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Chapter Text

2240

Everything seemed normal at first. 

Izuku Midoriya woke up late. His mother hadn’t woken him up, but she probably just went to work already. 

He went through his daily routine. Breathing out in an attempt at fire breath, focusing on the All Might figure on the desk in case he had telekinesis. Even testing for teleportation. 

Nothing.

Izuku tried not to let the disappointment get to him at yet another failure as he started his trek to school. According to the quirk doctor, he had an “invisible quirk”, complete with the extra toe joint. The doctor had been confused by the test results. No one was quirkless by this generation.  It had been 9 years since he was diagnosed however, and Izuku Midoriya was still powerless, and had nothing.

Defenseless.

Useless. 

Every other kid at school had an ability, ranging from relatively weak things like an intelligence enhancer to powerful quirks known for combat, such as Explosion. If only he could have something cool like that. A normal person would have probably given up on their dream, especially when it required fighting supervillians. 

But Izuku didn’t give up easily.

Izuku was drawn out of his thoughts by a strange feeling. Something was missing, but he didn’t know what. Maybe he forgot something at home? He checked his bag, but nothing was forgotten. His phone, wallet, and lunch were all there. But then it hit him.

It was too quiet. He couldn't hear the sound of chirping birds, the bustling of cars as they zoomed by, or any soft conversations around him. Izuku looked around, but there were zero people. There were cars, but none of them were moving.

Izuku took a deep breath to calm himself, his analytical mind racing. Clearly, he wasn’t in any immediate danger, and there were no villains nearby. 

Maybe he had been transported by some kind of quirk? Or this was a dream? Nothing seemed different, the city the same only missing people. The second possibility was ruled out after Izuku pinched himself and nothing happened.

Izuku checked Aldera Junior High just to be sure, but there wasn’t a single soul in any of the classrooms. So instead of him being gone, everyone else was.

Meaning someone with some kind of warp quirk had kidnapped everyone. Everyone but him. Which didn’t make any sense, why was he left behind? His mom wasn’t picking up despite his attempts to reach her, something he was doing his best not to dwell on. 

She was all he had after all.

It was getting dark.

Izuku had been wandering for hours, but he still had no answers, only gaining more questions. There was nothing new in the news since yesterday, meaning that an incredibly powerful warp quirk had been used on an entire city and no one outside had even noticed! Which was impossible. Warp quirks were already extremely rare, and one this strong  would have been docum-

Izuku paused, drawn out of his muttering spree by a flash of purple. He had zoned out, and in his walk back from the school Izuku had ended up at the neighborhood park. Turning to the left, he saw her.

She was sitting on a bench, watching the stars as they started to grow visible. Izuku’s eyes were drawn to the pink kimono the girl was wearing first, but then he noticed her hair. It was shimmering, stars shifting in her purple hair. What an interesting quirk!

The realization that this was another person, finally, that might know what happened hit him a second later.

“E-Excuse me?”

She turned to him as he approached, her eyes widening in shock. 

“Do you know w-where everyone went?” Izuku asked. 

She stood up, still staring at him. Izuku was about to try English when she finally spoke.

“Are you a human?”

Izuku took a second to make sure he heard that right. Obviously, he was human. Even if he wasn’t always treated as such. Did that mean she wasn’t human? Or maybe she was one of those UFO watchers? Was she an alien?!

Izuku looked at her face again. She was beautiful, astonishingly so, but she didn’t seem like an extraterrestrial. That had been flawless Japanese after all.

“Ah, so you are human. I’m not an alien by the way.”

Izuku blinked.

Did he just say all of that out loud?

“Yes.”

Izuku blushed, shutting his mouth.

“You must be quirkless then,”  The girl commented. His first instinct was to deny it, but the words stopped in his throat. He was clearly powerless. And for some reason, Izuku didn’t sense any of the distaste of the word he was used to. She used the term as a fact instead of a terrible medical condition. Izuku hadn’t even met anyone who treated something so hated normally besides his mother.

“W-Who are you?” Izuku gathered up the courage to ask.

She smiled, and the dimly lit park got a little brighter. 

“I am Aurora, goddess of light.”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya. It’s nice to m-meet you Aurora-san.” Izuku wasn't too sure about the goddess thing, but with how bizarre his world was he just decided to think about it later. A thought struck him then.

“W-W-Wait, is that y-your family name?” he stammered out.

Aurora seemed to be confused at his embarrassment for a moment, before understanding showed in her eyes. 

“Right, using someone’s given name is considered rude here. Still, Aurora is fine.” she said. 

Izuku still felt a bit odd, but it wasn’t like he had anything else to call her.

“Aurora-san, H-How did you know I was q-quirkless?” he asked, tilting his head.

In response, Aurora motioned for him to sit down on the bench next to her. Izuku took the seat, getting a better glance at her clothes in the process. The pink kimono was intricately designed, but unlike anything he had ever seen before. She looked up at the stars, her expression growing thoughtful like she was wondering how to phrase her next words. It was now night the stars fully visible.

“Humanity is gone. They’ve all been transported.” 

Aurora spoke softly, as if she didn’t say billions of people had been moved. She continued, sensing his shock.

“Your dimension is set to collide with another soon. This normally would not be much of an issue, but this other dimension is filled with dangerous creatures.” She paused for a second, in thought. “I suppose you would call them monsters.”

Izuku vaguely thought this sounded like some sort of video game. Then again, hundreds of years ago the idea of everyone having superpowers would have seemed crazy. Now the most famous celebrity was a giant man in red and blue changing the weather with a punch.

“Humanity was sent to different fantasy worlds based on their quirks and dreams to prepare. Combative humans were sent to fight monsters, such as heroes. The rest had more peaceful lives, but still had the opportunity to get used to monsters.”

“That’s why I’m still here isn’t it? And how you knew I was q-quirkless? I couldn’t be transported because I had no quirk.”

Aurora nodded.

“W-What about children? Wouldn’t they be alone?” Izuku asked.

Kids separated from their parents in a strange world. What would happen to babies? The thought made his gut clench. 

She shook her head, not bothered by the barrage of questions. The stars in her hair twinkled from the motion. “Depending on the parents, they’ll either be sent with them or put into an...orphanage of sorts until they are sent back to Earth.”

“Where w-was my mom sent?” Izuku finally asked the question that had been burning inside him for hours.

If she was in danger, then there was nothing he could do to help her. Izuku doubted Aurora was allowed to take him wherever she was.

