's class!"

"I am not moving into the student dorms," Shouta deadpanned instantly. He didn't care what Hizashi and Kayama liked to say when teasing him about his "parental instinct towards the kids." He was not moving to the dorms and living with these hellions twenty-four seven, especially with them opening it up to more kids next year.

"Don't worry, that was not my intention at all!" Nedzu chirped, undeterred by Shouta's harsh glare. "We already have a few new employees lined up to help handle supervision and logistics. In fact, the mother of one of the incoming students has graciously agreed to move onto campus part-time as the main supervisor for the first year hero course dorm. She won't be present at their building every night, but we should have everything covered."

Shouta relented in his harsh glare and slouched in his seat again. "Alright, fine. So what do you need to talk about?"

"It's about one of the students in your upcoming class."

"You've already arranged the classes?" Shouta wasn't surprised, Nedzu had probably plotted the rosters the day of the exam. He hadn't given him or Vlad their copies yet though. Usually he had it sorted before the exam results were sent out so he could include students' class assignments in the acceptance letters, but the disaster in Site C had led to some more intense debates about scoring and placement than usual.

"Indeed I have!" Nedzu confirmed, and pulled out a file from beneath the desk to slide over to Shouta. "I will distribute the official class roster at today's meeting of course, and have already sent follow-up letters to the students. However, I want to speak to you about one in particular." Shouta grunted as he took the file and opened it, greeted by a photo of a kid with green hair.

"Midoriya Izuku, huh," he muttered as he flipped through the pages. He recognized the boy from his team with two other students during the exam; it stood out as one of the most impressive examples of teamwork from this year. Of course, he'd only reached that conclusion when reviewing footage later after sorting out the Site C mayhem. "Kid's got some kind of kinetic propulsion Quirk, right?"

"Technically, yes," Nedzu confirmed, and Shouta paused. He glanced down at the file, eyes narrowing as he read over the Quirk registry information.

"It manifested less than a year ago? That's impressive given his score, but still not anything particularly concerning. Are there details he didn't register?"

"Oh, most definitely," Nedzu said, ever sunny and cheerful, and Shouta felt that instinctive sense of dread grow. If he had learned anything in his ten-plus years as an underground hero, it was to trust his gut. That smile on Nedzu's face and bright, cheery tone? That was dangerous.

"He has a second one he didn't officially register, doesn't he," he sighed, and Nedzu hummed, producing another file. One much thicker than the first, thick enough that when he dropped it on the desk it produced a loud thump.

"For the record, Ishiyama has graciously agreed to cover your class after lunch," he commented, and it would have made Shouta's stomach sink if he wasn't still stunned by the file's size.

"How the hell do you have that much information on one Quirk?" he asked incredulously. "One unregistered Quirk? I've seen villains with files less thick than that!"

"Speaking of which, this is only file one, by the way," Nedzu commented nonchalantly, and Shouta just stared. "There's altogether too much information to have in a single file, so I compiled all the key details into this file as a starting point!"

Shouta slowly raised his head to look away from the file, staring at his boss with wide, bloodshot eyes. "Nedzu," he ground out slowly, already dreading the answer. "What the actual fuck is going on?"

Somehow, Nedzu's smile seemed to grow wider. "Today, we are going to speak about Midoriya's true Quirk, Graft—or as its original owner called it, All For One."

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

.:. Dorm Sweet Dorm .:.

"Thank you for coming out here here to meet us, Midoriya-san," Sir Nighteye said.

"Of course," she cupped the tea that he'd provided and took a sip, looking around the office. That was... a lot of All Might merchandise. And she said that as someone who shared a home with Izuku. He might rival Izuku's collection. "Um, is this something Izuku should be here for, or...?"

"No, no. As his guardian, we wanted—we thought you deserved to be kept in the loop, but we didn't want to worry him unnecessarily."

Well that certainly wasn't doing Inko's blood pressure any favors. "He's not in any danger, is he?" she asked frantically. I know you'd said he might be at risk of being a target if his secret got out, but we've been so careful—"

"No, he's not," All Might assured her, and waited until she calmed down a bit to continue, "but the appearance of your son's Quirk did cause us to do some additional digging. Before I begin, please understand that all this is technically classified information, so we'll ask that you not share it, including with your son."

"I understand," Inko promised, and he nodded.

All Might took a deep breath before continuing. "The man we told you about, who Izuku's Quirk reminded me of. We've... found evidence that his organization was engaged in illegal genetics research revolving around the manipulation, reproduction, and induced appearance of Quirks. On top of that, the sudden appearance of secondary Quirks happened very shortly after I defeated their leader."

Inko took a moment to digest that information. "I remember right after everything, there was a lot of speculation that some villain group was behind everything that was going on," she recalled. "Do you think they're connected, then?"

"We do," Sir Nighteye confirmed. "And with those pieces of information in mind, it's possible that the similarities between Izuku's Quirk and the leader's aren't entirely coincidental."

Inko's eyes widened as understanding struck. "You think they implanted Izuku with that villain's Quirk?"

"We suspect that it is indeed the same Quirk, or at least derived from it, though I doubt they specifically targeted him. They likely would have acted by now if they had, for one thing. For another, whatever the mechanism behind the spread of Quirks, it appears to have been out of their control once it got going." The sidekick shook his head. "In any case, the possibility does paint everything in a somewhat different light. We're going to have to be even more cautious going forward. To that end," he nodded to All Might, who shifted awkwardly in his chair.

"The Principal of UA is an old friend of mine, and he's been helping us with our investigation. He'd like to do whatever he can to assist and protect your family, especially in the event that Izuku is accepted into UA. As part of that, he'd like you to consider the possibility of the two of you staying at the on-campus dorms."

"Up until now, they've mostly been used for students with difficult Quirks who need additional training or accommodations," Nighteye added. "They're planning to advertise it as part of the normal resources they offer this year to all students, though. It would be more secure than staying at your apartment."

Inko frowned, thinking it over for a few moments. This was a lot of information to take in on such short notice. "That... makes sense for Izuku, but wouldn't my being there draw the wrong kind of attention?"

Sir Nighteye shook his head. "We've already considered that. As it so happens, the expansion of the dorm program means the school is in the market for someone to help handle the logistics of it all. I understand that you went to school for business management?"

She nodded, "I-I did, though my degree hasn't seen much use for a while..."

"Well, in any case, the principal asked me to pass this along to you." He fished out a business card and handed it to her. She glanced at it to see UA's logo and the name "Nedzu, Mr. Principal," along with a cartoonish drawing of beady eyes, a black dot for a nose, two rectangular ears and a triangular smile. "If you're interested in the position, he said he'd be happy to have you on board."

Walking through UA's gates for the second time to move in still left Izuku with the same sense of awe he'd felt at the entrance exam. He kept twisting his head every direction as he followed a robot to the dorms, drinking in the entirety of the campus. The dorms were a bit further from the main building, taking about ten minutes to reach while following a beautifully designed stone path.

"Dorms, dorms!" the robot announced, turning to face him and setting down his boxes. "Task complete. Goodbye!" Izuku didn't even respond as it hurried off, head tilting back to stare at the dorms in pure awe. They were even more magnificent than he could have imagined. The five-story building had been built with two towers connected by a two-story-tall central corridor, "HERO 1" emblazoned on the connecting corridor in white lettering nearly as tall as the wall itself.

He took a deep breath as he grabbed his boxes and walked through the doors, which had been left propped open for students moving in. Since his mom worked here as a dorm supervisor he knew he'd be one of the first ones here so she could help the other kids move in. Right now she was at the faculty dorm where she'd be staying with other on-site faculty members, making last-minute arrangements with them before heading over.

When he entered the building, he found the lobby mostly empty. The first floor seemed to be a common space, with several chairs and couches spread around one side of the room. A standing corkboard had been set up facing the door, with a large sign featuring a map of the building and several hooks holding keys on each side of it. When Izuku got closer he saw the map had been labeled to show boys on the left half of the building and girls on the other, with a sign below it:

"Students may select their rooms. Room assignments are subject to change as the year proceeds depending on student needs. Mark your room on the board below after taking the key!"

Beneath that was a smaller white board with a list of names Izuku mostly didn't recognize. The dorm had eight boys and six girls, so given they had four floors to choose from that meant there would probably be at least two kids to each floor.

Three of them had already checked in: two guys named Yoarashi Inasa and Rin Hiryuu, who both chose rooms on the second floor, and a girl named Tsunotori Pony on the third. Interestingly, it seemed a room on the fifth floor had already been reserved for someone named Mineta Minoru, since the key was taped by his name and the room number had been filled in with the same handwriting as the names.

One name, however, caught his eye and made him perk up. "Uraraka's here too?" he asked excitedly. They'd forgotten to exchange phone numbers after the exam (they were really tired, and had to rush for Uraraka to catch her train) so they hadn't been able to talk. He at least knew they both got in since he remembered seeing their scores in the chart of the top ten scores.

Unfortunately, Tsuburaba wasn't on the list of students staying in the dorms, so Izuku would have to wait until Monday to see what class he got in. Even if he wasn't in 1-A, from what his mom said the dorm had kids from both the hero classes here, so he could always ask some of the 1-B kids to get his number.

He shook off the thought and turned away, glancing at the stairs. Since he got here early he had his pick of the lot, so he might as well check out what the rooms looked like. With that in mind he headed upstairs for the third floor, leaving his boxes out of the way downstairs and trusting no one would steal them. Everyone in this dorm wanted to be heroes, so stealing stuff would go against their core values.

When he reached the third floor, he found all the doors were open, presumably so students could see them before choosing. They were all pretty spacious and plain with white walls, each containing one single bed, a desk, a dresser and a rolling chair. They also had balconies with curtains pulled aside to reveal the views.

Izuku paused as he stared through the glass sliding doors from the entrance of the room. From here, all he could see were the trees surrounding the building. They were pretty, but not exactly something he'd find that interesting. Since he was the first one here, he could afford to be picky. With that in mind he quickly jogged up to the other floors to check out the views from there.

After about ten minutes of deliberation he decided on the fourth floor. He could see over the tops of the trees there, but still see them so it didn't feel like he was staring over them. The treeline made the view from the balcony feel more natural. With that in mind he headed downstairs to grab his boxes, just in time to find someone else there.

Mainly because a box almost hit him in the head.

He yelped as he dodged out of the way, eyes bulging at the box that bobbed through the air. "Oh, my apologies," a female voice intoned dully nearby. A silver-haired girl stood near the stairs to the girls' area, her long bangs covering half her face and her exposed eye looking rather dull. She had one box in her arms, and two more floating towards her. "I did not realize someone else was here yet."

"Um, it's okay?" Izuku replied, coming out more like a question than he intended. "I mean, I should have paid more attention, too, so..." He trailed off awkwardly. The girl didn't respond, turning to the stairs to head up with the two boxes bobbing after her. Okay, so that had to be a telekinetic Quirk. So cool! He quickly darted to the sign, noting she'd already taken one of the girls' keys for the fourth floor.

While he grabbed a key for the fourth floor he heard a grunt from the entrance and turned to see someone stagger inside with several boxes piled high enough he couldn't see the person's face. He startled and ran over. "Hey, do you need any help?"

"No, I got it," the person grunted, setting the boxes on the ground. It was a bulky-looking guy with spiky dark brown hair and noticeably thick lips. He turned to Izuku with a smile and nod. "Thanks for the offer though! So are the dorms already pre-assigned?"

"Oh, no, we can choose them," Izuku replied, shaking his head. "I was just about to take my stuff up to the fourth floor. There's a map over there with all the unclaimed rooms, I think you're the fourth guy to arrive. I'm Midoriya Izuku, by the way."

"Satou Rikido, and thanks." Satou nodded and headed over to look at the board, while Izuku went to collect his boxes and head upstairs. He started unpacking right away, getting out his sheets and bedspread first so the mattress wouldn't be bare. He worked his way up from there, unpacking all his All Might and hero figurines and putting his clothes away. Of course, the Mighty Appendix got a spot of honor on his bed.

He didn't know how long he worked, but eventually Izuku decided he'd reached a good stopping point for the moment. Mainly because he didn't really feel like climbing onto the chair to hang up his curtains just then or hang up all the posters right now. He decided to go downstairs instead, see if anyone else had arrived.

Sure enough, plenty had. His mom had arrived while he'd been unpacking, taking control of the situation and helping direct people to rooms. She flashed him a smile and a brief wave when he came downstairs which he returned, before turning back to a girl with a poofy brown bob and... was that a Gothic lolita dress?

Izuku tried not to stare too hard, a bit startled to see that in a dorm. It was even harder when the silver-haired girl from before came down, paused to stare at her, and then promptly marched over to drag her away. Did I just witness a kidnapping? Izuku wondered as they disappeared up the stairs. He could hear a soft chuckle from his mother, and he walked over to her.

"I see you picked the fourth floor," she commented, and Izuku nodded.

"Yeah. I figured I'd choose a room with a kinda nice view." He glanced at the board, seeing some more keys were gone. He also noticed some more boxes sat around the floor, probably from someone else checking out the other floors. "How many people are here now?"

"I'm not sure off the top of my head, but there's been at least three since I arrived. I'm a bit embarrassed I took so long to get here," she added sheepishly. "I knew the exchange students would have settled in early, but I was hoping to beat everyone else."

"Exchange students?" Izuku perked up.

"There's a boy from China and a girl from America. I think she's half-Japanese, though she can't speak much Japanese from what I was told. She primarily speaks English. They're both in 1-B." Izuku nodded in understanding, and then paused.

"Wait, do you know the class assignments?" he asked excitedly, and his mother smiled.

"I know what classes the kids staying in the dorm are in, but I'm not telling you," she said, making him sag dejectedly. "If you want to know, you'll have to ask them yourself!"

"This is your way of making me make friends, isn't it." His mother's quiet laugh was answer enough.

"Wait, Deku-kun?" He perked up at another familiar voice, spinning with a wide smile to see Uraraka standing in the entrance with only two boxes.

"Uraraka-san! You're here!"

"And you are too!" she exclaimed, running inside with a beaming smile. She skidded to a halt, confusion flashing across her face. "But, wait, aren't you local?"

"I am, but mom got a job offer working as a dorm supervisor," Izuku explained, gesturing to his mom who smiled.

"So you're Uraraka?" she asked. "Izuku's told me so much about you!"

Oh sweet merciful All Might, no. Izuku froze and stared with dawning horror as he realized this was that "embarrassing mom" scenario he always saw on sitcoms. He hadn't had any friends to risk that with before besides Kacchan (who already knew her) and Hachinose (who never met her), so he hadn't realized this would be a threat.

Worse: Uraraka was a girl. He'd already been teased about it by Gran; if his mom joined in, he'd die of embarrassment! How did he not factor this possibility in when he agreed to his mom working here!?

"Anyways!" he said loudly, desperate to delay the potential embarrassment and sitcom shenanigans. "I grabbed a room on the fourth floor. We're all allowed to choose our rooms, so you can take your pick!" He all but dragged her over to the sign board, barely missing how his mom stifled a snicker as she clocked onto his thoughts.

Now that he looked at the list of students, he saw only two girls hadn't checked in besides Uraraka: Kodai Yui and Komori Kinoko. He assumed one of those was the girl from earlier. "Oh, so I can choose from any floor?" Uraraka asked. "What are the dorms like? They're the same on every floor, right?"

"Yeah. They're pretty average-sized, I think, and have some furniture like a bed, desk and dresser. They also have balconies and the view's different from each floor, which is why I chose the fourth floor so it wouldn't be blocked by trees, though come to think of it the girls' side of the dorm faces some other dorm buildings so a top-floor view might feel kinda awkward... So maybe the second or third floor, oh the girl already on the third floor is from America by the way and only speaks English, or that's what mom said, so maybe if you speak English or want to practice it..."

He trailed off as he realized what he was doing, and hung his head with a groan. "Sorry, I was rambling again."

"Pfft, don't be, it's kinda cute!" Uraraka giggled, and Izuku felt his face heat up. Thankfully he didn't have a chance to respond before the lolita girl from earlier popped out of the stairwell and skipped over to the sign. She briefly stuck out her tongue at them with a coy-looking grin as she swiped a key for the fourth floor.

"Mind if I cut in?" she asked, and they both stepped back so she could mark the space by the name Komori Kinoko. When she finished she bounced over to some of the boxes and picked them up to carry upstairs.

"Oh, let me help real quick!" Uraraka offered, jogging over. "My Quirk lets me make stuff have zero gravity!"

"Ooh, thanks!" Komori accepted the help easily, and the two agreed that Uraraka would release the effects of her Quirk within three minutes. In that time another person arrived, a notably diminutive boy with purple hair that looked like grapes. He dropped his boxes and looked at the board, groaning in dismay.

"Ah man, I'm all the way on the fifth floor?" he whined, and Izuku remembered that one of the rooms on that floor had been marked as claimed by Mineta Minoru.

"You didn't request that room in advance?" he asked.

"I did, but not on the fifth floor!" Mineta sagged with a groan. "I guess it makes sense because of the special accommodations junk, but I don't want to carry this stuff all the way upstairs!" Uraraka had returned by this point, just in time to catch his last remark.

"Oh, let me help make it lighter!" she offered. Mineta shrieked in response, jumping behind Izuku and covering his eyes. Okay, that was a weird reaction.

"How many layers is she wearing?" he cried to Izuku, and what the heck?

"What?" Uraraka asked, looking dumbfounded by the question.

"Please just tell me you're wearing at least two!" Mineta whined. She blinked and looked down at her t-shirt.

"Um, y-yes?" she said awkwardly, face starting to tint red as she realized just how weird the question was. Mineta lowered his hands with a relieved sigh.

"Thank goodness," he moaned, and then screamed and covered his eyes again when he saw her t-shirt. "I thought you said you were wearing two!"

"I-I'm wearing a camisole!" she responded, and her face grew even more red as she slapped her hands over her mouth. That seemed to satisfy Mineta though, because he all but collapsed with relief.

"Oh thank goodness," he almost sobbed. "Thank goodness." Izuku and Uraraka exchanged quizzical looks while his mom came over.

"You must be Mineta Minoru, right?" she asked. "I'm guessing it's a bad Quirk day?"

Mineta stared very deliberately at the ground under her feet, eyes haunted. He whispered something about 'muscles', voice strained and shaky, before turning his full attention to her. His voice became a bit more frantic as he whined, "I'm trying the anatomy poster trick, but it's not working today because everything keeps flickering in and out! I saw someone's breakfast on the way here!"

"Well, your room's already got the paint and curtains set up on the fifth floor," she said, handing him a key. "I'll have someone bring your stuff up later if you want to go now." She barely finished the sentence before Mineta bolted for the stairs, leaving a dumbfounded Izuku and Uraraka staring after him.

"What just happened?" Izuku asked, feeling oddly dazed. His mom turned to them with a smile.

"That's Mineta Minoru. His second Quirk is See-Through Vision, and the focus on it is apparently rather finicky sometimes." That had them both wincing as they realized the implications. Five minutes ago Izuku would have thought that was cool and had many questions to ask, but given that "anatomy posters" and "breakfast" comment...

"I'm guessing it's hard to control," Izuku said.

"It's bad enough that they had to prepare his room specially. He would have been here even if the dorms weren't open to all students this year. It's on the fifth floor since we figured not many people would choose a room up there." Yep, that made sense. Maybe Izuku could set aside a few pages in his notebook for potential ways to work around his Quirk; he'd already planned to make notes on everyone's Quirks anyway. Helping Mineta was the least he could do, regardless of what class he might be in.

In the end, he ultimately volunteered to take up Mineta's stuff while Uraraka went to scope the remaining rooms. Delivering the boxes was... interesting, since Mineta had only opened his door long enough to snatch them inside before slamming it shut. When Izuku returned to the lobby he found Uraraka picked a room on the second floor. An orange-haired girl had come downstairs to help her take stuff up.

"We're floormates, so might as well get to know each other now!" she said as she hefted one of the boxes with a grin. Izuku smiled at that and waited in the stairwell until they went back upstairs, not wanting to cut in. When they left he went to check the sign, and startled as he saw her name was Kendo Itsuka, the same one who scored second on the exam.

Her comment about being floormates made him wonder about who would be on his own floor. When he checked the list, all that remained were Todoroki Shouto, Awase Yosetsu and Shinsou Hitoshi.

Well, no point hanging around to see who'd show up. Izuku would rather not creep out his prospective neighbors by skulking around the lobby. To that end he went upstairs to finish unpacking, hanging up the posters first since he could actually reach the wall to hang (most of) them up. Getting them just right took a bit of time, probably spending about half an hour before finally moving onto the curtains.

He was just about to step on the chair to unhook the blue ones that came with the dorm when he heard a thump and quiet curse from the hallway, making him perk up. A neighbor! He grinned as he all but bolted for the door, poking his head into the hall. A tall boy with purple hair had stopped in the middle of the hallway, leaning his boxes against the wall so he could balance them with one arm while rubbing his thigh. He must have bumped into the wall.

While he did that he happened to glance over and their eyes met, and Izuku took the opportunity to smile. "Hi, do you need any help?" he asked.

"Uh... yeah, sure." The other boy looked faintly surprised by the offer, but shifted his hold so he could bend down a bit for Izuku to grab the top box more easily. He held onto the other two, but it looked much easier to carry that way. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Izuku let him take the lead, going to the far end of the hallway. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, by the way."

"Shinsou Hitoshi." Izuku almost dropped the box at that, eyes going wide with recognition.

"Oh! You're the one who got third place—uh..." He trailed off as he noticed Shinsou cringe slightly. Okay, that seemed to be a touchy subject for some reason. Izuku quickly changed the topic as they entered Shinsou's dorm. "So I'm in Class 1-A! How about you?"

Shinsou relaxed slightly at that. "Me too." Izuku perked up.

"Really? Awesome! Who do you think will be our teacher? UA doesn't really post all its faculty online for security reasons, but we had Snipe in our exam site. And you probably saw at least one Ectoplasm."

"I had Cementoss in mine," Shinsou offered up, and Izuku's eyes shined.

"Really? I wondered if he'd be a fake villain! I knew he works here because he refereed some of the tournaments in the Sports Festival, but it's still cool to hear he was in the arenas. Come to think of it, I wonder if he made those cities..."

"Can he make buildings?" Shinsou asked, and Izuku shrugged.

"Probably? I mean, he doesn't use it like that in rescue work obviously, but—"

"Shoutooooo!" He stopped as a muffled scream sounded below them, making them both freeze and look at each other in confusion. What the heck was that?

Meanwhile on the first floor, Todoroki Shouto was regretting his life decisions leading up to this moment. He could hear Fuyumi stifling a giggle as Yoarashi Inasa barrelled towards him, a giant grin practically splitting his face in half. "Shouto, you're finally here!" he boomed at a more reasonable volume. "I have to admit, I didn't think you'd pick to live at the dorms since your family is local!"

"...I felt like I needed the space," Shouto replied blandly. Fuyumi stifled another giggle, along with the green-haired woman who had greeted them.

"I absolutely understand!" Inasa said, bobbing his head with a serious expression. "I'd want to get away from your father too." He turned to Fuyumi and added, "No offense, Fuyumi-san!"

"None taken," Fuyumi replied with a light smile. "I already know you're not a big fan of dad, Inasa-kun. But I'm just glad Shouto won't be surrounded by only strangers here!"

"Me too!" Inasa replied, turning to Shouto with a grin. "Come on, I'm on the second floor! Another room has already been claimed there too, but there's no rule stating we can't have more than two people on each floor!" Shouto stared at him blankly before glancing at the sign with the building's floor plan. Specifically, the floors with only one occupant, floors three and five.

Three is way too close to two. He snatched up a key from the fifth floor, one spot away from the stairs since the furthest one was claimed, and went to grab his boxes. He knew he probably had more stuff than most of his prospective classmates, which was why Fuyumi had helped him carry them all the way to the dorm building.

"The fifth floor, hmm?" Inasa asked, jogging over to grab a few of them. "Let me help you take everything upstairs!"

"...Sure." If Shouto had learned anything in the past few years, it was that nothing could stop the force of Hurricane Inasa, as Natsuo liked to call it. "But you'll have to help me put down the tatami mats and install the shoji."

"Living in style, I see!" Inasa laughed, already heading to the door. "If we work together, we'll be done before dinner!" Shouto just hummed.

"Bye Fuyumi-nee," he said as he followed after Inasa.

"I'll see you next weekend, Shouto!" she said with a smile, turning to talk with the woman some more. As they headed up the stairs and Inasa's cheerful chatter echoed off the walls, Shouto could only think one word: Loud.

Chapter Text

.:. School Life: Start! .:.

“A successor?”

“Yup!” The schoolgirl leaned up against the bridge railing and lifted herself up, legs swinging back and forth and loose black hair fluttering in the wind. “You’re getting old, All Might. Older than me, even. Don’t you think it’s time?”

He pulled his coat a little closer to protect against the cold and snow, and looked out over the grey water. “I don’t think... I can’t do that in good conscience. Not while that power still—”

“Toshi, Toshi,” she chastised him gently. “That’s exactly why. You beat All For One. You did what the rest of us couldn’t. And now, his power’s passed on, and it’s time for One For All to do the same.”

“And entrust Young Midoriya to whoever comes after me?” He shook his head. “I don’t doubt him , he seems like a good boy. I know he’s nothing like that man, even if they have the same power. But...”  He frowned, fists clenching. “But even so, I can’t help but worry as long as it exists.”

By all accounts, Midoriya Izuku seemed to be a genuinely good person. Everyone said so, even Gran, and Toshinori had seen no hints of anything remotely malicious the few times they met. In fact, Toshinori had to admit that under other circumstances he likely would have even considered the boy as a potential candidate  to eventually inherit One For All.

No, it was not Midoriya Izuku that Yagi Toshinori feared. It was the power he held.

“As long as he has it, he’s a target,” he whispered. “If he were somehow coerced, such as if someone got threatened. Or if one of All For One’s followers found out about it... Or if someone found a way to subvert his control...” He shook his head again, grimacing at the mere thought.

Midoriya’s heart was good, but Toshinori could recognize that was also his key weakness. If a villain were to threaten someone, even a total stranger, in order to force Midoriya to use All For One’s power, he had no idea what the boy would choose. He might be able to resist the temptation to use that Quirk, choose to value the greater good, but if he did so and the hostage was killed...

The boy would break. His heart was just the kind that couldn’t stand the guilt of being responsible for the loss of a life. Even if he didn’t kill the hostage with his own hands, he would still place the blame at his own feet. While it would ultimately be the villain’s fault, it was hard to fully accept that when the hostage would have been in that position purely to use against him.

And if Midoriya broke, Toshinori had no idea what would happen next.

“It’s too much responsibility to place on someone else. He’s only in this position because of me. If the worst comes to pass, then that responsibility still rests on my shoulders. And besides, even if none of that ever comes to pass, he’ll still need someone to support him as he figures out a proper use for that power. I don’t know if I can be that someone, and train a successor all at once.”

The girl fell uncharacteristically quiet as he finished, thinking. “He’ll be a handful, I’ll give you that,” she said softly after a moment. “Sort of like someone else I know.” Oof. That comment was quite a bit more pointed. “He might not be trying to become the next pillar of society, but it wouldn’t be the first time a Quirkless kid with a dream and more guts than sense got a power that strong. And by the look of things, that last time turned out pretty well.”

She was older, now. More like the woman he remembered as she turned to him with a familiar grin and a soft punch to his chest. “Have some faith, Toshinori. Don’t worry about the worst case so much, and focus on the present for a bit. You’re right about one thing, though. He’ll need someone to keep an eye on him as he grows.” Her smile faded then, her mouth setting itself into a more serious line as her dark eyes bored into him.

“Don’t place all of this on your own shoulders. You’re not alone.”

Toshinori wasn’t entirely sure when he woke up that morning; it was the gradual sort of awakening that catches you off guard. Once he was fully aware of himself, he sat up in bed and rubbed his temples, trying to work through the dream while it was still fresh in his head.

“Seriously, again...?”

This marked the sixth time he’d dreamt of Nana since meeting Midoriya Izuku.

Ochako finished adjusting her tie and snapped a quick photo in the mirror. She already knew she’d never hear the end of it from her family if she didn’t take plenty of pictures to send back. She did one last run through to make sure she had everything she’d need (thankfully not much, since it was only orientation day), hoisted on her backpack, and headed downstairs.

The first thing that greeted her was the smell of something sweet, followed by the sight of a few students hanging out in the common room. Rin and Awase had the TV on with the morning news, and Kendo was heading towards the front doors but stopped when she noticed Ochako.

“Oh, hey!” she called with a wave. “Glad I caught you before I headed out. Satou already left, but he left some cookies for everyone in the kitchen.” She held up her own half-eaten cookie to illustrate the point, and Ochako perked up.

“Sweet! Thanks.” In the two days since they’d arrived at the dorms, Satou had already baked a cake for everyone, as well as muffins for breakfast yesterday. If that was the baseline for his baking abilities, there was no way Ochako was going to miss out on more. She’d planned to grab a bagel for breakfast anyway since Inko-san had said she’d leave some out on a heated plate.

Sure enough, her detour to the kitchen was rewarded with two plates piled with warm chocolate chunk cookies besides the bagels. She grabbed one, considered for a moment, then slipped it in her mouth before grabbing another to take with her. She grabbed a bagel like planned, and then it was out the doors and to the main campus building.

She’d been wowed by the size of the campus when she first came to UA for the entrance exam (they had entire fake cities ), and the main building seemed determined to live up to her first impressions. Four huge glass towers connected in pairs so that the whole thing looked like a roman ‘H’ when you looked at it from the side. The sunlight’s reflection on the glass made it look so dazzling, it was almost blinding.

She entered and made her way up several floors to the 1-A classroom, and woah that was a big door. Ochako stood and just stared at it for a moment, wondering if any of her new classmates would need a door that tall, before shaking herself out of her door-induced trance and pushing it open.

The inside was... pretty normal for a classroom, actually. It felt weird and underwhelming after the excessiveness of everything else. The desks were arranged in four columns of five facing the blackboard, and had a teacher’s podium at the front of the room.

It looked like most, but not quite all, of her classmates were there already. A few of them she recognized from the dorms. Komori, Kodai and Satou took the last three desks of the second column, the girls chatting quietly while Satou talked to another boy from the next column over. She recognized Shinsou by the familiar shock of purple hair as he sat at the second desk of the third column with his head down, Todoroki directly next to him in the last column just waiting for class to start.

She noticed Deku seated second to last in the back corner, splitting his attention between talking to a girl with a floofy ponytail and frantically scribbling something down in his notebook. Standing next to them were a girl with her hair tied back in a cute bow shape, and— more importantly —Tsuburaba!

Ochako perked up as they made eye contact, watching him light up with a bright grin. She quickly slipped her backpack under her desk in the first column and slid over to that corner of the room. “Hey, looks like we all made it in the same class,” he said as soon as they hit a lull in the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s so great to see you!” she replied, matching his grin with one of her own. “I thought you’d be in the dorms for sure since you lived so far away!”

“Got a cousin with an apartment building out here, she’s letting me stay there for free. Oh, and congrats on placing eighth!” He quickly high-fived her, Ochako careful not to use all five fingers for obvious reasons, and he turned to the other two girls. “Asu— Tsuyu-chan , Yaoyorozu-san, this is Uraraka. She helped Midoriya and me during the entrance exam.”

They all made some quick introductions. Ochako noticed almost right away that Yaoyorozu Momo had that polished, upper-class air to her of a rich girl, though thankfully she didn’t seem like the spoiled type. Asui (“Please call me Tsuyu, kero.”), meanwhile, seemed a bit more down-to-earth and blunt. Once introductions were finished, Ochako happily joined the conversation.

“What do you guys think the entrance ceremony is gonna be like?” she asked, before quickly adding, “Ooh, who do you think our teacher is?”

“Not sure,” Deku offered, eyes flicking up from his notebook. “I checked and the name on our schedule wasn’t publicly registered to any heroes, but given hero confidentiality protection laws that’s only kind of unusual. I asked mom, too, but she said whoever he is, he’s been avoiding her for some reason.”

“If you just came here to make friends, the door’s right there,” someone interjected from the front of the room.

Ochako looked at the speaker, then did a double-take because a large, yellow blob with a scruffy human face set in it was standing behind the teacher’s podium.

“This is the hero course. If you’ve got the right class, then take your seats.”

“Excuse me,” Tsuyu said, and Ochako scrambled out of the way as both girls hurried to their seats on the other side of the room.

The man-blob waited for them to settle into their desks before speaking. “Okay, it took you all seventeen seconds to get settled. Time is importa—”

At that moment, Awase crashed through the door, gave a panicked look at everyone else in their seats, offered a few high-speed bows to the yellow blob, and took his seat two spots in front of Ochako. She had to bite down on her fist to keep from laughing at his frantic scramble, and even then she was pretty sure her shoulders shaking gave her away.

Mr. Blob took a few seconds to give them all a deadpan look, lingering on Awase in particular. “As I was saying, time is important,” he resumed in a monotone. “If you waste it, you just aren’t being rational. With that out of the way, I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Nice to meet you.”

He unzipped his— ah! so it was a sleeping bag!— and shrugged it off before holding up a piece of blue, white, and red fabric. It only took a second to recognize it as a gym uniform like the one they’d received with their regular uniforms. “I know it’s a bit sudden, but take these and get changed, then head out to the field. I’ll explain further when you meet me out there.”

Ochako exchanged curious looks with her classmates while Aizawa left, but grabbed the gym uniform out of her bag. She followed the crowd to the changing rooms, everyone hurrying to get dressed with little conversation before going to the field. Something told her Aizawa wouldn’t like them wasting time on chit-chat in the locker room.

Fortunately a few of the dorm kids had taken a brief walk around campus yesterday, so they had a general idea of how to reach the field. Aizawa-sensei waited looking almost bored, hands stuffed in the pockets of his baggy black jumpsuit. “Today we’ll be conducting a quirked physical assessment test,” he announced once they all arrived, skipping any other pleasantries.

There were a few exclamations of surprise from the other students, Ochako included. “What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?”

“What about them?” Aizawa-sensei retorted. “If you’re going to become a hero, you won’t have time for such leisurely events. UA’s selling point is how unrestricted its curriculum is. That freedom extends to how teachers run their classes.”

Ochako bobbed her head in understanding, shrinking back into the crowd slightly. That made sense, kind of... but geez, that didn’t make it any less harsh. This guy must be really serious about his job.

She could respect that.

“You guys have been doing this sort of thing since junior high, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren’t allowed to use your Quirks.” He held up what looked like a pretty standard electronic measuring device for distances and times to help illustrate his point. “The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks. It’s irrational to do it that way since it prevents people from gaining a realistic perspective on their capabilities. But, since the Ministry of Education is dragging their feet, we’re going to correct that issue ourselves here today.”

He pulled out a softball. “Bakugou, you finished at the top in the entrance exam, right? What was your best result for the softball throw?”

A boy to her left straightened up with a cocky grin. “67 meters.”

“Then try doing it with your Quirk. You can try whatever you want so long as you don’t leave the circle.”

Bakugou nodded and took the softball Aizawa-sensei handed off to him as he walked to the circle, stretched a few times, then...

“DIE!”

BOOM!

A flash of light sent the ball rocketing into the air, and Ochako could feel the heat of the explosion all the way from where she was standing. The ball covered a long arc as it streaked through the air like a meteor, then crashed into the ground and bounced a few times before rolling to a stop in the distance.

Aizawa-sensei held up the recording device to reveal Bakugou’s score of just over seven hundred meters. Pretty much everyone broke out in surprised and excited shouts over that, their voices quickly overlapping.

“Actually, this might be kind of fun!” one of the other girls, who looked distinctly pink, said excitedly. Aizawa-sensei seemed to catch that comment in particular.

“‘It looks fun,’ huh?” he said, and a hush instantly fell over the class as a grin that showed way too much teeth slowly spread across his face. “You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?” The question hung in the air, and his smile faded in an instant, back to looking bored. “Alright. Whoever comes in last place overall in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential, and will be punished with expulsion.”

“ Huh?! ” The class stared at him in shock.

“Like I said, us teachers are given a high degree of freedom to handle the circumstances of our students,” he drawled. “Welcome to the UA hero course!”

“Wait, seriously?” Ochako yelped. “Even if this wasn’t the first day of school, isn’t that unfair?” Some corner in the back of her mind knew that talking back to the strict teacher who was already planning to expel someone was probably not the brightest idea, but come on.

Surprisingly enough, Aizawa-sensei turned serious and seemed to actually consider her question rather than just throwing her out on the spot. “Show of hands,” he addressed the assembled students, “how many of you have been caught up in a dangerous situation where you needed to be rescued by a pro hero?”

About a third of the class raised their hands alongside Ochako, some faster than others. To her surprise, Deku was one of them, but maybe it shouldn’t have caught her off guard. They’d only been friends for a few days, and that wasn’t the sort of thing that you just brought up in casual conversation. She wasn’t completely sure, but for a second there it looked like Tsuburaba was about to raise his hand, too. In the end though, it rested at his side, and she turned her attention back to Aizawa-sensei.

“When you were in that situation, were you more worried about how unfair it was, or being saved?” He let the question hang in the air for a moment as they all digested it. “Villain attacks, accidents, and natural disasters. Japan is covered in unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations, or at least try to get them under control. That’s what you’re here to learn how to do, and over the next three years you’ll be pushed to the edge to help you learn it. Go Beyond. Plus Ultra.”

His grin returned, far too wide and eyes glittering with an almost malevolent glee. “Now, come at this with all you’ve got.”

Woah. That took a turn.

As everyone lined up for the exercises, Ochako gravitated towards the people she already knew best, which in this case meant Tsuburaba, Deku, and Komori and Kodai from the dorms. Deku and Tsuburaba seemed to share her thoughts on Aizawa-sensei’s speech—or well, Tsuburaba did.

“Wasn’t that cool, Shinsou?” Deku babbled excitedly, apparently unfazed by the intimidating aura Aizawa’s words left. “It really had that ‘pro-hero’ feel, didn’t it?”

Even though she hadn’t really gotten to know him beyond ‘Deku’s floormate,’ Ochako could tell that Shinsou looked a little bit paler than usual. Actually, make that a lot paler. And maybe a little green. It didn’t look that good with his hair.

“Easy for you to say,” he muttered sourly before sighing and shaking his head. “Sorry, I just never did too great on these and I don’t have a physical Quirk to give me a boost. I’m not really looking forward to it, considering...”

“Yeah,” Komori agreed, face uncharacteristically sullen. Her bangs covered her eyes today, giving her a remarkably gloomy look compared to how she’d been over the weekend. “Mushrooms are great for fighting robots—heck, they’re great for almost everything!—but how are they gonna help me in P.E.? What if one of us comes in last?”

“Ah,” Deku said, face falling, but after a few seconds brightened again. “W-well, you both worked really hard to get here, and I’m sure Aizawa-sensei will see that! Just try your hardest, and we’ll be cheering you on the whole time.”

Shinsou didn’t look convinced in the least, but at least he seemed less sick. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave what was either a smile or a grimace, and she was kinda leaning towards it being the latter. “Thanks. I’ll... yeah.”

“ Oi, Deku! Get your ass over here, we’re racing!”

Deku jumped a little bit and turned to face Bakugou, who watched them with a scowl near the dirt lane for running. “R-right, I’ll be there in a sec, Kacchan!” he called back.

Ochako watched as he took his mark at the start line. As soon as Aizawa called “start” he went literally crashing past Bakugou, the blond propelling himself forward with explosions from his palms. Deku beat him by just under half a second, sending the other boy into a fit of yelling. The race happened too fast for Ochako to actually cheer for Deku, but she made sure to shout in support after he’d won.

She wasn’t as worried as Shinsou and Komori, but she did agree with them on one thing for sure. This class, probably this entire school , was full of crazy powerful people. She was gonna have to work hard if she wanted to keep pace with them. It was like Aizawa-sensei said:

Go Beyond. Plus Ultra.

“Infinity?!” the rest of the class shouted in disbelief.

It turned out that being perfectly built to launch a softball into orbit is really good for your physical assessment scores.

Ochako returned to the group and exchanged high-fours with her friends while Aizawa-sensei grabbed another ball, seeing as the one she’d thrown should be turning into a satellite any second. Not that she felt bad about her earlier scores, but something like that should get her a good ranking for sure.

Kaminari went after her, and then they continued down the roster until they got to Shinsou. He slumped into the circle and stared at the ball in his hand until she began to wonder if he was going to throw it at all.

“You can do it Shinsou!” Deku called, and Ochako felt the need to offer her own encouragement.

“Yeah, just use everything you’ve got!”

Shinsou looked back at them, then at the ball, then seemed to make up his mind about something. “Hey, sensei. Anything’s fair game as long as I don’t leave the circle, right?” he asked. “As long as we use our Quirk?”

Aizawa-sensei grunted his confirmation.

“Cool.” He glanced back at Ochako and called, “Hey Uraraka, mind if I borrow you for a second?”

“Me? I guess.” She walked up to the pitch. “What’s up?”

He lowered his voice so that she was pretty sure only she could hear him. “Sorry about this in advance. You seem pretty cool, but I need this class more than I need friends.”

She startled at the statement, finding it more than a little ominous. “Huh? What are you talking abo—”

That was all she got out before everything went blank.

A second later she blinked in confusion because he was facing away and his hand was empty. What the? When did he move? I thought he said he didn’t have a physical Quirk. “Infinity again?!” the class shouted behind her, and Ochako looked around in confusion. Shinsou stood for a moment, staring into the distance, then turned and started walking away.