“Give me a moment.” Aurora closed her eyes, before turning her gaze towards him. 

“Inko Midoriya was sent to the dimension Nourishment. It’s a world focused on hunting monsters, but all of the ones there are relatively harmless. It’s peaceful too.”

She was safe. 

Izuku let out a breath, the weight on his shoulders feeling lighter.

“When are they coming back?” Izuku questioned hopefully. He’d have to wait here a few months maybe, but he cou-

“I don’t know.”

Aurora sighed.

“Earth has been frozen in time until they come back. Humanity will spend 5 years before returning, however time passes slower there. Meaning while they have an adventure, it could be ten or a million years before they return.”

Izuku's eyes widened. Then what about hi-

“You will have to wait for them.”

Her beautiful eyes grew softer in sympathy.

“Izuku Midoriya, you are the only human left on Earth.”

Chapter Text

The first few months were a blur.

Aurora visited once a week, always appearing at the park. She brought him a week’s worth of food as well as ingredients. Izuku wasn’t an amazing cook, but he knew enough from the times his mother had worked late. 

He ignored the pang in his heart at the thought of Inko Midoriya.

Izuku practiced making Katsudon the most, the meal holding a special place in his heart. Aurora supplied him with pork, definitely not opposed to tastier meals. 

He had small chats with Aurora, though lasting long from lack of common ground. Aurora was a goddess after all, and Izuku didn’t exactly have the most social life even before humanity was whisked away. 

Some days she spent the meeting ranting about the latest issue in her world. Aurora was really expressive when she got into things. Izuku chuckled softly as she waved her hands around wildly(“-and then she blew up my dress. Why? Is not having a battle in it that hard?”), her eyes wide.

Izuku appreciated her company a lot.

He threw himself into books. There was no one to stop him from walking into the library and laying there all day. 

It almost felt like a crime when he yelled out after stubbing his toe and nobody shushed him. Reading helped get his mind of the feeling of loneliness and his current situation.

While Izuku would usually be studying all the new heroes, keeping up his perfect trivia knowledge, what was the point? It wasn’t like he was going to see a hero nowadays anyway. Instead, armed with a pillow and blanket, he started studying. 

Izuku didn’t realize just how much the term “nerd” applied to him until he was given all the time in the world and picked up a medical textbook. Healing would definitely be useful when monsters were running around he figured. He wanted to be a hero, not a doctor, so he focused on the basics and how to help someone immediately. Learning medicine was hard without an actual teacher. Izuku had practice dummies from med schools(Izuku was quickly learning that it really didn’t matter if he broke into places) but no living thing to help him. 

When he told Aurora about his roadblock, she stared at him a moment before lifting her hand, purple light illuminating the park as a blade of light rose out of it until the handle rested in her grip. She then made a decent sized cut in her other palm before holding the injured hand out to him, waiting.

Naturally, Izuku immediately panicked at her thoughtless self harm. He barely noticed how Aurora’s blood wasn’t red, more of a gold color as it leaked from the wound.

Then the medical knowledge crammed in his brain over months took over, and he cleaned the wound. She hid it well, but Izuku noticed her tiny flinch from the water. 

He wrapped her hand back at his house. Izuku had plenty of bandages from how much he had to deal with his own cuts and burns. 

Really, the only people Izuku missed were his mother and heroes. Almost everyone else he saw treated him as trash. 

He hid his frown as an angry blonde came to mind, along with all the adults who didn’t care about his behavior.

Izuku would be happy if he never had to see Bakugou again.

“You didn’t h-have to do that.” He muttered under his breath when he finished with the injury.

Aurora still heard him however, her hand squeezing his before she responded.

“It’s because of us you're left alone. Humanity wasn’t even kind to you, and you still prepare for their return. The least I could do is help.”

They sat there, a nice silence lasting between them.

His empty house didn’t feel too lonely right now.

She spoke up again a few minutes later.

“Not that I mind, but how long are you going to hold my hand?”

Izuku made a sound akin to a distressed cat before letting go, his face red.

Aurora’s laugh sounded like bells as it filled the room.

2241

Izuku pushed the fridge with all his might, finally getting it into the truck. His arms felt like they were going to fall off, so he would probably stop here for today. He looked around at the various trash piled up, everything from kitchen appliances to cars. Izuku even found guns there. 

He had started cleaning up Dagobah Beach while exploring the city. Even after over a year, strolling through a city completely devoid of people felt strange. It was also impossible to ignore the giant heap of trash, especially after seeing pictures of the beach in its glory.

He had used a truck nearby to move his piles. Knowing how to drive didn't really matter when there was nothing to crash into.

While residents might love it being restored once they returned, he was also doing it for himself. The feeling of needing to accomplish something was powerful.

Izuku figured it also doubled as strength training. Aurora didn’t question his methods, although she did tell him to try going to a gym as well. He did, being able to freely use expensive gym equipment was definitely nice after all.

Since he only saw Aurora on Saturdays, he spent the rest of the time training.

His body felt like it was dying, but he felt happy at the thought of getting stronger.

Izuku wanted to keep up his reading time as well, but Aurora had caught on to the bags under his eyes and made him stop. There was no one else left to tell him to mind his health after all. 

If..no, when the rest of humanity came back, they would be even stronger from their adventures, with more developed quirks. According to Aurora, they could learn magic based on their quirks as well. Izuku didn’t grill her on magic too much though. 

It was strange. Izuku loved talking about quirks. But thinking about magic, something that sounded so incredible and foreign, something he would never have, Izuku felt bitter. This was probably the way quirkless people had thought about quirks, back when others existed. 

He still had at least a few pages filled with Aurora’s light magic; how she could use it directly in offensive bursts or form tools and enhance herself. Izuku still didn’t know how the teleportation that she used to get to the god’s realm and back functioned.  

How weird would it be when everyone came back with stronger quirks and magic? The heroes would be stronger, but so would the villains.

Civilian casualties would probably increase. Izuku winced as he thought of the typical hero fight. A villain fighting a hero or several heroes, all with flashy, dangerous quirks. Despite this, civilians crowded around, enjoying the show from far too close. People brought their children, excited to see their heroes risk their lives in person. 

Many limelight heroes were into heroism for fame or money after all. Fights were drawn out, risking lives for the thrill of a climatic “Ultimate Move”.

Now that Izuku had time to actually think about it, completely separated from the hero media he had been dedicated to before, society seemed pretty bad. That was even ignoring how bad his life had been for being quirkless.

Maybe he would ask Aurora how exactly magic fit into quirks later. If he was still going to be a hero he would need to fight them after all.

The gap between the quirked and quirkless would only grow wider when humanity returned. In comparison, the only thing Izuku had was his body and mind.

All he could do was prepare as much as possible.

2243

They had moved their weekly meetings to Dagobah Beach.

It had taken almost a year of hard work. Once cleaned however, the view was absolutely beautiful. Izuku sometimes wondered how people could ruin something like this.

His physical training was definitely yielding results. Izuku had a decent base to start learning technique. 

“Hey Aurora?”

Eventually, she had gotten him to drop honorifics. Really, she was the only friend Izuku had since he was four.

“Yes Izuku?”

He still wasn’t used to her doing the same though.

“C-Can you train me?” Izuku asked.

Aurora turned towards him, the sunlight reflecting in her hair. Would it be rude to take a hair to study? Izuku has been getting into chemistry lately. On second thought, that would definitely be creepy. He shouldn’t do that.

Oh gods, his social skills were getting even worse.

“I can’t make you my student.” she answered. 

His thoughts must have shown on his face, because she explained. 

“I fight almost completely using magic. Most of my fighting style wouldn’t be useful to you. However, I can show you the basics of the god’s style.” She took a stance, her legs bent and spread apart, hands at her side.

The gods were humanoid, so their techniques could technically be learned by humans. However, Divinity was a style usually refined over decades. Aurora said this like it was nothing, but to Izuku that sounded incredibly complicated.

Gods possessed incredible amounts of physical strength, even ones who didn’t focus on hand to hand combat such as Aurora. Divinity was simple to learn but incredibly hard to master, focused on combining overwhelming power with perfect precision and technique.

They spent the rest of the day going through the basic stances, as well as how to punch and kick correctly.

Izuku practiced them until they started to feel natural.

2250

Izuku had started incorporating human styles, mainly Karate into his combat. He had seen fun forms of combat such as Capoeira in various books and media, but decided it wouldn’t fit him.

That hadn’t stopped him from learning to breakdance though.  

Sparring had been a spur of the moment decision from her after deciding he was finally strong enough. Aurora didn’t use her magic, but her natural strength still felt like getting hit by a truck despite how much she held back.

He forgot sometimes, but she really was a goddess. Aurora could probably easily take down the heroes in his world. Izuku could feel himself slowly reaching her in terms of technique after relentless practice. 

On some days(where he was sure that the world of gods had been stressing her out) they worked on his reflexes and dodging.

This consisted of bombarding the beach with giant beams of violet light, sending sand into the air and making the beach shake. The most terrifying however, was her spears of light.

On those days he wasn’t sure Aurora noticed how much power she was putting in.

It took all of his concentration not to get vaporized. 

How powerful was she when she went all out?

Izuku resolved himself to one day be strong enough to find out.

2274

Izuku decided to choose a weapon. 

He would need something to kill monsters. He was confident in his hand to hand combat, but he would definitely be more effective with a tool. 

Punching a dragon in the face wouldn’t work very well after all.

He had asked Aurora for advice, but he’d merely gotten a “Use what feels right.” before she went back to her shoujo manga.

Izuku regretted letting her know about manga sometimes. Aurora had gotten addicted instantly. 

She turned out to be right about weapons. After a short period of trial and error in the dojo, he picked up a quarterstaff. With the extremely helpful martial arts book, Izuku followed the instructions.

The recommended stance was simple. His feet were set wider than he was used to with the god’s style, probably to compensate for the length of the weapon. The dominant foot was in front, with the dominant hand placed near the middle. Going through the rest of the attacks felt smooth.

Izuku knew that he had quite a long time to train. It was easy to dismiss something not sharp, but blunt weapons could do quite a lot of damage with enough strength behind them.

His mind flashed back to Aurora’s fist knocking him out for 5 hours, making him shudder. 

The staff would hurt a lot, but if he held back he wouldn’t have to worry about killing villains or giving them brain damage. At the same time, with enough force he could deal with monsters.

Izuku could work with this. 

The next two months was spent practicing the basics and ingraining them into his muscle memory.

Aurora raised an eyebrow when he brought a staff to the next session. He had... borrowed a durable metal staff to use. The green haired man took his shoes off, and got into stance. Getting sand into his shoes would suck.

He gripped his staff tightly, waiting.

Aurora made the first move, shooting forward, as her feet left imprints on the sand. Her magic curled around her like a coat, violet light emitting outward as she stabbed forward with a light spear. 

Izuku diverted the blade with the top of his staff before swinging the bottom at her chin. She was already moving though, ducking under the attack before rising up towards him. His eyes widened as her palm lit up.

He was too slow to dodge the light blast, and the blow sent him tumbling away in the sand. The breath was knocked out of him for a moment. Even while she was holding back, he wasn’t fast enough.

Yet.

Recovering, Izuku stood up with the aid of his staff in time to see Aurora charging up both hands, the energy condensing in her palms.

This was usually the part where Izuku would run around screaming as light destroyed everything around him.

But this time he was ready. He carefully controlled the staff with all of his focus, blocking the bursts. Izuku winced as a particularly strong bolt of energy made the metal crack.

Izuku needed a better staff.

Whatever he couldn’t block, he dodged as he broke into a sprint, closing the distance before making a downward feint with the staff.

Aurora fell for it, raising up a blade of light to block the blow. Izuku focused all of his speed into his next movement, transitioning the downward strike into a straight punch to her stomach. It landed, the blow sending Aurora skidding back.

Izuku felt a wide grin start to appear on his face. The strike probably did nothing to her, but he had landed a hit. 

This was progress.

They stopped by a restaurant to cool down after a few more spars. The day was almost up, and after they ate Aurora would need to go back to the god’s realm.

While there was no one there to actually make food for them, they could bring food to replicate the experience. Somehow, the atmosphere was still there.

The cold night air didn’t feel lonely when Izuku sat there with her.

They ate a bento Izuku had made that morning; his cooking had certainly gotten better years of practice. Aurora closed her eyes in bliss as she took another bite of the katsudon. Izuku felt a small smile form at her reaction. She had been slowly giving him his confidence back these years, something he could never thank her enough for. 

Something as simple as a compliment on something he worked hard on or a new skill he learned. Things Izuku rarely got when Quirkless. He had even stopped stuttering.