“Thanks for the assist,” he called over his shoulder, but it didn’t sound like his heart was in it. She noticed that he went to a different spot than before, away from where he’d been standing with her, Deku and Tsuburaba.

Ochako took up her spot next to them again, still trying to piece together what on Earth was going on. “Uh, what just happened?” she asked feebly, and got a surprised look from Tsuburaba.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Deku asked.

“I mean I just walked up there to talk to Shinsou, and next thing I know he’s matching my score. Did he have a speed Quirk or something?”

Tsuburaba cocked an eyebrow. “No? He said something to you, then you reached out and used your quirk on his softball, and then he did pretty much the same thing you did. You don’t remember it at all?”

She shook her head with a frown.

“...Ooooooh,” Deku said softly to himself. “So that’s what that was.”

“What?” she asked, desperate for answers.

“Oh!” he said, apparently returning to Earth. “I, uh, I think he might’ve used a Quirk. I couldn’t tell you the specifics or anything, but from what you’re describing I guess it’d have to be some sort of compulsion thing?”

“What, like mind control?” She frowned. “But why would he even need to use something like that? He could’ve just asked for help!”

Deku shrugged helplessly. “Maybe he thought it wouldn’t count if he wasn’t ‘making’ you do it somehow? I mean, it is a Quirk assessment test, so...”

“I guess...” She glanced over at Shinsou, now positioned on the other side of the crowd from them and very deliberately not looking at her. She definitely didn’t like the idea of someone just taking control of her like that with no warning, especially since she couldn’t even remember it, but she could at least understand why he did it.

Seriously though, why didn’t he just ask? And why did he seem so sure they couldn’t be friends?

“Okay, I’ll quickly tell you the results. If you’re really worried about the exact breakdown, we can go over that another time, but for the moment just know that your score takes into account your overall performance on all the tests.”

Aizawa-sensei pulled up a holographic chart with all their scores. Ochako scanned for her name, aaaaaaaand— tenth place! Not too shabby! In fifteenth was Shinsou, so at least he’d made it even if he’d had to play dirty, and in last place was...

“By the way, I was lying about the expulsion,” Aizawa-sensei mentioned nonchalantly. The Totoro smile was back as he added with way too much glee for a guy who spoke in monotone the rest of the time, “It was a logical ruse to help bring out your full potential.”

The entire class exploded in a mixture of surprise and outrage. The only exceptions were Komori, who was too busy practically melting with relief after scoring last (turns out she really did not like physical exercise), and Yaoyorozu, who had apparently been expecting this outcome from the get-go.

“He wouldn’t actually expel someone on the first day,” she said. “It should have been obvious if you thought it through.” Judging from the exasperated groans a few of the other kids around them made, it really wasn’t.

After everyone calmed down a bit, Aizawa-sensei sent them all back to the classroom to pick up the handouts that would be their substitutes for the orientation, with one exception. “Midoriya, stay behind for a second.”

She and Tsuburaba lingered a short distance away, wanting to wait for their friend. A hard glare from Aizawa-sensei had them scrambling away though. After changing back into their uniforms they still hung by the locker rooms to wait for Deku, so they got a front-row seat of his shellshocked look as he turned the corner.

As soon as he noticed them he quickly straightened up, looking at them in surprise. “Huh? Were you waiting for me?”

“Yeah, of course we were!” Tsuburaba said with a grin. “Dunno about you, but walking back to the classroom alone would be kinda scary on the first day.”

“Yeah, I guess a little,” he agreed with a small smile. He went to change and soon they were walking to the classroom as a trio.

“What did he want to talk about, anyway?” Ochako asked.

“Was he mad about the crater you left during the long jump?” Tsuburaba asked, flashing a brief grin. “Still can’t believe you did that!”

“Huh? Uh, n-no, it wasn’t that.” Deku quickly shook his head. “It’s just a, uh, medical thing to do with my Quirk. He just wanted me to know I could come to him or the nurse about it if I ever needed to.”

Ochako got the feeling that that wasn’t all it was, especially with that look on his face when he first came back, but she decided not to push.

Besides, she quickly forgot about it when they got back to the classroom to find Satou had somehow brought out more cookies for the rest of their classmates. Assessment test aside, this year was off to a very sweet start.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

.:. It Begins .:.

The first full day of classes felt pretty routine, but also not.

Izuku vibrated in excitement each time the door opened to reveal another Pro Hero he'd seen only in videos and photographs, every single one in full costume. Sure, they still taught relatively mundane subjects, but these were Pro Heroes! Even after seeing Gran Torino nearly every day and even All Might, Izuku couldn't help his inner fanboy's internal squeals of glee at seeing so many of his idols.

By the time lunch rolled around he felt like he was on cloud nine. "There's so many Pros!" he exclaimed as he sat at a cafeteria table with Uraraka, Tsuburaba, and a few others from their class. "I can't believe we're being taught by Pros!"

"Well, this is UA," Asui commented. "It's pretty famous for being taught by pros, kero."

"I know, but still! This is so cool!"

"While I understand your enthusiasm, you should try not to make such a big deal of it," Iida said. "They're still your teachers, first and foremost, and deserve to be respected as such!"

"I don't think it's bad to be excited right now," Yaoyorozu said with a smile. "It's still the first day, and none of us really know who the teachers are. The syllabus kept the names blank for security reasons."

"Yeah," Uraraka agreed. "I'm with Deku on this one. I know I'll probably get used to it pretty fast, but right now it's really cool seeing all these pros!"

"Well, as long as you treat them with proper respect, I suppose it's fine," Iida allowed with a nod. "Although, please try not to mumble so much during class, Midoriya." Izuku wilted a bit and sheepishly shrunk.

"S-sorry about that..." Even though Gran Torino had spent months trying to help him kick his mumbling habit, seeing so many Pro Heroes in such a short time had made him effectively relapse. By the time Cementoss came in for third period it had gotten bad enough that the man had to ask him to be quiet, much to his embarrassment.

Luckily his classmates didn't seem inclined to linger on the topic. "Hey, who's that girl Komori and Kodai are talking to?" Tsuburaba piped up curiously, glancing to the side. "She's not from our class." Izuku and the others followed his gaze to see their classmates seated at another table not too far away with a silver-haired girl.

"Oh, that's Yanagi," Uraraka replied. "She and Komori are floormates at the dorms. They spent pretty much the whole weekend together, so I'm not surprised they're getting lunch together. You can see my floormate Kendo over there, she's the one with the bright orange hair!" She pointed to a table further away where Izuku recognized Kendo, talking to some other kids Izuku didn't recognize.

"Oh right, the dorms have both classes in the same building, don't they?" Yaoyorozu said. "I've been curious about what the dorms are like since this is the first year they're open to the public. I thought about moving in just to see, but I decided I'd probably still be more comfortable at home."

"As did I," Iida agreed, before adding a bit more sheepishly, "That, and my brother said he thought I would never leave campus if I moved in." Izuku silently agreed with Iida's brother. Based on their few interactions so far, Izuku could already tell he was the serious, studious type. If he lived on campus, he'd probably devote all of his time to studying and training.

"Do all the dorm floors have someone from both classes?" Asui asked curiously.

"No, I live on the same floor as Shinsou," Izuku said. "I wanted to invite him to eat lunch with us, actually, but he, uh... wasn't interested, I guess." He shrugged feebly, trying not to frown. When he'd tried to invite the other boy to lunch Shinsou had just muttered a quiet refusal before shuffling off. As far as Izuku could tell he'd only stuck around the cafeteria long enough to get food before going somewhere else to eat.

It made Izuku feel disappointed, but also worried. Ever since the Quirk assessment test, Shinsou seemed to be avoiding... well, everyone. Even after classes he'd gone straight to his room, and only emerged long enough to grab dinner. Izuku really wanted to get to the bottom of that, but he also knew he should give the other boy space. After all the attention he got in his last year of middle school, he knew firsthand how stressful it could be to have someone try to force you into social interaction.

Judging from Uraraka's small frown, she'd probably noticed it too. "He's probably just shy," Asui told them. "It's still only the first real day, kero. He'll come around, I'm sure."

"Yeah, probably just new year jitters," Tsuburaba said with a nod. "But I just realized, this means you guys know some of the 1-B kids too, right?"

"Yeah, the ones in the dorms," Uraraka confirmed. "We all use the same common area and kitchen, so we've talked a bit. And so far I think we'd all die for Satou."

"Why Satou?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"His baking," Izuku and Uraraka replied in unison, making her blink in surprise. Uraraka added, very seriously, "He made us a cake on the first day in the dorms."

"Yoarashi called it the best cake ever and literally vowed to do anything for him if he agreed to bake more in the future," Izuku added. It had actually been pretty comedic to see Yoarashi stand ramrod straight and declare his eternal fealty to Satou in exchange for his baking. Satou had looked pretty overwhelmed and flustered at the declaration of loyalty.

"Yoarashi?" Asui repeated, and they quickly pointed him out. It took a moment to find him, since his buzzed brown hair didn't stand out as much as some of the other students' brightly colored hair, but he was sitting with several others from Class 1-B. At least the sheer size of him made him hard to miss once you knew what to look for. Of course, it wasn't as noticeable when he was sitting at a table, but his loud, booming laugh ended up drawing their eyes to him anyway.

"He certainly seems... enthusiastic," Iida commented as several other tables turned to look Yoarashi's direction when his laughter echoed over the general chatter.

"That's an understatement," Uraraka agreed. "I don't think anyone has as much school spirit as he does!" Iida noticeably straightened at that, clearly seeing a challenge in those words. Not that anyone besides Izuku noticed.

"Man, you know all these 1-B kids, and here I still haven't even learned all the names from our own class!" Tsuburaba groaned. "I don't even know this guy's name, I've been waiting for someone to say it!" He gestured to Iida, who sputtered in shock while Uraraka stifled a giggle.

Izuku perked up though, pulling a small pocket-sized notepad from his blazer. Gran had suggested it for jotting quick notes on the go when he couldn't use his full-sized notebook. "Actually, if you want some help, I made some notes on everyone," he said, flipping it open to a rough copy of the seating chart. "I thought it'd help me remember everyone's names faster." And also their Quirks, though he'd keep that to himself because—

Oh. Right, people usually found taking notes on others to be creepy and stalker-ish. He'd forgotten that part.

For a second Izuku worried that his offer would be seen as creepy, just like in middle school, but his worries quickly proved unfounded. "That is a wonderful idea, Midoriya-kun!" Iida praised with a nod. "Writing things down by hand helps commit it to memory better than simply hearing it or even typing it on a computer."

"I think I learned most of the names yesterday, but it's only the second day so I could use a refresher," Yaoyorozu said.

"Please share your wisdom with me, Midoriya-sensei," Tsuburaba said, clasping his hands together and bowing his head. Izuku felt his face heat up, even if he knew it was more playful than anything, and quickly turned to the notepad.

"R-right! Okay, so, I'll go by the columns, starting with the desk closest to the front. First column, you've got Ashido, Asui, Awase, Iida and Uraraka."

"Huh, I didn't realize most of the first column was at this table," Uraraka said in surprise. "Maybe we should invite them for lunch tomorrow?"

"Uh, I think they're good." Izuku's gaze flitted to Ashido and Awase, who sat at a table with Bakugou and a few others from the class. Bakugou's head started to turn their way and he quickly turned back to his notes. "Okay! Second column! Kaminari, Kirishima, Kodai, Komori and Satou. Kirishima's the redhead sitting with Ashido and Awase, and Kaminari's the blond guy with the electric Quirk."

"And you better know Satou after he gave us cookies yesterday," Uraraka added.

"Third column. Shouji, that guy with the mask. Shinsou. Jirou, that girl with the ear mutation that looks like it has some kinda jack on the end? And then Sero, who you should really know since he's right in front of you."

"I know him," Tsuburaba confirmed sheepishly. "And I know you and Yaoyorozu are in the last column, and that Bakugou guy's in front of you. Who're the other two?"

"Tokoyami and Todoroki," Yaoyorozu answered in Izuku's place. "I don't know Tokoyami, but Todoroki is one of the other recommendation students along with Shouji."

"Really?" Izuku perked up at the information. He recalled that UA had expanded its recommendation spots to allow up to six per year, so long as at least two had a second Quirk. The change came as more and more eligible kids had second Quirks each year, since children had been statistically more likely to develop one. They'd still needed to place in the top six of course, and he remembered hearing last year they'd kept it to four when only one person in the top six had two Quirks.

Shouji didn't resemble any Pro Heroes he could think of, and he knew Yaoyorozu had family connections and Todoroki was Endeavor's son, so... "So then, does Shouji have a second Quirk?"

"Yes, I think he was recommended by the Commission," Yaoyorozu confirmed. "They tend to keep an eye out for kids with useful Quirk combinations, but they don't really get involved with training them. I don't know exactly what his other Quirk is though. There were a lot of people at the recommendation exam, and I couldn't keep track of everyone. He did place above me though, he came in fourth."

"Woah," Uraraka and Tsuburaba breathed, Izuku mirroring their looks of awe.

"What did Todoroki place?" he asked curiously, and he really shouldn't have been surprised by the answer.

"First."

After the conversation about their classmates, Izuku anticipated their next class more than ever. The first class after lunch was Foundational Heroics, and this time Izuku wasn't excited to see who'd be teaching it, but his classmates. He'd been so excited by all the teachers he'd almost forgotten about their Quirks, but Yaoyorozu's confirmation that Shouji had two brought his curiosity back with a vengeance.

Yesterday he'd been able to observe his classmates during the assessment test, but that had been such a limited demonstration. Like Shinsou and Komori had pointed out, some Quirks weren't suited for physical exercises like that. At the very least, he never would have guessed that Shouji had two Quirks! Who knew what other secrets his classmates would be hiding?

And more importantly, their costumes would give him so much more information. Costumes were tailored to bring out the best of people's Quirks after all, which naturally included his.

Izuku wasn't the only one excited about it. Everyone seemed to be shaking with anticipation at their desks as they stared expectantly at Aizawa, the man looking bored which seemed to be his default expression.

"Everyone, it's time for your first Foundational Heroics class," he drawled in quite possibly the most underwhelming way possible to introduce the most important class of all. "We'll be holding the first class in Gym Gamma. I'll go over the details of the first exercise when we arrive, but before that, you'll need those."

He turned to the wall, and everyone sat up even straighter as four metal shelves began emerging with a mechanical whir. Excited gasps and whispers started as cases with bright green numbers came into sight, matching up to their seats. There was only one thing those could be.

"As you've probably guessed, these are your costumes," Aizawa declared. He looked a bit more alert and serious now, voice firm as he spoke. "They're designed based on your Quirk registration and requests you sent in before school started. Keep in mind though, these designs are not set in stone. If you find an issue with your costume, or realize you neglected some aspect of your Quirk, tell a teacher and we'll help submit a request to the support department. Most of you have no formal prior training, so you've likely overlooked some details that won't be obvious until we actually train."

The class chorused their understanding, but Izuku could tell they were more eager about the costumes than Aizawa's words. The man seemed to pick up on it too but didn't try to scold them, instead sighing and resuming his usual slouch. "Your seat numbers match the case. Grab them, and meet at Gym Gamma after changing."

After that everyone lined up to retrieve their costumes, Izuku hugging the case with 19 to his chest with a smile. My own costume, I can't believe it! He'd been dreaming of this day for literally as long as he could remember. Of everything that happened so far—from meeting All Might, to training with Gran Torino, to even passing the entrance exam and moving into UA—holding the case with his costume was the part that made it really sink in.

At long last, he was going to become a Hero.

"Midoriya, come with me," Aizawa called before he could follow his classmates to the locker rooms. "We need to talk about something before class. We'll meet up with the others at the gym." Izuku stiffened at being called out but quickly nodded, trying not to let his anxiety show.

"R-right," he agreed, following Aizawa in the other direction from the rest of his classmates. Part of him silently mourned at not being able to change into his costume right away, but his nervousness around Aizawa won out over that. He kept his head down as they walked, mind racing with questions about his teacher. He still didn't know much about the man beyond his surname, not even his hero name or Quirk.

Aizawa knew plenty about him though, as he'd revealed yesterday after the assessment.

"In case you were unaware, I have been briefed on your Quirk," he said once everyone had left.

"Oh, you mean Crash?" Izuku asked out of habit, but as soon as he said it he realized that Aizawa wouldn't ask him to stay for that.

"No, the other one." He stiffened, heart skipping a beat at the confirmation as Aizawa continued, "I believe you call it... Graft, correct?"

Izuku swallowed harshly and nodded. "Y-yeah, I do. Um, how did—?"

"Kid, I'm your homeroom teacher," Aizawa replied gruffly. "The rat told me as soon as the exam was scored. It would be irresponsible to not let me know that one of my students can take other people's Quirks." The way he phrased it had Izuku's heart skipping another beat, eyes going wide with horror.

"Th-that's not—I-I wouldn't—"

"Kid, I'm not saying you'd steal other students' Quirks or anything malicious like that," Aizawa cut in. "From what your file says, it's also not something that can happen by pure accident in a high-stakes situation. It requires a degree of conscious decision on your part, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir," Izuku confirmed, hastily bobbing his head, "I have to, uh, reach inside people, I guess? It's, kinda hard to explain, but the only time I used it by accident was the first time I used it, but that sludge villain was drowning me and I couldn't breathe so I was kind of panicking, and then I thought I saw a light and—" He stopped the rambling of his own accord this time, wincing as he mumbled, "Um, sorry."

If his rambling annoyed Aizawa, he didn't show it. "I only asked you to stay behind so I could let you know I'm aware of it. For understandable reasons, you don't have much experience with it, but just like with the physical tests that means you aren't fully aware of your capabilities and limits."

He crossed his arms with a sigh. "A lot of Quirks that manifested from the Second Quirk Boom can take time to fully develop or reveal their full capabilities. UA's had students who developed them before and after enrollment, so I've seen all the various ways this can go. Sometimes their full mechanics come naturally to the user like their first Quirk, but in some cases it's not nearly as clear-cut and is endless trial and error.

"You seem to be more of the first type," he added, "but that doesn't mean your understanding of it is perfect, and given its nature, your ability to train it is more limited than others. I want you to know you have someone you can talk to if it acts up or gives you problems further down the line. And I also want you to keep me updated if any Quirks are added for whatever reason."

"Of course, sir!" Izuku promised, nodding vigorously. "Right now it's just Crash and Glow Ink, and I don't know how I'd get more Quirks, but if I ever get... one..." He trailed off as he noticed Aizawa shooting him a rather sharp and maybe even surprised look, going by that slight widening of his eyes.

"...Glow Ink?"

Yeah, that had been a stressful conversation for Izuku. Particularly the part where it became clear Aizawa had not known about Glow Ink, and seemed ready to stalk off to confront whoever neglected to add it to his profile. Izuku had figured Gran, his mom, or, you know, All Might would have added it to his file—especially since Principal Nedzu apparently felt the need to go out of his way to brief Aizawa on Graft—but apparently not.

It kinda made him wonder about the file on Graft. They hadn't officially registered it for safety reasons, but he knew that All Might and Gran had Sir Nighteye help put together an unofficial file on it. Izuku hadn't personally seen it since it was mostly just the type of clerical information you'd find on an actual Quirk registration, but Gran had already told him that Nedzu would get a copy after he got into UA.

Izuku hadn't been surprised by the news. As the principal, it was only fair he got to see it. And plus, Nedzu was the smartest creature in all of Japan! Even without the file, he might figure it out somehow on his own. Izuku had also been informed that Recovery Girl would be told too, just in case any of the Quirks he might eventually attain led to health issues. However, for some reason it never occurred to him that his homeroom teacher would know.

And Izuku still had no idea who Aizawa was. All he could figure was that the man must be an underground hero, or else he'd have probably recognized him by now.

"So," Aizawa said as they walked along, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. "Do you have any issues with heights?" Izuku stopped briefly to stare at him in confusion while Aizawa continued nonchalantly, "Given the entrance exam, I'd assume you don't, but I want to make sure."

"Um, no?" he squeaked after a moment, and Aizawa nodded and said nothing else. Okay, what the heck? Izuku felt confused now, and it only grew when he realized they'd left the building while he was lost in his thoughts. He didn't know the layout of UA yet since it was only his first real day, but... "Sir, are we going towards the gyms?"

"Yes," Aizawa confirmed. "We're heading to Gym Gamma first."

"Oh. Uh, shouldn't I change into my costume?"

"You won't need it today." That managed to clear up nothing, create an ominous air, and also make Izuku sad because he wouldn't get to wear his costume.

"I won't?" he nearly whined in disappointment.

"Changing would take too much time. We need to get there before your classmates."

"Shouldn't I at least have a gym uniform though? If we're doing hero training, I don't want to get this dirty or messed up or anything—"

"That won't be a concern in today's exercise." The vague answer made Izuku kind of want to scream and pepper him with more questions, but by this point he realized it would be useless. Aizawa clearly had no intent of telling him or he'd have said it by now, so Izuku decided to give up and they spent the rest of the walk to Gym Gamma in silence.

The exterior of Gym Gamma looked like you'd expect of a gym building at UA, industrial in design and towering tall enough to make Izuku feel like an ant. The interior, however, was where he stopped and stared.

Instead of anything remotely normal for a gym, it had the most abstract landscape he had ever seen. Stone spikes littered the area, multi-tiered plateaus scattered around with some nearly reaching the ceiling. Some of the plateaus had stairs built into them, others had rock climbing walls, or just very rigid walls meant to be climbed traditionally. Tall columns dotted the gaps between a few plateaus, and with the netting below them Izuku realized they were meant to be used for jumping.

"Aizawa, just in time," someone called, and Izuku broke out of his stunned stupor long enough to turn and see Cementoss waving from a raised plateau in the center of the room. Oh, of course. This must all be cement, not stone; he'd probably shaped the gym today. But what kind of training called for something like this!?

"A bit grandiose, don't you think," Aizawa asked as he walked over, and glanced over his shoulder to call, "Midoriya, don't just stop and stare." Izuku stumbled after him, still ogling his surroundings in disbelief as they mounted stairs. This particular plateau had an "island" surrounded by a wide "moat" in the center, but instead of water the ravine had a pit of spikes. The island itself had a structure that faintly resembled an abstract sand castle. Clearly it was meant to be the centerpiece of the gym.

Cementoss had them heading towards it, waiting on a bridge just wide enough for them to walk on without fear of falling if they misstepped. "I've been working on this for a few days," he confided casually. "The other teacher had some... interesting ideas." Izuku snapped out of his daze at that.

"Other teacher?" he repeated. He'd thought Aizawa would be handling Heroics since he'd been in the classroom after lunch.

"He'll be here soon," Aizawa said, and stepped off the bridge before turning to face Izuku. "Alright, step over there on the X. Leave your costume case with us." He gestured to a large, clear mat that covered a good chunk of the ground between the castle and bridge. The "X" Aizawa mentioned was a glowing pink marking in the center of the mat.

"Um, okay?" Izuku handed the case to Cementoss and walked over cautiously, feeling understandably wary. As he approached it he noticed something right next to the X, and bent down to pick it up. "Um, why is there a walkie-talkie here?" he called.

The speaker on it crackled and Aizawa's voice came out. "Because the cube's soundproof."

"Wait, cube—?"

Oh no.

Izuku jumped as the X suddenly vanished beneath his feet, and suddenly the ends of the mat began rising. All too late he realized that the "mat" had a cross shape, only noticing now as the longest end began to bend and fold over to form a ceiling. He stood staring in dumbfounded shock as the cube closed around him, the clear material flashing with a pink glow as the edges connected.

"...Oh," he said faintly. Aizawa walked over next to the wall, holding another walkie-talkie to his mouth as the speakers crackled on his again.

"Sorry for the surprise kid, but for the first exercise you'll need to sit out and we couldn't risk you accidentally giving anything away." The crackle of static vanished as he released the button, looking at Izuku expectantly. Izuku just stared at him in disbelief, and slowly raised the device towards his face and pressed the talk button.

"Why am I in a cube?"

"Because your classmates need incentive for the exercise, and you'd give it away if they could hear you."

Izuku frowned, his confusion only growing. Behind Aizawa he noticed Cementoss turning to address someone, but Izuku couldn't hear what he said through the cube. He glanced over as he pressed the talk button, figuring that the new person must be the other heroics teacher. "Give what... away..."

He trailed off mid-sentence, eyes widening with horror. "No," he whispered, feeling himself start to tremble. "Please, no..."

At that, Aizawa grinned, the too-wide toothy grin that sent chills down Izuku's spine as he held the talkie to his mouth. "Oh yes."

Within fifteen minutes of leaving the classroom, Class 1-A had gathered outside Gym Gamma to wait for Aizawa and Midoriya. There was a distinct air of anticipation as they waited for their teacher and classmate, and the fact they all now wore their costumes only heightened the excitement.

"Dude, I can't wait!" Kaminari said with a grin. "Our first hero class! This is gonna rock!"

"Hell yeah!" Tsuburaba agreed with a fist pump and grin. "I don't know what we're doing, but I'm gonna win!"

"Ha, only if you're not up against me!" Bakugou snapped, and the two briefly glared at one another, competitiveness striking hot.

"It might not even be a competition," Yaoyorozu pointed out mildly, trying to play peacemaker. "It's only the first class, it will probably be more about basics and foundational elements."

"You say that, but yesterday we also skipped orientation to do a Quirk assessment right off the bat," Jirou pointed out. "So I mean, if we dived headfirst into this stuff on orientation day, before school even really began..." She trailed off, but her point was made.

"Okay, so if it is a competition, may the manliest one win!" Kirishima declared with a sage nod.

"Manly, huh?" Komori asked, eyes narrowed, and he froze.

"Uh, I d-didn't mean it like that—" He was mercifully cut off by one of the doors to the gym opening. Everyone instantly went silent and turned to watch as one of the large double-doors slowly pushed outwards, creaking all the while. They held their breath in anticipation, and then...

It stopped.

And that was it.

After a few seconds of nothing happening Ashido spoke up. "Uh, these doors aren't automatic, are they?"

"It's UA, so maybe," Jirou said. And then after a beat, "I don't think they're meant to automatically open like that, though." The air filled with tense apprehension as everyone stared, wary of approaching. Finally though Kodai and Todoroki both broke from the crowd and strode forward, peeking inside.

"No one's here," Todoroki reported. "So it probably is automatic." That had some students sighing in relief and others getting even tenser. Next to him Kodai tilted her head back as she peered through the gap, pulling the door further open to take a step inside. This of course caused some panic from the jumpier students.

"Hold on, you shouldn't go inside without permission or a teacher!" Iida snapped.

"Yeah!" Kaminari said. "And like, what if there are ghosts in there?"

"Ghosts?" Awase deadpanned, and the blond shrugged.

"What? Just saying, doors don't usually open like that with no one there!"

"Guy's got a point," Sero said. "Automatic doors don't usually swing out like that."

Before the class could fall into further debate about the mechanics of automatic doors and whether ghosts existed or not, Kodai poked her head back out. "Hey, I think someone's trapped in a cube by the ceiling," she said, and disappeared back inside.

Everyone gawked for a moment before there was a mad scramble to race after her. It took a minute to filter through the doors with everyone trying to enter at once, but they soon broke up the bottleneck and everyone got inside the gym.

The first thoughts of many: Woah, this does NOT look like any gym I've ever seen. The cement-sculpted landscape almost felt like a setting from a fantasy world, or maybe a distorted alternate plane of reality out of an abstract painting.

The second thoughts most had: Oh crap, someone IS in a cube by the ceiling. A clear cube was suspended from the ceiling in the very center of the gym, a person sitting inside. They couldn't tell who since it was so high up they could barely see the person. But even from a distance they could tell the figure wore the gray and green uniform of UA.

Yaoyorozu wasted no time in reaching for the exposed skin revealed by her costume's midriff. Sparks and green light flickered around her stomach as she pulled out a pair of binoculars, several classmates watching in awe while she raised them to her eyes. "Oh my gosh," she whispered.

"Who is it?" Kirishima asked eagerly.

"It's... Midoriya."

"Deku?" Uraraka gasped, and Yaoyorozu nodded, lips pulling into a frown as she continued to gaze upwards.

"Yes. He's still in his uniform, and... it looks like he's hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth...?"

Several people stilled at that. That... sounded very odd, but most of them had also only known Midoriya for two days so they couldn't say if that was out of character. Still, it was very alarming because something had to make him react like that.

It was then that Satou noticed something. "Um, guys?" he called, and several of them followed his gaze to see a figure not far ahead of them.

A little old man in a white hero costume with a yellow cape and boots faced them, one hand wrapped around a cane for support. It only took a few seconds for the nineteen students of 1-A to focus on him, several pairs of eyes noting a large key hanging around his neck.

The man looked at the crowd of befuddled teenagers, eyes filled with wisdom bestowed by several decades of experiences, and then took a breath.

"Hello? Where am I? Who are all you people?"

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

.:. A Gran Ol' Time .:.

"So," Aizawa said to the class. "Midoriya is trapped in a cube, and the only key is currently held by him."

He hitched a thumb towards the old man currently wandering around the gym, calling out, "Toshi? Toshinori? Where are you?" Nineteen pairs of eyes stared at him, and then slowly turned back to Aizawa.

"Sir," Iida called hesitantly. "Who is that, exactly?"

"That is Gran Torino. He's a retired Pro Hero and used to be a homeroom teacher here in the past. The principal invited him to visit today, but it seems his mental state has deteriorated more than we realized."

Nineteen pairs of eyes turned back to Gran Torino, who currently squinted at a rocky mound. "Is that you, Nana? You look so gray..." Everyone stared a moment, and then once again turned back to Aizawa.

"Um, why does he have the key?" Yaoyorozu asked. "And why is Midoriya in a cube at all?"

"As part of the training exercise, I was going to use rescuing Midoriya as incentive and have half the class work on it while the other half observed. After rescuing him, it would repeat with another student from the first team as a 'victim,' and Midoriya and the other half attempting the rescue." Aizawa paused and added, "However, we did not realize that Gran had taken the key until we saw him with it around his neck."

"Why is it on a necklace, anyway?" Awase asked.

"To make it easier to carry during the exercise. First-year students don't always think to have pockets in their initial costume designs." That got some sheepish looks from a few of the students.

"So wait," Kirishima said. "Is Midoriya just stuck in there unless we get that key?"

"No, we have a remote to open it," Aizawa replied, and then after a beat, "But I also don't really feel like using it right now. So the objective remains the same: retrieve the key from Gran Torino." Nineteen pairs of eyes once again turned back to the old man, who seemed to have fallen asleep standing while talking to Nana the pile of rocks.

"So just get the key from an old man?" Bakugou asked. "Hah, that's gonna be way too easy!"

"I'm more concerned about getting out Midoriya, kero," Asui said, resting a finger against her chin while she craned her head back to study the cube. "That cube is very high, and I don't think I can jump that high. And we don't know if the bottom will fall and drop him if it opens, kero."

"Eh, that part will be easy," Tsuburaba dismissed with a wave. "Me and Uraraka can just use the combo we used at the entrance exam to get up there, no sweat!"

"I can reach it with my ice too," Todoroki added.

"So for now, we just need to focus on getting the key!" Kirishima said with a grin. "Awesome!"

"Let's just get Deku out so we can get on to a real exercise," Bakugou huffed. Everyone nodded, minds settled, and turned to look at Gran Torino.

Except he was gone.

"Uh, where'd he go?" Sero asked after a beat. No one had an answer.

"Toshinori?" a feeble old voice called, drifting down to them from a distance. "Nana? Hello?"

"Good luck," Aizawa told them flatly, and sat down against the wall in his sleeping bag. "Oh, and try not to harm him. He may have been a Pro Hero at one point, but he is also elderly and seems to be suffering from dementia. You should treat him with the care he deserves. If any of you do hurt him, you'll be expelled."

With that ominous warning he zipped up the sleeping bag and everyone turned to survey the bizarre cement landscape, wondering where to even start.

"I don't want to risk spoiling any surprises," All Might said. "I doubt I'd hear the end of it," he said. "A friend of mine teaches at UA," he said!

Izuku had been so star-struck he hadn't really taken the time to think those words through in the moment, but now he really wished he'd been given some sort of warning that All Might's "friend" was Gran Torino.

His initial horror at seeing his mentor and trainer had soon turned to irritation as he watched his classmates filter into the gym. This was the first hero class, and he couldn't even participate because Aizawa and Gran wanted to use Gran's "senile old man" routine! They didn't want Izuku to give it away, because of course he would while trying to catch him.

At least it seemed like there wasn't any ketchup or sausages handy this time around, so his classmates wouldn't be too traumatized.

Still, some of that irritation was at least tempered by amusement as he watched his classmates scramble after the old man. The cube, while annoying, gave Izuku a great view of the gym. Gran kept wandering just out of people's reach, using his Quirk to propel himself to high plateaus whenever he wasn't in their line of sight so they'd have to find a way up. He had to admit, as an outsider, the chase was kinda amusing.

The walkie-talkie crackled and Aizawa's voice came through. "Midoriya, how are you doing up there?" he asked, and Izuku sighed as he grabbed the device.

"Still kinda mad you guys left me up here. I can't even get a good look at everyone's costumes!"

"There's a pair of binoculars."

"I know, but it's hard to follow everyone when they're moving so fast!"

"Sorry kid. This will be a one-off. But got anything interesting to report? Reporting the situation counts as hero training too." Izuku huffed, picking up the binoculars to peer down at a few areas that had gotten his attention.

"Well, I think Komori filled one of the spike pits with mushrooms," he said, looking at a pit full of red and brown. "It's a good thing too, because Kirishima and Kaminari fell into it while trying to follow Gran. I think they thought they could jump across somehow if they took a running jump?"

"You mean the pits that are three meters wide?" Aizawa deadpanned, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.

"Yep," Izuku confirmed. "Also the mushrooms are pretty interesting. I can't see much and don't know much about mushrooms, but it looks like she can make a wide variety. Are they actual natural varieties, or are they unique to her Quirk? Can she choose the type she spawns? She can obviously choose the size, but—"

"Midoriya, focus."

"Oh, sorry!" Izuku squeaked, and moved the binoculars to look elsewhere. "Anyways, earlier Todoroki made an ice bridge over another pit which was helpful. He also made a slide at one point to help some people get down after Gran went down to the ground level. It's starting to melt though."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Oh, Sero just tried to swing across a pit with his tape and fell." Izuku perked up as he watched Tsuburaba quickly blow a puff of air towards Sero to make a platform. "Tsuburaba caught him—oh, his costume looks cool! That jacket looks like it could be modified really easily to have pockets and stuff! I wonder what's with the stuff on his shoes' soles? Is that for better grip—uh."

He stopped as he looked at another area, specifically one of Todoroki's newly formed ice bridges connecting two particularly high plateaus. Seeing it through the binoculars let him see the small ridges and details much more clearly, giving him a new appreciation for Todoroki's Quirk, but that's not what held his attention. "...Okay, so Ashido just tried to use her acid to slide across Todoroki's bridge."

"It melted a hole in it, didn't it?" Aizawa guessed.

"Yep," Izuku confirmed, watching as Ashido, Awase, Tokoyami and Kodai all bounced in one of the nets strung beneath the gap. "Maybe Gran could have waited to spring this until after everyone got some situational awareness training..."

"Definitely have our work cut out for us," Aizawa agreed.

While Izuku was safely above the chaos with a front-row seat, his classmates had no buffer against the insanity that was chasing a senile old man across a giant obstacle course.

"How did you not realize acid might melt ice?"

"I'm sorry, okay?!"

Ashido looked frustrated and ready to keep whining as Awase shot her a very judgmental look. Asui paid them little mind, using her tongue to wrap around Kodai's waist and pull her up to the plateau. "Thanks," the other girl said, and Asui nodded as her tongue reeled back into her mouth.

"No problem, kero. I don't think chasing him is working too well though." Even as she spoke they could hear multiple classmates shouting in frustration as Gran Torino no doubt wandered out of reach again. For an old man with apparent memory issues, he proved surprisingly spry. He kept traversing the various levels of plateaus and cliffs with surprising ease, always appearing on a new level when no one looked at him.

"What even is his Quirk?" Tokoyami murmured, eyes narrow as he watched the old man hobble along the top of a rock-covered wall.

"His shoes have holes in them, so probably something with that," Kodai commented.

"Whatever it is does give him a lot of mobility," Awase grumbled while Tsuyu used her tongue to help pull him up. "No way he climbed those rock walls. I don't think that guy's arms could even reach all the handholds!" The students all turned to look at the indents made for climbing, and silently conceded he had a point.

Elsewhere, the rest of their class had plenty of their own issues.

"WHERE DID HE EVEN GO?" Bakugou roared, swiveling his head with a scowl in search of their quarry. He'd been hot in pursuit of the old man, having spied him atop one of the many cliffs, but upon quickly scaling the rock wall he found the man already gone.

"He's over there!" Kirishima shouted, pointing to several pillar-like constructs that resembled stepping stones. Sure enough there was Gran Torino, standing on the furthest one and looking around with overly squinting eyes.

"Where am I?" he called in a raspy voice. "Huh, what's this?" Bakugou's gaze locked onto the man instantly, vision going red.

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE, OLD MAN!" he screamed, launching himself across the stepping stones.

At that same moment on the lower tier, Kaminari had also spied Gran. "Guys, he's over there!" he hollered, and the nearby students sprung into action. Uraraka, Tsuburaba, and Shouji all raced forward, determination burning hot. Shouji reached the pillars first, his skin shifting and growing slightly tacky as he began swiftly scaling the wall closest to the pillar where Gran stood.

"Tsuburaba, go!" Uraraka shouted, slapping his back as he leaped into the air to carry him upwards towards the confused old man.

Unfortunately, in their hyper-focused state, neither Tsuburaba nor Bakugou noticed each other until they happened to enter each other's lines of sights. And doubly unfortunately, by that point they were both too close to stop their charges.

Uraraka, Kaminari and Kirishima all winced as they watched the two boys collide into each other and fall onto one of the other stepping stones, hissing sympathetically. Even Shouji flinched at the loud smack, shuddering. And as he shuddered, his skin's texture rippled to be more smooth, and he let out a rather undignified shout as he scrabbled to regain his grip before he slipped.

Gran Torino, for his part, simply turned and hopped onto the cliff with the aid of his Quirk and hobbled away. Given Kirishima was focused on pulling a furious Bakugou off of a still-dazed Tsuburaba, Uraraka and Kaminari were just watching that, and Shouji was busy trying not to fall, none of them noticed his departure.

(Up in the cube, Izuku smacked his forehead as he watched this. "I still can't tell if anyone's actually seen him use his Quirk yet."

"Hmm. May need to cut points for that later.")

As Gran hobbled along, he paused upon hearing loud talking from below and peered over the edge of the cliff. A rather flustered-looking Iida and Jirou hovered next to Komori, the mushroom-themed girl sitting firmly on the ground. "I'm done with this!" she declared in a near-wail. "I'm done with all this climbing and running and all of this! I already filled up all the spike pits, you guys can catch him!"

"Komori, while we are grateful for your help with the spikes, we can't stop!" Iida protested, chopping at the air as he spoke. "We need all the assistance we can get! Giving up now is absolutely un-herolike!"

"I don't care!" Komori whined, flopping onto her back. "My feet hurt WAY too much to do anymore running!"

"Yeah, those shoes don't look good for this kind of terrain," Jirou said with a sage nod. Komori, while wearing a rather sensible red dress with a white polka dot pattern and matching hat to mimic certain mushrooms, had gone for platform shoes. They were classic-looking mary janes save for the tall red-and-white polka dot platforms, easily two inches high, and had a mushroom decal on the toes.

"Ah, those... aren't practical, I suppose," Iida conceded almost sheepishly, before adding hastily, "But you should have accounted for strenuous activity when submitting your design!"

"Midnight walks with giant heels," Komori deadpanned. "Wild, Wild Pussycats wear boots with platform wedges. Uwabami wore pretty big heels too, have you seen her magazine spreads? There are all kinds of female Pros who wear high heels and platforms with no problem!"

Iida seemed at a loss for how to respond. "I-I, well... That is, er..." As he struggled for a response Jirou tilted back her head to look at Gran with a bland expression.

'I know you are there, but I know I cannot climb the wall and reach you before you're gone and it's not worth the effort,' her expression seemed to say. She then turned back with a tired sigh, and Gran withdrew from the cliffside to continue on his way.

He made it five steps when a voice stopped him. "Hey, old man!" He paused and turned to see Shinsou standing behind him. The boy looked rather tall in his black trench coat-like costume, his hair stuffed under a black ballcap as he stared at the man with a frown. He seemed to hesitate before calling out, "Do you need help?"

Gran stared at him blankly, eyes squinting at the teenager as he scrutinized him. Then he turned away and resumed his hobbling, calling, "Nana, can you hear me?" Shinsou couldn't see the man's smirk as he released a loud scream of frustration.

Not far away from there, some other students had taken a more strategic approach. "Okay, I can see him coming!" Yaoyorozu hissed as she peered around a cliffside, and quickly pulled back. "Get ready!"

"So you think this'll work?" Sero asked uncertainly. He and Yaoyorozu stood next to a web of tape spanning the gap between two cliffs.

"Hopefully," Yaoyorozu sighed as she ducked in the one small opening he'd left for her to walk through. Green sparkled around her torso as she pulled out a matryoshka doll. The yellow dress design greatly resembled her own costume, complete with the yellow to red gradient along the skirt. "Okay, I'm going to throw this, so put on the goggles I made you."

"Got it!" Sero agreed, pulling a pair of goggles over his eyes. Yaoyorozu did the same, and listened to the footsteps draw closer until she saw a shadow appear around the corner of the cliff. She threw the doll through a gap in the tape, and when it hit the ground white smoke burst and filled the area. The doll contained dry ice, creating a harmless mist that quickly obscured their vision.