Aurora asked him about a hero she had seen a poster of earlier. The hero caught her attention by being known as the Youngest Pro Hero, yet still so high up in the rankings. The poster was filled with his bright smile and large red wings.

Izuku opened his mouth to answer, then froze. 

Who was that again?

As much as he racked his brain, he just couldn’t remember who it was.

According to the poster, the hero was ranked third. Izuku definitely had notes on him, so why couldn’t he recall who they were?

“Your forgetting, aren’t you.” 

Izuku looked up at her concerned face, eyes narrowing in...sorrow? Aurora set the paper face down on the table.

“Decades have passed by so fast. However, your mind is still human. You haven’t seen a hero in years, so you are slowly forgetting them.” she explained.

He was forgetting. 

In hindsight, it was strange it had taken him so long to realize. Of course he wouldn’t remember someone he hadn’t heard of in years. His brain would think of it as unused knowledge. That didn’t mean forgetting what life was like before didn’t worry him.

Suddenly, another thought struck him.

Izuku hastily searched his memories, before breathing out in relief.

He could still remember a short woman with green hair, her smile as she saw the All Might video yet again with him. 

Aurora knew him well enough to not say anything.

They ate the rest of the meal in peaceful silence. 

The deserted restaurant was starting to feel more natural than one filled with people.

When he got home, he set up a reminder on his phone.

Every week, videos of his mother would play.

Every week, so he could repay everything she did when she came back.

Every week, so he never forgot her.

After a moment’s thought, Izuku also set a counter to track the years. 

It had been 34 years. By human standards, he wasn’t even considered a teenager anymore. That was definitely a shock. 

Would he need to act like a teenager when everyone came back? People would change after five years. How much would he change after far more than that?

Izuku guessed he would need to wait another few decades.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

Chapter Text

2296

Izuku leapt to the side, instincts kicking in. He felt the rush of air as the ball tore past him at incredible speed before smashing into the building behind him.

“Really?!” he asked, slightly alarmed.

“Sorry!” came the yell from the other side of the court. Izuku sighed, picking another ball from the bag.

Izuku had been experimenting with various sports to play while bored. He came across tennis in a magazine and wanted to try it. 

He had almost no experience with games. With no friends, Izuku had no one to play with.

After Izuku showed her an image to use as reference, Aurora set up a tennis court made completely out of light on Dagobah Beach. Violet light represented boundaries, formed into a net, and covered the sand below them for a flat surface.

Magic really was incredibly useful.

Tennis was something that was impossible for him to practice when she wasn’t there, but that just meant they could get better at the sport together. 

If there was anyone else there to see them, they would be amazed at the game. A ball of light zooming back and forth at incredible speeds across a court of light, both players moving at similar velocity.

Aurora was having the time of her life.

Her starry hair waved wildly, somehow not getting in her face. Aurora’s smile was wide, almost blinding as Izuku was reminded once again why she was a goddess of light.

The warm feeling in his chest must surely be her magic.

Aurora didn’t seem to be tiring from the match. To her, supersonic tennis was probably light exercise.

Izuku, on the other hand, was using all of his concentration to keep up. Using practiced reflexes to predict the ball, he could make up for his current lack of speed. The effort was taxing though, and after a few hours Izuku’s t-shirt was drenched in sweat.

After...40?(He had to check that timer again) years spent training, Izuku’s body had become near perfect as he reached peak human condition. It had felt weird at first, years passing as he felt his body change yet not age a single day. He compared it to a very old American comic he had found, about a weak man given a special drug and was instantly strengthened to the limits of the human body. 

Izuku’s gained muscle mass condensed instead of piling on, resulting in a more lean frame. Izuku had stopped getting taller, and was now about a head above Aurora. 

This was another reason Izuku never stopped training. As long as the time on Earth was paused, he had a limitless capacity to get stronger.

Aurora was holding back on her speed to keep the match fair, but her control was slipping in her excitement.

Izuku knew that she had no reason to worry about holding back normally, as everyone else she knew was ridiculously strong. The fact that she tried for his sake showed how kind she was.

The workaholic part of his brain was happy with the intense training too.

“Hey Izuku?” Aurora asked as she spiked the ball, using definitely too much force.

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he ducked as the ball slammed into the violet ground and rebounded where his head was. 

“Yeah? I’m not getting that ball by the way.” Izuku added as he watched the projectile zoom away.

There was no way he was looking for where that landed.

Aurora rolled her eyes, creating another ball of light in her palm. They had started out using normal tennis balls, but the equipment always ended up exploding from the force(Izuku blamed Aurora completely).

“Have you ever thought about travelling?” Aurora asked, out of nowhere.

“Aren’t you not allowed to take me to any other world other than Earth?” Izuku said, confused.

Aurora nodded. 

“Yes, but I can take you to anywhere on Earth with teleportation magic if you have a reference. I can always sense you Izuku, so you won’t have to worry about me ever losing you while you explore.”

Izuku had looked around the Shizuoka prefecture and other cities around Japan in his search for libraries. However, since there was no one to fly him he hadn’t left the country. Learning to fly an airplane wasn’t something Izuku was interested in, and was far down on his to do list. But this was the perfect chance to tour his home.

He grinned.

“Let me show you exactly why we humans love this place.”

Aurora smiled back, eyes glittering. 

“I look forward to it.”

Then she launched the ball at his face again, without warning.

2298

Europe was beautiful .

Izuku, armed with the internet and too much time, picked all the best cities. It was pretty much a tourist’s dream: No crowds, no spending on anything.

Aurora was there once a week to marvel at the view with him. Izuku spent the rest of the time reading and learning new languages. Even when he now knew Japanese, German, Spanish, and English, French was hard .

Izuku stayed in hotels. Without people though, the empty buildings made him feel so lonely that he made sure he was constantly reading or training.  

Was this what the rest of humanity felt when they were sent away? The feeling of being far away from what you call home?

He was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar flash of light, as Aurora teleported into his hotel room. 

While his clothing taste had gotten slightly better from meeting someone frequently, hers had been drastically influenced by her time spent on Earth. 

Aurora was wearing a red dress that was simplistic in design but suited her completely. She had been growing out her hair, and it now fell to her shoulders. The stars unique to her eyes seemed to be sparkling , and she wore an excited smile at what he could have planned.

She was beautiful.

Aurora blushed, the pink contrasting with her purple eyes.

Ah, Izuku must have said that out loud. 