A quick tap on the side of the goggles quickly activated them, her vision filling with blue and red as it switched into thermal imaging. For that reason, she saw a bright red and orange figure stumble into the cold mist and straight into the web of tape. "Yes!" she cheered, Sero whooping in celebration across from her. They'd caught him!

"Hey, let me out!" They both froze at hearing a distinctly young voice, the figure thrashing in the tape with a lot more vigor than a small old man would possess. Come to think of it, this figure was also much bigger than Gran Torino... "What even is this!?" Blinking, Yaoyorozu quickly produced a small fan and switched it on, blowing enough of the mist away to reveal...

"Satou?" she and Sero chorused incredulously. The yellow-costumed teen looked rather frustrated as he continued to thrash within the tape, his struggles making it cling to him almost like a cocoon.

"Let me out!" he cried. Oh. Oh, crap. They both raced over to try to help extract him from the mess, but soon found it harder than expected.

"Sero, is this double-sided?" Yaoyorozu yelped when her hands got stuck to one piece.

"I thought it'd be more useful that way!" the boy replied sheepishly, forcibly yanking his hand free of one particularly sticky piece of tape.

"Guys, just give me some of the sugar in the pouch," Satou sighed. "I'll just brute force my way out of it."

"On it!" Yaoyorozu replied, awkwardly reaching for one of the pouches to pull out a packet of sugar.

Izuku hoped the white powdery substance was sugar as he watched through the binoculars with a sigh. "So, Satou was trying to follow Gran, and he was being really sneaky about it..." In his opinion, it was actually pretty impressive that someone his size has managed to sneak along as well as he did.

"And then?" Aizawa asked.

"Then Yaoyorozu threw down a smoke bomb, and Gran used the cover to jump onto another tier, while Satou stumbled into the tape web Yaoyorozu and Sero made. And now I think he's kinda stuck, because they're trying to pull him out and are giving him sugar—oh. Oh no."

"Midoriya?"

"Uh, does his Quirk affect his intelligence or emotional state? Because now he's suddenly angry and thrashing around." He felt a bit sheepish as he watched the teen swing his arm wide, forcing Sero to dodge back with a yelp. "He managed to pull one hand free, which is great because I don't think they could get the tape off, but he pulled all the tape with it and... oh wow, is that double-sided? I can see rock dust and little pebbles clinging to it! These binoculars are amazing!"

"Midoriya," Aizawa-sensei said flatly, and he nodded.

"Right! Focus! Sorry. So Yaoyorozu and Sero are backing off, but I think Satou can get himself free from here."

"Good. What's Gran doing now?"

"Staring down Todoroki," Izuku reported dutifully.

On the highest plateau of all, Gran Torino and Todoroki Shouto stared each other down, one leaning forward on his cane and the other standing tall. For a moment neither spoke, the air thick with tension and the air chilly from more than just the ice coating the ground.

"Sir," Todoroki finally said, and Gran's head bobbed upwards in attention. "Give me the key, now." His voice rang with the exhaustion of a boy who had been chasing an old man all across a giant concrete jungle gym of an obstacle course. One who had been forced to create many ice bridges, many ice stairs, many ice constructs to more easily navigate the obnoxious manmade landscape. Though it made no significant dent on his stamina, it still grated on his nerves for all of his efforts to end up going nowhere.

Gran just blinked slowly, squinting at the boy. "No," he finally said, and then turned to step off the ledge. Todoroki shot forward in a panic, his right hand shooting forward to send a wave of ice to try to stop the man from hobbling off to his death.

In that moment, something unusual happened. After years of training, years of honing his Quirks, years of preparing to become a Pro Hero, Todoroki Shouto panicked.

Up until this point, most of his training had been geared more towards offensive situations. Even the theoretical lessons had been about villain apprehension, or relocating civilians to safety from an ongoing battle. As it turned out though, they had never talked about what to do when someone unknowingly walked to their own doom by stepping off a cliff.

Part of his training did kick in: remove the civilian from danger. And this part, he had practiced a few times, enough to have a reflexive response to "urgent removal" scenarios. Unfortunately for him though, those scenarios usually assumed that the civilian was dodging a threat, on land, and—again—not walking off a cliff.

The result meant a gust of air accompanied the motion to push the civilian away from the path of danger, making Shouto shout in shock and horror as he realized a second too late that his instincts had betrayed him.

The gust of air propelled Gran forward, the old man suddenly sailing through the air. All across the gym nineteen pairs of eyes lifted to follow the man's abrupt flight with varying degrees of horror. The ice Todoroki had created had made the ground lose its friction, making his launch even smoother and thus faster. All the students could see was a white and yellow blur zoom above their heads, a loud "wheeee!" whizzing through the air.

Above, Izuku watched the old man's flight with minimal concern, knowing his mentor was absolutely safe and instead taking amusement at the impending chaos.

Near the entrance of the gym Aizawa sat up straighter in his sleeping bag to watch the old man's flight. Not out of concern for his safety, he knew Gran would be fine. But regaining control of himself in midair would require exposing his fine control, at which point the students would pick up on the fact he wasn't exactly as "feeble" as he made himself out to be. And Aizawa would rather enjoy the chaos as long as possible.

Luckily, some of the students weren't blinded or paralyzed by panic. "Uraraka, throw me!" Shouji shouted. The girl nodded and slapped his back as he leaped upwards towards the flying man. Kaminari helpfully slammed his palms against the other boy's feet to propel him further, his trajectory a decent match for the human projectile.

Shouji shot his arms up and they began branching and spreading out to create a fleshy net-like structure with the webbing between the limbs, the skin rippling to become softer and more pink-tinted. Gran collided right into the center of the "net," the fleshy structure bouncing at the impact. The sudden weight and collision jarred Shouji's trajectory and sent him crashing downwards.

Fortunately for him, he was still under the influence of Uraraka's Quirk, keeping him from immediately crashing. The girl grunted as she felt the sudden shift in weight, nearly losing control of her Quirk. Once again though, they were not alone. Iida raced towards the group with Komori riding his back, the girl flinging a hand to send a wave of spores to the space below Shouji and Gran. The mushrooms rapidly blew up to an appropriate size to cushion their fall, just in time for Uraraka to release her control.

The result was a large cloud of spore dust as Shouji and Gran crashed into the mushroom, making everyone nearby cough and hack violently. "Um, just to check, is the dust from Komori's mushrooms harmful to inhale?" Izuku asked the radio worriedly.

"Not if they're already grown," Aizawa replied. "But the spores produced by her Quirk are harmful to inhale, and can make mushrooms grow on your lungs."

"...How... How did she even learn that?"

"Kid, first rule of Quirks: there are some questions you don't ask." A concept that was absolutely alien to Midoriya Izuku, but for now he decided to accept his teacher's words of wisdom.

As the dust settled and coated the ground in a thin layer of gold, more students quickly rushed over to the scene. "Yo dude, you okay?" Kirishima called.

"Sore," Shouji groaned. They couldn't see his face at the moment, his arms currently folded above his torso in a bulb-like shape.

"How about the old dude?" Tsuburaba asked. In response Shouji parted his arms like a very grotesque flower blooming, to reveal Gran Torino sitting on his chest. The old man blinked once, and then casually hopped off him, the mushroom releasing another puff of dust as he jumped on it.

"Where's my cane?" he asked, and everyone paused.

Meanwhile...

Tokoyami lay on the ground unconscious, a wooden stick next to his head and a comically large bruise forming. Ashido and Awase just stared at him blankly, neither really knowing what to do. "I'll grab his legs?" she suggested hesitantly.

"I don't think we're supposed to move someone with head trauma though?" Awase replied, just as uncertain, and they both looked at the fallen boy with a frown.

Back with everyone else...

"No idea," Kodai said. No one else had a chance to say anything before Bakugou was lunging at Gran, screeching with rage.

"GIVE ME THAT DAMN KEY ALREADY!" he roared. He barreled right past Gran as the old man smoothly side-stepped his lunge, giving a thoughtful hum.

"Eh, I don't need it anyway," he decided, and then to the absolute shock of everyone watching proceeded to deftly leap onto a nearby cliff with a jet of air from his feet. Jaws fell open and eyes bulged, and the only reason it wasn't perfectly silent was because of Bakugou's explosions.

Gran stepped out of their line of sight with a hum, leaning his head forward to squint. "Are you Nana?" he asked, scratching his head. Asui Tsuyu stood directly in front of him, the frog girl having leaped onto the higher cliff while en route to the crash site. She tilted her head at him, a single finger tapping her chin.

"Sir, forgive me if I am being rude," she said. "But you're not actually senile, are you, kero?" The old man gave low, rumbling hum at that, seeming to think.

"What?" he finally asked.

"You're just pretending," she declared bluntly. "Yaoyorozu told me she thought so before I went to help the others get out of a pit, and after all this, I agree."

"And if I am?" Gran asked.

"Can you please give me the key, kero?" Asui asked. "I don't think any of us will be able to actually catch you, and I would very much like to get my classmate out of that cube." Gran hummed once more, and then grinned, a savage expression that removed any pretenses of him being a confused old man.

"Heh, spend the past twenty minutes leading around these kids, and you're the first to actually ask," he said, tone much more gruff and gravelly compared to the feeble tones used before. He yanked the key off his neck and tossed it to her. "Go for it kid. Get the brat outta there, and we'll all talk by the entrance." With that he turned and jumped off the edge to rocket towards the entrance, making a loud chorus of frustrated screams and shouts ring anew as students tried to chase after him.

Asui just blinked down at the key, and then went to go grab Uraraka and Tsuburaba to release Midoriya from the cube.

Izuku had the sourest expression anyone in Class 1-A had seen on the boy as they all gathered by the entrance. While they hadn't known him long, it still felt oddly off-putting and out of place, even Bakugou looking wary at the expression. And the subject of that sour glower looked absolutely unbothered by it.

"So basically, the majority of you did an awful job," Gran Torino declared flatly, arms crossed over his chest. Gone was the confused old man who had no idea where he was, leaving a gruff Pro Hero jaded by years of experience. "Most of you failed to use your Quirks in the most efficient manner, a majority fell for simple tricks, some barely tried, many of you let your emotions get the better of you. And one of you actually blew me off a cliff. Accidentally, from what I can tell, not that that's much better."

He shot a pointed look at Todoroki at the last bit. To his credit the boy looked suitably sheepish and ashamed, frowning as he stared at the ground. Most of the kids looked equally chastised, knowing his other points applied to them. "You, blasty, were particularly bad," he added to Bakugou, making the blond grind his teeth. "Way too aggressive when dealing with a frail civilian. You're lucky I'm actually a Pro."

"Tch, it was obvious you were faking, old man!" Bakugou snapped irritably. "Anyone with eyes could tell that it was just an act!"

"I don't agree with Bakugou's use of force during the exercise, but it was obvious," Yaoyorozu said with a nod. "UA wouldn't allow someone with severe mental deterioration to wander around the school alone unattended. And I think anyone would realize you were highly aware given how easily you dodged all of us."

Given the sheepish looks most of the class sported, that was absolutely wrong. Sure, they might have figured out that somebody was tricking them, but they had thoroughly misguessed who. (A few sour looks directed towards their homeroom teacher, who ignored them all.)

"In any event, as I'm sure you've realized by now, this was your first training exercise," Aizawa said. "Yesterday I examined the physical limits of your Quirks in the assessment test, but today we wanted to test how you'd use them in a real scenario with no pre-defined parameters, as well as how you'd handle the situation in general.

"Most people only think of the flashier sides of heroics, like fighting villains or rescue work, but there's more to it than that. As a hero, not all situations you encounter will fit into some easily defined category like 'villain' or 'rescue.' And as such, you need to be able to think outside of the box. Force isn't always the right answer. Of the entire class, only Asui thought to ask for the key."

"I didn't use force though," Shinsou protested quietly, sounding more annoyed than anything.

"You only tried the one thing though," Gran countered. "That was the only time I saw you the whole exercise." The purple-haired boy frowned but didn't protest further.

"We wanted to gauge how you'd handle an unexpected situation, and also gauge your basic physical level, strategic thinking, and handling of civilians," Aizawa continued. He paused before adding, "And you're all very lucky this is an assessment exercise, and not subject to proper scoring."

"Oh, come on, how could you even see what we did!" Kaminari whined.

"Yeah, you never got out of your sleeping bag," Awase remarked with a nod. "I checked a couple times and you never moved."

"Me too," Kodai said, head tipped back to the ceiling. "And I don't see any security cameras." At that comment the smarter members of Class 1-A simultaneously realized something, all turning to look at Izuku. A very grumpy Izuku.

"Yeah, yeah, they had me reporting everything," he confirmed blandly, not even feeling a little awkward under all the sudden attention. He was too annoyed for that. "They lured me into the cube, and Aizawa-sensei just gave me a radio and binoculars. And I had no warning." He emphasized the last part, directing his dead stare at an unbothered Gran Torino.

"Why would you make Deku do that though?" Uraraka asked. "Isn't that unfair to make him sit out?"

"It'd be unfair for him to participate," Gran huffed, making several people murmur in confusion.

"We already know each other," Izuku informed them all flatly. "And I had no idea he would be teaching here. None. No warning. Nothing. He was just there." His eyes still looked exceptionally devoid of life as he gazed at his old mentor, his fear long dead and replaced with utter apathy and a quiet sense of loathing.

"If he joined in, he'd give away the act from the getgo," Gran said. "So we tossed him in the cube and made him bait for the rest of you!"

Izuku almost said "I hate you," but his loathing hadn't reached that level yet.

It had, however, reached just the right level for picking up their old game. "Yup," he agreed, stretching his arms up and behind his head, looking to all the world like he was lazily unwinding. "Though now that the exercise is over..." And with that, he activated Crash and flung himself directly at Gran, arm outstretched to catch him.

For his efforts, he was rewarded with a swift kick to the back and an all-you-can-eat concrete buffet. Even with as much as he'd improved Crash's shielding over the past year, he could already tell he was gonna feel that one in the morning.

"Still too slow, kid!" Gran taunted as he alighted on Izuku's shoulders.

"Huh, you guys must know each other pretty well," Kaminari said, and as Izuku lifted himself up out of the crater and to his knees, that gave him an idea. He might still not be quite fast enough to keep up with Gran physically... but there was nothing that said he couldn't tease him back, right?

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, wiping some of the dust off his face. He made sure to make direct eye contact with Gran to gauge his reaction. "Actually, Gran Torino's my grandpa."

Gran, to his credit, didn't blink. Instead he steadily met Izuku's gaze, considering for a few moments. And then he smiled.

"Welp, I wasn't gonna say anything, but I guess the cat's out of the bag!" He turned back towards the rest of the class and gestured to Izuku with his free hand. "I assume you've already met, but everyone, please allow me to introduce my grandson, Midoriya Izuku."

Wait, what?

"So your mom and your grandpa work here?" Uraraka asked. "That's so cool!"

What?

"Now that it's been pointed out, I suppose that your Quirks are quite similar," Iida mused from under his helmet.

WHAT? "G-guys, I was just kidding. He's not actually my grandpa."

"Nonsense, of course I am!" Gran said, clapping him on the back a few times. "What, don't tell me you're embarrassed to have people know you're related to this old man?"

"Th-that's not it at all and you know it!" Izuku denied, failing to realize that could be interpreted as not denying their relationship and instead trying to reassure the man he felt no shame.

"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, we'll start going over each of your performances individually. Zuzu-chan, get up so we can go over this stuff." Izuku got up the rest of the way with a groan, ignoring some of the stifled giggles behind him at the pet name. Gran absolutely did that to mess with him, the old coot never used pet names like that. He'd probably get a fresh wave of teasing for this.

Aside from Bakugou for once, who looked bewildered since he knew the truth. When Izuku turned to face his class the blond mouthed a silent "what the hell," but Izuku didn't bother acknowledging it. He was past the point of caring.

Fine then. "So, about all your Quirks," he said. "I was watching, and I noticed a lot of areas you could improve..."

Hours later after school ended, the dorms were largely quiet, everyone sitting in the common room with haunted looks on their faces. A platter of still-warm cookies sat on the coffee table courtesy of Satou, nearly depleted of the sugary goodness, but most of them just stared at their half-eaten treats with blank looks.

"...So, you guys got a lesson with Gran too, right?" Awase asked after a while, and the others from 1-B nodded.

"They locked up your homeroom teacher, I think," Kendou reported dully. "He was in a cube suspended above the gym."

"He looked like he needed more sleep than Shinsou," Rin commented. Whether he meant that as a general observation or an insult, Shinsou did not seem to care.

"You couldn't catch him?" Todoroki asked Yoarashi.

"Vlad-sensei said not to use my Quirk too much, and give my classmates a fair chance," the other boy replied, only slightly more subdued than usual. "He was concerned my Quirk's power could harm him given how... old and frail he was." His mouth twisted bitterly at the last part, clearly unimpressed with the explanation after discovering Gran's true nature.

"Vlad-sensei also said it was Aizawa's fault for 'being an idiot and getting himself into that mess, and he could wait a little longer to get freed,'" Yanagi quoted. "I do wonder whether that was for show, or if there is truly a grudge between them..."

Komori hummed, chewing on a cookie and swallowing as she turned to Izuku. "He's your grandpa, is he always like that?" she asked tiredly. Instantly nearly all of Class 1-B shot wide-eyed looks his way, Izuku wincing under their collective stare. Only Pony did not turn to look at him, looking largely confused until Kendou translated it for her in English. She reacted with a startled "EH!?" as she leaped to her feet.

"You're related!?" she shouted in English.

"What are you?" Mineta whispered, overly pale and shaking as he shrunk away from Izuku. Izuku just let his head fall forward with a groan as the questions began, knowing from dealing with his own class his protests wouldn't work.

I've made a terrible mistake.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18

.:. A Sweet School Life .:.

Life at UA continued peacefully enough after that chaotic first heroics class. Most classes continued to prove shockingly mundane, even with Pro Heroes for teachers. A few proved more... interesting, like Midnight's lectures on art history. Or the time Ectoplasm had his clones invade one of Present Mic's classes to get back at him for interrupting one of his classes. Needless to say, they hadn't finished the English lecture that day.

Outside of that, another important school event happened though: the election of a class representative. Following Iida's suggestion they agreed to put it to a vote. After some light discussion they also decided to have students nominate the candidates at Kodai's suggestion. And after some further commentary from Bakugo, it was decided that self-nominations would not be allowed.

"I nominate Yaoyorozu," Sero started. "She came up with that tape web strategy, even if it didn't work."

"Asui deserves some credit too," Komori declared. "She totally won that exercise yesterday by asking for the key!"

"Shouji saved Gran, even if we didn't know he didn't actually need saving yet," Kirishima said. "That was super manly!"

"I nominate Midoriya," Kaminari said with a tight and nervous-looking smile, very pointedly not looking at Izuku as he did so.

"Why do I feel like you're saying that under duress?" Izuku asked.

"...Because I'm mildly terrified of how your grandpa will react if he hears you're not nominated?"

Izuku's face promptly met his desk. "Not my actual grandfather," he grumbled, but went ignored.

"I nominate Satou." Everyone turned to look at Todoroki in surprise, Satou included.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because of your cookies," Todoroki replied bluntly, and the dorm kids all nodded in understanding. Perfectly valid reasoning.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Asui came in first with seven votes. After essentially "winning" the exercise yesterday, as well as her blunt but friendly nature, Izuku found it only natural to vote for her.

Second place, meanwhile, went to Satou.

"How?" he whispered, looking absolutely bewildered by the "5" written on the board.

"Cookies," chorused Uraraka, Komori, Awase, Todoroki and Shinsou.

"I am conflicted on whether this counts as bribing voters or not," Iida murmured. "I know it was not intentional, but..." He trailed off, looking lost. The rest of the candidates hadn't gotten nearly as many votes. Shouji and Yaoyorozu both got three, while Izuku had gotten two. He suspected those were both more out of fear of his supposed relation to Gran Torino than any genuine admiration.

"Well, what's done is done," Ashido declared. "Long live Class Rep Tsuyu!" There was a chorus of cheers and chants of "All hail Tsuyu" while the frog girl bashfully ducked her head.

"You brats better not start a cult," Aizawa muttered before calling the class to order.

Aside from that, the week really proved uneventful. Even their heroics class proved to be closer to glorified PE classes, at least when they didn't just stay in the classroom going over theoretical lectures. Gran Torino and Aizawa served as co-teachers, but they didn't play another "logical ruse" like that first session. The main highlight proved to be wearing their costumes again—or in Izuku's case, for the first time.

"Huh, so that's what it looks like," Tsuburaba remarked once Izuku finished changing. "Very... green."

"Yeah, it's kinda my thing," Izuku said with a sheepish laugh. He'd based the costume's design on his old childhood sketches, with some tweaks courtesy of Gran Torino. The old man's main point of input: lose the hood with the "bunny ears," as he called them. Izuku had taken great offense at the insult to his homage to All Might's hair, but he'd let it slide.

The design now had a hooded t-shirt, long-sleeved black undershirt, and black pants rather than just being a single-piece costume. He'd still managed to keep the homage to All Might in the hood by having a kind of widow's-peak on the front, telling himself it at least kind of resembled the "V" made by his bangs. For now Izuku kept the hood down though, which let him highlight the other major change to his childhood design: a black domino mask, in homage to Gran Torino.

An homage he was now regretting, given the murmurs of "the family resemblance is real" that he heard from the other boys.

Aside from wearing the costumes, the classes proved to be mostly basic training so far, just simple drills and games just with Quirks added. The main purpose seemed to be to just get them used to doing the exercises and moving around in costume, which suited Izuku fine. It also allowed him to observe his classmates' Quirks in even more detail.

Kodai, for example, could shrink and grow objects she touched. It wasn't useful for jogging or climbing walls, but it made her a force to be reckoned with when Gran had them all play dodgeball. On the other hand, Kirishima's Hardening made him awful at the game since he had the instinctive reaction to just harden his skin instead of, well, dodge.

They had to suspend the game when one oversized dodgeball hit one of Komori's mushrooms, sending a giant cloud of spores throughout the field. Izuku then learned Shinsou's mask had a built-in air filter, which turned out to be very useful since he could retrieve Kaminari. Why the blond thought electrifying dodgeballs was a good idea, Izuku didn't know, especially since he'd used enough electricity to fry his brain.

"Honestly, I'm just surprised more people didn't end up at the infirmary," Kirishima commented in the locker room after the exercise ended. "Some of those balls left craters!"

"Indeed, I suspect I would have broken my wrist had I tried to catch that one ball with my own hands instead of Dark Shadow," Tokoyami mused with a small shudder.

"You still didn't catch it," Sero remarked with a grin, getting a dark glare from the other boy.

"It was powered by Bakugou's Quirk," Awase commented. "Hell, I'm surprised the teachers didn't call you out of the game then. You almost took off my head!"

"Can it, you're the one who kept throwing franken-balls at everyone!" the blond growled. "Those stupid things were almost as bad as Poker Face's giant ones!"

"Mine weren't powered by explosions though. Even if you got hit by them, they wouldn't just blow straight through your body."

"You fused a fucking rock to one!"

"I'm with Awase," Tsuburaba declared, emerging from a stall as he pulled on his uniform blazer. "You almost took off my leg! It totally shattered my barrier!"

"Your stupid air walls are weak anyway," Bakugou scoffed. Izuku just listened to them bicker in silence, carefully folding his costume to stow away. Quirk dodgeball had definitely proved more hazardous than he'd expected. He'd created a crater of his own when he reflexively used Crash to dive out of the way of one of Satou's stronger throws, which ended up creating a hole in the wall behind Izuku. That had been mildly terrifying and Satou had voluntarily left the game after that.

He felt like they got lucky Shinsou managed to goad Bakugou into responding to him and made him walk into the path of another ball not even five minutes into the game. He'd toned down his explosions after the one Tokoyami mentioned, but they'd still been pretty powerful. It was probably good Shinsou volunteered to take Kaminari to the infirmary, since if looks could kill... Well, he should probably be careful.

They all finished changing and returned to the classroom, the rest of the day passing pretty uneventfully. As Izuku expected Bakugou sent a murderous glare at Shinsou when the purple-haired boy arrived, but thankfully he didn't try to confront him about the game. While Bakugou hated losing, he at least tended to accept defeat more gracefully since his rivalry with Hachinose.

When the final bell rang Izuku prepared to leave only for Uraraka to almost teleport in front of his desk, slamming her hands on it. "Tomorrow's Saturday," she declared, an almost vicious gleam in her eyes that had him shrinking back.

"Um, y-yeah...?" he replied hesitantly, feeling suddenly wary.

"School gets out early on Saturdays."

"I... know?" Like many Japanese high schools UA followed a six-day week, with Saturdays ending an hour earlier than the other days. Something about Uraraka's smile made him feel weirdly wary about this knowledge though.

It seemed Tsuburaba was equally wary, because Izuku saw him discreetly try to slip away from his desk in the neighboring row and leave through the other aisle. He failed to escape though, as Uraraka's hand shot out to slap his arm across the desk separating the two aisles, making him yelp as he began floating. She didn't look away from Izuku as she yanked him over Sero's (thankfully unoccupied) desk, still floating and looking understandably alarmed.

"You promised me and Tsuburaba you'd show us all the best places to go!" she declared. "And we still need to celebrate getting into UA!"

"I'm not objecting, but can you please let me down?" Tsuburaba asked, trying to orient himself in the air. She released her grip and pressed her hands together to release her Quirk, causing him to plummet to the floor with a yelp. Some of their lingering classmates winced sympathetically as he lost his footing upon the abrupt landing, arms catching onto a desk to steady himself.

To her credit Uraraka flinched, helping him up. "Sorry, Tsuburaba-kun."

"Why couldn't you just ask me to come over like a normal person?" he muttered, and she paused. Then she shrugged, clearly having no real explanation.

"Um, I'm not against that either," Izuku replied. "In fact, there's a couple places I really wanted to try with you guys!" While he didn't eat out often, he'd heard his old classmates talk about a few cafés and shops they'd visit after school that he'd always been curious about. Visiting them alone felt weird though; they were the kind of places to go with friends, and, well, he didn't really have many.

"If it's to celebrate our admission, then it has to be cake, right?" Tsuburaba asked with a grin. "I can get behind that!" Izuku and Uraraka both hesitated though. While it sounded good, Satou had already basically baked a celebration cake when they all moved into the dorms. The idea just didn't feel as special anymore, though neither of them really wanted to say as much in the face of Tsuburaba's enthusiasm.

"Well, tomorrow's supposed to be kinda warm, right?" Uraraka pointed out. "So how about ice cream? And then we can walk around while we eat it, too!"

Izuku's face lit up at the suggestion, mainly because he instantly had a place in mind. "Yeah, I know a great ice cream place! And there's some stores and restaurants nearby that you guys might like too!"

"Alright, sounds good to me," Tsuburaba agreed, and then crossed his arms with a thoughtful look. "Hey, if we're gonna walk around a lot and it's supposed to be warm, should we change out of our uniforms then?"

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Uraraka said. "I kinda figured that was a given? I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I usually need to wash my uniforms at the end of every week. I only have the one, so." She shrugged.

"That sounds good to me," Izuku agreed, and that was that.

"Cool, so should we just meet at the ice cream place?" Tsuburaba asked.

"Why would we do that?" Uraraka asked, seeming genuinely confused. "Deku and I can just change at the dorms, and we can all head to your place together!"

Tsuburaba paused. "Wait, what?"

That was how they found themselves at Tsuburaba's apartment the next afternoon after a quick stop at the dorms. His apartment building turned out to be surprisingly close to UA, only two stops away by train. "Uh, make yourselves at home?" he said sheepishly as he unlocked the door. Izuku and Uraraka filed in after him, looking around curiously.

It wasn't a particularly large apartment, a two-room affair with the main room being a combined living and dining area with a kitchenette. He had posters for a bunch of old tokusatsu films and shows, most of them sentai-style shows with teams of costumed heroes like the Ultra Series or Kamen Rider. There were also some kaiju models on a shelf by the television.

"Ooh, this stuff is really cool!" Uraraka said, walking over to examine a moth of some kind. "This is Mothra, right? I remember my grandpa really liked these movies!"

"Yeah, Mothra is cool," Tsuburaba agreed, voice oddly strained and high-pitched. Izuku glanced at him to see him looking oddly nervous as he eyed Uraraka, which left him confused. The other boy coughed awkwardly. "I'm, uh, gonna go change. I-I'll see you in a few minutes." He all but fled to his bedroom, leaving Izuku and Uraraka mildly confused.

"Um, do you think he's okay?" Uraraka asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know?"

"I didn't say anything weird, did I?" she wondered. "Wait, do you think he got embarrassed because I mentioned my grandpa liked Mothra and it made him feel old or something?"

"I... Maybe?" Izuku frowned. Tsuburaba had left pretty fast, and he looked kind of... flustered... Oh.

Uraraka was a classmate and new friend looking at Tsuburaba's very obviously geeky merchandise, and she was also a girl visiting his home. Either one might be enough to get some people flustered. Izuku only had to imagine his classmates seeing his room in all its All Might-themed glory, and he could absolutely understand why Tsuburaba got suddenly awkward and nervous. It probably hadn't occurred to him when they'd made the plans.

(Oh sweet merciful All Might, what was he going to do if they ever did dorm tours?)

Uraraka seemed to realize it too, because her eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh," she whispered, and now they both lapsed into awkward silence. It was only broken when the bedroom door opened and Tsuburaba stepped out, now wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

"Okay, I'm ready to go when you are," he declared. They turned to face him a little too fast, ready for the awkwardness to continue, only for something to catch their eyes. This marked the first time Izuku had seen Tsuburaba's legs, as the boy always changed in a stall in the locker room.

So he'd never noticed that his left leg was a prosthetic from the knee down.

It looked fairly sturdy and, well, leg-shaped, made of a silvery-white material that had become dulled from long exposure to the elements. He had a compression band wrapped around his knee, covering where it attached to his leg, but it still stood out.

Izuku's mind admittedly short-circuited for a second because what was he supposed to do? Staring was obviously rude, but so was commenting on it! Should he just pretend he didn't notice? That would be polite, right? But wait, he'd already been staring for the past few seconds, was it too late?

"Oh right, you guys haven't seen my leg yet, have you?" Tsuburaba mused, cutting into his panicked thoughts. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. But yeah, I got a prosthetic. If you guys got questions, you can get them out of the way now, I guess?" He shrugged, smiling but also looking just a little nervous. Izuku couldn't really blame him.

"Do you use that one for hero training?" Uraraka asked with a frown. "That one's good for everyday use, but it's not meant for heavy wear and tear like we'd have for hero training." Now Izuku looked at her in surprise, and so did Tsuburaba. Izuku thought it looked pretty sturdy, but... maybe it wasn't?

"Um, yeah, I'm actually getting a new one on Monday from the support department," Tsuburaba said after a moment. "They said prosthetics take a little longer to make than regular support gear since, well, it's a limb. Can't really have it break in the field if there's a design flaw. They had me wearing all these wires and stuff under my costume this week to get some data to make sure it'd fit with my activity style or something like that. But you're uh, really knowledgeable, huh?"

"I, uh, did some research on them a while ago," Uraraka mumbled, face growing a bit pink. "A friend had to get one. I remember she looked at a model just like that, I think it might've even been the same... brand, I guess?" She shrugged, not looking at either of them. "I don't remember all the terms and stuff. I was already planning to be a hero, so that was kinda on my mind when she showed me the specs."

"Yeah, this one definitely isn't cut out for heavy-duty hero stuff," Tsuburaba agreed. "It's good enough for the entrance exam, but it won't last long if it's constantly up against stuff like that dodgeball game yesterday." Something suddenly clicked in Izuku's brain.

"Kacchan almost literally blew off your leg," he whispered, and Uraraka looked at him in confusion while Tsuburaba burst out laughing.

"Hell yeah he did!" he confirmed with a grin. "You saw how strong his throws were, they would've obliterated this leg. I mean, they'd probably obliterate any leg," he added, becoming more subdued and thoughtful. "Okay seriously, why didn't they pull him out of the game or tell him to stop using his Quirk?"

"Well, Aizawa-sensei did tell him to dial it back after the first one," Izuku pointed out with a shrug. "And, well, he did. That first one he threw at Tokoyami was really strong, but I think that was because he didn't expect it to be that strong. It's kinda hard to figure out how much force is 'too much' right off the bat when you've never had to do it before."

"Yeah, Satou did make a hole in the wall with that one throw," Uraraka said with a nod. "He looked pretty freaked out." Izuku couldn't blame him, and fully sympathized with the shock of unintentionally leaving a hole in a wall.

"Anyways, enough standing around here talking," Tsuburaba declared. "We can keep talking about it after we get ice cream!" Izuku and Uraraka both perked up at the reminder of their original purpose for meeting, and the trio quickly headed out. Once Tsuburaba locked the door he turned to Izuku and gestured towards the hall with a flourish. "Midoriya, lead the way!"

"Right, let's go!" Izuku agreed, eager to get to the store. In a lucky twist of fate the ice cream shop he had in mind wasn't too far away from Tsuburaba's apartment, only taking about ten minutes to reach by foot. It was a family-owned place called Mitsuba Ice, established way back before Quirks and somehow surviving all the related turmoil, even if it had to temporarily close up shop and move buildings a few times.

Despite being a Saturday afternoon it thankfully wasn't too busy, and it only took about five minutes before they exited with ice cream cones in hand. Uraraka gasped as she licked her green matcha cone, face lighting up. "This is so good!" she exclaimed. "I thought this one place back home was the best, but this is even better!"

Tsuburaba directly bit into his chocolate scoop and nodded. "Wow, it really is," he said, and then paused as he noticed Izuku and Uraraka staring at him in absolute horror. "What?"

"How did you do that?" Izuku whispered.

"Do what?"

"You... you just bit it," Uraraka whispered. "With your teeth."

"Um, yeah, you kinda use teeth to bite stuff. What else would I use, my lips?"

"It was your front teeth!" she exclaimed. "Sane people use their back teeth to bite ice cream because it's cold! How are you not in severe pain?"

"I dunno." Tsuburaba just shrugged and took another bite, and Izuku winced as he felt a phantom chill on his own front teeth. He felt a bit more tentative when he went to lick his vanilla cone, but once the flavor washed over his tongue he felt himself relax. It was hard to be horrified by the realization he'd befriended an abominable force of nature when eating Mitsuba-made ice cream.

"My dad says this place has the best ice cream in the world," he commented with a smile, a warm rush of nostalgia washing over him. "He works overseas and doesn't get to come home too often, so whenever he's back in Musutafu we always make it a point to visit this place at least once a week."

Every time his dad came back to Japan he'd drag Izuku to the ice cream shop at some point, and every time without fail he'd declare, "Yep, still haven't found a better place than Mitsuba's!" It had always made Izuku feel so special and giddy that despite traveling all over the world, the best ice cream shop was in his own hometown. Sometimes he wondered if his dad was exaggerating, but he liked to think it was sincere.

He felt a pang of regret that they couldn't tell him about Graft yet. Not because they didn't want to, but everyone was worried about discussing it over a long-distance phone or video call. It admittedly wasn't too likely someone would try to hack the connection, but given Graft's capabilities, anyone who did learn about it through such illicit methods would be dangerous. They'd decided it would be safer to tell him the full details in person, but they had no idea when that would be.

His shoulders sagged at the thought, feeling a brief pang of longing for his dad. Unseen by him Uraraka and Tsuburaba exchanged small frowns, and then nodded before turning back to him.

"Hey Midoriya, we should take a picture by the window," Tsuburaba suggested, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts.

"H-huh?"

"Yeah!" Urararaka agreed with a vigorous head bob. "You can send it to your dad and tell him that Mitsuba Ice has two new fans! We're celebrating getting into UA so we should totally take tons of pictures anyway!" The idea had Izuku standing a bit straighter, a sudden warmth filling him. Sending a picture to his dad?

"Y-yeah, that sounds great," he declared, and Uraraka quickly called out to a nearby pedestrian to ask them to take a group photo. Soon enough the trio crowded by the front window of Mitsuba Ice, the shop's name plastered on the glass behind them as they held up their cones with big grins.

When they got the phone back and Izuku saw the picture, his smile appeared so fast and instantly he didn't even notice it at first. Seeing himself and his two friends grinning at the camera really hammered in that this was real. He had two amazing friends, and potentially even more waiting back at UA. Just a year ago this would have been unthinkable, but now, his life really had changed.

(If he teared up a bit while texting the photo to his dad, the others didn't say anything.)

BONUS: Inside Tsuburaba's Bedroom

Kosei all but slammed his bedroom door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor with wide eyes. There was a girl. A girl in his apartment. His apartment, full of all his geeky tokusatsu posters and action figures. He thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal, he knew Uraraka was a girl, but the reality proved so much different from what he'd imagined.

"This is like all those anime but so much worse," he whispered to himself, thinking back to all the anime his friend had shown him as kids. They'd seemed so silly and stupid back then, but now the awkward shenanigans was all he could think about. He felt his face burn as he remembered how many of those ended up even more embarrassing, groaning at some of the more ridiculous shenanigans.

"Dammit Ryouta!" Kosei hissed with a small cringe. Why the hell did he have to be into ecchi anime of all things!? He pressed his palms to his face and took a deep breath. "Okay, just change so we can get out of here as fast as possible. No need to panic!"

With a firm nod he got up and hurried to find clothes so he could get them out of there.

(On the plus side, it made him forget to be nervous about how his new friends would react to the prosthetic leg, so... hooray for that? Maybe?)

(...Yeah, no, he was still gonna rip Ryouta a new one for his taste in anime later.)

Chapter Text

Chapter 19

.:. Taking Bets Now .:.

"Okay people! Are you ready to get this party started?"

Even without his Quirk Present Mic's voice echoed around the room easily, a loud round of cheers rising in response from the gathered teachers. The blond grinned at the crowd from the stage, pumping a fist in the air. "Alright, alright, alright!" he shouted in English. "Then let's kick off this bash with the classic: KA-RA-OKE! Who'll be our first volunteer?"

People immediately began shouting out names, their voices overlapping and tinged with laughter. Soon enough Midnight strolled to the stage though, grinning as she snatched up the microphone from its stand. "I nominate Hound Dog!" she declared, and the room howled with laughter. The counselor was soon pushed up to the stage, looking mildly displeased at being the first one to sing that night, but he didn't try to protest.

He swiped the remote from Mic's hand so he could start going through the song list, soon settling on a classic. As the familiar notes of Elvis Presley's Hound Dog began playing another round of loud cheers and laughter rose from the teachers. Mic grinned as he hopped off the stage just as his colleague began singing, heading for the bar counter where a grumpy Aizawa sat with his head pillowed in his arms.

"Well, we're off to a great start as usual!" he declared cheerfully as he slid onto the stool next to him. "I knew asking for that Elvis track to be thrown onto the list was a good idea!"

"You only did it for the puns," Aizawa grumbled, voice muffled by his arms, and the blond laughed. His voice lost some of its original volume and energy, the stage-worthy Present Mic persona shedded in favor of Yamada Hizashi. Who, to be fair, was still more energetic than most teenagers and toddlers, just slightly less flamboyant about it than his hero persona. And given tonight's crowd, the Present Mic energy would probably linger pretty heavily.

Yamada grinned as he turned to wave over the bartender. "A Grasshopper for me," he said, and glanced over at Aizawa. "You want want anything, Eraser?"

"No, I have patrol after this," Aizawa muttered, peeling his head off the counter. He was met with a scoff not from Yamada but Kayama, the dark-haired woman strolling over to plop onto the stool on his other side.

"You always schedule your patrol for this night," she remarked, bracelets jingling as she leaned her cheek against her palm. "Even though we always do the party the same week, every year."

"Saturday is the only day I can go out on patrol without having to think about getting up for school the next morning," Aizawa deadpanned. "Sue me for wanting to do both my jobs."

"Please, everyone knows you only need two hours of sleep to function fine," Kayama teased, and waved over the bartender. "Hey, can I get a martini over here?"

"That... is weirdly tame for you," Aizawa muttered, eying her suspiciously. She just smirked, eyes glinting mischievously.

"Oh, but the night is so young," she purred. "It's better to ease in slowly than dive in head-first from the start. No one ever wants to go all-in right away anyway, and I want to savor this." Aizawa couldn't help his shudder at her tone, and silently reaffirmed that his decision to schedule a patrol had been absolutely correct.

Every year at the end of the first week, UA rented out a bar for a big party to celebrate the start of the year. It was a tradition that had started as a simple night out drinking, but grew into a larger event as the years went on. Given the nature of their work, it only made sense to rent out an entire bar to make sure that they wouldn't be overheard discussing sensitive information while drunk.

After all, conversation at this party always centered around the kids.

"So, you haven't expelled anyone yet," Cementoss remarked. The large blocky man had joined them at the counter, the first one Kayama had decided to lure into her trap. As she'd said, she'd started small, eagerly advocating the quality of this bar's martinis to their coworker. He seemed rightfully wary of her intent, and focused on Aizawa as he waited for his drink. "Given some of the repairs I had to make to the gym, I'd expect at least one by now."

"None of them have proven too reckless or unmotivated yet," the underground hero huffed, crossing his arms. "I've had to threaten them to take things seriously a couple times, but overall this year's class seems largely competent so far."

"Admit it, you're also too amused by their antics with Gran Torino," Kayama piped up with a grin, tracing the lip of her martini glass with a bright red nail. "I watched those clips from the security cameras Snipe put in the chat. That first session is the funniest thing I've seen in years." The remark had Yamada almost choking on his Grasshopper as he snorted, breaking into a wide grin even as he caught his breath.