“Did you wait long?” Aurora asked, recovering. She held out her hand.

Izuku smiled, taking it.

“Not really, I was just thinking.”

“So what’s the place you wanted to show me?”

Izuku pictured the city in his mind, the one that had amazed him in the brochure.

“It’s a surprise.”

Izuku opened his eyes as they reappeared, high up. 

“So where are w-” Aurora started, and then cut off. Izuku saw why a moment later.

There was no one to maintain electricity, but with time stopped on Earth lightbulbs essentially had infinite power. Izuku had never been so glad for it until now.

The view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower was breathtaking. A seemingly endless amount of lights spread outward below him, buildings flashing and roads visible like paths filled with stationary cars.

It finally struck him now that this was the exact definition of a date, but for some reason that fact didn’t bother him at all. 

“I take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about Earth.” Aurora said breathlessly, breaking the stunned silence. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight.

Izuku chuckled lightly at her reaction as they stood there together. The realization slowly set in as he watched Aurora happily point out what she could see.

He loved her.

By human standards, Izuku was ridiculously dense. Izuku had known her for at least 50 years, already half of a human’s lifespan. When he looked back on it, Izuku was meeting someone once a week, usually at a beach or restaurant. They were basically dating already, only not romantically. Today was a major example: dressing up to show her the view in Paris of all things.

By divine standards, Izuku was realizing his feelings...too early? From what he knew, gods had incredibly high lifespans. A mere 50 years was probably not much to her. Izuku didn’t actually know how old Aurora was, since he figured it would be pretty rude to ask. Izuku had no idea how divine beings dated anyway. 

Another question was why. Izuku had read enough shoujo manga to know that love just happened. But Aurora was the only person he had to talk to. Was he falling for her just because there was no one else?

Aurora deserved better than that.

His long buried self discouragement showed itself for the first time in decades. Izuku didn’t have a complete understanding of his feelings. He wasn't enough.

Yet.

He let out a fond smile as he lifted her hand, pointing out his favorite parts of the view.

Izuku had time.

2323

Izuku knew he had loved analyzing, especially quirks, before The Drift(He figured it would be easier to think of the event with a name.)

Now, Izuku has an incredibly faint memory of superpowers- quirks . The only two heroes he knew of were All Might and Present Mic, and he had broken down their quirks long ago. 

Izuku’s ability to analyze things had instead developed into an intense drive to learn and adapt. Most of this was spent training his martial arts, or whatever new thing he found interesting to try.

At the point where he had an incredible understanding of Divinity, Izuku focused on developing his own staff techniques. 

What he had the most time analyzing through, was Aurora’s magic.

It made sense, as a goddess she must have countless years to practice. A simple name like ‘Light Magic’ just didn’t seem to fit in with the notebook’s worth of things she was capable of.

Just when Izuku thought he had seen everything, she would absorb the brightness from the nearby streetlight into her hair as she complained about a headache. 

So today, when Aurora said she had something magical to show him, he wasn't surprised. Excited yet worried, yes.

“Why are we in a football stadium?” Izuku asked.

“For the space! Plus, this was the closest thing to an arena nearby.” Aurora answered, excited as her arms gestured wide at the stadium.

They used to spar on Dagobah Beach, but that changed once they started travelling. Since they no longer had a fixed location, Aurora just chose clearings or wide areas for their practice. It wasn’t like there was anyone to complain.

“So we’re going to fight?”  Izuku said, preparing himself.

“Well... we’re not going to fight.” Aurora intoned, a strange expression forming on her face.

Izuku didn’t like that smile very much.

She raised her hands, and then closed her eyes in concentration. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then something began to form. 

Violet light condensed before gradually taking shape. Izuku could make out claws, and strong limbs connecting to a lion's body. But then wings formed out of the creature’s back, along with a deadly looking tail. The creature moved to Aurora’s side, alive , coming up to her shoulders even on all fours.

Izuku faintly remembered the creature from ancient human mythology. A manticore, a beast with a lion’s body, yet also wings and a venomous tail.

“You can create creatures! That’s amazing!” Izuku exclaimed, awed. She just made a being out of nothing.

Aurora grinned, clearly enjoying the praise.

“Using your advice, I figured it out. My light can replicate life, as long as I understand it!”

Aurora opened her palm, focusing. After a few seconds, a pigeon formed, before flying away and dissipating.  

Just as Izuku was growing and adapting, so was she. 

“So where did you see a manticore?” Izuku asked, curious.

Aurora launches into a story about witnessing a battle between a manticore and a pro hero on a forest planet. The hero apparently had some kind of earth manipulation quirk, and was able to contain the beast’s flames and bury it. 

Aurora was able to visit other planets to help with magical related issues as part of the Council of Light. Izuku thought that sounded extremely important, but she brushed it off as simply “her job”. Currently she was monitoring Earth, and he saw her every Saturday. 

She couldn’t take him to any other planets, something that infuriated her.

Decades ago, the goddess hesitated from bringing up stories of world’s other than the god’s realm. But she understood that it didn’t affect him anymore.

Izuku had accepted that he would not see anyone else for quite some time.

His current life- months passing in an instant with training and weekly conversations- were all he really remembered. And Izuku enjoyed his current life. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy hearing about other worlds. 

Or wasn’t lonely.

“So can you make sentient life?” Izuku suddenly said.

Aurora frowned. “Not yet. Right now, they only follow my commands, although they might have basic intelligence.” 

Izuku felt a small pang of disappointment, but not as much as he expected. It would have been really weird anyway to ask her to make people for him to talk to.

He looked at the manticore, who had been still during their conversation.

“So when are we going to sta-” Izuku was cut off as the manticore leapt at him, claws flashing. Reflexes kicking in, he leapt backward as the creature landed where he was, unslinging his trusty staff from his back in a fluid movement.

How rude.

“Begin!” Aurora yelled with a wide grin, as if the manticore hadn’t already started trying to kill him.

Izuku was mainly on the defensive, dodging and parrying the manticore’s claws and jaws. Manticores could breathe fire, but since it was a light replica the beast instead emitted a burst of violet light that was similar to Aurora’s own attacks. All of this combined with the tail whipping and stabbing at him, and a manticore was quite deadly.

But it was just too slow. Or more accurately, Izuku was too fast for it.