"Oh man, those clips are nothing!" he cackled. "Snipe and I ended up doing some heavy-duty editing and put together a highlight reel from both classes! Even found the perfect soundtrack: Yakety Sax!"

"That silly saxophone music?" Cementoss asked.

"You know it!" Yamada shot him finger guns, and downed another sip of his Grasshopper. "Okay, quick side-note, how does a drink named after something so gross taste so good? Can we come up with another name for it?"

"Like what, Minty Fresh Slime?" Aizawa muttered, eying the bright green liquid with distaste. Yamada's face instantly contorted with disgust while Kayama burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh, that is awful!" she cackled.

"Why would you say that," Yamada groaned, and gestured at the glass with a frown. "Come on, it doesn't even look like slime! The color's way too rich and opaque!"

"Who actually uses the word 'opaque' in conversation?" Aizawa muttered wryly, and Mic scowled and swatted his shoulder.

"Why is it even called a Grasshopper, anyway?" Kayama wondered. "I know they're both green, but this shade feels more Christmas-y to me."

"So what, 'Holly Jolly Green'?" Cementoss asked in a perfect deadpan, and she snorted.

"Don't think it's that green! Maybe a 'Green Snowfall'? It is used in milkshakes sometimes..."

The conversation shifted to cocktail names after that, both speculating on the origins of some popular names and proposing new ones for each one they ordered. It ended with Cementoss getting just drunk enough to accept Kayama's proposal to try one of her experimental concoctions, at which point Aizawa and Yamada decided to relocate to another table before she targeted them in earnest.

"We're all going to end with hangovers tomorrow, aren't we," Kan murmured as they watched the amused bartender bring over a variety of bottles at her request. They couldn't see the labels from their current distance, but it would likely be a combination that would make them wince.

"Yep," Yamada agreed. "Everyone but Eraser."

"You might be onto something with those patrols," Kan snorted, taking a sip of his own glass. Like most, 1-B's homeroom teacher had wisely decided against partaking in alcohol just yet, starting with a simple water while he dined on the various appetizers prepared for the party. Everyone had already eaten dinner, but they'd left plenty of room for snacks to try to dampen the impacts of the alcohol.

Aizawa reached for some of the crackers on the table's center, nibbling at them idly. On the stage Maijima Higari, better known as Power Loader, was cajoled into taking the microphone, looking rather put out as he scrolled through the list of options. Why someone suggested him was a mystery, since he had a rather scratchy voice that didn't translate well to singing.

"At least karaoke will be fun," Yamada remarked with a grin. "Drunk karaoke is always hilarious."

"Most of you can barely remember it though," Aizawa reminded him dully, and the blond scoffed.

"Oh, come on, plenty of us can remember it just fine! I'll never forget the time you sang the national anthem to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody!" Kan nearly choked on his drink as he burst into laughter while Aizawa frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in genuine confusion.

"That night was legendary!" Kan declared with a grin. "Can't believe I forgot about that! Everyone else was trying to sing along to the lyrics—"

"Badly," Yamada cut in with a sharp grin. "Seriously, your drunk English is almost as bad as Owada's!"

"You still talk about him? Owada graduated three years ago. And you only had to deal with him for a year!"

"Yeah, after I literally begged Nedzu to let him drop it! Kan, you have no idea how badly that kid butchered English. It physically pained me to read his homework! I actually cried once! Right, Shou?"

"I came home from patrol to find you sobbing on the couch at two in the morning," Aizawa confirmed flatly. "It was the last thing I wanted to deal with after almost breaking my ribs that night."

"Anyways, my point stands, really impressive you guys were as bad as Owada," Yamada said with a nod, and the Blood Hero rolled his eyes.

"Well, we were drunk that night," Kan said firmly. "So yeah, we butchered the lyrics. We're not that fluent. But even then, having Aizawa sing 'kimigayo wa, chiyo ni yachiyo ni' in a perfect monotone is pretty distracting too!" he added with a snort. "I think Snipe even started singing along with him in English."

"Snipe was the only one who didn't butcher English that night," Yamada sniffed haughtily. "That was a brilliant translation of Kimigayo, I wish I'd taken notes of his lyrics because I can barely remember them now. But, singing the wrong song still took away a good chunk of his points."

"I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Aizawa grumbled irritably, and Yamada smiled almost sympathetically as he patted his shoulder.

"You never do, Eraser. You never do." The remark had the dark-haired man looking at him in even more confusion and mildly bewildered while Kan snorted.

"You're lucky, I can remember every last drop," he muttered wryly, mouth twisting in a disgusted grimace. "I don't know how Kayama manages to talk me into drinking that shit she makes every time, it always tastes awful." Yamada nodded in agreement, smile fading to a more serious look.

"She starts by getting you drunk enough to lower your inhibitions," he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder towards Cementoss. The man had just downed the first shot of her first concoction of the night, his face almost stony as he slammed the cup down and shuddered. "You lower your guard just enough to agree, and after the first one, you know it tastes bad, but it's just heavy enough to make you dumb enough to agree to another. It's a vicious cycle, for sure."

"And you'll fall victim to it anyway," Aizawa added flatly.

"At this point I think most of us are just resigned to it!" Yamada laughed, voice just slightly strained. Several of the nearby teachers made quiet, half-hearted noises of agreement. After this long, Kayama had gotten the art of talking people into accepting her toxic concoctions down to a science. While they could resist for most of the party, she usually got everyone to have at least one by the end of the night.

At this point they mostly just accepted it with the logic that if it was truly harmful, Recovery Girl would put a stop to it. Granted, the Youthful Heroine was never present at these parties, but they still consoled themselves with that reasoning.

"Well, I for one think I'll take her up on that drink early," Maijima declared as he joined them at the table, fresh off the stage after his song ended. The Support Hero slumped into the empty chair with a groan, grabbing the wine bottle waiting on the table. His claw-tipped fingers clinked against the glass as he filled one of the cups. "After this week, I'm down for it."

"Is your class actually that bad?" Aizawa asked, genuinely curious. It was rare to see the other man look so tired and done with his class, at least not in the first week. Usually that was his thing.

"There's this girl, Hatsume," Maijima grumbled. "Genius inventor, one of the best talents I've seen in years. Has a million ideas. A million destructive ideas." He scoffed, shaking his head as he downed the wine like a shot. "She's already blown up the lab two times."

That had Yamada and Kan wincing. "I thought I heard a pretty loud boom while passing the hall yesterday," Yamada muttered.

"Yep, that was her. Crazy thing is most of her ideas work. She's just got so many and works so fast, that the mistakes show up quicker than usual." He shook his head. "I can just tell it's setting the tone for the rest of the year. So when Kayama comes over to drag me to her side, I'm not gonna put up a fight."

Normally they'd try to talk him out of the potentially suicidal action, but it was hard to argue with that reasoning. "Well, guess that's one less thing to bet on," Kan said. "Usually you don't get an explosion until third week."

"At this rate, I'll be lucky to have no explosions any week this year," Power Loader grumbled. "You can bet on Eraser expelling kids instead, seeing as he didn't do that yet." Aizawa just sighed quietly, not even bothering to argue that he didn't always expel someone in the first week. Last year had been an outlier.

"I have a better one," Yamada said with a smirk. "How about how long it takes for him to actually use Erasure." That had the other teachers snapping to attention.

"You haven't used it yet?" Power Loader asked in surprise.

"Somehow, no," Aizawa confirmed. "Don't ask how, I'm still not sure how I got through the dodgeball game without it. After this long Torino suggested I should save it for when it'd leave the biggest impact on the class."

"You would get along with him," Kan snorted. "That first exercise seems like the kind of thing you'd come up with, if it didn't take so much effort on your part."

"It was definitely more effective than the usual drills we'd do on day one."

"Not arguing that. Did a way better job at highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. And it was hilarious to boot!" The larger man flashed a sharp grin, still keenly amused by seeing his students struggle to catch the old man. The best part had been when Honenuki softened the ground at one point to try to trap Gran. He had easily jumped over the affected area, but several other students got stuck instead. The class ultimately split up so one group could focus on extracting the trapped students.

Snipe scooted back his chair at a nearby table where he'd been talking to Thirteen, having been lightly listening in on the conversation. "We are playing that highlight reel later tonight, right Mic?" he asked. "I didn't spend five hours editing that thing together with you for it to never see the light of day."

"Of course!" the blond replied in English. "We'll get it queued up on the big screens before Eraser leaves for his patrol!"

"Hopefully we're all still sober then," Thirteen commented. "Kayama-senpai just lured over that new teacher from gen-ed." Everyone winced sympathetically, turning to see the new hire already talking to Kayama. Clearly no one had warned the poor woman about her devious cocktails, taking a shot of Midnight's latest monstrosity and then promptly gagging.

Snipe gave a low whistle. "Damn, she downed the whole thing in one go."

"Even for hazing new employees, that feels kinda cruel," Kan muttered. "Didn't anyone warn her?" Then the new hire did something that had them all freeze.

"Is she taking another?" Yamada asked in disbelief as they watched Kayama hand the woman a second cocktail. Once again she downed it without hesitation, an almost devious smirk on her face as she slammed the empty cup onto the counter.

And then she waved for the bartender, and began pointing out bottles on the shelf behind him to bring over.

"...Oh god, there's two of them now," Yamada whispered, face rapidly paling as she began pouring the various liquors in a cup.

"Should we warn everyone else?" Thirteen wondered.

"And say what, the new hire from gen ed might be another Midnight?" Snipe asked rhetorically. "They'd probably just laugh it off. And besides, her stuff can't be worse than Midnight's monstrosities anyway."

"You realize you just jinxed us, right?" Power Loader deadpanned. "If we all go into alcohol-induced comas, I'll blame you." As if to help prove his point Kayama downed the newer woman's concoction, and her lips curled back into a very pleased-looking smirk. Clearly she approved of it, which meant a hellish night for their livers.

"Should've taken a page from Gran's book and skipped tonight," Kan grumbled. Yamada scowled, pulling out his phone.

"Screw it. Let's at least start getting the bets down while we're sober. Half the reason any of us even come to this party is for the betting pools! Alright, got the notes open and ready to type! Hit me with whatever you guys got!"

"I give two weeks before Aizawa expels someone," Snipe interjected. "Two thousand yen."

"I'll put three down on the week before the Sports Festival," Kan countered. "That's when kids will start to get really reckless with training and need a wake-up call."

"How about first person to submit a modification request for their costumes or support gear?" Power Loader wondered. "I feel like that Kaminari kid skipped over actual tools, so I'm hoping to see him drop by soon."

"Based on the highlight reel, that Shiozaki girl from 1-B might need a modification too," Yamada mused. "I get what she was going for with the long, flowy gown look, but she kept tripping over it. She could at least shorten it so it's closer to the ankles. And those sandals don't look good for lots of running around rough environments, don't really protect her feet much."

"Says the guy who wears leather constantly," Aizawa muttered, and Yamada just stuck out his tongue before turning to resume logging the bets in his phone. The dark-haired man seemed to waver for a moment then, mouth pressing into a thin line, before seeming to give in. "Komori will probably be in to change her shoes by the end of next week."

"Oh, I'll put down money on that," Snipe snorted. "Especially after you guys go to the USJ. Heck, I'd even bet she'll peel them off and go barefoot before that field trip ends. Those shoes definitely aren't good for moving around much."

"So then she might be a contender for first broken bone," Kan mused. "I figure we'll get at least one there."

"Hey, hey, cool it with the bets on broken bones!" Yamada hissed, shooting him a sharp glare as he looked up from his phone.

"Why, though?" Power Loader asked. "There's always going to be a broken bone in the hero course. Actually, I might throw one in for my class."

"Who, that Hatsume girl?" Snipe asked.

"No, Hidaka Maro. He's way too curious and keeps getting close to everyone's projects, Hatsume's included. He already almost got caught up in one explosion. At this rate it might be more interesting to bet on whose project causes it."

"Huh, that does sound pretty interesting from the norm..."

Yamada scowled, turning back to his phone with a huff. "You guys can bet on it if you want, but I'm not putting that on the official list," he declared. "And I am not going to be the one to deal with RG when she finds out you're betting on kids' injuries." That got some winces from the whole group. While broken bones were just a basic, accepted reality at UA, Recovery Girl definitely wouldn't approve of them betting on it.

"Alright, I guess we'll write that one down separately," Kan muttered.

"What, Recovery Girl's wrath isn't enough to scare you off?" Aizawa deadpanned.

"No, but I mean. I've got a pretty good feeling we'll get some at the USJ this week. I think Yoarashi might use a bit too much force at one point and blast Tetsutetsu into a wall. Kid's been trying to convince him that his Steel will let him hold up fine if he's thrown around with Whirlwind. I think that's a lesson he'll have to learn the hard way."

"Oof, he's saying that to Yoarashi?" Snipe hissed. "Yeah, no, that kid's a goner."

"Speaking of the USJ, I'll bet five thousand yen that's where Aizawa-senpai will use Erasure," Thirteen declared. "That's when we'll probably need it the most." Everyone nodded in agreement, no one bothering to counter that bet.

It didn't take long for Kayama and her new best friend to start roping in more victims. Shouta kept to the edges of the crowd, watching his colleagues grow increasingly inebriated over the course of the next hour and a half. Not many people could remember the woman's name since she'd just been hired and worked as an underground hero, but after tonight she'd definitely leave her mark on them.

By the time he left he felt genuine pity for the few who'd volunteered to stay sober as babysitters. He pushed the thought away though as he stepped into a nearby alley, throwing his capture weapon at a fire escape to pull himself up to the roof in one smooth move. The night was still young and the streets still a bit too crowded for his liking, so he chose to keep his travel to the rooftops as he began his run across town.

His patrol route was located halfway across Musutafu from the bar UA had rented for the start of year party, but he didn't particularly care. He moved swiftly and silently, jumping shorter gaps or to lower rooftops, and using his capture weapon to help pull himself closer to others. Along the way he stopped a couple times, intercepting a mugging at one point, and an attempted assault outside a bar at another.

All in all it took about a little over forty minutes to reach his usual stomping grounds. When he neared the usual starting point he paused to check his phone, pulling up his text messages. For the past month he'd been on the trail of a group behind a recent string of robberies. This morning an informant had reached out to police about a potential hideout, and Shouta had agreed to check it out during his patrol.

The location wasn't too far, and after a quick glance at the screenshot of the map Officer Tamakawa sent he pocketed the device and set course. He'd recognized the area as home to a recently closed strip mall, the landlord wanting to tear down the structure to build something new. It would make an ideal hiding spot, the closed shops lacking the instability that usually plagued long-abandoned buildings, and the landlord hadn't seemed to care for security since he planned to demolish it anyway.

As he neared the area he had to drop to the street, as the strip mall faced a few standalone buildings too widely spaced to use for transit. He finished the rest of the trek at a brisk pace, keeping his saunter casual and pulling out his phone to pretend to check it. There wouldn't really be anywhere to hide on approach, so he'd be best off walking normally rather than trying to sneak over.

When he drew closer his eyes flickered towards the shops to gauge for any signs of life or movement. And that was when he froze. There weren't any lights on inside the building but it still had street lamps along the sidewalk, which clearly highlighted the gaping hole in one of the shutters blocking one of the stores.

Shouta abandoned all pretenses and shoved his phone in his pocket as he took off running. The edges of the hole looked frayed the same way thread did rather than twisted and warped like he usually saw in metal, the shutter seeming to open into a black abyss. He pulled out a small flashlight and clicked it on, shining it into the darkness even before he reached the shutter itself.

Even from a distance he could see the beam illuminated only a thick coat of dull brownish-gray on a floor he knew had been tiled. Shouta came to a halt just outside and peered inside, huffing quietly as he confirmed his suspicions. With a soft sigh he pulled out his phone and tapped Tamakawa's contact information to call him.

When the officer picked up he didn't even wait for pleasantries. "Bad news, the targets are gone."

"Damn, did they blow town?"

"Not sure, but the place is dusted."

"Shit, that's the second time this month," Tamakawa hissed softly, and Shouta could only hum as he continued to peer into the store.

Nothing remained inside but a fine layer of dust and particles floating clearly in his flashlight's beam.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20

.:. Training at the USJ .:.

Wednesday found all of Class 1-A loaded onto a bus, heading deeper into campus to do rescue training. Gran and Aizawa sat near the front by the driver, choosing to ignore the students as they quietly discussed lesson plans. Most of the students chattered excitedly among themselves, speculating on just what they would do and where they would go.

Since they lived on campus, Izuku and the other dorm-dwellers found themselves subjected to most of the questions about the latter. "So you guys don't know either?" Kaminari asked in surprise. "But you guys live on campus, and you moved in before classes started! I thought you guys would've explored everything by now!"

"You do realize how big the campus is, right?" Awase asked with a huff. "It's not like we got a guided tour of the place, all we had were robots waiting at the gates to show us how to reach the dorms. I barely knew how to find the classroom."

"Oh yeah, you arrived late the first day," Sero recalled with a nod, and then grinned. "Man, you looked so freaked out when you burst in!" Next to him Ashido and Kaminari snickered, and Awase glared at the trio but didn't retort.

"We only arrived on Friday, so we didn't have much extra time to explore," Kodai commented. "Some of us walked around, but we didn't go into most of the buildings."

"Yeah, and this place we're going is obviously really far away if we need to take a bus," Uraraka said with a nod. She glanced at Izuku as she added, "Oh, but wait, Deku's mom works at the dorms, so he might've gotten to look around!"

Izuku flinched when the comment got several people to turn him curiously. Even now he still found it jarring and nerve-wracking to be the center of attention. "N-not really, I arrived on the same day as everyone else," he refuted quickly. "A-and it's not like they told mom everything about the school! She just works in the dorms. She didn't even know who our homeroom teacher was!"

His words came out more and more like rambling, nerves starting to get the better of him. Fortunately he was spared from everyone's collective attention when Iida spoke up. "In any event, UA has one of the largest campuses in all of Japan, so it's to be expected they wouldn't have seen all of it yet," he declared with a nod. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see all of the facilities this year!"

That got some surprised exclamations of disbelief, but Izuku thought he might be right. UA's campus was enormous, a fact easily denoted by the fact it had multiple exam sites simulating small cities. Chances were some facilities were so specialized, they'd only use them a handful of times during their entire time here. The school also had other departments besides heroics, so they might not even enter buildings for those courses.

Conversation drifted after that, and soon enough the bus arrived and everyone filed out. Once again, they all found themselves momentarily awed by the size of the dome-shaped facility, proving yet again that UA always went big and flashy.

"Stop gawking and go inside," Gran barked, and everyone quickly scrambled through the tall doors. Once actually inside, their awe only doubled at the space that greeted them. The interior felt more like an indoor theme park than a training facility, divided into six disaster-themed sections around a central plaza with a fountain. The entrance itself was at the top of a set of stairs, giving them a clear view of the space. (Izuku definitely heard someone shout "Is this Universal Studios Japan!?")

As they all took in the wild sight, a voice began speaking. "A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, et cetera." Izuku perked up, his attention quickly drawn to a familiar hero in a space suit. "It is a training ground that I made with different types of accidents and disasters. I call it the 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint,' or 'USJ' for short!"

"Thirteen!" Izuku and Uraraka exclaimed, unable to contain their excitement any longer. The Space Hero: Thirteen had been long-renowned as a rescue hero. The fact UA had hired them for rescue training spoke leagues about the quality of its education.

Aizawa walked over to the hero with a small nod. "I held off on telling them the details since I know you enjoy your own surprises. Everything up and operational?"

"Of course!" Thirteen confirmed. "I have big plans for today."

"Good, then we'll let you take lead," Gran huffed. "It's your facility, you know it better than us." Izuku side-eyed the older hero knowingly; he was definitely just trying to get out of heavy work and leave responsibility on everyone else. While he was a good teacher, Gran Torino was still an old man. Running around the USJ would take a lot of energy out of him.

If Thirteen noticed, they didn't comment. "Alright, understood. Well then, let's see..." They turned to face the students. "Before we begin, let me say one thing... or two... or three... or four, or five or six or seven..." As the number went higher and higher, the class's eager mood became more sheepish. That was a lot of points. "Everyone, I am sure you are aware of my Quirk, Black Hole. I can suck up anything and turn it to dust."

Izuku couldn't help himself. "You've been able to use that Quirk to save people from all kinds of disasters, right?"

Thirteen nodded. "Yes, but it is a power that can kill very easily. Some of you also have Quirks like that, right?" The question got several nods, the mood becoming more uneasy. "In a superhuman society, personal Quirks have been certified and stringently regulated, so that doesn't seem like a problem at first glance. However, please do not forget that there are many Quirks that can easily kill with one wrong step.

"With Aizawa's physical fitness test, you found out about the potential of your own hidden powers. Meanwhile, I'm sure many of you have seen the dangers firsthand after the second Quirk boom. The number of people who developed a new Quirk in a bad situation and caused harm to those around them, whether intentionally or not, is innumerable. I am certain at least one student in this class would have experienced such an event personally, whether it was their own Quirk, or someone they knew."

The last remark had successfully changed the mood, making them all more serious and somber. Izuku found his gaze drifting to his own palms with a frown, remembering how he'd stolen the Sludge Villain's Quirk with Graft. It had been temporary and he'd returned it, but if he hadn't figured out how to give it back... Who knew what would have happened to him and the villain?

Judging by the way some of his classmates frowned, he suspected he wasn't the only one with an experience like that.

"This class is a fresh start," Thirteen continued. "You shall learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives. Your powers are not meant to harm others. I hope that you leave here with the understanding that you have powers in order to help others. That is all, thank you for listening." They bowed, and a few students clapped lightly. It was a powerful speech, with an important message to remember.

Aizawa seemed indifferent to the speech, probably because he'd heard it before. "Great. Now, first off, we'll be going to two zones today. There will be a lecture at each one about the dangers, and real world scenarios you'll likely encounter those conditions. Now come on, let's go." With that unceremonious announcement he, Thirteen and Gran began descending the steps, the class following.

Thirteen took lead just as Gran had asked, taking them to the lake. A ship had anchored far off the shore near the mouth of a giant waterslide, and they could see giant boulders scattered along the slide. "This is the flood zone," they announced. "The purpose is to emulate maritime conditions, as well as other miscellaneous water-based environments."

What followed was a lengthy explanation about the zone's many potential simulated scenarios, and the risks associated with them. Some were obvious, like rescuing people from marooned ships or drowning people. However, the water slide surprisingly served to emulate river rapids. "After disasters such as floods or storms, rivers tend to swell and become much more rapid," Thirteen explained. "Rescuing people from a rushing river is much more risky than normal river rescues."

"To that end, we'll divide into two groups," Aizawa continued. "Group one will go on the ship to work on open-water rescues, and group two will go to the slide to focus on rivers. We'll swap after an hour."

With that they split the class in half, with Izuku's group consisting of himself, Bakugou, Shinsou, Shouji, Kodai, Sero, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Komori and Kirishima. He was mildly disappointed not to work with Uraraka or Tsuburaba, but he had no real complaints. Aizawa took the other group to the ship, while Thirteen and Gran took his to the top of the slide. Despite his attempts, Gran had been unable to escape all of his teaching duties, since his Quirk would be invaluable for rescuing anyone who got too caught up in the rushing water.

Several dummies had been laid out at the top of the slide to serve as victims. Gran rather unceremoniously tossed one down the slide, much to everyone's horror. "Well, get to chasing them before they fall to their death," he told them gruffly as they watched the dummy rapidly wash away, bumping into several rocks in the process.

What followed had to look mildly hilarious to onlookers as they struggled to catch the dummies, but also gave a fascinating glimpse of everyone's Quirks in action. Kodai, for example, managed to temporarily shrink down some of the boulders, lowering the harm to victims. Komori used her mushrooms to make a cushion for people, as well as provide platforms for classmates to stand and safely grab the dummies.

Yaoyorozu used her Quirk to create a net to string between boulders and help safely catch victims. To Izuku's amusement it looked like it was made of vines, yet again matching with her flowery costume. "I swear it's not meant to be a theme!" she exclaimed when someone commented on it. "It just happens sometimes!"

Sero tried to take inspiration from that and make a net from his tape. The water proved to be his undoing though, ruining the adhesiveness and making the net quickly fall off the boulders and wash away, much to his dismay. Then he got even more dismayed when Shouji effectively used himself as a human net by gripping the boulders with multiple hands.

Meanwhile, Bakugou being Bakugou, Izuku's childhood friend had decided to just explode one of the boulders so a victim wouldn't crash into it. An idea which almost ended in disaster when the explosion sent chunks of rock flying. Fortunately Thirteen had been able to use their Quirk to suck up the debris before it could hit anyone.

"Removing the boulders is a good idea to lower injuries, but it's incredibly risky," they said afterwards. "You need to keep in mind that rushing water can make the resulting debris fly in even more wild directions than normal. It might work better when you have more training in the future!" Bakugou had been mildly irritated but accepted the criticism.

The most surprising discovery of the training though: Kirishima had a second Quirk.

Everyone just stared dumbly when he pressed a palm against the water and it began turning to a gel-like substance. He didn't change all the water on the slide, but as more water slammed into the gel it began changing as well, quickly but steadily building up into a wall. The accumulation stopped when he pulled his hand away, just in time for some dummies to collide against it.

"Uh, might want to grab them!" he called. "The gel stuff doesn't hold long, and I don't usually do it with moving water so—gah!" He yelped as the wall broke under the force of the rapids and dummies, jiggling chunks of clear gel mixing in with the dummies and water. In the end, they decided his Quirk wouldn't be too helpful there.

Of course, not everyone had suitable Quirks for the exercise. Izuku, Shinsou and Ashido ended up volunteering to help pull victims to safety and administer first aid. The dummies were relatively high-tech specifically for that purpose, with sections of their "skin" changing color to reflect injuries.

"Oof, another snapped neck," Ashido said with a wince as Bakugou delivered another one. Several of the dummies had red necks after their heads bumped against the boulders.

"It was already like that when I got it," Bakugou grumbled as he dumped up. "Now I'm going back for more!" He turned and jumped back to the rapids, using his explosions to boost his jump a bit.

"Add it to the dead pile, I guess," Shinsou said, and Ashido nodded as she added it to the pile to be reused in the next round of faux-rescues.

After around an hour, they swapped places with the other group. The ship group focused mainly on drowning using similar dummies stored on the ship. Aizawa tossed them over the rails and the class just watched awkwardly as they bobbed lifelessly in the water. "Um, don't drowning people usually struggle?" Sero asked nervously.

"Sometimes, but not always," Aizawa drawled. "A lot of drowning people don't show visible distress and flail like you see in movies. They just tend to sink. That said, it's still dangerous to go near since they'll latch onto you and potentially pull you down."

After a brief explanation of how to rescue drowning victims, the first person went in. Ashido volunteered for the honor alongside a reluctant Sero, which turned out to mildly backfire when the limp dummy suddenly sprung to life to latch onto her. There was a bit of panic from the group as they watched her nearly get dragged under, only saved by Sero using his tape to wrap around her and pull her towards the boat.

"As I said," Aizawa said once they were on the deck. "Drowning victims tend to grab onto people."

Once again, more Quirks came into action. Yaoyorozu created multiple life preservers, which the dummies automatically latched onto and counted as a pass. From there it was easy for other students to get into the water and drag them to the ship, where they'd be pulled up using either a rope or Sero's tape. The ship also had an inflatable raft that they used to get closer, though the "victims" could easily make it capsize with their frantic scrambling to get onto it.

Izuku ended up volunteering to be one of the primary "water" team members, going into the water repeatedly to help rescue the victims. Crash wasn't too useful here, but he could at least pull them to safety. Kirishima's gel Quirk proved more useful on still water by creating platforms, though the dummies' frantic flailing easily tore them to shreds. It at least provided a place for the students to rest until their next dive, except when they broke up.

"They don't last long, do they?" Izuku asked as they treaded water after the latest platform suddenly dissolved beneath them.

"Nah, it breaks up after a couple minutes," Kirishima replied, already turning more water into gel. The gelatinous state spread outwards from his palm, the surface of the water slowly but steadily solidifying. "I don't really use it that much, but it only lasts like, five minutes at a time, I think?" He shrugged. "It's honestly pretty lame."

"It is the only reason we're not constantly trying not to drown like this," Shinsou deadpanned.

"I mean, I guess, but you guys could always use the raft!"

"We alternate between using that and swimming for rescues," Kodai countered bluntly, getting nods of agreements from the other two.

"Yeah, I'd rather not stay in the water while waiting for the raft to come back."

After an hour the teachers called an end to the training and the class regrouped on the shore, most of the students thoroughly drenched. Thirteen gave a quick closing speech about the importance of water rescue, with some comments from Aizawa and Gran sprinkled in. When they finished they announced a ten minute break before the second part of the training, not to rest but more so everyone could dry off.

While waiting for the break to end, Kaminari approached Izuku. "Hey, Midoriya, your Quirk basically makes you like, really good at crashing into stuff, right?" he asked, seeming oddly expectant.

"Um, I guess that's one way to put it?" Izuku replied, feeling suddenly wary of the blond's intentions. "Basically it boosts my momentum in short bursts and also increases my body's durability, so I can slam into stuff at high velocity without hurting myself." Kaminari grinned slyly, sending more waves of suspicion through Izuku.

"So, you'd say you're like a human cannonball?" he asked, and Izuku started to respond only to pause as Kaminari's intent dawned on him. He and several other nearby students turned to look at the lake, and then those classmates turned to look at him, eyes shining with the same anticipation as Kaminari.

"...Yes," Izuku replied after a moment, still staring at the lake.

"Then you must make really big splashes!" Ashido exclaimed.

"Yeah, I bet they're huge!" Tsuburaba added eagerly.

"I... maybe?" Izuku shrugged feebly. "I've never tried to use Crash on water before. I can't really test it at pools so the only place I could train it the ocean, and I haven't gone swimming in one in a few years." Not since before Crash manifested, anyway.

Everyone seemed to consider that, and then as one all twenty students turned to look at the teachers, even Bakugou. Aizawa just eyed them with open disdain before sighing. "...Fine. You're going to try it at some point anyway, so might as well do it in a large body of water when we have proper supervision."

There was a chorus of cheers, and soon enough Izuku was situated on one of Tsuburaba's platforms above the center of the lake. With a burst of blue and green light he pushed off the platform and hurtled towards the water. Light gathered around him as the usual forcefield began forming, the fall making his velocity build faster than when he'd dash on land. The usual trail of sparking hexagon-shaped particles that accompanied his Quirk streaked behind him, making him look more like a comet than a person.

When he hit the water, there was a magnificent splash that made the whole lake ripple and sent a wall of water towards the shore. The students' cheers turned to shrieks of shock as they were drenched by the wave, shouts of dismay echoing loudly. The teachers stood a safe distance away from the splash zone, perfectly dry.

"So, should we add another ten minutes to the break, or move on at the original time?" Gran asked with a smirk.

"Leaving them in wet clothes could get in the way of the next part," Thirteen commented.

"We'll give them an extra five minutes," Aizawa decided. "If they can't figure out a way to dry off, that's on them."

As if on cue, the class erupted into surprised shouts when Todoroki suddenly produced a large flame to start drying himself off. Izuku's stunned gasp then turned to sputtering when he accidentally inhaled a bunch of water, since he was still swimming back to shore. Which then sparked a few of his classmates to put their newfound training to use and dive into the water to try to rescue him, despite the fact he wasn't actually drowning.

Yep, there certainly wasn't a dull day with this class.

So as it turned out, Todoroki also had a second Quirk. And the most surprising part was that it wasn't the fire, but the bursts of air he could produce with his palms. Izuku had been sure that the ice and wind had been part of a blizzard-type Quirk, but no. His actual original Quirk was Half-Hot, Half-Cold. There just hadn't been any reason to use the fire part in class so far aside from melting his ice constructs.

Which made the addition of Air Blast terrifying since he could use it to make blizzards and fire tornadoes.

Alas, Izuku did not get a chance to ask about it though, as they quickly moved on to the second and final area they'd use for training today: the ruins zone. "No matter what kind of hero you are, you'll most likely encounter disasters in urban environments," Thirteen informed them as they stood in front of the crumbling buildings. "Whether it be due to earthquakes, storm damage, villain attacks, and a myriad of other scenarios, you're all guaranteed to encounter these conditions at least once in your careers."

"Today's exercise doubles as disaster rescue and evacuation," Aizawa continued. "There are already dummies placed in several of the buildings. Since the nature of the exercise is the same across all the buildings, we won't bother dividing into large groups this time. Instead you'll all work together and split into smaller groups to comb each building."

"Which buildings do we search?" Asui asked, and Aizawa grinned.

"That's up to you to figure out."

After a brief spiel from the teachers about general safety and risks in this particular environment, they left the class mostly to their own devices. Planning went slower than Izuku would usually expect, everyone still tired from all the exercise at the flood zone. In retrospect, that was probably why the teachers had them do the flood zone first. They'd probably be just as tired by the time they encountered a destroyed city, given they'd have to deal with whatever destroyed it first.

Luckily for them Jirou quickly realized the dummies had audible heartbeats, so she and Shouji used that to pinpoint which buildings should be searched. Some heartbeats were quieter than others, and a quick check with the teachers confirmed that some dummies would "die" if not rescued quickly, so those buildings took priority.

They started breaking into groups to search for survivors. Todoroki entered the most unstable-looking buildings, since his ice could be used to brace the structure. One group ended up calling Tsuburaba for help because their building had a large chunk of floor missing, and his air platforms could brace it. The building Izuku's group entered had the same problem, but their team had Uraraka who could float everyone over the gap.

They'd joined up with Iida and Shinsou, partially because Izuku had forcibly snagged the awkwardly-alone Shinsou. Iida meanwhile had effectively taken lead. While his Quirk didn't help with the current circumstances, he proved to be surprisingly adept at navigating the building. He steered them away from some more unstable areas that Izuku wouldn't have realized were dangerous.

"I've actually learned a lot about how to identify signs of structural instability from my brother," he explained after pointing out a web of cracks Izuku had failed to notice. "He works in urban environments like this and has had to help rescue people from collapsed buildings before, so he wanted to make sure I'd know how to get out in case of an emergency."

"Your brother's Ingenium, right?" Izuku asked eagerly. "Your costume looks just like his!"

Iida's chest puffed in pride. "Indeed! The Iida family has been heroes for multiple generations, and I'm just the latest to go on this path! Also Shinsou, stay away from that wall," he added. "The crack by where it meets the floor doesn't look safe, and I think there was a damaged support pillar around here on the floor below this."

Shinsou grunted in affirmation, taking a step back. "Okay, cool, but there's a dummy in that room," he said, pointing to the doorway he'd just been looking at. "Got some rubble on top of it."

"Oh. Well, that is a problem..."

"Deku, want me to float you over?" Uraraka asked.

"Alright," Izuku agreed easily, and she quickly slapped him to make him float. A light shove from Shinsou had him gliding over the potentially unstable floor to enter the room, lightly pressing a hand on the far wall to stop himself before she released her Quirk. As Shinsou noted there was a dummy trapped under some rubble, large chunks of cement from the floor above. He tried lifting one of the pieces before calling, "It's too heavy for me! Uraraka, you'll need to come help!"

"Oof, on it. Shinsou, Iida, please just push me over ASAP." The two voiced their consent and Uraraka used her Quirk on herself, at which point they shoved her. In the few seconds it took for her to zoom into the room she started looking queasy, and Izuku quickly caught her wrist before she could hit the wall. She promptly pressed her hands together and she dropped to the floor with a relieved gasp.

Uraraka's Quirk proved to be just as handy for rescue as expected, as she easily lifted the rubble off the dummy. Getting the "victim" out of the room proved a little more tricky though, since they couldn't just float an injured person. They had Iida go double-check to make sure the damaged pillar was below this space, and unfortunately he confirmed it was.

After about three minutes of debating Shinsou finally huffed and declared, "I know floating a real person would be bad, but that's a dummy and it's our first class. I think the teachers aren't expecting perfection." Iida clearly disapproved of this line of thinking, but in the end they decided Shinsou had a point. And so Izuku was made to hold the dummy while Uraraka sent him across.

Izuku and Shinsou ended up volunteering to carry the victim to safety while Iida and Uraraka continued to search. As they emerged and headed towards the "first aid" area set up near the teachers (currently just Thirteen, he noticed), Izuku couldn't help noticing Shinsou looked a bit dejected though. His floormate had been distant since school began and always seemed to be distracted, but right now he seemed especially bothered.

"Something on your mind?" Izuku asked. Shinsou seemed to hesitate, but finally sighed.

"Just thinking about how useless I've been today."

The answer took Izuku by surprise. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"My Quirk's not really cut out for rescue," Shinsou replied with a shrug. "Uraraka's obviously got the perfect one for this stuff, and she's also... weirdly efficient?" She had taken the lead on most of the efforts, almost always the first one to get to a victim once they'd spotted a dummy. "And Iida's Quirk isn't really helpful here, but he knows enough to figure out what parts of the building are safe. All I can really do is carry dummies out."

"But if these were actual people, it would be a huge help!" Izuku countered immediately. "Like, let's say someone's panicking and afraid to move from where they are, or any sudden movements can destabilize the area. You can use your Quirk to take control, and order them to move safely away. Or, what does your Quirk do to someone who's got a concussion?"

"I've never tested it on someone with a head injury," Shinsou replied flatly, and Izuku flinched as he realized how that question sounded.

"Uh, r-right, probably a good idea. But I was just wondering—sometimes people who have concussions can't walk steadily, but maybe if they're under your Quirk's influence, they can?" He shrugged. "Just, one of the biggest challenges is making sure people are calm enough to move without risking the building's stability, so your Quirk would be a massive help there."

By this point they'd reached the first aid area, and Shinsou just hummed quietly as they carefully set down the dummy for inspection from the teachers. "Yeah, guess you have a point there," he admitted. "Never really had much chance to test it on people under these sorts of conditions for, well, obvious reasons."

"Most of us haven't used our Quirks in situations like this," Izuku replied. "Or for most of the other situations we'll be training for, really. That's part of why we're here: to figure it out. Although, Crash probably won't be much help here," he added with a sheepish laugh. "All the uses I can think of for it right now would probably cause more problems than help, especially since the buildings are so unstable..."

"Tch, so what?" They turned to see Bakugou approach along with Kirishima, carrying another dummy. They set it down and the blond turned to them. "You're just gonna whine because your Quirk's not good for this?"

"No, I'm not whining!" Izuku quickly protested. "I'm just saying, Crash isn't a good fit for this! The buildings are all unstable, and, well—we call it 'Crash' for a reason." He had to stop himself from referencing how Inko had discovered it, since Bakugou knew that story well, but luckily his own "discovery" gave him a similar story. "Remember when I first discovered it in class?"

"Yeah, and you busted down a wall," Bakugou scoffed.

"Wait, you what?" Shinsou asked in surprise.

"Someone accidentally pushed me against a wall right before class started, and that's how I discovered Crash," Izuku explained with a shrug. "I still can't believe I didn't get in trouble for that."

"Yeah, well, guess the adults were all just happy to see you weren't so useless anymore," Bakugou muttered, and Izuku had to suppress a small wince. "But you've finally got a Quirk, so stop your whining. Newsflash Deku, explosions aren't good for this shit either, but you don't see me complaining!"

"Yeah, I guess Crash and Explosion have the same problem here," Izuku allowed with a nod, and then began muttering thoughtfully. "Actually come to think about it, they'd probably have similar applications in other rescue scenarios, like clearing debris and giving us small speed boosts... Though ultimately neither is really suited specifically for rescue work."

"Ugh, I thought you got over the creepy mumbling thing," Bakugou groaned, and Izuku winced.

"Sorry, Kacchan."

"And don't call me that!"

"S-sorry!"

Bakugou just growled and turned to stalk off. "Seriously," he huffed. "You finally stopped being so useless. You're supposed to be smart, so if Crash doesn't work here, then think of something you can do, Deku."

Something about that made Izuku pause. Of all the things Bakugou had said to him, that had to be the most positive and supportive thing Izuku had heard in years—maybe ever. It was encouraging in that gruff way unique to the blond, telling him to not get overwhelmed by thinking of everything and just focus on what he could. But right now, something else clicked in his brain.

"Kacchan." The name slipped out without a thought, making the blond flinch and turn to glare at him. Izuku just met his glower steadily though with a small frown, speaking before he could say anything. "Are—did you only start thinking of me as an equal after I got Crash?"

"Duh," Bakugou snorted. "Before that you were a useless, Quirkless Deku. But now that you've finally got a Quirk, and a fucking decent one at that, you can actually do something for once, so—"

"So I'm only worth something to you after getting a Quirk?" Izuku cut in lowly. The interruption had Bakugou grinding his teeth in obvious irritation.

"You got fucking water in your ears still or something? Of course! You spent years just living in denial. Do you have any idea how irritating that shit was? But you're finally—"

He cut himself off as Izuku charged forward and smacked his palm against his cheek. There was a chorus of surprised shouts from Shinsou and Kirishima as Bakugou stepped back, staring at Izuku with wide eyes full of shock. Izuku met his gaze with a stony glare of his own, a rare fire in his eyes.

"Fuck you, Kacchan."

Chapter Text

Chapter 21

.:. Fight at the USJ .:.

In most worlds, Midoriya Izuku was best described as kind with a mild streak of timidity. He was the kind of boy who would never raise a hand against a friend, never let his temper get the better of him. The kind who would channel his anger with more negativity towards himself than others, internalizing those darker feelings and letting them build up over time.

In most worlds, Midoriya Izuku also had not been subjected to a near full year of training under Gran Torino before enrolling at UA.

Even the kindest souls would have their edges hardened a little under his purview, and Izuku was no exception. He wouldn't ever become a sassy back-talker who'd purposely pick fights with anyone he didn't like, nor would he lose that deeply embedded kindness that defined him. But he also wasn't as willing to stand by when he felt he'd been treated unfairly.

Bakugou looked just as stunned as everyone else after Izuku slapped him. "What did you say?" he whispered.

"I said, fuck you, Kacchan," Izuku repeated coldly, corners of his eyes burning as he met his once-friend's stunned red glare. "Fuck you for only treating me like a human after I get a Quirk!"

Using harsh language like that—especially towards Bakugou—felt odd and alien even to Izuku himself, but right now, he didn't care. All he could feel was a cold, simmering rage as understanding finally dawned on him.

Ever since Crash "manifested" at school, Izuku had noticed how Bakugou treated him differently.

Everyone treated him differently of course, but it was most noticeable with him. They still weren't as friendly as when they'd been kids, but he'd been more... civil, maybe? While the insults continued, they had toned down considerably. No longer did he snarl at Izuku or occasionally shove him out of the way just for seeming to simply exist. His irritation seemed to be the same sort of general irritation he felt towards everyone, not targeted at Izuku in particular.

The strangest part had been how Bakugou tried to rope him into the challenges with Hachinose. He never just asked, "Hey, want to join in?" He'd more demand his participation, hollering out for the school to hear, "Oi, Deku, stop being a coward and get over here already!" Sometimes he'd even skip his usual challenges to Hachinose because he'd spend the lunch period looking for Izuku to cajole him into joining.

At the time it had confused him, but the first schoolday after the entrance exam results came in, Bakugou had marched straight to Izuku's desk.

"So you got in too, huh, Deku?" the blond asked with a haughty huff.

"Y-yeah, I did," Izuku confirmed, feeling simultaneously pleased and also confused at Bakugou approaching him. "Congratulations on getting first! I can't believe you got over one hundred points!"

"Tch, it was obvious I'd score first," Bakugou scoffed. "But how the fuck did you only score fifth?"

"Fifth is pretty good!" Izuku quickly protested with a frown. "And you saw all the top ten scores! I kinda feel like something happened at one of the sites actually, because one person had a lot more rescue points, and the recording I got mentioned something about having to reevaluate scores because of some technical issue...?"

He jolted when Bakugou slammed his palms on the desk, the noise plenty loud and jarring without his Quirk behind it. "Stop with the mumbling!" he snapped, and Izuku quickly squeaked out a "sorry" while the blond scowled. "But dammit Deku, you're supposed to be better than that! I don't want some average schmuck as my rival!"

Izuku jolted in surprise again, but for a different reason now. "Wait, rival?" he repeated.

"Yeah, Deku, rival!" Bakugou rolled his eyes with a huff. "Seriously, you finally have a fucking decent Quirk. If you're getting into UA too, then you better be good with it. Having a fucking nobody from the same school get in with me is lame as hell, so I'm expecting you to actually be good at this shit, got it!"

At that moment, Izuku felt several emotions swell up in his chest, eyes going wide. "K-Kacchan," he whispered, voice wobbling as tears began to form.

"Don't call me that, and stop being such a crybaby!" Bakugou shouted, and Izuku quickly wiped at his eyes while the blond turned to sit at his own desk. Even as he wiped away the tears he felt his face split into a large smile though, more tears threatening to form.

Rival. Kacchan called him his rival. It wasn't the same as when they were kids, still not friends, but it was closer to how things had been. After all, this meant Kacchan had finally started acknowledging him again—if not as a friend, then as something closer to an equal.

He finally, finally acknowledged Izuku.

He finally changed his opinion after Izuku revealed Crash.

Somehow, blinded by his happiness at the sudden change, Izuku hadn't realized the implications of that before. Not until now, standing at the edge of the ruins zone in USJ while tired and sore from dragging dummies out of buildings. Not until after hearing one of the most encouraging and supportive things Kacchan had said to him in years.

Funny how that was what made him finally realize what was going on in Bakugou's head.

"That's why you changed?" he spat. "That's why you finally started treating me decently? Because I had a Quirk?" His fists clenched at his side as he glowered at the still-stunned blond, teeth baring angrily. "No. Screw you! Just because I have a Quirk now doesn't change anything else about me! The only difference is I'm physically stronger, so why is that enough to make you finally treat me like a decent person?"

He punctuated his last question with a shove against Bakugou's shoulder before turning away, fists clenching at his sides. "So screw you, Kacchan," he said one last time.

That would have, for the moment, been the end of it. Even though the past year had put some steel in Izuku's spine, he wasn't used to this sort of fighting; the rage was already draining out of him, replaced by a hard, sick, insulted feeling in the pit of his stomach. He just wanted the confrontation to be over and go their separate ways.

Unfortunately for everyone, that was not the end of it though. Izuku's shove seemed to bring Bakugou back to his senses, pride and indignation cutting through his confusion. "Who the hell do you think you are?!" he demanded. Izuku turned just in time for the blond to grab him by both shoulders, returning the shove with a bang and a flash of smoke.

The explosion wasn't heavy by any means, definitely on the weaker end of his capabilities, but it added enough extra force to knock Izuku to the ground. He rolled and skidded a bit before coming to an abrupt halt in a pulse of blue and green. For a moment he just lay there on the ground, fists tensing. He lifted his head and rolled his shoulders once to test for any injuries from the abrupt fall, wincing.

And then a beam of bluish green shot towards Bakugou Katsuki, accompanied by the collective shouts of the assembled students and Thirteen.

For a terrible half-minute, Izuku was untouchable. He paid no attention to the confusion of noise in the background. Bakugou dodged his initial charge, but Izuku didn't let his momentum carry himself away, spinning on his heel to throw himself at the blond once more. He shrugged off whatever explosive force wasn't absorbed by his quirk as Bakugou fought back. A sharp blow to his temple left him only mildly dizzy, and barely even registered on his consciousness.

Right then, he wasn't just fighting Bakugou; he was lashing out against more than ten years of mistreatment from all sides. Ten years of jabs and pranks and silent treatments and ostracization. Ten years of Quirkless Deku.

And while Izuku was lashing out, Bakugou wasn't holding back either. Nearly every strike he made carried explosive force behind it, his face twisted into an almost feral snarl. If he made any sound, Izuku couldn't hear it over the rush of blood in his own ears. Come to think of it, he was probably screaming too, but he didn't really care about that, too focused on the fight.

When Bakugou tried to dodge another charge Izuku jumped, landing just slightly behind the blond. His built-up momentum carried over, creating a small crater on impact that had Bakugou nearly toppling to the ground and everyone else nearby stumbling. Izuku needed only a single step to steady himself before he spun to face his childhood friend with a snarl, blue-green light still fading around him.

Somehow Bakugou maintained his footing and didn't fall, already lurching forward with another fist aimed at Izuku's face.

Except this time when Izuku dodged, there was no bright flash of light from an explosion behind it.

Then, without warning, Izuku felt his own Quirks... vanish.

Shock and confusion crashed over him like a wave of cold water at the abrupt disappearance, his initial anger vanishing instantly. Crash and Glow Ink had become persistent presences, always there in the back of his mind even if he didn't focus on them. He hadn't even realized it until now, when that presence suddenly blinked out of existence, and it was jarring enough to make him halt his own movements.

As he stood in mild shock trying to comprehend what happened, greyish fabric suddenly wrapped around Bakugou and pulled him back. At the same time Izuku felt something barrel into him and shove him away from the blond, placing even more distance between them. It only took half a second to recognize the unfortunately familiar sensation of Gran Torino using himself as a human weapon against Izuku (which, wow, the fact he could recognize Gran just from that probably said a lot).

If Gran was the one shoving him, that meant...

Izuku's head turned to see Aizawa had wrapped Bakugou in the gray scarf-like weapon he always wore around his neck, revealing a pair of yellow goggles below it. HIs glare was menacing on a good day, but right now he looked almost demonic in his rage, his eyes glowing red and hair floating above his head in a dark, waving halo.

"What is going on here?" he demanded sharply.

In that moment, Izuku realized two things. One: Aizawa must be using his Quirk to cancel out his and Bakugou's own Quirks, which meant he must be Eraserhead.

And two: they were screwed.

"They fought each other using their Quirks during a rescue exercise." Shouta's voice was tinged with exhaustion, fury, and disbelief as he stood in Nedzu's office, rubbing his still-sore eyes. "I take my eyes off them for five minutes to check on another group, and come back to a glorified fist fight and a crater in the ground."

They had just spent the past two hours talking to the two brats and getting statements from all the witnesses about the fight. He felt perfectly justified in his current ire. He had expected to use Erasure at some point today, but not to break up a fight. The only remotely "good" thing was that the fight hadn't lasted very long, only getting physical around a minute before he and Gran arrived.

That was still a minute longer than it should be.

"To be fair, I'm almost surprised a confrontation didn't happen sooner," Gran muttered. "From what I know, that Bakugou brat's been giving Midoriya a hard time most of his life for being Quirkless. I figured Midoriya would clock onto what caused his 'change of heart' eventually, or already had."

"And you didn't think to warn me?" Shouta muttered, shooting the old man a sour look.

"Didn't think it'd escalate that far. Kid's usually not one to lose himself to his temper like that. I didn't think he even had it in him to actually hit someone without a Quirk, I just expected him to shout a bit. Hell, wasn't even sure he'd be willing to do that much, honestly," he added under his breath.

"Well, Thirteen and the students who witnessed it say that Bakugou was the first to use a Quirk," Nedzu commented. "However, Midoriya did still slap and shove him first, albeit without a Quirk. Based on their accounts, it's hard to determine which of them would hold greater responsibility for the fight."

"So punish both of them," Shouta said flatly. The primary instigator behind the fight didn't really matter when both kids used their Quirks so clearly and willingly. Based on what little he saw, neither of them could justify their actions as self defense, they had both been going at each other with obvious hostile intent. They'd both allowed the situation to escalate, so they needed to be punished either way.

"Of course, I already planned on doing that," Nedzu agreed easily. "The primary question is how."

And that was indeed the question. Shouta had already issued the usual threats of expulsion, but given it was a first offense and the pair's apparent history, he couldn't justify carrying it out just yet. A simple detention and even an in-school suspension wouldn't cut it, either. Their parents had already made it quite clear they'd be grounding the boys (and Midoriya Inko's glare was surprisingly ominous, even to Shouta), but it fell upon the school to make sure this wouldn't happen again.

"You said they had a history?" he asked Gran tiredly.

"Yeah, though I don't know the full details," the old man confirmed with a nod. "I know Midoriya got bullied a bit and that Bakugou brat was one of the main instigators. I don't think it ever got too physical, mostly just slinging insults and the like. Just sounded like the brat had a superiority complex, which I think we pretty much confirmed today. From what Midoriya said, things pretty much resolved themselves over the past year though."

"Clearly, they didn't," Shouta replied flatly. Otherwise he wouldn't have to break up a superpowered schoolyard fight today. He really wasn't pleased with how things went, and how close they'd been to disaster given the two boys had particularly destructive Quirks.

He was particularly irritated about having to leave an injured student to break up the fight. Satou, Kaminari, Komori and Kodai had teamed up, with Kodai using her Quirk to shrink debris, but in the process they'd unintentionally destabilized part of the floor and caused it to collapse. Cementoss had reinforced the buildings before the exercise, but accidents could still happen. She and Komori had managed to jump to safety, getting stranded on the other side, but Komori had rolled her ankle in the process, and none of the team had Quirks suitable for crossing the gap.

She would absolutely be changing her shoes after this. Shouta would put in the application himself if she didn't do it first. At least they'd managed to move her and Kodai to safety before they got the call from Thirteen over the comms about the fight. It had been lucky he and Gran had been at the closest building when Thirteen called them, and that the space-themed hero had called them before it escalated to Quirks.

Which he was still very irritated about.

"Inko-san did inform All Might and Sir Nighteye of a general history of bullying," Nedzu piped up. "Sir looked into it some more. There were some injuries in elementary school, but nothing severe. The worst of those could be at least partially attributed to children not realizing the harm their Quirks could cause. Fortunately, it seemed by middle school that it mostly boiled down to being ignored or mocked, with most people being more neutral than hostile, though obviously that is still far from good."

"And Bakugou's name never came up once?" Shouta asked skeptically.

"It did, mostly in elementary school. There was one incident from middle school that stood out though, which actually happened the week after we became aware of Midoriya." Nedzu opened a drawer and pulled out a small sheaf of papers stapled together, placing them on the desk. Shouta took them almost warily and skimmed over the first page, recognizing the format of a typical incident report.

His eyebrows raised higher as he read it. Apparently some particularly nasty students had attempted to not only steal Midoriya's shoes, but also place a dead bird inside his shoe locker. Bakugou had stumbled upon them in the act by chance, having been sent by the teacher to run an errand. The blond's reaction had been just as explosive as Shouta would expect of the boy, putting a swift end to their plans and dragging them to the principal's office—quite literally, at that.

The rest of the file detailed the school's reaction: first suspending, and ultimately expelling the guilty boys after an investigation. The dead bird got them a visit from the police for potential animal abuse as well. It ended with a rough transcript of Bakugou's conversation with the school administration during the investigation, including a comment about not accepting that sort of behavior. 'Insults and name-calling is one thing, but those bastards were going too far,' he was quoted as saying. 'The nerd's weak, but that's no excuse to trash his stuff or try to make it physical.'

"So he didn't condone severe bullying," Shouta said when he finished skimming it. "Or at least beyond name-calling and insults." That was still an issue, but based on Shouta's interactions with him, most of that could be chalked up to Bakugou's general demeanor rather than outright bullying. The boy had a naturally abrasive personality, still not ideal but that could be worked on.

"Which is why, coupled with Midoriya's comments, we did not think that his past behavior merited any serious concern when assigning classes," Nedzu said with a nod. "The fact he defended Midoriya while still presumably Quirkless seemed to suggest the worst of the bad blood between them had passed. In retrospect, we could have been more mindful of their history. It is too late to change that though, and what's done is done. As it stands, today's incident doesn't seem like justification enough to put them into different classes, as the fight does seem to be a one-off despite their issues."

"No, separating them would just prolong the problem," Shouta agreed with a sigh. "If they had bad blood, splitting them up won't change anything." If anything, it could just make their next inevitable clash worse, especially if they separated the two after today. The fight would just leave festering feelings that could worsen if not addressed directly and swiftly. "We need to try to address it and move towards resolving their issues."

"I'm guessing a regular detention probably won't be enough," Gran huffed. "I feel like putting them in the same room with extra work would just build up more resentment over being stuck there."

"Bakugou would definitely blame Midoriya," Shouta conceded with a nod. While he'd been the first to bring Quirks into the mix, Midoriya had still been the one to make it physical with the slap and then the shove. Based on Shouta's observation of the short-tempered blond, he would absolutely blame Midoriya for the fight's escalation, logic be damned.

Shit, he really wasn't looking forward to them having in-school suspension tomorrow. They'd be stuck under the supervision of whatever teachers had a free period, and for that reason they couldn't exactly keep the kids separated. Shouta didn't look forward to what he might walk in on when his turn came.

Gran seemed to reach the same conclusion. "Don't know how to go about this in the long-term, but it would be better if we could come up with some task for them to do tomorrow," he muttered. "Keep them occupied so they can't fight."

"Like what, extra homework?" Shouta drawled, unable to help himself. "I saw their transcripts from Aldera. That will only occupy them so long." He'd been mildly pleased to realize that for once the short-tempered kid obsessed with strength and winning was actually smart instead of a muscle-headed idiot. That should have made Bakugou easier to reason with. Key word being should. In this specific instance, it made it much harder to distract him from any grudge against Midoriya.

"I was thinking more like hard labor," Gran replied. "Have them clean up the gyms or something, or run laps around the campus looking for trash. Leave them so exhausted, they don't have the energy to even think about fighting."

Before they could ponder it further a shrill beeping sound echoed through the room, making Shouta and Gran jump in surprise. While they snapped to attention Nedzu spun his chair around to face his computer, tapping the keyboard a few times until the beeping stopped. "The hell was that?" Gran grumbled irritably, poking his ear.

"Just an alert about another explosion in the support labs," the principal replied cheerily. "Since there are so many accidents, we set up a separate part of the fire alarm grid just for that area! It sends an alert to my computer, and only triggers the rest of the alarms in the main building if the fire isn't contained in a timely fashion."

Well that explained why UA didn't have weekly evacuations, Shouta thought wryly. Or maybe even daily, going by Power Loader's drunken griping at the party on Saturday. He'd always wondered about that, but had never particularly cared enough to actually look into the explanation.

Nedzu suddenly paused in his typing, ears briefly twitching as his head shot up with a glint of inspiration in his eyes. "Aha, perhaps that is the solution," he mused, and began typing with even more fervor. Shouta shot him a suspicious look, feeling an instinctive pinprick of wariness.

"You got a plan in mind?" he asked, hiding his sudden caution behind his usual bored drawl.

"Well, lab explosions tend to leave a mess that must be cleaned, don't they?" Nedzu asked, still focused on his computer. "And we happen to have two students who are in desperate need of discipline."

"Still doesn't address the risk of them going at each other's throats," Gran grumbled.

"Oh, but it does," Nedzu replied, and finally turned to face them, his ever-present smile somehow getting bigger. Shouta knew that look, and he knew it wouldn't end well.

For the kids.

"After all, nothing helps people work out their differences quite like some light mortal terror!"

Meanwhile in the 1-H support lab, several students stood in a circle near the back, unleashing fire extinguishers upon a dying blaze. The final ember was swallowed up by the white foam, and the room filled with a sudden silence as the students stopped their assault.

"Fire contained, sir!" one of them hollered, and Maijima Higari, better known as Power Loader, released a heavy sigh.

"It's not yet. You missed a piece of debris that landed right there." He pointed to a piece of smoldering wood on one of the tables, that fire thankfully much smaller since the tables were fireproof. It had already started to burn itself out, but the students still yelped and descended upon it with a flood of foam. Higari watched for a moment before sighing and returning to his desk.

Week two, and already five separate explosions and/or fires. At least this time it wasn't one of Hatsume's inventions that blew up. No, today that honor went to Kihara Jinsei. The mind-boggling part was that they were working with wooden prototypes this time, so there shouldn't have been any parts that could blow up.

Did make it more flammable though.

Higari was starting to suspect that Kihara had an explosive Quirk. As in, it made what he touched explosive. It obviously wasn't their registered Quirk, but it could be a delayed activation. That, or they just had the opposite of the "magic touch" some inventors had. Instead of making stuff they touched magically work, it broke stuff. Usually those people avoided support development though.

He pondered which option was more likely as he checked his computer to update the principal on the fire's containment. At this point the reports were second nature to him, just quick little messages explaining the details of what triggered the alarm. Maybe Nedzu would have an idea about the possible second Quirk.

When he checked his messages he found one already waiting from the principal, an unusual sight, and sat a bit more alert.

'Good afternoon! I just saw the alert for the fire. Has there been any severe damage to the testing chambers? Any messes? If so, then please do not worry about cleaning it today. Tomorrow I'll send two volunteers from Class 1-A to spend all day cleaning. Perhaps they can also test some early prototypes for your students!'

Higari read over the message in silence for a moment. "What the hell did those kids do?" he muttered to himself, but then shook his head. No, forget it, it didn't matter. All he knew was that 1-A went to the USJ today, so if two students were being volunteered to work in the lab that probably meant something happened there. And that meant...

"Dammit, he used Erasure," he groaned, letting his head hit the desk. No matter what happened today, either way he'd most likely owe Kayama at least two thousand yen. Curse whoever started those damn betting pools.

BONUS: The First Costume Change

Sekijirou sighed as he and Shiozaki Ibara stood at the door to the 1-H lab at lunch, facing a mildly exasperated Maijima. "So, let me get this straight," he said. "Your costume has given you no problems yet, and does not neglect anything about your Quirk, but you want it changed anyway."

"Yes," the vine-headed girl confirmed with a nod. "I'm not comfortable with the design anymore."

"It's a bit late to change it just because you don't like the design anymore."

"That's not it at all though," she replied, perfectly straight-faced. "I'm worried that it will slip." That had Maijima pausing, and Sekijirou suppressing another tired sigh.

"Slip?" Maijima repeated, and she nodded, clasping her hands together as she looked at him earnestly.

"The fabric only goes over one shoulder. What if a villain attack manages to slice through it? The robe is well-fitted, but would that alone be enough to keep it in place without the support? What if my entire robe falls down mid-battle? I thought it would be modest enough as it was, but the fact only a single shoulder has the support has me concerned now! I need to modify it, to add a second strap for my other shoulder!"

As she made her plea Maijima's eyes slowly moved towards Sekijirou, not that the girl noticed thanks to his helmet. Sekijirou just shook his head slightly and silently mouthed, "Mineta." That was enough to have the other hero nodding.

"Ah, I see. Alright, if it's just a second strap, it shouldn't be too hard..." As he began discussing the change with Shiozaki, Sekijirou decided he could leave them to it and headed for the teacher's lounge. Looked like he'd won the bet for first costume change, but not for the reasons he suspected. He hadn't predicted Mineta Minoru would panic at the sight of Shiozaki's costume and start spouting all the ways it could go wrong with just one strap. Now they just needed to get him to stop begging Tetsutetsu to get a shirt with shoulders.

At least he wasn't in Class 1-A with Yaoyorozu. Sekijirou could only shudder at the thought of his reaction to her costume.

Chapter Text

Chapter 22

.:. Montage of Doom .:.

The atmosphere in homeroom the day after the field trip could best be described as awkward. As more students filtered in, the empty desks belonging to Midoriya and Bakugou stood out starkly. Though not many people had been present for their fight the previous afternoon, everyone obviously knew about it since they ended the rescue training early. They'd only had half an hour left before they were supposed to return anyway, but the bus ride back had been incredibly tense with Aizawa's death glare.

As class drew closer Kosei kept glancing at his friend's desk anxiously, especially as more kids from the dorms showed up. Uraraka had already texted him that Midoriya got grounded by his mother and spent the whole night in his dorm, even during dinner. She said she hadn't seen him that morning, though that wasn't too surprising since from what he gathered the dorms didn't have a formal time to sit down for breakfast or anything.

Kosei wasn't sure the green-haired boy would want to see anyone even if he hadn't been grounded though. He had been one of the few people to witness the fight, having strolled over just before Midoriya slapped Bakugou and started his whole tirade. It had been pretty shocking for a lot of reasons, since so far the other boy seemed more likely to cry than get angry. After a display like that, he couldn't blame Midoriya for wanting to avoid people.

When Shinsou entered just before class Kosei quickly went over to him, getting a wary look from the other teen. "Hey, Shinsou," he greeted, making sure to keep his voice a bit low so no one would eavesdrop. "You and Midoriya live on the same floor, right? Did you see him this morning?"

"Kinda?" Shinsou said with a shrug, also whispering. "I heard someone in the hallway while I was waking up, and there's no one else on our floor." Kosei frowned, glancing at Midoriya's desk again. Clearly he hadn't come to class. And with Bakugou's desk still empty too, he doubted either of them would show up.

Before he could dwell on it too long Aizawa appeared at the door, and just like that any dawdling students all but teleported to their desks, Kosei included. The ever-grumpy man seemed to be more irritated than usual as he stalked to the desk, turning to face the dead-silent class.

"I know you have questions, so I'll get straight to the point," he said bluntly. "Midoriya and Bakugou have been given a one-day in-school suspension after yesterday's events, and will be back in class tomorrow. UA has a strict stance on fighting with Quirks, but since it's so early in the year we're being lenient." Kosei wouldn't call in-school suspension "lenient," but he wisely held back on saying as much.

As if sensing his thoughts Aizawa continued, "In the future though, any other fights that involve Quirk usage will receive severe punishments, up to removal from the hero program and expulsion from UA entirely." Oh right, that was Aizawa's usual go-to threat so far. He'd dismissed that possibility pretty fast since Midoriya was still at the dorms and not packing to move out. Judging by the way some of his classmates slumped in their seats though, they'd definitely worried about that.

"I will not say anything else, and I won't answer any questions about it. If you want details, you can ask them tomorrow when they're back. But if they don't want to talk about it, do not push any further. It is entirely up to them what they share. That's all." With that he sat down with his coffee, leaving the students to talk for the remainder of homeroom. Given all the tension following his threat, it was pretty awkward.

"Why did they fight, anyway?" Sero asked with a frown from the seat in front of Kosei's. "I mean, I can get Bakugou fighting, he's obviously pretty hot-headed, but Midoriya doesn't really seem like the kind of guy who'd go all out like that."

"Well, he was pretty mad," Satou piped up, crossing his arms with a frown. "I only showed up towards the end with Aizawa-sensei and Gran-sensei, but Midoriya was going pretty hard. Hard to say which one of them looked more mad."

"Woah, seriously?" Sero replied in surprise. "Bakugou always looks mad, but Midoriya..."

"I can't see it," Komori muttered sullenly, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Hey Tsuburaba, you were already there," Satou said, turning to face Kosei. "You got any ideas?" The others turned to him, including Jirou, Kodai and Yaoyorozu who all sat closest, and Kosei frowned.

"I'd uh, rather not say," he replied with a shrug. "I know they went to the same middle school so it sounded like they had some baggage from then, but it seemed pretty private." Namely the fact that Midoriya had been Quirkless up until last year.

Honestly, Kosei had already kinda picked up on the fact that Midoriya got his Quirk through the boom from some of the comments he'd made. He hadn't ever outright said as much, but some of the stuff he mentioned just gave him the feeling that it showed up recently. Kosei just hadn't realized it manifested that recently. Really put his skill with it in a whole new light.

Still, it wasn't his place to talk about it to their classmates without Midoriya's consent. Kosei didn't actually know anyone Quirkless, but it probably made people a bit of a target for bullying. He didn't think any of their classmates would hold that against his friend, but it was hard to say that for certain. Seemed like Bakugou hadn't been the most supportive before he got a Quirk, and judging by his responses to Midoriya, his opinion on that topic hadn't fully changed.

That kinda made him worry about how they'd probably be spending the day together. He had no idea what the in-school suspension would entail, so hopefully things wouldn't go too wrong.

By the time lunch rolled around, Izuku felt exhausted. "I think that's the last of it," he said, knocking the metal spatula against the rim of a trashcan so the dried gunk would fall off.

"Thank fuck," Bakugou groaned, tossing his own spatula onto a tray with the other tools they'd been given. His nose wrinkled as he stomped towards the door, grumbling, "I don't even want to know what this gross shit is." Izuku could only moan in agreement as he followed behind, glad to be finished.

They'd arrived at UA a half hour before first period to report to the principal's office for their punishment. They knew that they'd be given an in-school suspension, but Izuku thought that would just entail them working on massive workbooks to occupy them all day. Maybe write some hundred page essay or something.

Instead, they'd gotten sent to the Support Department, where Power Loader had put them to work cleaning the dedicated testing chambers under the supervision of a rotating cast of teachers. The chambers had been sorted by grade, so they started with their fellow first years. Those hadn't been too bad, mostly involving scrubbing away scorch marks and picking up the fragments of various failed inventions and targets.

The second year rooms had been mildly more difficult, since they had a more solid idea of what they were doing and had been assigned more projects. Apparently Cementoss had helped make a giant target (or three), as giant chunks of cement had been scattered all around one of the rooms. Carrying those out took more time and left them more tired, having to work together to lift some of the bigger pieces.

Then they got to the third year's testing rooms, and opened one door to find everything covered in some kind of dried purplish-green gunk. A color combination Izuku hadn't really thought possible, but it seemed to alternate between the colors depending on how it caught the light.

Izuku did not know why the walls were covered in that gunk. He did not know what created that gunk. Power Loader also did not know how that gunk came to coat the walls, as apparently none of the students had been working on something that could conceivably create it. He at least knew it wasn't toxic and not harmful to them, so they were put to work scraping it off the walls, floor and ceiling.

It might not be toxic, but the second they scraped it, a horrible stench came out. Not bad enough to make them gag, but still enough to make them regret having functional senses of smell. The supervising teachers had largely kept out of the room for that reason and worked on paperwork in the hallway, leaving the door open so they could hear if the boys started fighting.

Honestly, they were so busy they hadn't had time to fight or even talk about yesterday. Even after finishing and getting sent off to lunch, they still felt exhausted from all the heavy labor. And also struggling to find their appetites since phantom traces of the stench still haunted them.

As far as punishments went, this was much more effective than a long-winded essay.

"Seriously, the hell would they even use that goop for?" Bakugou grumbled as they sat in a classroom with an Ectoplasm clone, half-ignoring their lunches. "Is it supposed to take down people with strong noses or something?"

"Maybe it's supposed to be sticky when it's not dry?" Izuku suggested meekly. "But wait, the way Power Loader talked, it sounds like that goop wasn't the main use for... whatever was tested in there."

"Then what the hell was it supposed to do?" Bakugou asked. Izuku had no answer, so he forced himself to take a bite of the sandwich that UA had provided them. Well, at least the lingering smell didn't make it taste bad like he'd feared. It just tasted more bland than anything. He wasn't sure if that was lingering effects of the goop's stench or not.

They lapsed into silence as they focused on eating, both a bit too tired to carry on any real conversation. Without any distractions Izuku found his thoughts naturally wandering to yesterday's events, but not to the fight itself or even the argument that kicked it off. His mind went to the inciting moment that had worn away what little most of the self-control he’d had left, when Bakugou had shoved him.

For a second while lying on the ground, Izuku had felt the holes in his palms open. It had been so brief and instantaneous, only noticing because he felt hyper-aware of his body at the time. They had closed swiftly enough, not even present for a full two seconds, but the fact it happened at all bothered him.

It had clearly been an instinctive reaction to being attacked, but why? He'd been attacked by other people (namely Gran) without the holes surfacing. And they didn't really do anything on their own; Graft only worked if he touched someone. However, Izuku didn't think he'd used it enough to have that instinctual reaction. He could still count the number of times he'd actually used it on two hands!

He still wondered about it when they reported to Power Loader at the end of lunch, still a bit sore but more rested after spending an hour sitting down. "Good job cleaning the testing chambers," he told them with a nod of approval. "I was expecting it to take longer. I figured that last room in particular would take most of the afternoon."

Izuku and Bakugou both groaned at that. It probably would've taken longer, but the desire to finish and escape had made them work much faster than usual. "So do you not have any other tasks for them, then?" Ectoplasm asked. And here... Power Loader hesitated. Something about that gave Izuku a sudden pang of foreboding.

"...No, there's something," he said after a beat, and yeah, that sounded very ominous. He turned to glance over 1-H, the students all hard at work tinkering with various inventions and support gear. "Alright everyone," he called. "If any of you have prototypes ready for testing, we've got two kids from the hero course you can use."

Izuku felt part of his soul wither as several students turned to look at him and Bakugou. Those weren't normal stares, but something more predatory. Especially the pink haired girl wait when the heck did she get right next to them!?

Even Bakugou jumped back in surprise as a girl with pink hair and steampunk-esque goggles seemed to materialize right in their personal space. "Ooh, test subjects?" she asked eagerly. Her yellow eyes trailed over both of them, and maybe it was because the irises had crosshairs, but Izuku weirdly felt even more like prey than when he'd faced down the Sludge Villain. She then nodded and smacked a fist in her palm. "Yes, you'll both be perfect!" She grabbed their wrists and started dragging them towards a table, saying, "Come on, I have so many babies!"

"Babies?" Izuku sputtered. Even Bakugou stopped his attempts to yank his wrist free from her grip to stare at her in disbelief.

Fortunately, she did not mean literal babies, but support gear she'd made. Which was a lot of prototypes. Many more than the other students. They just boggled the pile of inventions and tools littering her table as she started pulling things out, trying to decide what to use.

"Hatsume's really set her sights on them, huh?" someone nearby muttered.

"Guess we won't get a chance to have them test our stuff," someone else said, which, given the number of inventions littering the table, was probably true.

The girl—Hatsume, apparently—spun to face them. "Alright, first up, this!" She held up what looked like a gun with a megaphone attached to the muzzle. "A Capture Gun!"

"Capture Gun?" Bakugou repeated skeptically. In response she aimed the gun at him and pulled the trigger, making him shout as a net shot out with enough force to knock him down. He shouted as he fell, struggling to untangle himself from the net. "WHAT THE FUCK!"

"Hmm, internal springs might be too high if the force is that strong," she murmured to herself as she inspected the gun.

"Hatsume, don't test gear with projectiles in here!" Power Loader hollered. "Go to the testing chambers, or use the stuff that doesn't fly everywhere in the back room!"

"Okay!" she replied enthusiastically, and then grabbed an armful of inventions to head to the back of the room where a "lighter" testing area had been set up behind a glass wall. "Come, guinea pigs, we have much work to do!"

Izuku knelt next to Bakugou to help untangle him from the nets, and for once the blond didn't try to turn away his help. "Hold on, these nets feel... sticky," he realized, having to yank his hand to pull them away from the ropes.

"Those are my soon-to-be-patented sticky-nets!" Hatsume called from the back. "They're coated in an adhesive that sticks to whatever touches them, making it that much harder for villains to get away!"

"Then how the hell do I get out of them?" Bakugou roared. In response a spray can came flying across the room, nearly beaning him on the head. Izuku managed to catch it just before it could hit the trapped blond, only managing it due to well-honed reflexes from a year's worth of training with Gran Torino.

"Use that!" Hatsume called.

"Hatsume, no throwing anything!" Power Loader ordered irritably. Izuku proceeded to spray Bakugou with the can, using up half its contents as he spent another two minutes untangling him from the net. By the time they headed to the back the blond looked incredibly irritated. Izuku couldn't blame him. The residue from the nets and spray still clung to his skin and clothes, which couldn't be comfortable.

Hatsume seemed unbothered by his silent death glare, waiting for them with a grin. "Now, let's begin!" she announced.

"Here's a super-basic baby: the grappling hook!" She held up what looked for all intents and purposes to be a standard grappling hook from any spy movie.

"Grappling hooks are basic?" Izuku mumbled.

"This one is. It was one of the first projects of the year. Power Loader wouldn't let me add any of the extra features like the shock or super-heating function."

"Why would a grappling hook need any of that?"

"But what he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

"Wait, did you actually add that stuff!?"

"These are thermal goggles that can see heat signatures!"

She thrusted the bulky goggles at Izuku's hands, and he stumbled at the unexpected weight, barely remaining standing. "They're, uh, kinda heavy," he grunted. "And also feel... warm?"

"Are they smoking?" Bakugou asked warily, and Izuku realized: yes, yes they were. That had Hatsume pausing, before turning to grab a thick plastic container.

"Okay, you should put those in here then!" she declared, lifting the lid to reveal heavily insulated lining. Izuku felt a sudden sense of foreboding and threw the goggles inside, and Hatsume placed the lid back on just in time for a small explosion to sound inside. The two hero students gawked at the bin as she put it down. "Okay, fire contained! Onto the next baby!"

"You're way too casual about this!"

"And here's my electric muscle relaxer!" Hatsume announced, holding up a bunch of wires and sticker-like pads. "Perfect for sore muscles, like you'd get from the recoil of an explosive Quirk!"

"I am not letting you put anything electric on me!" Bakugou roared, rearing back.

"It's only week two, are you guys really working with electrical stuff already?" Izuku asked incredulously.

"Nope! This baby is pre-UA! I just need someone to test it!"

"Hatsume, I already told you, you are not using that on people until I can check it over!" Power Loader hollered from the front.

"Then check it over now so I can test this baby!"

"Hatsume, no!"

"Hatsume, yes!"

"Behold: the Sticky Spray Pen!" Hatsume brandished a pen-like device. "You press the end, and it sprays an adhesive goo-like substance that requires a special solvent to break down, making it perfect for capture!"

"You've actually tested that the solvent works, right?" Bakugou asked.

"That's what we're doing now!" she replied, aiming it at him and making him startle. He barely dove out of the way as she pressed the button, sending a spray of sticky green goop that clumped onto the wall behind him. Izuku and Bakugou stared in horror, minds flashing back to the chamber they'd had to clean earlier even if it wasn't the same substance.

When Hatsume aimed the pen again, they both dove for cover.

"Okay, let's try the magnetic handcuffs next!"

Izuku looked at the bulky metal bands curiously as she snapped one around each wrist. They didn't have any links to connect them. "Huh. So they connect with magnets, then?"

"Yep!" She waved a remote as she said, "I just hit this button on this handy remote, and they'll snap together!" Hatsume pressed the button in question, and the cuffs instantly snapped together.

...And so did the button of Izuku's pants. And Bakugou's as well. And also several other nearby metal objects, including some of her inventions.

There was a long moment of silence as they all stared at the handcuffs, now covered in an array of small objects. Izuku and Bakugou's faces grew steadily redder as their pants fell to their ankles, and after a long moment Hatsume clapped. "Okay! So having all sides be magnetic is a no-go! Next baby!"

"GET US SOME FUCKING PANTS FIRST!"

"HOVER BOOTS!"

Izuku and Bakugou just stared at the bulky silver boots, which reminded Izuku vaguely of rockets. "Where did those things even come from?" Bakugou asked, which was a good question. Izuku swore those hadn't been outside with the rest of her inventions.

"Unimportant! Now, I've been working on these since middle school, but with all of UA's resources I finally got the materials to make some amazing progress with them! And you, Crash Test Dummy, are the perfect crash test dummy!"

"Hatsume, stop smuggling stuff into UA!" Power Loader called irritably.

"NEVER!"

"Oh my gosh. That laser pointer just put a hole in a metal sheet."

"Fantastic!"

"Dammit, this one's fucking smoking!"

"You'll be fine Blasty!"

"My Quirk doesn't make me fucking fireproof!"

"How does a fire extinguisher catch on fire!?"

"Just because my Quirk's called Crash doesn't mean I'm a crash test dummy!"

"KACCHAN! YOUR EYEBROWS ARE ON FIRE!"

"FUCK!"

At one point, there was a brief break. Hatsume finished testing the latest round of inventions she'd brought to the back, and headed off to retrieve more from her desk. Izuku and Bakugou just sat on the floor in silence, taking a moment to breathe. Their bodies felt sore and tired, their minds frayed from the anxiety after the second to last invention exploded. And two more before that.

"...How the fuck is this stuff so terrifying?" Bakugou whispered, breathless and sounding both awestruck and horrified.

"I knew support gear was versatile, but this is insane," Izuku murmured back. "With stuff like this, who needs Quirks?"

They fell silent after that, neither willing to waste precious energy on conversation as they waited for her to return.

Ochako absently tapped her pencil against her leg as she tried to figure out the next step in breaking down the complex polynomial. Clustered around the dining room table with her were Yanagi, Komori, Yoarashi, Mineta (eyes firmly fixed on his worksheet), another boy from 1-B named Kuroiro, and Kendo. Nominally, this was a study-group that Kendo had organized for the members of 1-B as their class president, but since they all had Ectoplasm-sensei for math anyway they'd been nice enough to let the 1-A students who needed help to crash it.

A small commotion caught her attention, and she turned towards the front of the dorms to see Midoriya slumping his way through the front doors. Honestly, she'd like to have been charitable and said he walked in, but 'slumped' was a much more accurate descriptor. His skin and uniform were smudged with grease, ash, and at least one or two other things she couldn't identify. His hair was much frizzier than normal, with the exception of the patch on the side that looked very firmly slicked down by some sort of goop?

Worst of all, though, were his eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who had seen things and been forever changed by the experience.

Note to self: don't get on Aizawa-sensei's bad side.

Her eyes flickered towards Shinsou who also sat by the front of the dorms, sprawled out on one of the sofas with the TV on. He also had clearly seen Midoriya come in, now sitting fully alert to watch Midoriya's entrance. As the boy shambled past him, the movement had Shinsou naturally glancing in Ochako's direction, their eyes meeting.

She ducked her head at the rest of the study group and silently excused herself, heading over to him. He clearly caught on, because he was halfway out of his seat by the time she made it over. "Wait," she said, and he froze. "Help keep an eye on him, please? Even if you're not big on this whole friends thing, he still considers himself yours."

"...Yeah," Shinsou sighed. "Yeah, I'll be doing that."

She felt a swell of relief and smiled at him, not that he returned it before heading off. He'd still been steering clear of her outside of classes pretty heavily since the start of the year. Since then, he'd used his quirk a few more times in exercises, so at least now she had an idea of what he'd done. If she was still a little irked about the way he'd gone about it, she'd at least done her best to make clear she wanted it to be water under the bridge going forward. Whatever had him avoiding her was apparently bigger than just her.

But in that moment, the two of them exchanged a silent agreement. Even if they didn't have all the details, something was up with Deku, and they were going to get to the bottom of it somehow. Nothing to bring people together quite like concern for a mutual friend.

Chapter Text

Chapter 23

.:. A New Challenge! .:.

As expected, Friday morning found Izuku and Bakugou swarmed by classmates asking about both the fight and their suspension. Izuku had expected as much, but after yesterday afternoon, he was even less inclined to answer, and the same went for Bakugou. At lunch, Izuku just told his friends, "I have seen things that should not be seen." And then promptly changed the topic.

There was just something about the horrors they experienced that couldn't be put into words. While they had no physical scars from their time with the support department, the mental ones would probably linger for a long time.

On the bright side, the traumatic experience had removed some of the hostility between them. It wasn't all gone of course. A single afternoon wouldn't be anywhere near enough for them to magically get over everything and become friends, especially since they hadn't actually talked about it. There was still a lot that had to be said, years of built-up frustration on his end at the very least.