Izuku moved gracefully, dodging the attacks with skill born from years of experience. The light beams were the easiest to dodge, reminding him of his spars with Aurora. Izuku’s raw speed was more than enough for the tail to fly harmlessly past him, and claws were deflected before they could reach him. The manticore almost seemed to be getting frustrated, if that was possible for a light creature.

Finally, the beast made a desperate lunge, jaws wide as it reached for him...

Now.

In a smooth moment, Izuku twisted and the beast passed him yet again. 

But this time, he counter attacked.

He breathed in, focusing his strength into his arms as he moved into the familiar stance.

“Stance Two:”

Izuku swung his staff in an arc with all of his force and slamming into the beast’s jaw.

“Bash.”

The manticore shattered , breaking into light fragments that dissolved into the air.

Izuku grinned, the familiar feeling of accomplishment rising up. He hadn’t ever sparred with anyone other than Aurora, and although he sometimes beat her she never went all out. This was a pure fight, that he won.

Furthermore, his technique worked . His created stances seemed to be worth the years of practice. 

“Can I fight it again?” Izuku pleaded.

2346

Izuku’s hair was turning white. 

He didn’t realize at first. There wasn’t much point in caring too much how he looked when there was almost no one to see him. Izuku wasn’t exactly a very social person in general either. 

At least, that’s what he assumed. Izuku couldn’t really remember what his life was like before the Drift. He did know he was quirkless, and with an invisible quirk he was definitely bullied. There wasn’t a single trace of him ever knowing a close friend either. 

So Izuku, being the antisocial, unfashionable person that he was, didn’t notice his hair color until he saw his reflection in a store window. 

Izuku’s hair was still mostly green. However, a decent portion was now white, creeping in like snow. Nothing else seemed to be different. His eyes were still green, giving him an interesting contrast. 

He opened his phone to check the year counter he made, and was shocked.

Izuku had been abandoned by humanity for over a century .

Aurora was confused when he brought it up to her.

“Don’t humans end up with white hair after many years?”

“Yes, because we get old. But I’m not supposed to age right?” Izuku asked, his worry leaking into his voice.

Was he dying? Izuku didn’t feel like he was aging. His body and mind were still in ideal condition as he continued to train. Maybe he didn’t notice he was getting older biologically because of Earth being paused?

“You don’t age right now.” Aurora stated calmly, shutting down his spiral. “It’s probably the effects of living and training this long on your body. I mean no human has been suspended in time before, not to mention for such an extended period of time.”

Aurora tilted her head in thought. “I could try scanning you if you wanted?”

Using her magic to scan creatures allowed her to use a blueprint to see how to recreate them. By extension, Aurora would know if something was happening to him.

Izuku nodded.

The familiar light beamed over him, but unlike her attacks, it didn’t hurt at all. Instead, it felt warm, almost like a hug.

Aurora smiled when she ended her lightshow. 

“Nothing’s wrong. You're still Izuku Midoriya, just with whitish hair.”

“Also, it kind of looks better this way.” Aurora added, leaning back on the couch.

Aurora missed Izuku’s slight blush at the comment.

She made something that worried him seem so simple. 

Izuku realized that until then, it hadn’t fully clicked that he wasn’t aging. But this meant he really did have time. Time to get stronger, learn whatever he wanted.

Whatever he wanted?

“Hey Aurora?”

“Yeah?” she responded, turning towards him.

“Is it possible for me to learn magic?” Izuku asked.

Aurora just stared at him, eyes wide. He knew it, it was a dumb quest-

“You mean that you’ve watched me use magic constantly, for a century, and you're asking now?” she asked, incredulous. 

Izuku scratched his head awkwardly, a bit embarrassed by her reaction.

“Well you talked about how the magic you could learn was based on your quirk. Since I’m quirkless…” Izuku trailed off.

Suddenly, Aurora grabbed his hands, focusing. Used to her bursts of inspiration, he waited.

Soon Izuku felt the same feeling run through him from earlier as she scanned him briefly before opening her eyes. 

“Your body has the capacity for reinforcement magic.” Aurora said. “But your right, you don’t have magic circuits yourself.”

Aurora grinned. 

“So I’ll give you some!” she continued, beaming. “But I’ll warn you, it’ll probably hurt. Are you sure you want me to do it?”

Izuku didn’t bother asking if she could do it. The confident smile told him everything. How could he say no to having magic? Aurora wouldn’t have mentioned it if it could kill him.

“I trust you.” Izuku answered, easily. For some reason, this caused her cheeks to take on a pink tint. Maybe she was tired? 

Aurora held his hands again, breaking him out of his thoughts, and he braced himself.

For a second, there was blinding pain. It was like being electrocuted from the inside of his body, feeling every part of him cry out. And then it ended, as soon as it started.

Izuku lifted his hands, looking at them. Nothing seemed different, but he could feel the energy under his skin, completely calm compared to a moment ago. 

When he concentrated, a violet spark formed on his fingers.

Izuku lifted his gaze to Aurora to thank her, but found her passed out. A lazy smile filled her face as she lay on the couch.

She really did so much for him.

Izuku reached over to wake her; it was late and she probably needed to go back. Then he paused. Checking the time, there were still a few hours left.

It would be fine if he let her sleep a little longer. 

Chapter Text

2402

Izuku loved magic.

Since Aurora had the same kind of magic circuits, it was easy for him to learn by example. It helped that reinforcement was simple as well. 

To enhance an object, Izuku focused the new power running through his body into a steady flow. The magic passed into the object he was touching, increasing it’s durability and power. Izuku just needed to understand the structure of whatever he was reinforcing. His reinforcement flowed out of him, so it couldn’t be used to enhance himself. However, since Izuku fought with a weapon, it was perfect. 

Within a year, Izuku had enough control to enhance his trusty staff as well as the practice to sustain it in combat. His spars with Aurora started to intensify now that when he whacked her with a stick, it actually did something. 

Humanity was given 5 years to develop their new abilities and get used to the idea of monsters. Now that Izuku finally had his own powers, he threw himself into training them. 

Every time he used his magic, his total mana rose along with how powerful the enhancement was. Izuku needed enough mana to completely work through whatever was being enhanced. For example, using his magic on a building took a lot of effort and concentration when he started practicing, but within 5 years he had enough mana to do so easily.

Izuku found that it was far harder to flow mana into non solids. According to Aurora, the amount of time Izuku had put into it was already more than any creature before. No one had tried to use it on anything other than weapons.

It took another decade to make progress, but Izuku was patient, excited. 10 years wasn’t anything to him at this point anyway. 