But after spending hours with Hatsume, with their lives genuinely flashing before their eyes a couple times... Well, it made you appreciate the value of sane people.

They were still tense and didn't talk, but Bakugou didn't seem as irritated as Izuku's general existence as he usually was. They even gave each other little nods as Izuku passed him to get to his own desk, like a weird, moody "hello," before promptly turning their attention elsewhere. Still tense, nowhere near friendly, but much more civil than he'd expected even just yesterday at lunch. So Izuku would take that small victory and relish in it.

Given the last time any of their classmates had seen them together had ended with them fighting, the clear lack of hostility just led to more questions for them to deflect. It made for a very long day on Friday, and then another long day on Saturday despite the school day being shorter than the rest of the week. At the end Izuku was almost glad he was grounded for the weekend, since he could retreat to his dorm room to avoid more questions.

By Monday, interest in their fight and punishment thankfully died down—mainly because Aizawa brought another event to their attention in homeroom.

"As you all know, the Sports Festival is approaching," he announced, which immediately had a good chunk of the class leaping out of their chairs with excited shouts. A quick flash of his Quirk had them immediately sitting down though. Now that he'd revealed it, he'd taken to using it to get the class to settle down. The red glint from Erasure and the floating hair made his glare even more terrifying, a feat they hadn't imagined possible.

Once they all sat he continued. "Our Sports Festival is one of Japan's biggest events. In the past, the world used to be crazy for the Olympics, but with the reductions in scale and population they're a shell of their former glory. And for Japan, one of the events to take the place of the Olympics is the UA Sports Festival."

The brief speech had the class's mood rising again with anticipation, everyone perking up excitedly. Still, they held back commentary as Aizawa continued. "I doubt I need to inform you all of how important this event is. So far we've been easing you into things—"

'That was easing us?!' a majority of the class thought in disbelief.

"—but now it's time to buckle down and focus." He slammed his hands on the desk as he surveyed the class. "The Sports Festival has not just civilians watching, but Pro Heroes as well. They'll be watching not just for entertainment, but to scout students with potential."

That had some of the students start murmuring amongst themselves. "Many Pro Heroes use the Sports Festival to look for potential interns and sidekicks!" Yaoyorozu commented eagerly behind Izuku.

"Yeah, I hear a lot of UA students get scouted by agencies even before graduating!" Tsuburaba said with a grin. "Lots of graduates just skip the job hunt and go directly into work as sidekicks!"

"A lot of people miss their chance to go independent after that and become eternal sidekicks though," Jirou commented.

"Of course, joining a famous hero agency will get you more experience and popularity," Aizawa continued, picking up on the strings of conversation among the students. "Time is limited. If you expect to go pro, then the path to your future will open up at this event. One chance a year—a total of three chances. No aspiring heroes can afford to miss this event."

His voice dropped to become more stern and grandiose as he finished, "If you understand that, then don't slack off on your preparations!"

Needless to say, that set the tone for the rest of the day's conversations.

When lunchtime rolled around everyone lingered in the classroom, eager to discuss the Sports Festival as soon as possible. "Everyone's so excited," Izuku commented as he watched their classmates all break into groups to chatter.

"And you aren't?" Tsuburaba commented with a grin.

"No, of course I am!" Izuku quickly replied. "It's just, kinda wild to see everyone so fired up about it." Everyone had a fire in their eyes as they talked about it. Izuku was excited too, but it was kind of amazing to see just how passionate everyone else was.

"Deku, Tsuburaba..." They turned at Uraraka's voice to find the brunette with what Izuku could only describe as a demonic grin, a dark shadow over her face as her eyes sparkled maniacally. "Let's do our best at the Sports Festival!"

...Izuku felt sudden flashbacks to his brief time with Hatsume, followed by a flashback to Uraraka at the entrance exam, and promptly took a step back. Tsuburaba did as well, no doubt remembering her competitive streak from back then. With how carefree and friendly she usually acted, they'd both forgotten how vicious she had been about racking up points.

Nearby students also turned to look, wary of the sudden shift as she seemed to emanate a dark aura. "Uraraka-chan, what's up?" Ashido asked curiously. "You don't look carefree at all, even though that's what your name means." In response Uraraka slid a foot out and pumped a fist into the air.

"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!" she declared fiercely, her eyes continuing to glint in an ominous and almost dangerous way. Despite his initial pang of fear, Izuku could still feel her enthusiasm under it, and he, Tsuburaba and Ashido pumped their fists as they cheered with her. She then turned to face the rest of the room, who looked slightly more intimidated as she repeated her statement with another fist pump.

"I forgot how competitive you can be," Tsuburaba commented later as they headed to the cafeteria along with Shinsou and Iida. "It was like a flashback to the entrance exam."

"She was like that back then, and you didn't warn us?" Shinsou muttered, quietly enough only Izuku heard it. He seemed to still be slightly intimidated by the sudden personality shift, having instantly conceded when she outright told him he was joining them for lunch. Even now he walked a bit closer to Izuku, almost like he was using the other teen as a human shield.

"I can't help it, I'm just so excited!" Uraraka said with a laugh.

"Your passion is certainly refreshing!" Iida said with a nod. "If we're all as passionate as you, this year's Sports Festival should be an event to remember!"

"Yeah, I can't even imagine how the other class is," Izuku agreed. "I mean, with Yoarashi in there and all..." He trailed off, he, Uraraka and Shinsou all adopting haunted looks at the thought. Yoarashi Inasa had already proven himself to be a force of nature in terms of school spirit, taking the statement "Plus Ultra" to heart and embodying it with his entire being. And from what Yaoyorozu said, he'd also placed just behind Todoroki in the recommendation exam, only barely losing, so he must have a competitive streak to match that spirit.

The trio stopped in the middle of the hallway, reaching a sudden realization:

We are doomed if we go up against him.

Iida and Tsuburaba stopped and turned to face them. "Is something wrong?" Iida asked.

"No, everything's fine!" Izuku squeaked, the others quickly nodding in agreement. They would not be the ones to break their classmates' bubbles with the cold reality of what they would face in the festival. Ignorance was bliss and all that.

"We need to be on the top of our game though," Shinsou said, scratching the back of his neck. "The Sports Festival isn't just for us to show off, it's a chance for other classes to try to snipe our spots." The remark got surprised looks from the others, successfully diverting the topic from the (potential) impending doom.

"It is?" Uraraka asked curiously, and he nodded.

"It's happened before. Students from the general education program can transfer into the heroics class if they do well enough. It's also a prime time for teachers to drop hero students who aren't taking things seriously enough."

"Would they really drop someone this early in their first year?" Tsuburaba asked nervously, and Shinsou nodded again.

"Like I said, it wouldn't be the first time," he repeated. "I don't have a flashy Quirk that's good for most fights, so I was looking at the Sports Festival as a back-up option if I didn't pass the entrance exam."

"Wait, but you scored third on the entrance exam, didn't you?" Izuku asked with a confused frown. The remark had the other boy pausing, expression briefly darkening.

"...Yeah, let's just say that was being in the right place at the right time," he muttered, and shrugged as he continued. "Anyways, I obviously got in, but since teachers have dropped students before, I can't really slack off. It's just a hassle for me though since using my Quirk at the festival means the whole country will know it. We've seen how that's gone with just our class."

"Ooh, yeah, that would be a problem," Uraraka hissed sympathetically, Izuku nodding in agreement. Once people knew about Brainwashing, it was fairly easy to avoid by just not answering.

"Maybe you can sit it out?" Tsuburaba suggested. "You said you want to go the underground route, right? And I mean, Aizawa's an underground hero." He paused and added, "Probably." Another pause, and then he turned to look at them. "Actually, does anyone know who he is yet?"

"He's Eraserhead," Izuku supplied instantly. "I didn't realize it at first, and I mean, he hasn't confirmed it, but after seeing him use his Quirk it's pretty obvious. Eraserhead is an underground hero who can erase Quirks and works mostly at night, and his costume is definitely meant for blending into the dark, except for his yellow goggles, so..." He shrugged. He still had no real pictures of Eraserhead to use as reference, but he'd be shocked if multiple people existed that matched that description.

Now Uraraka paused. "...Come to think of it, he must've been really busy after the initial boom," she said, and that had everyone pausing. With the chaos of all the suddenly awakened Quirks that day, the man probably hadn't gotten any sleep.

After a moment, Iida coughed into his fist. "In any event, I can't support anyone foregoing participation in the festival," he declared. "As Aizawa-sensei said, many Pro Heroes will be watching, and we only get three chances to show our skills before graduation!"

"So make a show that attracts attention from underground heroes, and no one else," Shinsou summarized to himself, and nodded. "Yep. This is going to be easy." Sarcasm had never sounded so palpable as it did then.

"It sounds tricky, but it might not be impossible?" Izuku hazarded, pressing a hand to his chin as he mumbled. "The first two stages of the Sports Festival always vary, but they're incredibly chaotic and busy. While I could usually get an idea of people's Quirks, there was so much going on it wasn't always possible. And a lot of people would try to hide their Quirks until the third round as trump cards, especially if they were first years."

Izuku had spent countless hours sitting at his computer watching footage of each year's festivals, trying to note down Quirks. While it had mostly been for enjoyment, after the boom he'd start using the festival as a form of "training" to further improve his analysis skills. He had notebooks dedicated purely to the UA Sports Festivals, giving each student an identifying nickname and noting their names if the announcer used it.

"I'd usually get the clearest idea of Quirks at the third round. But since not everyone makes it that far, there were some people whose Quirks I never noticed being used. Like, some people went all three years without using noticeable Quirks in any round. A good chunk were probably just subtle enhancers, but I think some of them had already lined up internships, and just didn't really try for the third year so they wouldn't expose their Quirks to the public."

"That doesn't help much with the first year, though," Shinsou pointed out, and Izuku hummed, turning over the various festivals he'd watched.

"Well, they could still line up internships without showing off their Quirks at the festivals, right? So they must have managed to impress heroes anyway. So if you're careful, you might be able to get by mostly on less blatant uses of your quirk for the first couple rounds, or just physical skill, and still impress people that way. Third round would be a little harder since it's always one-on-one matches, but maybe you could fall back on athletics for that part."

Shinsou gave him a deadpan look and held up an arm, poking his bicep. "Fifteenth in the fitness test, remember?" he drawled. "I know the uniform doesn't make it clear, but there's not exactly a lot of muscle here." Izuku thought back to seeing Shinsou in the changing room. A little over a year ago, he would have considered Shinsou's build about average, but compared to some of their other classmates...

Uraraka wasn't having any of that though. "Well, if you're aiming to get to the third round anyway, you'll have to rely on more than just your Quirk, right?" she pointed out. "I mean, everyone in our class already knows it, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple people from the dorms do too. You might be able to catch one or two people by surprise, but you're going to need to work out anyway." She clapped her hands and declared, "So that means we'll just have to go double-time with the training!"

Shinsou startled. "We?"

"Everyone knows training is way better with other people than on your own!"

"Uraraka is right," Iida agreed with a vigorous head bob. "There's only so much you can do on your own. Training with others, even if you don't directly train together, gives you more motivation to do better!"

Shinsou still seemed a bit shell-shocked at being roped into group training, while Tsuburaba perked up. "Hey, you know what would be great for training?" he asked. "A jog by the beach!"

"A jog by the beach?" Shinsou repeated, sounding dumbfounded and obviously still reeling from the turn in conversation. Tsuburaba just bobbed his head with a grin.

"Yeah! I come from Kagawa Prefecture, you know? In this little town called Naoshima, right on the ocean. So trust me when I say, there's nothing more energizing than the ocean breeze!"

"You do raise a good point," Iida said with a nod. "Musutafu is not exactly known for having any beaches, though."

"I know, but there's a couple!" Tsuburaba countered with a grin. "Old man Baru told me about this one awesome beach in particular, he used to visit it in summers when he lived in Tokyo. He said it had the best view, even has a pier with a gazebo at the end where he'd go on dates. Gave me this long-winded story about one of his exes throwing his ring into the ocean when they broke up," he added with a soft huff.

"Well, that's just mean," Uraraka said.

"To be fair, he did dump her for a lawn gnome," he said with an awkward laugh.

"Wait, a lawn gnome?" Izuku repeated incredulously. "How—what—huh?"

"Apparently one time when he got drunk, he decided he loved it and tried to get married to it?" Tsuburaba shrugged. "That uh, was kinda a weird thing to find out about the old guy who half the kids in town call 'Grandpa Baru.' I guess he had some crazy college days. Anyways, I promised I'd visit the beach and send him some pictures, so this is a totally perfect opportunity to go!"

Izuku still had many questions, but decided not to ask them for the sake of his sanity. "Well, I'm not grounded anymore, so I'm free after school," he said, getting a chorus of affirmation from the others. As curious as they all were, they also seemed to decide it was best to drop the subject now.

"So you're all up for going to the beach, then?" Tsuburaba asked eagerly, and everyone nodded.

"I've never really lived near the beach and only got to visit one three times, so it sounds fun!" Uraraka declared. "It's still not warm enough to go swimming, but just working out by the ocean sounds really refreshing!"

"Indeed!" Iida said with yet another vigorous nod. "The beach will lack the amenities provided by UA, but the air should help clear our minds and invigorate us."

They all turned to Shinsou, who looked a bit put out by the attention. "...I have literally nothing else to do," he finally relented with a sigh. "Sure. Why not."

"Great, then sounds like a plan!" Tsuburaba said with a grin. "This is going to be awesome!"

Four hours later, Tsuburaba retracted the statement.

"What happened here?!" he wailed as they all stared at the beach in horror. "Beach" was a generous word to use; the entire area was covered in trash and litter to the point they could barely see any sand. It wasn't just litter like cans and bags; entire pieces of furniture had been left behind. The piles of garbage stretched as far as the eye could see, though at least the pier and gazebo were clear.

"...In retrospect, I probably should've asked which beach you meant," Izuku muttered sheepishly as he took in the sight of Dagobah Beach.

"How does a beach end up like this?" Uraraka exclaimed. "This can't just be people littering!" Shinsou snorted softly and rolled his eyes.

"No, people are clearly using it as a dumping site," Iida agreed with a stern frown.

"Well, you're not wrong," Izuku sighed. "The tides carry trash here from all over, and over the years it piled up so much people just stopped trying to clean it. And after that, people started dumping stuff here."

"How does it get bad enough people just stop trying?" Tsuburaba yelped.

"I think there was a year with a really bad typhoon?" Izuku shrugged. "It's been like this since before I was born though, so..."

"Well, I guess this place is a bust then," Shinsou said with a shrug. "Can't really train here without risking tetanus and who knows what else." He turned to walk away, but was stopped by Uraraka grabbing his wrist. She stared out at the beach with a heavy frown, clearly displeased at its condition.

"I know we can't really train, but we can't leave it like this," she said. "It's too sad."

"I know it's depressing, but you realize we can't clean this up in a few hours, right?" Shinsou drawled.

"We can at least pick up some stuff!" Tsuburaba countered.

"Would it even make a dent though?" Izuku mumbled with a frown. There was so much trash it actually began to blend together into one, giant mass. "I mean, we could try to clean it up, but it would take a long time... Probably months? And we'd need somewhere to move everything, it's not like we'd be able to drag dumpsters here. This goes beyond regular garbage, I mean, I can see a wardrobe right by the sidewalk. Some of this stuff is so big, we'd need multiple people to carry just one thing."

"...So it'd be good for strength training then," Tsuburaba muttered, and Izuku paused. The other boy had a contemplative and serious look as he looked over the beach. "A lot of it is pretty big, so carrying it would help build up muscle."

"And there's tons of trash, but I bet a bunch of it still works," Uraraka said, a similar calculating glint in her eyes. "We could probably clean some stuff up and resell it, or take it apart and sell scraps to someone! Plus if I use my Quirk to help carry stuff, I could start to extend my upper limits!"

Iida hummed, rubbing his chin as he studied the mounds of garbage. "I normally wouldn't advocate using your Quirk in public like that, but cleaning litter of this magnitude would be a good way to train them. It would double as training and community service. It also shouldn't be hard to find services that would take trash, the main concern would be transporting it to the proper locations. Even if it's for training, I don't think we could carry it the entire way."

Shinsou winced at the mental image. "No thanks, I like having arms," he groaned, a sentiment Izuku could get behind.

"Maybe we can rent a pickup truck service or something?" Tsuburaba suggested with a shrug. "Do big cities have stuff like that?"

Izuku wavered for a second before answering, "Not really, but I mean, I could probably find someone?" He didn't know many people who might have a truck (or any vehicle really, Musutafu had pretty decent public transit options), but he could ask around. "But so just to check, we're going to clean up the beach?"

"Hey, we need to train for the Sports Festival," Uraraka said. "Might as well do a good deed at the same time!"

"We should pace ourselves with it," Iida said. "We'll need more than just strength training. I also doubt we'll finish before the festival, so we should treat this more as supplementary training than the main training."

"Then it's decided!" Tsuburaba said with a grin. "Let's get to work!" He pumped a fist into the air before he and Uraraka raced off to the beach, Iida following close behind shouting they still needed to make arrangements to dispose of the trash. Izuku and Shinsou lingered behind for a few moments as they watched their friends start to pick their way through the piles of trash.

"...We're actually going to be cleaning a garbage beach as training," Shinsou said after a moment. "Not the kind of training I imagined when I got into the hero course."

"Well, at least it will be good for building muscle and stamina?" Izuku replied with a shrug and smile. "It'll be a lot of work, but hey, Plus Ultra." With that he headed to join his friends where they'd already started to gather smaller pieces of litter, and he heard Shinsou huff before following. As Izuku started picking up some cans he glanced at the the others, all of them already getting to work, and felt himself smile.

Cleaning up trash wasn't the most glamorous activity, but everything was more fun with friends.

Chapter Text

Chapter 24

.:. Clearing the Air .:.

The first major highlight of Kosei's enrollment at UA came on the second Monday of the year, when he got his new leg.

Now, technically, this new leg didn't really add any new features his original prosthetic lacked. It didn't have built-in rocket thrusters or extendability or anything crazy like that. Adding specialized features to just one leg wouldn't really do much (well, except maybe a little compartment to stow... something). The coolest feature was just the design: light blue and silver to help match his hero costume's jacket, and with a distinct robotic aesthetic.

At the end of the day though, it was just another leg. A very cool looking leg, with a design he conceived and tugged at his Sentai-fanboy heart. But still just a leg to replace the one he lost. It didn't even feel like that big of a deal at first. He just went to Recovery Girl and Power Loader after class for the final fitting before heading home with his brand new, Hero-grade leg. He'd been dealing with prosthetics since he was nine, which of course meant changing them out as he naturally outgrew them.

Because of that, the legs weren't usually built to be particularly durable or special; not much point to make it "long-lasting" when he'd have it for maybe a year, depending on growth spurts. That meant being more careful with them, trying not to push the prosthetics past their physical limits and breaking them early. The last one had been an exception since he planned to get into UA, so they'd splurged a bit for a better model to make it through the exam with no worries.

But this new leg?

This one was meant to be durable, meant to withstand all the activity from heroics. And by the end of the first week, Kosei could feel the difference.

The trip to USJ had been the major changing point. The day started with him on edge, hyper-aware of the potential risks to his prosthesis. He'd been particularly nervous about the rapids part, making sure to stay out of the water so the current wouldn't throw him at the boulders and shatter the leg. Seeing the dummies' necks turn red as they bashed around the water had him wincing every time.

By the end of the day though, nothing went wrong with his leg. The training at USJ hadn't been too strenuous, but he knew that some of the stuff he'd done would have cracked a couple of his older legs. Getting through the day with no incidents had reassured him that this one could endure a lot more than his old ones had. After spending years being overly conscious of not straining his legs too much, it felt like a massive weight off his shoulders.

The result meant that by the third week with his new leg, he was more in the zone than usual when their heroics class came around. And also a lot more mobile.

"I can't believe you tried to jump down from a roof onto Iida," Midoriya groaned.

"Hey, he never would've seen me coming!" Kosei retorted with a grin. "He was totally distracted by Ashido!"

"You shouted out 'Surprise Air Attack!' before jumping."

"It sounded cool!" Midoriya looked unimpressed with Kosei's counter. Their assigned activity in class had been basically a game of hide and seek mixed with tag inside one of the fake cities used for the entrance exams. Everyone was both hiding and effectively "it," starting with ten points. Getting tagged deducted points, tagging someone added them. The winners would be whoever remained in the game at the end with a score above ten.

Kosei had admittedly gotten a bit carried away at a chance to tag Iida. The guy had basically dominated the game thanks to his speed Quirk, easily running away before anyone could actually touch him, while also speedily running up to them to tag them. Ashido had tried using her acid to set up a trap for him to slip on, but he'd stumbled upon her during the setup. And Kosei had stumbled upon that confrontation.

Up to that point he'd been focused on the "avoid being tagged" part, more due to the euphoria at his new leg than any strategy. His new leg just felt so light and secure. Running along rooftops and hopping onto solid air platforms to bridge larger gaps felt so natural. Jumps that would previously make him hesitate, even small ones, seemed almost inconsequential now. Whenever he landed his foot would bend naturally, lacking the stilted movements from his old prostheses. Even simply running felt massively different from before.

So upon seeing Iida and an opening to score some points, Kosei may have gotten a bit caught up in the adrenaline. Which led to now.

"You jumped from a roof right onto hard concrete and broke your arm," Recovery Girl huffed, lightly whacking his good arm with her clipboard. "Boy, you're lucky that didn't end any worse."

"I know, I know," he replied with a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his neck with his good arm. His other arm currently lay at his side, his elbow swollen and purple and currently pretty tender and sore. "I'm sorry, I was just way too excited! It felt like my leg could handle anything!"

"I'm glad you already feel so comfortable with the new prosthesis, but the rest of your body didn't get a durability upgrade. Now lean back against the pillow so I can heal you. The break seems minor so it should heal in one go, but there's a chance you got some other injury from the fall that's not immediately obvious, so you might pass out."

"Alright," Kosei sighed, leaning his head back against the pillow. Her lips stretched out to peck his cheek, and he immediately felt a wave of drowsiness as his elbow regained its normal coloring. He didn't pass out though, so that was a bonus, and he got a free gummy.

Unfortunately, that also meant he got to be subject to Midoriya's judgmental look after Recovery Girl hobbled off to let him rest.

"Tsuburaba-kun, that was really dangerous," he said.

"I know, I know. I already got reamed out by Aizawa-sensei." The man had looked almost murderous when he stormed onto the scene, and made it quite clear he didn't approve of how reckless that had been. Kosei was now apparently on probation, with one more reckless instance like that meaning an expulsion. "And I got bopped on the head by Gran-sensei, too." His head still hurt from the light whack from his cane, even if it hadn't been too hard and Recovery Girl's Quirk should have healed any actual damage.

Midoriya still frowned though, apparently not satisfied. "Well, yeah, but... You got really lucky. Hearing you shout like that really scared me. And with the Sports Festival coming up, we have no idea what we'll be up against. So if you do something like that again, things might not go as smoothly, especially if it happens at the beach." And now Kosei winced, grimacing.

Now, the thing about Midoriya Izuku was that when he disapproved of something, he didn't look at people with disdain (well, other than that one time with Bakugou). No, he looked at you with concern, looking genuinely worried even as he scolded you. And right now, that concern was in full effect. It felt like a puppy staring at you after you waved a toy in their face only to put it away at the last second, silently asking, 'Why did you do that, friend?'

It was an effect not even Kosei's own mother could achieve, guilt crashing over him for making the other boy feel so worried. "I'm really sorry," he repeated, more seriously this time. "Today I was just excited to really test the new leg, and I guess I got carried away. But I'll be more careful from now on, I promise."

Midoriya smiled slightly at the reassurance and nodded. "Thanks, Tsuburaba-kun."

Recovery Girl returned at that point and sent them back to class, since Kosei hadn't instantly passed out. As he sat at his desk he still felt more tired than usual—not sleepy, but just... kind of lethargic. Looked like Recovery Girl's kiss had drained more of his stamina than he'd expected.

"You sure you're up for beach cleanup today?" Uraraka asked later as they headed out after school. "You look pretty worn out."

"I might not be as much help as usual, but I'm not backing out," he responded with an easy grin. "It was basically my idea to come to the beach in the first place, so it feels like I have a duty to be there."

"You really shouldn't have been so reckless," Iida scolded him. "Jumping off a roof is incredibly dangerous!"

"And I didn't even manage to tag you and get any points in the end," Kosei sighed dramatically. That had the other teen spluttering indignantly, but he quickly tacked on, "I'm joking, I already got scolded by Midoriya. I won't do it anymore, promise. I just got carried away by the new leg high."

That had both Iida and Shinsou stopping. "New leg high?" Shinsou repeated, sounding curious and alarmed, and at that moment Kosei remembered that they hadn't actually seen his prosthesis. He bent down a bit to roll up the hem of his uniform pants towards his shin, exposing a bit of the sleek blue and silver design.

"I've had to use a prosthetic for a few years. Everything from the knee down is metal. Usually I'd have to be kinda careful since they're not always the strongest, but I just got this one from the support department and it's way more durable. Today was the first time I really felt comfortable with this one. It kinda got to my head," he added with a sheepish laugh as he let the pants roll back down.

"Huh," Shinsou said softly, for lack of anything better to say. Iida meanwhile looked mildly stunned and struggling to come up with something to say that wouldn't potentially come off as offensive. Kosei had seen enough people floundering for responses to recognize the look of someone awkwardly trying to figure out a proper reaction, so he didn't mind.

"You showed it to us last week after you got it, but the design is still so cool!" Uraraka exclaimed cheerfully, before adding, "But how didn't they know about it? What about the changing rooms?"

"Tsuburaba usually changes in one of the stalls," Midoriya explained for him, and she gave a soft "ah" of understanding. Iida meanwhile perked up, apparently finding an opportunity to latch onto.

"Are you concerned about people judging you for it? If so, you can always go to a teacher. Mocking someone for a disability is hardly heroic and would be strictly against UA policy."

"Actually, I mostly use it because the first week I had all these wires under my costume?" Kosei replied with an awkward chuckle. "Like, they were monitoring some activity and vitals stuff while finishing up the leg, so uh, yeah. And after that I just... got into the habit?" He shrugged before adding, "I'm not really self-conscious about it or anything if that's what you're worried about. I figure if anyone tries to give me a hard time, I'll just pull it off and whack them over the head with it?"

The comment had Uraraka stifling a laugh, even Shinsou snorting and Midoriya choking on his breath. Iida just looked flabbergasted at the idea of him hitting someone on the head with his leg. "Have you actually done that?" Uraraka asked.

"Hell yeah," Kosei replied honestly, and that had her laughing again. That seemed to dispel any awkwardness that lingered, and he spent the remainder of the walk to the beach telling them about the time he literally broke a leg over his friend Ryota's head when he was ten. Iida looked mildly horrified by the story, but the others were clearly amused.

It was nice having friends who could appreciate a slightly darker sense of humor, and who also didn't care about the prosthesis. While he really didn't mind having it, he'd still gotten some less than pleasant reactions in the past. Not too many thankfully, but it only took one mom dragging away a potential new friend to make you aware not everyone would be as accepting.

That last thought had him sneaking a glance at Midoriya, who was currently caught up talking to Iida about his brother. They still hadn't talked about what had been said between him and Bakugou back at USJ, but it made him wonder. Kosei let himself lag behind the others a bit, matching step more with Shinsou who lingered at the back as usual. The purple-haired boy looked at him expectantly.

"Hey, Shinsou, Mido talk to you about that stuff Bakugou mentioned at the USJ?" he asked quietly.

"No, we don't talk about that." Kosei hummed and let the conversation drop there as they finally neared the beach, but it still hung on his mind as he glanced at his friend one last time.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Hachinose! We'll see you in an hour!" Izuku smiled as he hung up his cell phone, and turned to call out to his friends who had currently scattered around the beach to clean up litter. "Okay guys, Mr. Hachinose just called and said he can stop by today!"

"Sweet, we can move some big stuff then!" Uraraka cheered.

"We should try to optimize our progress then!" Iida said with a nod. "Let's first find objects in good condition, and then start sorting it by whatever we can fit into the bed of his truck—"

"Think he'll want a piano frame?" Shinsou cut in. "And a bunch of tangled-up wires and smashed keys?"

"...I, what?"

"Found a piano over here with all the internal stuff smashed to pieces. Frame's still in good shape though, just a giant mess inside."

"...That is very odd, and I do not think anyone would want just a piano frame."

"It's good for scrap wood or DIY projects!" Uraraka countered, and tapped a blocky wooden shoe cupboard with her Quirk to make it float. Pieces of trash fell off it as it lifted from the pile, the wood looking rotten with some of the shelves broken or missing. "Just like this cupboard! It'd be great for DIY projects!" At that moment one of the shelves broke off, the rotted wood unable to support it. "...Or firewood! Firewood works too."

"...Uraraka, I do not think people will need firewood. Especially since we are going into summer."

"Hey, you never know! We might get a blizzard in July!"

"That is highly unlikely—"

"Quirks."

"...I stand corrected. That is mildly unlikely." Izuku snorted at the exchange as he turned to continue filling up the garbage bag he'd brought with smaller pieces of trash, while keeping an eye out for bigger pieces of furniture in decent condition. Since they started cleaning the beach, Hachinose's father had agreed to occasionally use his pickup truck to help transport the bigger pieces of furniture and garbage. It had been lucky that Izuku had Hachinose's phone number, and remembered his father used a pickup truck for his work.

Izuku had never met Hachinose Kenji before, but he was a jovial and friendly man just like his son. In exchange for his help, they had worked out a deal that he could have his pick of whatever furniture they found in decent shape. Like Uraraka had originally suggested, some of it actually was in incredibly good condition, just needing minor repairs. Already Kenji had started joking about using this as an opportunity to redecorate their house.

Izuku's attention zeroed in on a bare, wooden couch frame, the kind usually found on outdoor patios with cushions. Said cushions were missing, but the frame looked to be in good shape. He glanced around and noted Shinsou to be the closest person. "Hey, Shinsou-kun, do you think he might want this?" he asked, and the purple-haired boy picked his way over.

"I guess if he gets cushions?" he replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Do stores even sell cushions on their own?"

"I don't know, I've never been furniture shopping." Izuku shrugged as he turned back to grip one of the arms, and tried to lift it. "It's not too heavy, but it'd be kinda hard to carry all the way to the sidewalk alone. Can you help me carry it?" Shinsou shrugged as he walked over, grabbing the other end and lifting.

Even with both of them carrying it, they ultimately had to recruit Tsuburaba's help to navigate the mounds of garbage. Plenty of areas had unstable footing that nearly had them slipping a couple times due to the loose piles of garbage, so he used his Quirk to make some platforms. "Could've found something closer to the sidewalk," he joked.

"Sorry, kinda got in the zone picking up trash," Izuku replied sheepishly.

"It's cool. Kinda nice to test the weight limits." Tsuburaba's solid air barriers were stronger than when he was little, but still far from indestructible, as they'd confirmed early on when one broke under Iida while trying to help carry a chest of drawers. Some objects were heavier than others, and more likely to make the platforms break if someone stood on one holding it. He'd been volunteering to help with the transport to help find those limits and increase them.

He got a particularly good chance to train it when Izuku and Shinsou went to grab that piano frame the purple-haired teen had found. As he'd said, the insides had been completely destroyed and left inside, but the frame remained surprisingly pristine in comparison. The "guts" still made it quite heavy though, and even after shoving the internal remains into another trash bag, that bag alone managed to break a couple of Tsuburaba's barriers. They ultimately had to split it between two bags.

"Not sure that was worth it," Shinsou huffed when they finally dropped the last bag by the street. In the time it took them to transport all the pieces of the piano, Iida and Uraraka had transported a few more pieces of furniture, including a television and an iron bed frame. Considering they'd agreed to minimize using Uraraka's Quirk so they could build strength, it was an impressive haul for a short time.

"At least he'll have his pick," Izuku commented with a shrug. At this rate, the bed of Hachinose's pickup truck would be filled up in no time. He turned to face Tsuburaba now, the other boy gazing towards the beach with a small frown. Except he didn't seem to be looking at the beach, but more staring into space. Izuku frowned as well, and hesitated a moment before speaking up. "Hey, Tsuburaba-kun, you've been kinda quiet today. Is everything okay?"

Tsuburaba startled slightly, looking a bit surprised at being called out by Izuku, but quickly shrugged. "Nah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You didn't say a thing about the piano," Shinsou commented, having apparently noticed the same thing. Usually Tsuburaba gave a running stream of commentary as they searched, describing some of their finds like a sports announcer. It gave the cleanup a more fun and jovial atmosphere. There hadn't been much of that today though, working in silence for the most part. "I was expecting you to say something like 'fifteen point find, but five deducted for the mangled piano guts'."

"Hey, I'd give more commentary than that!" Tsuburaba countered. "You didn't even describe the polished walnut exterior!"

"I think it's mahogany, actually?" Izuku said. "But yeah, it's kinda weird. So, is everything okay? Are you still tired from Recovery Girl's kiss?"

"Nah. I mean, a little bit, but not that much. Just have some stuff on my mind, I guess." He shrugged. "Is it that obvious?"

"Kinda," Izuku said at the same time Shinsou said, "Yes." Izuku then continued, "Is it anything bad? Can we help with it at all?" He didn't like the thought that Tsuburaba might be bothered by something, especially since they'd just talked about his leg earlier that day. Up until then he'd been pretty chatty, so Izuku couldn't help wonder if it related to that. If he could potentially alleviate Tsuburaba's concerns at all, he'd like to help.

Tsuburaba hesitated, which seemed to confirm Izuku's suspicions that it was something negative. "...Actually, it's kinda weird to ask?" he finally said. "I mean, it seems kinda rude to ask first?"

That just had Izuku confused, because that didn't seem like that was related to his leg. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Shinsou gave a small "ah" as he stood a little straighter. "You're thinking about what Bakugou said, right?" he asked, and Tsuburaba flinched.

"Yeah, a bit," he admitted, and Izuku frowned.

"Did he say something to you?" They hadn't spent any time together from what Izuku had seen, but that didn't mean they'd never spoken alone. Izuku wasn't around either of them at all times; even at school they got split up plenty. Did they run into each other during today's training? Did Bakugou say something that spurred Tsuburaba into doing the surprise air attack—

"Actually, it's more what he said to you?" Tsuburaba said awkwardly, cutting into his thoughts. For a moment Izuku was still confused, but then all at once understanding crashed into him.

"Oh," he said softly. "At the USJ." Tsuburaba nodded, still looking a bit sheepish. Izuku... hadn't realized he'd been there. He saw Tsuburaba at the end of the fight of course, but up until then he'd been so focused on Bakugou he hadn't noticed anyone else. The only people he knew had been there the whole time were Shinsou and Kirishima, but if Tsuburaba was still thinking about what Kacchan said, then that meant...

"It's about me being Quirkless, right?" he asked.

"You were Quirkless?" The question came not from Tsuburaba or Shinsou, but Iida, and they turned to see him and Uraraka approaching carrying a shelf. They carefully stepped onto the sidewalk and set it down beside the other trash, at which point Iida turned to face Izuku fully. "I apologize if this was a sensitive or private conversation. We did not mean to eavesdrop, but..."

"No, it's okay, I'm not really trying to hide it," Izuku replied with a shrug. "I mean, I don't really like talking about it, either, but... Yeah, I was Quirkless until after the boom." At this point he didn't feel any particularly strong sense of shame or embarrassment about it. He had a Quirk now, Graft, and he was in the hero course. Those days felt like they were long in the past.

"I think this is the first time I've met someone from our generation who was Quirkless," Iida murmured thoughtfully.

"Come to think of it, me too," Shinsou said, rubbing his neck. "Kinda weird actually. Isn't it supposed to be twenty percent of the world is Quirkless?"

"Yeah, but most of that is older people," Uraraka replied before Izuku could answer. "It includes people who're over one hundred, back when Quirks were still really rare. In our generation, I think it's more like, two percent, maybe? It's usually skewed a little towards rural and isolated areas, too."

"Um, yeah, it is," Izuku confirmed after a moment, mildly surprised she knew that. Most people didn't bother looking into the actual breakdown of the twenty percent statistic.

As if sensing his thoughts she explained, "I know some people who are Quirkless, so I've heard the statistics a lot."

Izuku nodded in understanding. "Anyways, I was one of the late bloomers from the boom, so I spent most of my life diagnosed as Quirkless," he continued. "Kacchan, um, didn't really take it well after I got diagnosed. He only really started treating me differently after I got Crash. That's why I got so mad at him at USJ—I didn't realize until then that that's why he changed." In retrospect, it should have been obvious.

"So he's actively discriminatory based on Quirk status?" Iida asked with a frown. "That's hardly fitting behavior for a hero."

"Yeah, Aizawa-sensei should just expel him!" Uraraka declared with a fire in her eyes. "You can't pick and choose who to save when you're a hero!" Shinsou was nodding in mute agreement, a dark shadow over his face.

"I know, I know, just—there's more at play here than just him being... well, him." Izuku said before they could get too worked up. "I mean, you guys have seen how great his Quirk is. He grew up being told how amazing he was and how he'd be a hero because of it. And when we were really little the teachers would treat me like I was made of glass because of my status, so... It all kinda mixed together and got into his head, I guess. Something like that."

He shrugged. Neither his elementary nor middle schools had outright preached that having a Quirk made someone automatically better, but the subtle bias was still there. Bakugou had grown up being constantly praised by adults and students alike, particularly at Aldera where people expected him to get into UA. Most teachers meanwhile treated Izuku just like any other student, but with how a few would go out of their way to fuss over his safety around other Quirked kids, especially in elementary school...

Well, he could see how the blond's views turned out the way they did.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still plenty mad, but not as mad as I was at USJ," he added with a frown. "But it's one of those things that you can't really change overnight."

"Yeah, it's better to help him get over this stuff instead of skipping straight to expulsion," Tsuburaba said with a sage nod. "It takes time to undo stupid stuff and biases you're taught as a kid."

"The teachers seem to be on top of it, so I think he'll get there," Izuku agreed, relieved at least one of his friends didn't seem ready to murder Bakugou. "I think he's got to attend some counseling after school now...?" He'd overheard his mom on the phone with Mitsuki talking about Hound Dog being very professional, and had noticed the blond sticking around after classes a couple times. "And I think just being at UA will help him too, since everyone's on more even footing here."

Just having Hachinose attend Aldera had helped mellow out some of Bakugou's pride, and they weren't even in the same year. After going most of his life as the top dog in the entire school, being surrounded by similarly skilled students would probably do wonders towards the blond's ego.

"When did your Quirk appear, anyway?" Shinsou asked curiously, and here, Izuku hesitated, some of that long-time shame finally rearing its head.

"...Last year?" he admitted almost sheepishly. That had everyone staring at him in shock, multiple jaws dropping. "Like I said, I was a really late bloomer."

"You've only had it for a year?" Uraraka whispered in disbelief. "But you're so good with it! I totally would have pegged it as, like, five years!"

"I figured two at most, with how you blew up at the USJ," Tsuburaba added. "Seemed pretty recent. But, one?"

"I've always liked Quirk analysis, so that helped me understand it pretty fast." It especially helped since he'd studied Crash extensively after Inko manifested it, though he obviously didn't mention that. "And I also trained with Gran Torino pretty regularly after manifesting it, too, so that helped."

"Nepotism at its finest," Shinsou said with a sage nod, and Izuku paused.

"Nepotism? What do you—wait!" He jolted as it clicked and whined, "For the last time, he's not my grandpa!"

"Sure he's not."

"He's not! Really!" As Izuku whined Shinsou just smirked smugly and Uraraka and Tsuburaba snickered.

"There's no need to be embarrassed at having help from a hero relative!" Iida added, clearly trying to be encouraging and supportive but making it even worse. "You should be proud of your heritage!" That just had Izuku whining even more as Uraraka and Tsuburaba now laughed openly. There was just no winning with these people sometimes.

But then again, with how everyone seemed so open and accepting with no hints of derision or pity in their eyes as they asked about life without a Quirk and how he'd adapted after so long... Izuku decided this was overall a victory.

Chapter Text

Chapter 25

.:. Off to the Races .:.

The remaining weeks to the sports fest passed without major incident, and the class quickly fell into something of a routine. Classes ramped up a bit in difficulty as they finished the introductory material. A noticeable dent was beginning to form in the junk at the beach, but there were still months of work left to do.

And of course, excitement for the UA Sports Festival steadily built both in and out of campus.

Originally, the event had only taken place on one day, but with the advent of second Quirks, the school had chosen to distribute it over three days. It was in large part because there had been three separate incidents where students discovered a second Quirk due to the stress of the event. The most memorable had been the one when they had students from two different grades discover it, which had been when UA decided to give each year their own day, just in case.

Of course, the fact that multiple students had discovered a new Quirk over the years also made the Festival even more of a spectacle.

The biggest crowds wouldn't be drawn for another two days, when the third years competed, a pattern that held from when the event was still a single-day affair. Yet even with that, Izuku was still completely floored by the number of reporters, spectators, and concession stand workers gathered around their school. As the students arrived, they were instantly mobbed by the press, and Izuku was no exception.

Thankfully, he didn't even have time to properly make out the reporters' individual questions before Midnight-sensei pushed her way through the mob and directed him around to the separate student and faculty entrance that they had set up. Izuku made his way through the security, his student pass getting him waved through most of the checks, and then quickly got changed in the lockers before heading to the waiting room for his class.