Reinforcing liquids was incredibly interesting once he managed it. He practiced on the ocean, mana moving from his bare feet into the ocean, water becoming more solid as he worked. With concentration, Izuku could walk on water freely, manipulating its shape as long as he was in contact.

With just a bit of effort, he seemingly had an entirely separate ability- controlling water. 

Just how far could Izuku develop this ability?

2453

Izuku’s life had fallen into a routine. Maybe that was just how he lived, or it was his human mind adapting to living far longer than normal.

He always woke up at the same time, going through the morning on almost pure muscle memory. The ache of eating alone most of the week never truly faded, but Izuku rarely noticed it now. 

Training made him feel alive, the familiar feeling of using up everything he had bliss. Every year he added to the physical training as his body adapted, and going through the regime was something he knew as well as breathing.

Izuku loved sparring with Aurora. She didn’t need to hold back anymore and could unleash the full force of her magic on him, her rainbow leaving giant craters in the sand. Today was a Saturday; she would arrive soon.

He didn’t have any other friends to reference, but he did know how happy she made him every week. Izuku was happy with what they had; a comfortable friendship that made him feel like all the centuries were worth it. So he wouldn’t risk telling her, ruining whatever they had. Aurora was too kind to push him away for something so simple, but the fact was that he knew nothing about divine courtship. She might not even consider dating a human.

There was also the reality that his romantic experiences merely consisted of a hundred years of shoujo manga. Izuku made the choice to put off his confession for another year.

He was great at the long game after all.

Izuku heard the familiar snap behind him. He felt a small smile rise up on his face as he once again turned to greet Aurora-

-then Izuku froze in complete confusion.

On the sand in front of him was a woman he had never seen before(which didn't exactly mean much, since Izuku only knew one person) The feeling of power radiating off of her was almost tangible though, and reminded him of Aurora. Izuku guessed she was a goddess. 

Besides her aura, she seemed completely different from his companion. While Aurora’s hair was long and purple, her’s was short and blonde. She wore a simple yet beautiful thin piece of red armour, made of some flexible metal he couldn’t name. Izuku couldn’t read the symbols adorned on it. Her red eyes seemed to stare right through him, and as he watched, they narrowed into a powerful glare.

Ah. Staring was rude right?

“Izuku Midoriya?” she said, less of a question and more of a statement. 

“Yes?” Izuku nodded, confused.

“Sekhmet.” Sekhmet responded simply. 

Her right hand lifted slowly, tightening into a fist. 

“Let’s fight.” It wasn’t a question, but an order. Sekhmet’s voice wasn’t cruel, but low and powerful; akin to a commander. Slowly, her words began to set in.

Izuku blinked, utterly lost. “Wha-”

Sekhmet blurred forward, almost faster than he could comprehend. Thankfully, years of practice kicked in and he crossed his arms, just in time to block her fist.

Izuku felt the blow throughout his entire body, the impact sending him tumbling across the sand like a ragdoll. He came to a stop a hundred meters away. Izuku caught a flicker in the corner of his eyes and immediately rolled to the side, a vicious axe kick carving into his spot where he was. His eyes widened. The pure physical strength eclipsed his own easily.

Sekhmet kept up her offense, a powerful series of punches and kicks that took all of his concentration to even keep up with. The fight felt almost like a dance. Every move she made was perfectly calculated, not a single bit of energy wasted. He ducked under a kick, but there was already a punch heading his way. Izuku lashed out, but she was already behind him. Sekhmet was always one step ahead.

But he could adapt. Apologizing to his stomach in advance, he stepped into her next punch. It was easier when he was prepared for it, but it still hurt like hell.

Wincing, Izuku’s next strike intentionally swung too wide, missing completely. But as Sekhmet started to respond, Izuku twisted, grabbing his staff from his back and swinging in one fluid movement.

“Stance One: Sweep”

His trusty weapon moved in a low arc, far faster than any attack he used before. The metal struck her ankle with every bit of his strength before she could react. She didn’t fall,  but the power behind the attack forced her to stumble, off balance. An opening.

Izuku lunged forward, aiming for her jaw, but Sekhmet was already recovering.

At inhuman speeds, she caught the blow and countered with a palm strike, landing a direct hit to his chest.

The breath was knocked out of him completely, and he could feel something crack as he fell backwards onto the beach. Were those his ribs?

That probably wasn’t very good.

Izuku took a moment to catch his breath, panting. Everything seemed to hurt, and his arms ached as he gripped his staff to stand up.

Izuku felt a grin come on to his face despite the pain, pure joy at such a challenging fight. Aurora was an excellent fighter, but she mainly fought with magic at long distances. Sekhmet, on the other hand, fought with pure hand to hand abilities, exactly like him.

She used the Divinity style as well, but instead of mixing in other combat forms Sekhmet seemed to have mastered Divinity alone and pushed it to it's furthest point. She wasn’t using any magic; probably to hold herself back(and wasn’t that a terrifying thought?). Izuku struggled to his feet, swaying but ready, his weight supported by the cool metal of his staff.

Sekhmet waited for him to stand, patient. He couldn’t read her expression very well, but he thought that there was something akin to approval in her eyes when he finally stood up.

So this must be a test of some sort. Izuku had no idea what the trial was, but naturally, he would do his best to meet it.

And that meant using everything he had.

Reaching out with his free hand, Izuku concentrated, mana flowing from his palm into the air. 

The space around him tinted purple as the reinforcement took effect. Ten violet chains began to solidify, outlined by his mana, surrounding his enemy. 

If liquids could be manipulated, then why not gasses? Reinforcing the atmosphere was incredibly difficult- flowing mana through air was slippery. But if Izuku was anything, it was patient, and now it was paying off.

Izuku clenched his fist and his chains responded, nine of them enveloping Sekhmet like an angry blanket in an instant. Knowing this wouldn’t hold her for long, he blitzed forward, muscles screaming in protest. Izuku condensed the wind surrounding him into a whip, lashing it at her.. 

Sekhmet broke through the chains instantly, sidestepping the wind whip gracefully. Izuku stayed out of her range, whips striking from all sides. 

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, then she moved, faster than Izuku could see. He jumped back on instinct, and the kick missed his face by inches. She attacked and they fell into rhythm again, but now Izuku could feel himself slowing down. Her next punch cut into his cheek as he dodged, his next block almost making him lose his grip on the staff. He was completely exhausted, but from her movements, Sekhmet was barely breaking a sweat. 