A little under half the class had already arrived, and milling about, trying to calm their nerves before the festival, or holding quiet conversations. Izuku got dragged into a conversation between Kaminari and Awase about their favorite events from the past years, including a few the others hadn't heard of before since they hadn't watched the first years every year.

The conversation helped time pass quickly, and before he knew it the rest of his classmates had showed up. Uraraka seemed surprisingly at-ease compared to how pumped up she'd been over the past few weeks, but that might just be because they hadn't actually started the event yet. Tsuburaba looked about as nervous as Izuku felt, and Shinsou seemed more on edge than either of them. Iida, meanwhile, seemed very eager and intense in his own way as he waited for the event to begin.

Eventually, Asui entered the room and announced that it was time to begin heading out for their entrance and introduction. Izuku took his place in the throng that left the room, and soon they exited UA's hall system to bright sunlight and the cheers of thousands. The awe and excitement of it all stirred up Izuku's nerves even further, but it also helped take the edge off of it in a way. He'd watched the UA Sports Fest every year for as long as he could remember, and now he was out here, competing in it.

Present Mic announced each of the classes in turn as they made their entrance, starting with their class and working all the way down to class 1-K in the Business Department. They each took their places in a loose semicircle around the front of the arena's central stage, where Principal Nedzu waited patiently for them to assemble before raising a microphone to his face.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first day of festivities for this year's UA Sports Festival! Before we begin, please join me in welcoming Bakugou Katsuki of 1-A to the stage to present our player pledge."

Most of 1-A gawked to various degrees as Bakugou began working his way forward.

"He's our representative?" Shinsou snarked. "Well, this is going to be fan-tastic."

"Fuck you too, Eyebags," Bakugou fired back under his breath.

"Well, he did come in first in the entrance exam," Sero pointed out. Izuku conceded that point, though he still wondered if it wouldn't have been better to let one of the recommended students make the pledge.

Bakugou stamped up on stage and snatched the mic that the Principal held out to him. Surprisingly he turned to face not the crowd, but the assembled students. "Listen up, because I'm only gonna say this once!" he declared. "Today, it doesn't matter where you came from or what kind of crazy souped up Quirks you've got! All that matters is that you're ready to give this your all and claw your way to the top!"

Wait, really? That seems…

"Because if you're not, none of you have a snowball's chance in hell!" He spun around to face the crowd. "I pledge to win!"

Ah, there it is.

The audience's reaction was mixed. There was a lot of booing, but also plenty of laughter and cheers tossed in. The other students' reactions were far less divided, with 1-A reacting in mortified shock and the other classes jeering him for being cocky. The only outlier there seemed to be Yoarashi, who was roaring with laughter.

"This dude's great! I'm feeling all fired up now!" He pumped a fist in the air. "Plus Ultra!"

A few of his classmates took up his chant with various degrees of enthusiasm, but the loudest voice turned out to come from 1-A. As Iida and Yoarashi exchanged glances and nodded at each other, Izuku glanced at Uraraka and Shinsou to confirm that their concerns matched his own. They'd feared this might happen. If those two began interacting, then the resulting school spirit positive feedback loop would wreak absolute havoc.

Thankfully, the Principal saved them from potential disaster. "Thank you, Bakugou-kun," he said, ever calm and cheery despite the essential war declaration. He turned to the students as he continued, "Now, without further ado, let us begin the first event!" The large screens all around the arena began spinning through event titles like a slot machine before finally settling on one.

"For our first event, we have The Crawl!" Present Mic's voice boomed over the loudspeakers as the students took in their doom. The screens changed to display an aerial view of a moderately-sized obstacle course, the entirety of which was walled in on both sides by some sort of transparent material and covered with netting.

"Students will have to navigate their way through an obstacle course, but with a catch! The bottom of the course is covered in thick mud, and the more students who cross the finish line, the higher it will rise! Be quick, or else you'll find yourself getting bogged down!

"And of course in the name of fairness, we do have some rules!" he added. "You're allowed to use whatever you've got, whether it's a kooky gadget or nifty Quirk like flying, but no going above the nets!" Oddly specific, Izuku noted. "And of course, cooperation is always encouraged! But we're not discouraging you totally ignore the competition, either! Non-debilitating attacks are free game! So if you can get someone stuck or knock them down, go for it! Just don't break any bones or do anything that'd piss off Recovery Girl too much!"

And there it was: they could attack other competitors. Izuku could see some of the kids get more excited at that from all classes. Looked like this would be pretty chaotic.

"With that, students, get in position and get ready!" Nedzu called. Everyone took their places at the start line, and soon enough the screens changed to a countdown starting at 10, the air filled with anticipation. Izuku hung towards the back, watching the numbers tick steadily closer to one and waiting for the buzzer to sound.

As soon as it did nearly everyone took off running, but not Izuku. "Uraraka!" he shouted before she could follow their classmates. "Shooting star maneuver!" Understanding dawned clearly on her face and she raced to his side.

The beach cleaning had been a good workout for all of them, but as Iida had pointed out, they would need more than their strength to perform well in the sports fest, so each of them had also been setting aside extra time to practice their Quirks. For the most part, they had done this on their own, but a few times they had dragged everyone together for Izuku to run some Quirk analysis and offer suggestions.

Those sessions had turned out to be quite fruitful, and ended with more than a few ideas for combo-strategies.

Izuku crouched so Uraraka could hop onto his back for a piggyback, making sure to brush her own wrist as she wrapped her arms around his chest to activate her Quirk. He felt her fingers then briefly spread against hist chest to activate her Quirk on him as she called, "Ready!"

Izuku nodded, hoping he wasn't blushing too furiously, and took off. They'd learned the hard way during practice that even if it was short-lived, the acceleration from Crash was incredible when combined with Zero Gravity. He had to be careful to only use low-level bursts of it at a time to avoid throwing Uraraka off.

It was a bumpy ride. Izuku was still getting used to steering with Crash in mid-air, and the need to carefully gauge how much power he was using just made things even harder. But with Uraraka's Quirk making it so that he didn't have to do all that and fight gravity, it just barely worked. Together, the two of them hobbled up and over the commotion of the students trying to shove through the bottleneck below, getting a few surprised stares, and steadily gained speed.

The first obstacle was a series of three steep slopes, each one taller than the last. Climbing it was further impeded by having some sort of system rigged up to let the mud continuously slide down them, pushing students back.

But only if they were on the ground.

Luckily for them, being airborne meant that Izuku and Uraraka didn't have to deal with the muck at all (which, given its eerily familiar greenish-purple tint, made Izuku very glad indeed). They weren't the only ones with that advantage though. Just ahead of them Yoarashi's wind Quirk launched him up and off the peaks of the inclines like ramps, skating right above the surface. To their back, Tokoyami wasn't far behind, scooting along using Dark Shadow as a kind of boat or sled. There was also a girl from 1-B who was using her vine-like hair to climb the inclines like a giant spider.

Izuku didn't pay much attention beyond that, quickly focusing on the second obstacle: a massive thicket of four-sided pillars that criss-crossed each other at all sorts of haphazard angles. They were thin enough that on his own, Izuku probably could have smashed a path straight through them using Crash with only a little difficulty. However, right now he also had Uraraka with him, and her body didn't have the reinforcements from Crash like his did.

As a result, he settled for picking a path through the irregular maze, pushing off a pillar here and there to straighten out his flight path and give himself more speed. The caution cost them time though, and Uraraka hit the limit of her Quirk part way through, forcing Izuku to land so the two of them could squeeze through the last of the thicket on foot. By the time they got to the last obstacle, Yoarashi had gained even more distance.

Izuku was a little wary of the dark cylinders with inward-facing openings embedded in the walls, but since they weren't doing anything yet, the best the two of them could do was stick towards the middle of the obstacle course and slog through the mud. At least until Uraraka's stomach calmed back down.

And then the cannons started firing.

Izuku didn't have much more warning than a dull pneumatic 'whump' before something heavy collided with his arm and knocked him slightly off-balance. He looked down to find that a shiny, black ball of some sort had adhered itself to his uniform shirt. And was expanding.

I swear, if they built this from some sort of Support Department capture prototype—

That thought was cut off by another adhesive ball colliding with Uraraka right behind him, and then another just narrowly missing getting stuck in his hair. After that, he put all his mental efforts into dodging any more cannon shots in their direction. There didn't seem to be any pattern to them at first, but now that he was paying close attention, he saw that the cannon barrels lit up for a split second before firing.

He was starting to get the pattern down, but soon realized they had another problem: the other racers were starting to pass them. The girl with vines for hair had already stilt-walked over them, and a few people from his class were only still behind them because they'd been scuffling with each other.

They were finally to the point where they could see the finish line, but at this rate Izuku wasn't sure how they'd place. Or even if they'd place at all for sure, given how much harder the capture spheres made it to move. The longer they stayed in this obstacle, the higher the chances they'd get hit with more of them. They had to go.

"Uraraka! Grab on again!"

"My Quirk's still out!" she protested.

"That's fine! Just grab on tight and keep your head and limbs tucked in tight!"

She nodded and then latched on his back again, the capture sphere clinging to her holding them together. Izuku gave her a second to secure herself, then readied a strong pulse of Crash. He dived forward and, just before they hit the mud, he activated his Quirk, launching them straight forward.

He could hear Present Mic's voice in the background as he moved, but didn't pay attention to what was said as everything blurred around them. The sudden burst of motion sent them skipping across the surface of the mud like a rock. Izuku got several facefulls of it, then several more of regular dirt as he skidded to a halt on the other side of the finish line.

The good news was that the force field from Crash had gotten stronger from training, so he didn't have to worry about biting the dust. The bad news was that his force field did nothing to stop him from literally biting the dust. Also, dust tasted very bad.

Someone hoisted him up by his collar, and he took a moment to sputter and blink. "Man, that was amazing!" Yoarashi complimented them with a laugh as he almost-effortlessly pried Izuku and Uraraka apart in spite of the support devils' spheres of darkness. Given that the things had managed to keep the two of them stuck together even while Izuku was using Crash, he briefly had to wonder what on Earth Yoarashi ate for breakfast.

As he set them down, Izuku took a moment to note that the other boy seemed completely untouched by the obstacles. Not so much as a speck of mud on him, apart from where he'd picked them up. He must've used wind blasts to protect himself. Man, that was an amazing Quirk. His better judgement aside, Izuku really wondered what it looked like under the lens of Graft.

"Did we win?" Uraraka asked from her curled-up position down on the ground, and oh right, Izuku almost forgot about that for a second.

"No idea!" Yoarashi replied with a giant grin. "I heard Yamada-sensei say that it was too close to call, and they were gonna have to look at a replay."

"Maybe we shouldn't have pushed it so hard, Uraraka," Izuku said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Second or third isn't so bad."

"Worth it," she replied in a tone that very much did not make it seem worth it. "It's like Aizawa-sensei said, standing out here is super important. Plus Ultruuuuuuuh—" She trailed off while clutching her stomach, face even queasier than before.

Izuku leaned down and rubbed her back like he'd seen the others do when she got super nauseous, counting the other students as they crossed the finish line. Most of the students he recognized from one of the two hero classes. Somewhere in the mid-thirties, he saw two guys he didn't know helping each other across the finish line. And then just a bit behind them...

"Oh no. Nonononono."

"What is it?" Shinsou asked, trotting over along with Tsuburaba. The two of them had been in the middle of the pack and as such had only had to deal with moderately deep mud, but both had still managed to get completely covered with it and the capture balls.

In response, Izuku wordlessly pointed to the pink-haired girl fully decked out in mud-splattered support items who had just crossed the finish line.

"Gen ed student? No wait, lots of support gear, so she must be in that department."

Izuku nodded mutely, still staring.

"What about her?" Uraraka asked.

"You guys remember when Bakugou and I were suspended?"

"Yeah...?"

"Our punishment was helping her test out her inventions."

The three of them looked at him in confusion for a moment, but then turned to Hatsume with looks of dawning horror as they remembered Izuku's reaction upon his return. Well, Uraraka and Shinsou, anyway. Tsuburaba seemed confused at first since hadn't been there, but upon seeing their reaction joined in the staring.

"That bad, huh?" he said faintly.

"If she made it to the second round, we're doomed," Izuku whispered.

"Now hold on a second," Shinsou said, though his voice was slightly shaky. "There's gotta be some way you could turn that to your advantage, right? Like, you already know what support gear she's bringing to the table, right?"

Izuku shook his head. "That was weeks ago. At the rate she apparently churns out inventions, she's probably got another half-dozen working models by now, plus who knows what modifications to her existing stuff. And we didn't even test all the stuff she had back then."

They all took a moment to process that before Shinsou tapped a fist against his palm. "Well then, sounds like there's only one thing you can do."

Izuku looked at him expectantly, searching for a shred of hope in his growing despair.

"Make sure she's pointed at everyone else."

"And with that, our first event comes to a close!" Nedzu announced, grabbing their attention. He'd appeared on a stage near the finish line, the screens now showing his face. "A big thank you to all our competitors! We'll have volunteers going around the field in a few minutes to help hose you off. While you all performed admirably, this is still a competition, and only those of you at the top of your game will be advancing to the next round. Please turn your attention to the scoreboards to see the placements for the next round."

Izuku glanced up to the large screens as names and numbers flickered into existence.

Midoriya Izuku - 1st Place

Uraraka Ochako - 2nd Place

Yoarashi Inasa - 3rd Place

Todoroki Shouto - 4th place

Bakugou Katsuki - 5th Place

Shiozaki Ibara - 6th Place

Tokoyami Fumikage - 7th Place

…

Aoyama Yuuga - 44th place

Izuku blinked in disbelief, then rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right. Yep. His name was still at the top.

"Only the top forty four competitors will advance to the next round, but don't worry if you placed lower! We've already prepared other opportunities for you to shine later today. Now, without further ado, let's announce the next game."

Another slot-machine animation flickered across the screens, eventually settling on the title "King of the Hill."

"That's right folks, King of the Hill!" Mic's voice boomed over the intercoms once more. Even as he spoke four pillars emerged in four corners of the arena, looming tall and almost ominous. "As you can see, there are now four flagpoles on the field! That means we're gonna have eleven teams of four, all fighting for control over the flagpoles!"

"More specifically, the teams will be vying to acquire points by touching the flagpoles," Nedzu chirped. The screens started flashing with diagrams and illustrations showing the field as he continued, "The teams will start in the center of the pitch, and grab a pole. For each second that a competitor touches a flagpole with at least one hand or equivalent appendage, their team will earn one point!"

"But there's no sharing on this field!" Mic cackled. "You're still fighting for the top place! If someone from another team grabs on, or you let go, YOU must return to the center of the field! And don't think about trying to go right off to another pole or messing with the competition on your way! You gotta start over! So the rest of you better guard that pole with your life!

"The good news is that only the person touching the pole has to go back to start though! And on that note, every team only gets one point per pole no matter how many people are touching it! So don't bother all holding on to try to rack up extra points. Focus your energy on defense, guys!"

"Seems simple enough," Sero said, before getting quietly admonished by Iida for talking while the principal was still explaining things. Izuku decided not to point out that Iida was also talking.

"We also have a special surprise for the top scorers from the first round!" Mic added, which had Izuku snapping to attention. "Tell the lucky listeners what they won, Mr. Principal!"

"Each of the top scorers will start already in possession of their own flagpole!" Nedzu announced. "If a team has multiple members from the top four, then the next person on the scoreboard shall get their own flagpole, and so on! The first to cross the finish line will choose their flagpole first, then the second, then third, and the fourth will take control of the remaining one."

Uraraka leaned over to whisper to Izuku, eyes wide. "So we get a head start on points? Sweet!"

Izuku shook his head and answered back in a low voice. "It'll give us a points advantage for a few seconds, but neither you or I have quirks especially suited to point defense. It just means we have to make it back to the center of the field before we can really do anything."

Uraraka's face fell a bit as Nedzu continued, "That finishes the main rules! We will now give contestants a ten minute period to sort yourselves into teams and get into position!" With that, the screens flashed with a ten-minute timer until the next round, and the students jumped into action to sort teams.

Izuku's brain kicked into overdrive, turning over the information as he turned to his friends. First order of business: get a team. "Okay, since it's teams of four all five of us won't be able to cooperate," he said, "but do any of you want to team up?"

"Actually," Tsuburaba interjected hesitantly, and when he paused Izuku nodded for him to continue. "Actually, I think we should split up. Not putting all our eggs in one basket and all that. You mentioned before that they usually whittle it down to sixteen people for the final event, right? So if all five of us want to get in, we can't all be on different teams, either. So maybe... two and three, plus a peace treaty?"

"Peace treaty?" Uraraka repeated, confused.

"Sure. Like, 'I know we aren't really on the same team, but I won't attack a flag you guys control and you don't attack my team's.' Truce might be a better word," he mused to himself.

"Intriguing," Iida muttered, rubbing his chin. "It's not against the stated rules, and even if we are rivals today, there's value in strategies that take a wide view of the situation. I'm impressed, Tsuburuaba!"

Tsuburaba grinned at the praise. "Heh, thanks. I think. Still, that leaves the question of who's on what team."

There was silence for a few moments as the five of them thought it over.

"Well," Uraraka spoke up, "Deku already offered to team up, and I think we did pretty well in the first round, so I'll take him up on it." Izuku felt a brief surge of relief. With them on the same team, that meant the fifth place person would get their own pole—specifically, Bakugou. That was great: they wouldn't have to worry about him gunning straight for Izuku's team from the start and have some time to breathe!

As Izuku silently celebrated this stroke of luck, Shinsou looked over to him. "I admit, I am having a hard time coming up with a strategy for this round," he said with a shrug. "If you've got a plan, I'm in."

"That makes three members then!" Izuku said with a nod, and turned to Iida and Tsuburaba as he added, "I mean, if that's okay with you guys." He'd rather not turn them away just because they hadn't asked first.

Fortunately, neither of them seemed to mind the arrangement. "After seeing your performance in the first round, Midoriya and Uraraka, I admit that I feel joining your team wouldn't give me a proper opportunity to prove myself," Iida declared. "You two already have strong teamwork that will give you an advantage, so I'll gladly ally with Tsuburaba."

"And I already know I work well with you guys, so it'll be good to work with someone else for a while," Tsuburaba agreed with a nod. "I guess that settles it. Alright, we've only got a few minutes to round out our teams, so we'll catch you guys later!" He waved goodbye as he and Iida headed off to find more members.

"...Well, any ideas for a fourth crewmate?" Izuku asked after a moment. He couldn't come up with a full strategy until they had one.

"You mentioned Scary Girl had lots of support gear, right?" Shinsou said. "That could help close the gap in our ability to defend things."

"Oh yeah!" Uraraka said. "I don't think there's any rules against Support Department students lending out gear to teammates, either, so that could help too!"

Izuku physically shuddered at the thought of essentially volunteering to test-run more gear for Hatsume, but Shinsou had a point. It wasn't like Power Loader would sign off for her to use gear in the sports fest that was as buggy as what they'd tested out before, right? Right?

(...Izuku strongly suspected that he would have to use something as an improvised grenade at some point today.)

Resigning himself to his fate, he turned to search the crowd for the girl. Fortunately Hatsume's distinctive hair and goggles let him quickly spot her even among the crowd of students, and he began making his way over to her. He excused himself and pushed past a small knot of people between them, muttering apologies all the while, only to freeze in horror just before he reached her.

One of the students moved to let him see Hatsume was talking to Bakugou.

And not only talking, but pulling out a series of support items to show him. Bakugou's body language was tense and wary, as to be expected, but he was clearly paying attention to what she showed him.

The sight was enough to leave Izuku almost speechless. Almost.

"Wha—but you, wha... HUH?!"

Bakugou caught his stammering over the din of voices around them, and looked over at him and shrugged. "Eye of the storm," he said gruffly. "Don't act like you didn't have the same damn idea."

Izuku did have the same idea, but in his defense, he'd needed to be prompted to face the horror that was Hatsume Mei. Well, this was a nightmare waiting to happen. He could only watch as Bakugou turned back and the duo shook hands, sealing his imminent fate.

Since he was here anyway, Izuku decided to quickly check out the rest of Bakugou's team, assuming the two standing next to him were part of it. First impression: thank goodness Tsuyu was on their team. Tsuyu, he could trust to be a level-headed voice of reason to balance out Bakugou and Hatsume's insanity. She wouldn't be too much of a problem on her own, either.

Then he looked at the fourth and final member, and his anxiety soothed further upon seeing Yaoyorozu, who was also level-headed and responsible—

Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh no, nononono.

Yaoyorozu's Quirk was Creation. She could generate basically anything from her body.

And she was on the same team as Hatsume.

The mad scientist and the human 3D printer were on the same team.

Red alert! DEFCON 1! Abort mission! Izuku practically fled back to Uraraka and Shinsou, mind racing with all the worst-case scenarios from that combination. Could Hatsume possibly build something mid-event from components Yaoyorozu produced—actually, why was he even asking? This was Hatsume they were talking about! She'd done multiple modifications on the spot during that horrifying day he'd been forced to work with her.

How were they even supposed to counter that? How could anyone counter that?

Izuku came to a sudden stop halfway to the others, sudden clarity washing over him. He was going up against a recommendation student and a handful of natural geniuses. He needed someone on their level.

One person came to mind.

His eyes roved the crowd once more, and quickly latched onto the target. Luckily, that person was not just close but also alone, and Izuku changed course to jog over. Mismatched eyes turned to as Izuku approached with a natural smile that looked calmer than he should be able to feel in such a high-stakes situation.

"Hey, Todoroki. Do you need a team?"

Chapter Text

Chapter 26

.:. Gale of Darkness .:.

As the seconds ticked down to the start of the second round, Tokoyami Fumikage took stock of his options. The next event would be a team event, which meant he'd have to find partners. The issue was who would work with him. While he had no issues working with others, he hadn't quite found the right people to fully appreciate his nature yet. Many of his classmates had already found their own niches, a few familiar groups already forming.

Still, while he may not have yet forged strong bonds like some of his classmates, Fumikage did not feel too worried about his odds. His own Quirk was formidable, and Dark Shadow a stalwart ally. However, it was also nearing midday, and his power would be at its nadir. In this event, his fate rested largely in the hands of others. If he would triumph here, he would need to find strong, reliable compatriots. He would—

"Hey, Fumi, who's that guy over there?"

Fumikage paused in his contemplation, turning to follow Dark Shadow's pointing finger. His familiar had pointed out a boy with peach-toned skin and a rocky head, posture hunched as he glanced around. "I don't know. I don't recognize him from either of the hero courses."

"Huh. He must've been pretty strong to make it this far without being a hero student!"

Fumikage made a hum of agreement, then turned his attention back to strategizing. For about five seconds.

"He looks nice. We should go say hi!"

"Dark Shadow, this is not the time for..."

He trailed off as Dark Shadow's insistence drew his attention to the newcomer once again. He was tall of stature and solidly built, though he seemed slightly smaller with the way his shoulders hunched. He was seemingly accompanied by a similarly unknown companion covered in brown fur save for his face, which had a much sterner expression than that of the teen beside him.

But what caught his attention the most was who they were conversing with: Yoarashi Inasa.

Contrary to what many people hastily believed upon meeting him, Fumikage was not unsociable. He was quiet, true, a natural inclination that was intensified by his flair for the dramatic. But he enjoyed the company of others in reasonable amounts, and he was a good listener. One did not have to be a gossip to be aware of rumors.

And aware he was, indeed, of the rumors surrounding this man. If he were to succeed this day, then it would be better not to make an enemy of the master of winds, and best to make an ally of him.

"Perhaps... you are on to something," Fumikage conceded, making his way over to where the others had gathered. Had the situation been less urgent, he would have waited until their conversation had fully passed. However time was of the essence, so he cleared his throat to alert them to his presence as soon as a lull in the conversation appeared.

"Oh, hey!" Yoarashi said, turning fully to face him. "I know you, you're from 1-A! Toko-something, right?"

He nodded. "I am Tokoyami Fumikage, and this is my familiar, Dark Shadow—"

"Howdy!" Dark Shadow greeted, making the peach-skinned boy stagger back.

"...We have come to offer you our aid, if you will have us," Fumikage continued, ignoring the interruption. "I know of you, Yoarashi Inasa, but I'm afraid I cannot say the same for the two of you." He turned his attention to the two strangers, "In any case though, I am honored to make your acquaintance."

"Awesome!" Inasa replied with a booming voice. "We'd be happy to have you, right?"

The boy with a rocklike face nodded mutely, while the boy with brown fur and glasses stepped forward and made an introductory bow. "Of course. I am Shishida Jurota, and this is Kouda Kouji, my classmate in 1-C. Please take care of us."

"These guys are trying to get into the hero course from gen ed!" Yoarashi added. "Pretty gutsy, huh? Really showing the UA spirit!"

A transfer from general education? "Ambitious," Fumikage praised lightly. As he looked them over with fresh eyes, both seemed to slump and shrink slightly, Kouda appearing particularly dejected. Once again Shishida stepped forward to speak on both their behalfs.

"Our testing site encountered unexpected challenges during the entrance exam and were unable to earn places in the esteemed heroics course. The academy accounted for that, of course, and adjusted scores accordingly, but unfortunately we weren't able to make a strong enough impression. We hope to perform well enough today to change that. Sir Yoarashi, Sir Tokoyami, we are grateful for your aid."

He was more well-spoken than his appearance would initially suggest, a classic example of not judging a book by its cover. Yoarashi, meanwhile, was just as loud and enthusiastic as the rumors suggested. "Don't sweat it!" he assured him. "I'll always support others' passions to become heroes! Now—"

"Time's up! Competitors! To your marks!" Present Mic's voice blared over the speakers, cutting him off and making him jolt.

"Oh shoot! Okay, try to capture the flags, try not to let a flag get captured if you have it, if things get too tough out there come help me defend my flag. Plus Ultra!"

Yoarashi pumped a fist in the air as the group started running to the center of the field. "Sir Yoarashi, would it not be prudent to at least go over our Quirks once more?" Shishida asked as they joined the growing crowd of students. "We don't even know the details of Sir Tokoyami's."

"No time, but I trust you guys! Good luck!"

Fumikage decided not to point out that Yoarashi had given no insight as to what they should do if his flag was captured as he took his place in the center of the field, nodding good luck to his other two team members as they separated. Since he'd reached third place in the first event, Yoarashi was one of the few to start with his own flagpole.

Midoriya and Bakugou assumed two others, and Fumikage saw a girl with vines for hair claim the last pole. Fumikage recalled that Bakugou had been fifth, with Uraraka and Todoroki both scoring ahead of them. That meant the two must have joined one of their teams. Fumikage assumed that Uraraka had joined forces with Midoriya once more, but he did not know which Todoroki would be with. He should have paid closer attention to the forming teams, but it was too late for regrets.

A loud alarm blared from the speakers, and everyone launched into action.

Fumikage called forth Dark Shadow and sent him soaring to the north side of the field, where Midoriya stood guarding his post. His classmate rebuffed Dark Shadow's first assault, wrapping both hands around the pole and using his Quirk to rapidly spin around it. However, he wasn't able to react quickly enough to prevent Dark Shadow from looping around and grabbing the top of the pole.

His foothold secured, Fumikage pulled his tether to Dark Shadow taut.

The students who had previously been in front of Fumikage looked on in surprise as he rocketed past them, drawn straight towards the flagpole. Midoriya's eyes widened, but with one of his hands stuck holding the flagpole he could only tense and brace himself as Fumikage grew closer and reached out his hand to claim his prize.

In the last moment, Midoriya let go of the pole and slipped under Fumikage's guard, causing him to miss his grab as he flinched in preparation to defend against an attack. But Midoriya didn't attack. As soon as he slipped by Fumikage he activated his Quirk, dashing back towards the center and leaving trails of blue-green light and students diving out of the way in his wake.

Fumikage didn't stop to consider why the other boy hadn't put up more resistance, focusing instead on actually grabbing the flagpole. As soon as his hand wrapped around the metal an overly-cheerful ding sounded, and he used Dark Shadow to push back the students who were now attempting to besiege him. From there, his attention became focused solely on defense.

In small breaks in the fighting, Fumikage was able to sneak glances of the rest of the field. The lion's share of the fighting seemed to be taking place in the south, east, and his own north corner. Across from him, he could see Bakugou defending his flag viciously from droves of largely 1-B students, just as aggressive in rebuffing the attempts to claim the pole as he had expected. Fumikage had chosen to target Midoriya's flag for a reason after all; he knew the boy's skills and temperament better than the unknown 1-B girl.

A wise decision, he reflected, as he could now see her commanding a vast thicket of brambles to assault Bakugou's flag. It seemed she had lost her own flag fairly quickly, so she had moved to steal another. With their flags directly facing each other Fumikage had a decent view of the battle, and he knew it would be a matter of time before she would claim the flag from his classmate. His explosions could only do so much in the face of such a large volume of thorny vines, amongst all the other attacks as well.

To the east, Fumikage could see what must have been Midoriya's plan bearing fruit. The flag formerly claimed by the 1-B girl had been entirely sealed off within a dome of ice—Todoroki's work, no doubt. Whenever a student began making headway breaking through it, suddenly Midorya, Uraraka, or Shinso was there to ward them off. As for the west...

In the west, Yoarashi had become a storm.

Air funneled down from above in a raging cyclone, sealing off Yoarashi's flagpole just as effectively as Todoroki's ice before crashing into the ground and forcing back any interlopers. A few students tried ranged attacks, but they were batted aside like leaves in the wind.

Fumikage didn't have time to stand around in awe, however, for his own battle was still ongoing. At the moment, he was locked in combat with a student from 1-B whose abilities enlarged her hands and amplified her strength and, possibly, her speed. He was still unsure if the rapid flurry of punches she had opened with was the result of another Quirk or simply intense training and dedication.

Dark Shadow was still stronger than her, but only just barely. And as he spent longer in the day's bright sunlight, that advantage grew smaller and smaller. Fumikage couldn't afford to keep fighting her to a standstill, lest he eventually lose.

WIth that in mind, he drew deeper on his inner strength, causing Dark Shadow to stretch out even further. He wrapped his familiar in several loops around himself and then pushed to force all but his strongest opponent back, taking a page from Todoroki and Yoarashi's books to give himself some breathing room.

The 1-B student looked around cautiously, but failed to notice Dark Shadow sliding across the ground behind her and grabbing her ankles before it was too late. Dark Shadow tugged, and she toppled to the grass. The shade then grappled her forearms and pinned them to the ground.

"I ask, for both our sakes, that you stay down," Fumikage declared.

The other student expanded her hands once again, pressing her palms against the ground and lifting up slightly to face him. "You'll have to make me," she said with a fierce grin.

"So be it." But despite his bravado, Fumikge was sweating internally. Having Dark Shadow fully exposed like this made him more vulnerable to the light, and it wouldn't be long before the 1-B student could overpower—

Ding!

Fumikage spun around in surprise to see a disembodied hand holding on to the flagpole, nearly level with his head.

A peal of laughter sounded from above him, and he looked up to see another girl's detached head floating upside down and leering at him, her wavy green hair dangling like vines. "Man, we got you good! Nice job keeping him busy, Kendo!"

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage muttered under his breath.

"You did good," the first student—Kendo, apparently—said, brushing herself off as Dark Shadow released her and she stood up.

Fumikage nodded to her in gratitude, then began jogging towards the center of the field. He had two options now: either join Yoarashi, or attack another flag. Todoroki's flag would be near-impenetrable with the ice, but that was not guaranteed. Meanwhile, Bakugou's flag had fallen during his struggle, now under command of the other 1-B girl. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bakugou had decided to assault Todoroki's flagpole with Yaoyorozu and some strange pink-haired girl he did not recognize.

Fumikage glanced over, saw a bright beam of pink light from what looked like a bazooka, and wisely decided to keep his distance from that one.

At this point, all four flags seemed to be occupied by different teams. Fumikage had already secured a small amount of points for them, so he decided to prioritize the flag they did have. To that end he darted towards the raging cyclone in the west, sending Dark Shadow to grab a shiny silver-skinned boy charging forward. A harsh yank had him falling to the ground, and Fumikage raced past him.

The wind acted almost like a wall, not quite blocking people, but making it a challenge to get through. He could see Shishida and Kouda on the other side, the latter body-checking a student who managed to get past. Fumikage wondered how he'd join them, but Shishida glanced at him and shouted something to Yoarashi that was swallowed by the roar of the gale.

The swirling winds slowed and weakened, just slightly, and Fumikage used the opening to charge forward. Several other students did as well with renewed fervor, and Dark Shadow flung towards them like a giant hand to sweep them back. As soon as Fumikage passed a certain point the winds picked up again, roaring in his ears as they raged.

Defending this flag proved simpler than his original flagpole. The cyclone's invisible walls tired out most of those who passed, making it fairly easy for Shishida and Kouda to slam them back into the winds. The other two didn't even need to use their Quirks to stop the few who managed to brave the gale, using their natural bulky builds and muscle.

Like this, Fumikage barely had to do anything. This was good, because Dark Shadow was growing weaker and weaker as the sun continued to near the very peak of the sky. The growing light left him with the same ominous chill that darkness would have on others, a sense of paranoia whispering that this was too easy. That this victorious streak would not last forever, and the flag would soon fall.

And sure enough, their defeat came in the form of Asui Tsuyu, suddenly sailing through the air above their heads with bulky metal gloves. Said gloves seemed to attract her right to the pole, and despite Fumikage's best efforts, Dark Shadow could not reach her in time. The sun had reached its zenith, and with it, Dark Shadow was weakened just enough to keep its grasp from reaching her, fingers of darkness only barely brushing her toe.

The ding was almost drowned out by the heavy clash of metal against metal. All at once Yoarashi brought the cyclone to a halt, the seemingly constant roar of his winds replaced by sudden silence and stillness.

To their credit, Kouda and Shishida did not let the loss dishearten them. The pair surged forward, one quiet and the other with a roar of fury. However, the frog girl pulled out a metal disk and threw it at them, sparks erupting and prompting them to skid back. Fumikage halted his own approach as he saw the sparks, recognizing the light would weaken Dark Shadow even further.

A few other students were undeterred, charging forward anyway, but their own team fell back, joining Yoarashi in his retreat to the center of the field. "I thought support gear wasn't allowed," he said as they matched his pace.

"Those who dabble in the mechanical arts are an exception." Fumikage murmured darkly. "I believe I saw a pink-haired girl standing alongside Asui earlier. She may be responsible for this." The others seemed briefly confused, but Kouda's hands flew into motion and Shishida nodded.

"Ah. So the miss with the goggles over by the iced flagpole must be from the support course." The group glanced over to the flagpole in question. Bakugou's team had launched a valiant joint effort to melt the ice, the mystery pink-haired student using some sort of laser. Yaoyorozu meanwhile pulled something metallic from her shirt to toss into the newly formed hole, a large explosion following.

The group did not need to say anything to decide to not attack that pole. "Should we go back, or go for another?" Yoarashi asked. A glance back at the pole they'd just abandoned had Fumikage wincing as he saw Asui near the top of the pole, flinging something to the ground that exploded in a bright flash of light.

"You may if you wish, but I cannot join in your attempt," he said. "Dark Shadow is a creature of the night, naturally countered by the brilliance of the sun and all its lesser imitations. I fear we would not be of much aid to you at the moment."

"Then we should go for one of the other poles," Shishida decided. "Either the one Sir Tokoyami claimed, or—wait, what just happened at the other pole?" Fumikage turned to see the thick bramble receding around the southern pole, the vine-haired girl forced to retreat as a lone boy with almost sickly-looking pale blond hair held it.

"That's Honenuki," Yoarashi reported. "He can soften stuff and even swim through the ground! Super cool power, he must've swum under Shiozaki's vines to get past her!" He glanced at the pole Fumikage had originally claimed to add, "And over there I can see Kendo and... Tokage, I think?"

"Does Tokage only have the ability to split her corporal form into pieces, or is each possessed of its own awareness and will?" Fumikage asked, glancing at Dark Shadow.

Yoarashi paused, taking a moment to process the query. "Yes," he responded, which confirmed exactly nothing other than her identity. "Guessing she surprised you then." He frowned, glancing between the poles. "Honenuki and Tokage are both recommendation students, so going after either of them would be tricky. And Kendo's pretty strong too..."

"So we go to the south?" Shishida suggested, though he didn't seem too eager to attack a recommendation student.

"South it is!" Yoarashi agreed, and pumped a fist. "Plus Ultra!" With that shout he nearly rocketed towards the pole occupied by Honenuki, leaving his other teammates to follow after at a slower pace.

"And what powers do you two possess?" Fumikage asked as they moved. "Do you believe they would be of use here?"

"Mine is... dependent," Shishida responded carefully. "It is a transformation type, so I would rather save it for the third round rather than reveal my hand now. We are already at a disadvantage since we lack the training the hero students have had." Fumikage nodded in understanding. As ones hoping to enter the hero class, their priorities would be different from his own. They could not afford to reveal too much too early.

Kouda, however, seemed briefly conflicted. "I-I might be able to help?" he said, voice quiet and barely audible. "I-I did something already, just in case. I need a couple minutes before it will be ready, though..."

"If you can assist even the slightest, that will be enough," Fumikage assured him. "Yoarashi is a force of nature unto himself, and I am sure it will be hard for others to withstand his gales for long."

At that moment Dark Shadow's head emerged, staring forward with wide eyes. "Uh, Fumi?" he called, and that prompted all three boys to look forward just in time to see Yoarashi knocked back by a blast of wind. Fumikage surged forward, reflexively sending out Dark Shadow to intercept the other boy's path. While the familiar might be weakened by the light, he could still at least help catch the boy.

Yoarashi grunted as he collided into the shadow, his backwards trajectory halted conveniently next to where the three stood. "Sir Yoarashi, what happened?" Shishida asked.

"Okay, I might have messed up," Yoarashi replied, seeming surprisingly sheepish and embarrassed. Fumikage glanced forward to see a second blond standing before Honenuki, winds raging around him and blowing away more competitors. Clearly a teammate of the other, judging by how he defended the pole rather than attacked.

"A third user of winds?" Fumikage asked in surprise. With Todoroki, that would make three students this year with strong wind-based powers! He had heard that some types of Quirks had appeared more often than others in the wake of the second Quirk boom, and that accounted at least for Todoroki, but this was growing ridiculous.

"Actually, he copies Quirks from people he touches," Yoarashi corrected, still a bit sheepish. "He snuck up on me while I was distracted. I think he copied Tetsutestsu's Quirk at some point because his skin was silver, so I didn't realize it was Monoma at first and didn't pay attention."

Ah. So there was not a third user of the winds in their year. At least, not that Fumikage knew of right now. He could dwell on that later. "So he now has your Quirk?" Shishida asked tightly. "Does his power at least have a time limit?"

"Yeah, but it won't wear off before the round ends," Yoarashi replied with a glance at the scoreboard. Fumikage had not glanced at it since the round began, but now he took a chance to look at the names. Currently Team Bakugou held first place, with Midoriya clearly in close second even with the ever-fluctuating points. Their own team was in fourth, Team Juzo passing them to take the third spot even as he looked at the scores.

"Judging by how the points are changing and your earlier comments, I believe that Kendo and Tokage must also be part of Team Juzo," Shishida declared. A sound deduction. Fumikage glanced back at the northern pole to see that the vine-headed girl had launched an assault on them with her own teammates. Some of whom he was surprised to recognize.

Tsuburaba and Iida moved in clear support of the vines, Iida zigzagging around the vines to launch attacks at Kendo while Tsuburaba used platforms to stay above them. An unfamiliar boy with dark hair stood in the air beside him, flinging scales from scaly arms at the flagpole. It was clear the four were working together and part of the same team.

The vine-headed girl's name was Shiozaki, based on Yoarashi's offhand comment earlier. On the scoreboard, Team Shiozaki held fifth place. And if they claimed the northern flagpole, it would not take long for their score to surpass their own team's stagnant numbers.

The clock showed two minutes left. Not enough time to reverse course and attack another pole. They had to claim this one, and quickly.

"I understand your strategy depends on hiding your Quirks, but if we do not pass this round, your efforts will be meaningless!" Fumikage told the 1-E boys bluntly. "If your Quirks can help at all, you must use them now!"

Shishida pursed his lips, steely determination glinting in his eyes as he turned to the flagpole. "I suppose you are correct, Sir Tokoyami," he declared, unzipping his jacket and tossing it aside. Even as the blue garment fluttered to the ground his body began to swell and grow, the brown fur already coating his torso seeming to become longer and more prickly.

He flung himself forward with a ferocious roar, the change actually startling Fumikage for a moment. Yoarashi didn't hesitate to follow though, shouting an eager, "All right!" as he took off after the other boy. Fumikage quickly followed suit, the trio charging for the flagpole in a desperate bid for victory.

Shishida charged right for Monoma, his enhanced mass letting him easily withstand the winds Monoma had surrounded himself with. It was already apparent from the relative weakness of the gale that the blond lacked Yoarashi's full control over the winds, and he was forced to dodge to the side as Shishida lunged.

As Fumikage watched the beast-like boy spin to deliver a heavy punch to Monoma, he found himself suddenly keenly aware of one fact: Shishida should not have failed the entrance exam.

Shishida's transformed state exuded strength and power, a feral energy that could put even Bakugou's temper to shame. It was clear his failure had nothing to do with any weakness of his Quirk; it was not hard to imagine him easily ripping apart the robots, even with only his bare hands.

That strength also made his assault a tremendous risk, given he was now attacking someone who could copy his Quirk with a touch. Monoma gasped as Shishida's fist collided with his side, clearly knocking the breath out of him, but even then Fumikage could see the blond's hands flailing towards the other boy's arm. Shishida saw that too, as his form rapidly shrunk as he quickly pulled his arm back.

"Yoarashi, blow him away now!" he barked, and the other boy did just that without a question, sending a strong wind towards Monoma. It managed to knock him away, but it also unfortunately caught Shishida in its path. Both boys went flying, Monoma managing to apparently minimize damage as his skin turned silver. Shishida was slightly less lucky, hitting the ground hard and skidding.

Kouda ran to check on his friend as Fumikage silently cursed their luck, attention focused on Monoma. "What's this?" the blond called as he quickly got back to his feet. "Working with a 1-A student, Yoarashi-kun? Oh, for shame!"

"Tokoyami, I'll hold off Monoma, you go for the pole!" Yoarashi barked. Fumikage didn't try to argue in part because they didn't have time to debate this, taking off for the pole. Several other students had taken to charging Honenuki now that Monoma was distracted. Several of those students also had their legs sink into the ground and leave them trapped as they neared it. Fumikage remembered what Yoarashi had said about Honenuki's Quirk and knew the ground would be far too risky to tread, sending Dark Shadow once more towards the pole.

At this point the shadow was at its weakest yet though, the daylight and continued exertion pushing it to its limits. It was all too easy for one of the other students to leap up and intercept its path, a tail swatting Dark Shadow away.

"Sorry, I'm not on his team but I'm not letting you get this either!" a blond boy called as he flung himself at the pole, and Fumikage cursed once more. Honenuki kept one hand on the pole and pushed as the tailed boy approached, the pole wavering and shifting to the side like liquid. It allowed him to just barely dodge the boy, who reoriented himself midair to land on both feet. As soon as they touched the ground they sunk down though, making him curse.

Approaching the pole would be difficult with the ground so soft and malleable, and it was clear the other students wouldn't be above trying to stop Dark Shadow in their own assaults. A brief glance at the northern flagpole revealed that it had been stolen by Team Shiozaki, raising the urgency as the number by their name steadily raised closer to their own. Time was running out, not even a minute left, he had to do something—

At that moment a distant rumble began to sound, the air itself seeming to vibrate. It had several of the competitors pausing to look at the sky warily, and then going slack-jawed as a shadow began to pass over the edge of the stadium.

In the commentator's booth Present Mic's own jaw dropped as he saw the sky begin to darken, eyes bulging in disbelief. He grabbed the microphone and held it to his mouth, eyes still trained on the encroaching shadows. "People, I cannot believe this," he said, voice unusually low and quiet with shock. "But a giant flock of birds just flew over the stadium and it looks like they're diving onto the arena."

True to his word hundreds of birds had gathered and flown over the stadium, circling above in a tighter and tighter spiral like a dark cloud of destruction. It was not one species like most flocks but dozens, some as small as a swallow and others large as hawks. As the students watched in disbelief the birds tightened their spiral and began to descend, converging upon... the southern flagpole.

Fumikage stared as many of them dove at Honenuki, some with beaks and others with talons extended. The boy had to release the flagpole to fend them off, using both arms to shield himself from the first wave of attacks. When he realized what happened he nodded in acceptance and slapped the flagpole, making it regain its original rigidity before he ran off.

He crouched to slap the ground briefly as he raced to the center, allowing the students trapped in the shallowest parts to escape the quicksand-like ground as it solidified. Some of them helped pull others out of the ground or defend those still trapped, while others raced to the flagpole. Those who did the latter were assaulted by birds.

For his part, Fumikage stood in shock for a moment, but quickly hardened his nerves. There was some poetic irony that his final obstacle for this round would be birds, but right now, victory mattered most. He charged forward with a shout, for once not using Dark Shadow as he raced for the flagpole. He braved the sharp beaks and talons to reach his goal—

Or at least, he started to.

Partway there he noticed the flock begin to shift, creating a clear way for another person. His gaze flickered to the side and he then came to a halt, once again stunned by the sight before him. Kouda Kouji ran through the opening the birds provided, given a clear path to victory. For a moment Fumikage was stunned, but then he remembered one of the only things the other boy had actually spoken.

"I-I did something already, just in case. I need a couple minutes before it will be ready, though..."

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage breathed in awe as he watched his teammate reach the pole and cling to it with both arms as if his life depended on it. Twenty-five seconds remained on the clock.

Kouda still held onto it as the buzzer sounded to end the round, keeping them firmly in fourth place just ahead of Team Shiozaki.

"And Teams Bakugou, Midoriya, Juzo, and Yoarashi go to the third round!"

Chapter Text

Chapter 27

.:. Unfair .:.

After the second round ended the festival took the usual noonday break so the students could eat and rest before the final round. The usual festivities on the ground were replaced by approximately ten minutes of bird wrangling, as the avian intruders were chased off.

"Damn, that was one hell of a way to end the second round," Hizashi commented as he unscrewed his water bottle's cap. Shouta grunted, eying the chaos as he quietly ate his own lunch. The duo had joined the other teachers in a private suite reserved for faculty, the windows giving a clear view of the arena. Below they could see Hound Dog and Snipe leading the efforts to chase the birds away.

The second round had been a chaotic mess as usual, even before Kouda Kouji had decided to reenact the classic American horror film that was Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Bakugou had focused his efforts on assaulting Midoriya's team after holding his pole for a decent length of time. Once Todoroki's ice dome had been broken, the two teams had essentially taken turns claiming the flagpole.

It had been almost comical in a way. Whenever one person would claim the flagpole and send the original "king" back to center, the rest of the opposing team would redouble their efforts on reclaiming it. By the time they did, the original "king" would have returned to the fray. It became a vicious cycle. The chaos was enhanced by the fact that Todoroki had chosen to not melt his ice after losing his hold, making him the only competitor of any team to leave an obstacle behind.

Asui had been the only one to not return to the mess, going to claim another pole entirely. Bakugou's team had made good use of Hatsume's inventions, with Yaoyorozu adding her own additional flares to enhance them further. Power Loader had moaned heavily about several improvisational changes to familiar inventions, with varying levels of success. Asui had eventually lost her pole to an invisible girl from 1-B, but she'd held her ground for a decent amount of time.

And then there was Team Yoarashi.

"Neither of those two should have failed the entrance exam," Shouta declared bluntly, and heard a general murmuring of agreement from the gathered teachers.

"Honestly, that Shishida kid probably could've scored in the top fifteen if Site C hadn't gone to hell," Kan grunted. An accurate enough assessment, based on how he'd handled himself just now. Even after getting knocked down by one of Yoarashi's gales of wind—even a weaker version from Monoma—he'd still gotten back up to transform and attack Monoma again. An impressive feat, given what Shouta knew of Yoarashi's Quirk.

The other boy, Kouda Kouji, was memorable for... other reasons, though. "Does anyone know when he got those birds?" he asked. His file had listed his original Quirk as Anivoice, the ability to talk to and command animals. Still, that didn't mean he could just summon birds from no where; he had to speak to them to command them, which meant they had to be physically present.

"I saw him talking to a couple birds while teams were forming right before Yoarashi joined them," Nemuri reported. "He waved to them after the round started and they flew off."

"He probably had a whole flock waiting before the festival started," Kan deduced with a nod of approval. "It's the only explanation that fits. His file didn't really say how much control he has over animals, but I guess he's got a pretty good handle on it." That matched up with Shouta's assessment. The boy seemed meek and timid, but that didn't mean the animals he could command were the same.

The main problem lay in his other Quirk. If used right it had potential, but only if the boy had it under control. Either way, depending on his showing today, his control of that Quirk would likely be the deciding factor in his future.

"Man, those birds at the end were wild, don't you think?"

Tsuburaba sounded excited as he practically vibrated in his seat, eager to discuss the second round. He and Iida had failed to progress to the third round, their team barely missing the cutoff for fourth place, but he didn't seem too disheartened. "I've never seen anything like it!" he exclaimed. "It was like a giant cloud passed over the stadium, but instead of a cloud it was birds!"

A bit of an underwhelming way to describe the round's end, but it fit. "It was rather unexpected," Iida agreed with a nod. "And quite unpredictable. I think everyone stopped fighting for a few seconds when they first passed over the edge of the stadium."

"Yeah, it took us by total surprise, too!" Uraraka declared. "I was so shocked that I just stared at them, and they didn't even come near us. I didn't even notice Yaoyorozu charge past me to grab the pole! What do you think, Deku?" She turned to the green-haired boy, who was busy mumbling to himself.

"I think he's off in his own world again," Tsuburaba declared with a laugh. Uraraka snickered and Iida just nodded in acceptance, while Hitoshi remained silent. As the others ate lunch and chattered excitedly, Hitoshi found it hard to pay attention to the conversation around him. While everyone else talked about the last round, he was focused on the next one.

Though it hadn't been officially announced yet, everyone knew the final event was always some sort of tournament-style event. And his Quirks? Well, neither of them were suited for one-on-one televised matches, and even without that Brainwashing was the only one remotely suited for combat. If he got lucky, he'd be up against someone from the other class who wouldn't know about Brainwashing.

But even then, did he really want to expose it on national television? Especially with how immensely popular the Sports Festival had become these last few years in particular?

When they stood in the arena thirty minutes later to have the tournament bracket unveiled, he decided firmly on no.

Shinsou vs. Bakugou

The first match. The very first match, was him, against Bakugou. That was a horrible matchup on a good day for many reasons. Their Quirks, their levels of physical fitness—hell, just Bakugou's brash demeanor and temper. All of it made him a terrible opponent for Hitoshi. And this time, it would be on national television.

"Do you want some tips?" Midoriya offered as they all filed off the field. The match wouldn't begin immediately, they liked to give the students a few minutes to prep and try to come up with a strategy. "I grew up with him, so I know all of his moves. We don't have much time, but I could tell you some of what I know and that's better than nothing, right?"

Right, he and Bakugou grew up together. And Bakugou used to bully him for being Quirkless.

For a moment Hitoshi's mind went blank, his anxiety replaced by a simmering anger on behalf of his friend. Midoriya played it down and avoided any specific details, but with his temperament, no way Bakugou just left it at merely avoiding him. He'd expect name calling at a bare minimum, followed by boasting, mocking him, "classics" like taking lunch money—

For a brief, glorious moment, Hitoshi fantasized of humiliating Bakugou on national television. Of turning the blond's temper against himself and making a fool of him for everyone to see.

Then his rational side took over, and he squashed that fantasy.

As much as he would love to try that, calling its chances of success 'unlikely' was being charitable. Bakugou was just better than him at fighting. Hitoshi got in on a fluke, only getting admitted due to genuinely saving lives due to some other examinees' screwups. Even without taking his Quirk into account, he could tell Bakugou was physically more suited for heroics than him.

And more than that, Bakugou was smart. He might have a temper, but he wasn't a brainless brute. So he'd probably see through any taunts on Hitoshi's end and avoid falling for them, just channeling his anger into his attacks instead. So Brainwashing was thoroughly out.

That left him with one last trick to fall back on. It made his stomach twist in anxiety thinking about it, but hopefully Aizawa-sensei would see it for the long-term strategic move it was and not toss him out on his ear.

"Thanks, Midoriya, but I'm good," he said. "I'll see you after the match."

"Are you sure?" Midoriya fussed. "I can get my notes, I left my notebook with my stuff so it shouldn't take too long—"

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Hitoshi assured him with a tired smile. Midoriya still looked doubtful and worried, but didn't follow as Hitoshi headed off to the waiting room. He bypassed the one he'd been assigned to though, continuing on to the other waiting room and knocking on the wall.

When he opened the door Bakugou was already glaring at him, mouth pulling into a scowl. "Hah, the hell do you want?"

"I'm going to get right to the point," Hitoshi said bluntly. "You're stronger than me. You're also more experienced at fighting, and you know my Quirk so you won't fall for any taunts. You're pretty much guaranteed to win, no matter what I do."

The admission clearly took the blond by surprise, his scowl momentarily vanishing as he gawked at him. "I really didn't expect you to barge just to admit you're weak," he admitted after a second, and Hitoshi snorted.

"On my end, Brainwashing is useless once the other party knows about it. So I don't want to show it off on national television just to get beaten up and lose anyway. And on that note, I also don't want to get beaten up," he added in a perfect deadpan.

At this point, he expected Bakugou to demand to know what he was getting at. And he opened his mouth probably to do just that before freezing, eyes going wide with realization. "No. No, you have got to be kidding me. That's bullshit."

See? Hitoshi was right: Bakugou was smart. "It's bullshit, but it also means I can get out without having to expose my Quirk to every villain in Japan and a visit to Recovery Girl," he said with a shrug. "And you can be totally rested for your next match."

Bakugou looked momentarily furious—no, apoplectic, going by the fire in his eyes—but when Hitoshi made the second point his jaw clenched and he scowled. "I fucking hate you."

"Ditto."

Bakugou roared and stomped past him, heading for the arena.

"I forfeit," Shinsou announced on national television. The jaws of nearly every single student dropped in shock, the crowd briefly silent before erupting into chaos.

"Well folks, you heard him," Mic announced. "Shinsou has forfeited the first match! Really didn't see that one coming. First round goes to Bakugou!" The screens displaying the arena changed to show the bracket, moving Bakugou's name to the next round. Off the screen Bakugou stomped off the field with the same scowl he'd worn when stomping on, totally unchanged.

Needless to say, they had to take an extra five minutes for everyone to calm down after the anticlimactic opening to the third round.

That wasn't nearly enough time to quell Jurota's own nerves.

He felt sick as he studied the bracket. The next match seemed to taunt him, with his name displayed next to none other than that of Tokoyami Fumikage.

Luck had not smiled upon him one bit. Not during the entrance exam, and not now. He knew he would almost certainly have to face his allies from the second round, but he had hoped for more time. Not to be the very first match—which it essentially was, given how quickly Shinsou had surrendered.

Still, Jurota couldn't let his nerves get the best of him. He steeled himself as he strode onto the battlefield, facing down his former teammate. Snipe stood at the side of the arena, standing tall as the referee. "Remember, the match ends upon forfeit, a knockout, or being pushed out of the ring," he announced. "Are you both ready?"

"I am," Tokoyami confirmed, cool and solemn as he gazed at Jurota.

"As am I," Jurota replied, meeting the gaze with his own steely resolve.

"Then, begin!" Snipe signaled the start and took a step back, and both boys launched into action. Darkness shot forth from Tokoyami's abdomen as Dark Shadow shot forward to attack. Jurota transformed immediately, his enhanced form giving his reflexes a sharper edge that let him dodge away from a claw-like swipe of the living shadow. He surged forward even as he avoided the blow, charging at its host.

Tokoyami threw himself to the side to avoid the tackle, but couldn't avoid him fully and still got knocked back.

CLANK!

His hand pierced the center of the robot, claws managing to cut through the metal and slice the wires. At the same time another boy leaped onto its back from behind, driving a metal pole into its head. The trio of red lights in the center of its head went dim, and Jurota pulled out his hand and jumped back as the robot toppled over.

"Two points!" the boy who'd jumped on it crowed victoriously, pumping a fist into the air. "That makes seventeen!" Jurota panted but said nothing, letting his transformation fade as he tried to quickly calculate his own score. That one probably counted as a cooperation point since the robot's eyes only dimmed after getting punctured by the steel pole, meaning one point for himself.

"Twenty points," he said under his breath. Twenty points, with who knew how much time left. He had to keep going, he had to move and get more if he intended to pass the exam. Entering UA was his dream, it was what he'd been working towards his whole life.

With his Quirk it should be so simple. Beast provided him with plenty of brute strength to tear the robots apart, and he was plenty strong even without transforming. With the addition of cooperation points, he had plenty of opportunity to rack up points and pass the exam.

He turned and ran for the nearest robot, another two-pointer focused on a boy with four arms, one pair covered in scales. The boy himself seemed unaware of it, focused on a one-pointer instead. The robotʼs tail-like appendage reeled back to attack, its attention focused away from Jurota. Giving him a perfect opening to tackle it.

The two-pointer crashed into an already damaged wall, slamming against a piece of exposed rebar. The trio of lights on its face dimmed as the steel impaled it, managing to disable several of its vital spots and take it out of commission. Jurota stepped back while panting heavily, swiping some of the plaster dust off his face.

"Woah man, thanks!" he heard, and turned to see the four-armed boy grinning at him. "You really saved me there! I didn't notice that!"

Jurota just grunted and nodded, already turning to look for his next target. His gaze quickly fell upon a three-point robot, just rolling around a corner and apparently searching for targets of its own. Nearby he saw other examinees had also laid eyes upon it, all of them apparently of the same mind of what to attack next.

A feral grin spread across his face, his bestial instincts taking over as he lunged for it.

Tokoyami dug his heels in as Jurota collided with him, bracing himself against the brute force to little effect. In terms of raw strength Jurota had him beat, easily gripping the other boy's arms and starting to quickly push him back towards the edge of the ring.

Dark Shadow receded as quickly as possible, throwing itself between them and expanding with a furious shout. The force of the sudden shift in form managed to shove Jurota in the stomach hard enough to make him grunt and release his grip on Tokoyami's arms. The other boy didn't waste the opening and quickly retreated, putting distance between them.

Distance was the one thing Jurota couldn't allow. As soon as he caught his breath he charged again, knowing that close range would be his only advantage. He had seen enough in the second round that Dark Shadow worked primarily as a ranged Quirked, which meant Tokoyami himself likely lacked physical combat skills. And Jurota himself excelled at close range. He couldn't let himself lose now, not after his failure at the exam.

Still, even at close-range Dark Shadow proved dangerous, one again shooting forward with claws spread wide. Jurota dodged under its swipe this time, sliding along the stone tile like a baseball player sliding towards a base. His trajectory placed him at the perfect angle for his feet to collide with Tokoyami's legs, forcing him to jump to the side to dodge.

Even as the bird-headed boy moved Jurota moved as well, rolling to his feet and pouncing. He managed to tackle him, sending them both toppling to the ground with Jurota on top. "You're quite harsh, aren't you," Tokoyami grunted, teeth clenched as he tried to shove him off.

"I have to be!" Jurota roared back. "I can't lose now! This is my only chance!" He felt Dark Shadow reel back and lunge at his back, prompting him to yank Tokoyami and roll over so the other boy was on top. The Quirk stopped short of striking its master, and Jurota then flung him forward, sending a squawking Tokoyami flying back while he jumped to his own feet.

Once again he was on the move, charging after his opponent with a ferocious roar even as Dark Shadow surged forward once more. "I have to win!" he screamed, meeting the Quirk head-on in the center of the arena. And Dark Shadow pushed.

The robot spun to him at the last second, one of its bulky arms swinging out to intercept his arrival. The sudden shift caught him off-guard and the arm collided with his stomach.

Except, it didn't just block him. It deliberately slammed into his gut, metal harshly digging into his torso and painfully knocking the air out of his lungs. Clear fluid spewed from his mouth as he gasped at the impact, a loud crack sounding and pain radiating in his chest.

In the next instant he suddenly found himself flying backwards, his surroundings blurring as he was flung like a cheap ragdoll. Before he could process what happened he felt plaster and stone break against his back.

A wall? he thought as panicked shouts and the world as a whole seemed to fall silent.

Then it happened a second time, no less painful than the first, and finally crashed to the ground. Then his vision clouded with dust and pain.

Jurota's back collided with a harsh surface painfully, gasping as the breath was knocked out of him. What? Why did he hit something? There shouldn't be anything directly behind him this time—

"Shishida Jurota is out of bounds!" Mic's voice suddenly declared over the speakers, and he froze, blood running cold. "Tokoyami Fumikage wins!"

Jurota slowly looked down, and saw he no longer stood on the stone tile of the arena but hard, tightly-packed dirt. He looked back up, back at the arena where Tokoyami stood not too far from the edge, and understood in an instant what had happened.

His own attempts to push Tokoyami towards the edge had also brought him closer to it, and when he threw him, he'd accidentally reversed their positions. He and Dark Shadow had collided, and the Quirk had taken advantage of him being in the air to shove him back to the wall.

Jurota had lost.

He had lost again.

He opened his mouth, and roared in despair.

Up in the stands, the teachers watched the anguished roar with an air of dismay and sympathy, their expressions somber. "Damn, he was so close," Kan muttered under his breath.

"He really was," Aizawa agreed quietly.

All of them were thinking of that day, the chilling moment they saw the boy flung through the corner of a building by one of the robots. It had been the moment that essentially marked the start of the nightmarish chaos to befall Site C, the very first student to be felled by one of the rogue robots.

Sometimes, the world really was unfair.

Chapter Text

Chapter 28

.:. Tournament Continues .:.

The match between Yoarashi Inasa and Honenuki Juzo could barely be called a match. The only reason it didn't end instantly was because Honenuki managed to sink his legs into the stone tile with his Quirk. Otherwise, he would've been blown out of the ring immediately by the gust of wind. Even then, he didn't have time to brace himself for Yoarashi to deliver a flying punch at his face, knocking him out.

The next match could also barely be called such, but for totally different reasons.

"Oh no," Izuku muttered as Todoroki entered the arena, feeling his face drain of color. His friends turned to look at him with concern.

"Midoriya, is everything okay?" Iida asked. Izuku couldn't respond, gaze focused on Todoroki. He wore what looked like a harness with some sort of rectangular backpack attached to it, a stubby turret of some sort mounted to his right shoulder, wrap-around goggles, and a few other technological odds and ends. All of them bore the same minimalist color scheme and slightly bulky construction. It was an aesthetic that was all-too-familiar to Izuku.

"Bakugou?" he heard Kirishima say behind him.

"Fuck," Bakugou choked from the row behind him. "He can't be that stupid, can he?"

As if to confirm their worst fears, Hatsume bounced onto the arena with a jaunty wave to the audience. Snipe intercepted her, their voices too quiet for the cameras and crowd to pick up. His mask made it impossible to tell his thoughts. The bright, unflinching grin on Hatsume's face told Izuku enough though.

"They wouldn't," he whispered, starting to shake. "They—they wouldn't let her, would they?"

Snipe threw up his arms in exasperation as he turned to stalk back to Cementoss's side, and Izuku knew. "They would," Bakugou whispered.

Izuku whimpered as he watched Hatsume go to the arena. "Kacchan, I'm scared."

"Me too," Bakugou said quietly, fists tightening on his lap.

"Well folks, Todoroki is apparently sporting some new gear, courtesy of his own opponent!" Mic announced. "This is unusual, but they cleared it with Snipe! So the match will go on!"

"Begin!" Snipe called, and Hatsume grinned as she turned—not to Todoroki, but to face the audience. Surprisingly Todoroki made no move to attack her, just stood patiently, and Izuku realized then that he must be in on whatever was happening.

"Hello, everyone!" she greeted, her voice echoing around the arena clearly. Some of their classmates jolted in surprise, but Izuku and Bakugou remained petrified. "Prepare for a grand exhibition of my latest and greatest inventions!"

Izuku smelled burnt sugar as Bakugou's palms began involuntarily smoking in response to the perceived threat. Izuku's own hands clutched harder around his notebook, the two of them both seeking comfort in their own ways as they watched the demonstration of the very things that haunted their nightmares.

"—and Kendo is responding fast, but is it enough?"

Mic's voice echoed from the television in the waiting room, Ochako watching the screen tensely. Todoroki and Hatsume's match had ended with the inventor forfeiting after using Todoroki to demonstrate all of her inventions, and the tournament moved on to Kendo and Yaoyorozu.

It was an intense match, Yaoyorozu producing a bo staff to fend off Kendo's flurry of attacks. Kendo had snapped it easily enough, and forced Yaoyorozu to change strategy to something more ranged. At this point the arena was littered with landmines, one of which had already nearly launched Kendo out of the arena, forcing her to choose her foot placement carefully. Yaoyorozu now carried a handheld baseball launcher, loaded with acorns of all things. She used it to keep the other girl constantly moving to try to avoid the onslaught of acorns, dancing around the arena and mines.

Ochako knew the match wouldn't last much longer, and once it ended, it would be her turn. Her heart pounded at the thought, nervous and excited at the same time. She didn't know her opponent at all, so she was going in blind. Still, she could do this. She'd faced far scarier things than another teenager.

On the screen Kendo finally misstepped onto another one of the landmines, causing a small plume of brightly-colored smoke to erupt as she was knocked back towards the edge. Yaoyorozu then threw the acorn launcher itself at Kendo and it hit her right in the stomach, catching her just enough off-balance to push her the rest of the way out of the arena.

"And Kendo is out of bounds! Yaoyorozu wins!"

As the crowd cheered Ochako rose from the bench to make her way to the arena, knowing her turn was next.

Cementoss didn't need long to repair the arena; the landmines were weak, and Kendo had only triggered three of them. The damage was gone as if it never existed by the time Ochako reached the gate, waiting for Snipe's signal to stride into the light. She held her head high as she strode onto the arena, a blond boy with gray-blue eyes approaching from the opposite side with similar confidence. And for some reason, he wasn't wearing shoes.

Monoma Neito. Ochako had heard his name from Kendo and the other 1-B students at the dorms, but she hadn't heard much. She'd considered asking about his Quirk before the match, but given he was representing their class in the festival, she'd decided to not put her friends in a difficult spot deciding if they should tell her or not. All she knew was that it was probably transformation-type or emitter given he lacked any obvious mutations.

He flashed her an unworried smile that didn't fully reach his eyes. "From what I've heard, you performed quite admirably during the entrance exam. I hope you won't mind me stealing that spotlight for myself."

"You're the one who's going to lose," Ochako countered, fire in her eyes as her fists clenched at her sides.

"Begin!" Snipe announced, and Ochako charged. Even if she didn't know what his Quirk was, she couldn't just play it safe and keep her distance until he showed it. In an empty arena with nothing loose to use as a weapon, Zero Gravity would only work at close range. Her best bet was to use her Quirk to make him float and shove him out of the arena as fast as possible.

Monoma was ready though, side-stepping her lunge and turning his skin a shimmering silver color as he flung his arm at her side. It wasn't a punch or anything refined, just his forearm colliding with her side, but she cried out as it felt like metal slammed into her. The impact had her stumbling and falling onto her side, her ribs smarting from the hit.

"Hope that wasn't too hard," he taunted, and Ochako grit her teeth as she quickly got back to her feet. He was already charging at her again for another hit, and she tapped her own arm as she kicked off the ground, shooting out of his range. She couldn't hold it for long, and she quickly descended to land a short but safe distance away from him. Even as she did his body lost its metallic sheen, returning to its original peachy hue.

Okay, so he could turn his body into metal. That made close-range combat much more difficult—

"Oh crap," she whispered, rapidly paling when his arms then rippled with green scales. A second Quirk! She yelped as he swung his arm and sent off a volley of scales, dodging out of the way as they sliced through the air where she'd stood. His aim wasn't perfect, the scales flinging in a wide and vastly uneven arc, but she still winced as one of them managed to nick her arm.

Okay, so he could turn his body into metal, and grow very sharp scales. That made two Quirks that he could use at both short and long range. This would be way harder than she thought. She braced herself as he charged again, the scales vanishing as he stomped a foot against the tile—

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?" she blurted as the tile suddenly rippled around his foot like mud. She recoiled and staggered back, more shocked than anything else. Three Quirks? He had three Quirks? But how? She thought people went Kaijin if they had more than two! It could be related to one of his other Quirks, but she seriously doubted it.

The ripple in the ground shot forwards, spreading towards her at a rapid speed, and in her shock at seeing a third Quirk it didn't register right away. By the time she did it was too late, jolting and trying to dodge only to yelp as her feet sunk into the stone. Not too deep, but enough to catch her off-guard.

Another stomp had the stone hardening, the neat grid-like tiles no longer quite so neat or smooth as before. It also trapped her in the stone, her left foot stuck up to her ankle. She managed to pry her right foot free, unfortunately having to leave her shoe behind, but it would take a lot of effort to free the other one.

Her gaze snapped up to stare at Monoma wide-eyed as he approached her with a smirk, casually strolling at her at a nonchalant speed. "How?" she sputtered. "How are you—?" She stopped short, not even sure how to phrase her question.

"How am I using three Quirks?" he asked. "A good question, but one I'd rather not answer. After all, I don't want you telling whoever else from your class I might face in the next round." Even as he spoke his skin shimmered and his whole body turned silver, gleaming in the sunlight as he charged.

Ochako's mind went blank as she saw him lunging, body held low and arms out for a classic tackle. As he approached, her own hands reflexively shot out to grab his shoulder and under the opposite armpit, and then her body twisted, her hip jutting against him as she did. Her left foot ached as she turned it at the most awkward angle with it still trapped, the full weight of her body pressing down on it, but she barely noticed.

Monoma's body rolled over her shoulder, her right leg lifting to hook around his own right leg. He flung through the air with a stunned look, Zero Gravity sending him careening away from her and right into a wall. He still looked absolutely stunned even as the wall cracked and chipped under his metal body, jaw hanging open.

"And Monoma is suddenly out of bounds!" Mic announced. "Uraraka wins!"

The crowd erupted even as Ochako stood in shock. Thank you self-defense classes, she thought, before suddenly registering the sharp pain in her ankle that had her crying out and dropping to a crouch. Ankles were not supposed to turn like that, and she'd put her entire weight on it.

Lesson learned: reflexes rocked, but also sucked when they didn't account for your immediate surroundings.

Five minutes in, and Izuku's match with Tsuyu had basically become a game of tag.

Crash gave him a speed and strength boost, but Tsuyu's Quirk made her incredibly agile. She easily leaped out of the way of Izuku's charges, hopping around the arena like, well, a frog. Izuku was fortunately used to dealing with highly mobile opponents thanks to his training with Gran Torino. That didn't make it any less tiring though, especially since she kept using her tongue to try to shove him out of bounds which forced him to constantly dodge.

Their skills basically made them a surprisingly even match. In the end, the match became a matter of who could push the other person out of the ring first. So, yeah, they were basically playing tag. Very destructive tag, as he kept diving out of the way with Crash and breaking tiles in the process.

A good chunk of the arena had been chipped, cracked, dented, and otherwise damaged by the time Izuku finally managed to tackle Tsuyu out of the ring. His shoulders heaved and he panted heavily as Snipe called the match and Mic announced his victory, thoroughly exhausted.

"Good match," he managed to gasp out, holding a hand to Tsuyu where she'd hit the ground. She took it without hesitation, allowing him to help her up.

"That was, very good, kero," she agreed, also a bit breathless and having to pause to catch her breath. "Tiring, but good. Kero." Izuku smiled, too tired to say anything else in response. He hadn't expected his first match to play out like that, but it was still a good fight. Even if they didn't actually do much actual fighting.

"Well folks, we'll need a few minutes for Cementoss to fix up the ring, so now's the time to run to the bathroom, grab snacks, or anything else!" Mic announced over the loudspeakers. "We'll be back in ten minutes for the final match of the first round!" Izuku and Tsuyu filed off the field together, using the same gate to leave the arena since they'd go to rejoin the rest of their class anyway.

As expected, their classmates were waiting for them eager to congratulate them on a job well done. "That looked fun!" Ashido exclaimed. "I didn't think watching people just jump around could be that fun!"

"Yeah, I thought it'd be kinda boring, but it wasn't," Kaminari agreed. "We were all shouting every time there was a near miss! Like, 'Woah! So close!'"

"It looked exhausting," Komori groaned, uncharacteristically gloomy as she slumped in her seat. "I'm glad I didn't make it to the last round now."

"Komori-san, that is hardly a fitting attitude for a hero in training!" Iida scolded, but she just sank further into her chair with another whine.

"I can't help it! I like being a hero and I know I'll have to fight, but I still don't like doing sports and stuff like that! My Quirk's long-range anyway, so I won't have to move that much."

"You'll get over it eventually," Awase said with a dismissive shrug, and some of the others snickered while Komori whined and protested. Izuku ignored it and collapsed into the empty seat between Uraraka and Tsuburaba, slumping with a tired groan.

"You okay, Deku?" she asked, and he offered a tired thumbs up and a smile. He was still waiting for his breath to come back.

"You really tore up the ring," Tsuburaba commented, and they all glanced down at the arena where Cementoss was busy fixing it. Izuku was surprised to see the extent of the damage. While inside the ring it hadn't looked too bad, but from here he could see he'd torn up a good quarter of it. A few tiles looked like they'd been ground close to dust, though Cementoss fortunately didn't seem to have much trouble fixing them.

It kind of reminded him of when his mom first activated Crash. All she'd done was trip and bump her arm against a wall, and it made a big hole. Sometimes, he forgot how destructive the Quirk could be.

Still, fighting Tsuyu had exposed a lot of weaknesses and areas to improve. Crash didn't have the flexibility—both literal and figuratively—provided by Frog. It had one primary ability, the power to propel himself in a given direction, complete with a protective forcefield that had durability proportional to his momentum. It had very clear limits and couldn't stop instantly once he deactivated it; he was still subject to laws of physics.

But, maybe if he trained enough, he could manifest that protective forcefield separately? It protected him well enough when crashing into stuff, it would be useful for defense as a standalone power. Except since the forcefield's strength was proportional to his speed, it wouldn't be too strong if he was just standing still with it. Maybe if he did a tiny burst of speed, like one step, and activated Crash and grew a barrier then—

His thoughts halted as he heard Tsuburaba chuckle beside him. "Midoriya, I'm sorry, but it's really funny hearing you mumble while out of breath," he said with a grin. "You just keep pausing and wheezing super quietly, and I don't think you even notice it!"

Izuku blinked but then realized he felt a little more breathless than before, so he settled for a shrug and sheepish smile. Usually he'd be more self-conscious about his mumbling habit, but he could tell Tsuburaba wasn't making fun of him like his former classmates would. He seemed genuinely amused by it, and that felt... oddly nice. Maybe because it was a sign of acceptance.

He pushed the thought away as he turned to Uraraka, feeling he'd replenished enough oxygen to finally speak a few sentences. "Hey, what was that? When you flipped Monoma?"

He'd wanted to ask her right away, but she'd had to go to Recovery Girl for her ankle, so there hadn't been time for them to talk before his own match. While he'd of course expected to see some martial arts and other non-Quirk-related combat skills, they hadn't learned how to flip people like that in the hero course. And Uraraka hadn't shown any definitive martial arts skills like that in training, either.

She sat up a bit straighter at the question, looking a bit surprised. "Oh, that? That was nothing."

"Nothing?" Shinsou snorted from her other side, leaning forward to smirk at her. "You basically threw him through the air. And don't try to say you got lucky."

"That looked automatic like you've practiced it a lot," Izuku added with a nod. "Like you didn't even need to think about it." The throw had been so smooth and fluid, it had clearly been a deeply embedded reflex.

"Yeah, have you been holding back on us?" Tsuburaba teased with a grin.

Uraraka looked flustered at the attention, squirming in her seat. "No, I just did a lot of self defense training is all," she said, tapping her fingers together. "My parents enrolled me after... some stuff happened, when I was a kid. I didn't learn much about fighting, just self defense, and it was years ago. I stopped during middle school. When I saw Monoma charging, I guess some of the instinct just automatically kicked in though."

"Yeah, well, your instinct was awesome!" Ashido exclaimed, having apparently tuned into the conversation. "And that guy looked so shocked when you threw him!"

"It was pretty impressive," Kodai declared with a nod. And something about her saying it made it feel all the more true and factual.

Uraraka's face flushed as she smiled, ducking her head bashfully. "Thanks, guys," she said. "I still don't think it was that impressive though. I'm pretty rusty at it. But anyways, looks like Cementoss is almost done." She nodded at the arena, which sure enough was almost back to its original state. "Who do you think will win the next match?"

That had everyone going into analysis mode. "It's that green-haired girl from 1-B and the bird boy from 1-E, right?" Tsuburaba asked.

"Bird boy sounds like Tokoyami," Shinsou commented, making the boy in question briefly glance their way before returning to his own conversation with Shouji, Awase and Satou.

"Yeah, Tokage and Kouda," Izuku said, recalling the names. He twisted in his seat to face Todoroki, who was sitting next to Jirou and Yaoyorozu in the row behind them. "Todoroki, you mentioned while we were planning our strategy that Tokage was a recommendation student, didn't you?"

"She is," he confirmed with a nod. "From what I remember, she can split apart her body and move all the pieces independently."

"So like, she can send a literal flying kick with her severed foot?" Shinsou asked, and Todoroki shrugged.

"I guess, though she didn't do that at the recommendation exam. I don't know much about it, I just remember seeing her head fly across the finish line."

That would have been quite the sight to see if one wasn't ready for it. "Okay, so assuming she can fully control all the pieces of her body, that gives her a lot of options," Izuku said with a nod. "And then Kouda-kun..." He trailed off with a frown.

The sight of the massive flock of birds blotting out the sun had certainly left an impression. However, that alone didn't reveal what, exactly, his Quirk was. "The birds attacked the pole his team was after and parted for him, so there's some sort of control aspect. Is it telepathic, maybe? Is it restricted to birds, or can it work with any animal? Or what if he basically possesses them like a hive mind? Does it work similar to Brainwashing with the commands, or does it basically just nudge them into action?"

"Huh, I never thought I'd hear my Quirk used to analyze another Quirk like that," Shinsou mused.

"There's also the question of whether he has another Quirk," Izuku continued. "His head's shape is pretty distinct and his body is pretty stocky, which makes me think a mutant-type Quirk, but it's hard to say whether it's just a cosmetic mutation like Tokoyami's head or Ashido's horns." He frowned, rubbing his chin before twisting in his seat to look towards Tokoyami. "Hey, Tokoyami? Do you know anything about Kouda's Quirk? Or if he has a second one?"

Tokoyami fortunately heard him despite the distance between their seats, and turned to answer him. "I do not. I had no inklings of his plan until it came to fruition. I do not know how his control over nature works precisely, only that it is a power with a very vast potential which should not be treated lightly."

So that provided little to work with. "Well, at the very least, the birds might be a bad match for Tokage," he decided.

"What do you mean?" Uraraka asked. "Wouldn't it be kinda easy for her to avoid them crowding around her by just splitting up?"

"It would also make it easier for the birds to eat up pieces of her," Izuku replied absently. After all, splitting up would make the pieces of her body smaller, and thus easier to fit inside a bird's beak. Especially if it provided access to her internal organs—

"Oh gods," Ashido cut in faintly, and Izuku stopped abruptly upon realizing he'd been muttering aloud. A glance showed his friends and other nearby classmates looked a bit queasy and horrified.

"S-sorry!" he squeaked, but the damage was done. His friends were now haunted by some very vivid mental images of how the next match could unfold.

Yaoyorozu, who'd also been close enough to overhear, leaned forward with a reassuring (if somewhat sickly) smile. "Um, I don't think we'll have to worry about anything like that. Tokage is very intelligent from what I saw. And I don't think the staff will, um, let students actually maul each other in the ring."

"The fact that is a sentence that can be said in all seriousness is kinda horrifying," Shinsou declared flatly, and got some nods of agreement. Still, Yaoyorozu's words had done their job and reassured them that they wouldn't be witnessing any particularly bad carnage.

By the time Kouda and Tokage stepped onto the ring a couple minutes later, the air was full of tension and anticipation. Tokage had her head high and a confident grin on her face, while Kouda looked hunched over and nervous.

"Alright folks, last match of the first round!" Mic announced. "Tokage versus Kouda! One of 1-B's recommendation students versus the boy who stole the show at the end of the King of the Hill! It feels like this one could go either way! But only one can make it to the next round! Who will it be?"

Mic knew his job well. The crowd was going wild, sufficiently excited and amped up by his words. Kouda seemed to shrink even further, appearing smaller than Tokage despite being almost a foot taller. Snipe stepped between the two, offering the usual introductory spiel before stepping back.

"Begin!" he announced, and Tokage surged forward towards Kouda with a vicious grin.

And then, halfway towards his spot, she froze. Her steps came to a skidding and abrupt halt, her cocky smirk wiped off in an instant to be replaced by first shock, and then...

"Fear?" Izuku whispered, leaning forward as he watched her face contort with what could only be described as utter terror.

And then a second later, he felt it.

A sudden wave of fear crashed over him like a tidal wave, making him freeze up. A shiver ran across his whole body, his heart suddenly pounding a little faster, and he knew from the quiet gasps around him that he wasn't the only one to feel it. A good portion of the stadium went quiet, and the cheers in the upper stands softened into murmurs of confusion.

In the arena, Tokage fell. Not even to her knees, but just fell as her legs gave out under her. She shook violently as she stared up at Kouda, mouth fluttering a few times as she tried to form words. For his part Kouda grimaced, shoulders still hunched, but when he took a step forward Tokage flinched back violently with a look of pure panic.

Her mouth moved rapidly, and Izuku couldn't hear her from the stands, no one could. But he could tell from her body posture that she was growing desperate and frantic, squeezing her eyes shut as her volume began rising.

"F-f-forfeit... Forfeit, forfeit, forfeit! Forfeit!" Her voice rose into a shriek on the last word, closer to a wail than a shout as it echoed in the hushed stadium, and had Izuku wincing sympathetically.

And just like that, the effect lifted.

Izuku suddenly felt the tension drain from his body all at once, his heart slowly returning to its regular pace. And at the same time, he noticed Snipe jolt on the sidelines of the arena, hand snapping away from where it had been resting on his holster. He realized then that Snipe had been affected too, and so had Cementoss judging by how he'd literally crushed the arms of his chair with how tightly he'd been gripping them. The two of them were just better at working through the fear than Izuku and his classmates.

Snipe stepped forward and raised a hand to gesture to Kouda. "The winner, by forfeit, is Kouda Kouji!" he announced. And for the first time since the festival began, his voice carried clearly over the now eerily silent stadium as the crowd remained quiet.

As Izuku stared at Kouda Kouji's cringing form, he thought he had never seen a victor that looked so despondent.