Izuku played his last card, wrapping her ankle with the final air chain. With all of his remaining strength, he swung the chain wide, launching Sekhmet into the ocean. Izuku caught her expression finally changing, eyes widening in pure surprise as she landed with a splash far away from the shore.

Izuku rushed to the water before she could surface and took a deep breath. In the next second, a giant amount of sea water turned solid. Sekhmet was trapped.

In the absence of waves crashing onto the shore, everything was silent. 

Izuku felt the headache piercing his mind from the mana usage, but gritted his teeth and maintained it. Izuku just needed to hold her until-

An ear splitting crack echoed around the beach as the ocean shattered, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Sekhmet leapt out of the water easily, crashing into the sand in front of him. Without a pause, she charged once more.

Another hour passed of fierce combat, until Izuku finally ran out of stamina.

He fell backwards onto the sand. He knew his limit, and he had gone far passed it. He let go of his staff, letting it rest in the sand beside him, letting out a raspy breath that almost became a cough. His injuries were ridiculous- he would probably be screaming when the adrenaline faded. His arms were in pretty bad shape, and it was hard to breath. Izuku doubted he could stand, and he had spent all of his mana.

Sekhmet looked down at him, then to his surprise, nodded in approval.

“Good fight.” 

“T-Thanks?” Izuku said, confused.

The edges of his vision were slowly turning black.

Was he going to die? 

As if reading his thoughts, Sekhmet snapped her fingers. Now, Izuku did scream as his bones remended and his broken body stitched up. It hurt just as much as being wrecked in the first place. But Izuku did feel a bit better as the pain started to recede. The exhaustion, unfortunately, stayed. 

Ignoring him, Sekhmet pulled a small, circular device out of her pocket, vaguely futuristic. She tapped it, and Izuku realized it was for communication when seconds later, a responding snap sounded on the beach.

Aurora arrived, hair shimmering in the evening light. Izuku absently noticed the sun was setting, and wondered just how long he had spent being beat to a pulp. 

She looked to him first, her eyebrows scrunched together in concern. Izuku stared back. Their silent conversation was short, and Aurora’s gaze turned softer for a moment. Then the tender expression was gone as her head whipped around to glare at Sekhmet.

“Why have you come, sister?” Aurora asked, though it sounded more like an accusation than a question. Her beautiful eyes darkened.

In contrast to Aurora, Sekhmet was completely impassive, her face not giving anything away. “I needed to test him.” Sekhmet stated simply, already turning to leave.

“Besides, the human passed. And he's clearly alive.”

The last statement was thrown his way casually, with a short glance.

So Izuku had been right; she had been testing him.

With that, Sekhmet vanished in a burst of red light. One day, Izuku was going to figure out how to do the teleport thing, and getting around would be much easier.

Izuku stared at the spot where the blonde goddess had stood for a moment as he still laid unmoving on the sand. He sighed.

“Of course, the first new person I meet after centuries tries to kill me.” 

Aurora laughed, a bright sound that filled the silent beach. Izuku felt lighter somehow, despite how heavy his eyelids felt. She sat down next to him on the sand.

“To be fair, I’ve tried to kill you too, Izuku.” Aurora responded, eyes twinkling.

Izuku turned his head towards her, slightly confused. Aurora was beaming , a wide smile stretching across her face. 

This was the happiest he’d seen her.

“Well yeah, but that was completely different.” Izuku said, his own smile forming just from being near her.

Izuku loved fighting; it is part of who he is. He wasn’t scared of being injured, or broken.

But Izuku was scared of death. There were so many things he still wanted to do. He wanted to see humanity return. He wanted to improve himself. He wanted to spend time with Aurora.

With so much time, suddenly losing all of it was a horrifying thought. 

He pushed away the turn his thoughts had taken. It didn’t help that the adrenaline had faded, leaving his tired body completely spent.

Izuku blinked, feeling his head resting on something far more comfortable than the rough sand. Aurora looked down at him, expression impossibly soft. She stroked his hair back(now completely white, he hadn’t even realized).

He should be embarrassed, but Izuku felt so tired , and laying in her lap he didn’t need to force himself to stay awake. Besides, she would probably have to leave soon anyway, his traitorous mind reasoned.

So Izuku let go, feeling everything fade away.

Izuku was used to waking up almost everywhere.

It was rare that he slept in his bed, usually falling asleep wherever he ended up. His poor spine had adapted to couches, libraries, research labs, and dojos. There had been too many times where he was too lazy to make it to a hotel and just laid a pillow onto the cold street. 

He couldn’t remember waking up to another person. Reasonably, he would have been woken up by his mother before humanity vanished, but it was so long ago. 

So when Izuku opened his eyes the day after meeting Sekhmet, he thought he was dreaming. His head was still resting on Aurora’s knee, and she was watching the sun rise, orange light across her face with the feeling of being content almost radiating off of her. 

This was real.

He must have shifted, because Aurora turned to look down at him. 

There were so many things he wanted to ask(was he still in her lap? Oh gods, had she been here the entire night?), but when he tried to put it all into words, what came out was a breathless “How?”.

“You passed, remember?” Aurora asked.

Izuku’s eyes widened. “The trial?”

“Sekhmet is the strongest. Holding out that long against her means that you are considered to be on the level of a god, despite being human. So Earth no longer needs a messenger to keep Heaven updated.” Aurora was proud , Izuku realized. Of him . 

Heaven no longer needed a messenger. Aurora didn't need to report to Heaven every week, and leave at the end of every Saturday. Aurora could-

“Does this mean you can stay?” Izuku couldn’t help asking, hoping. 

Aurora’s smile widened, reminding him of yesterday when he wondered just what had made her so happy. This time though, he understood why. 

Izuku felt the exact same.

“I will.” 

They watched the sunrise together, for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.

Then the peaceful silence broke.

"Wait, that was your sister? "

Chapter Text

2532

Izuku knew how fast time passed, how minutes and hours and days went by in a blur. 

Before, he saw every day as either a Saturday or not one. When he was alone, with his training, thoughts, and books, the weeks just happened as he looked forward to the next time he got to see Aurora. 

Now, everything was different.

Izuku hadn’t lived with anyone in centuries, and it was a pleasant change. He was used to silence. But it was so much better having someone at the otherwise empty table, to share his cooking with and relate to. The old ache of loneliness lessened like a healing scar. 

Izuku set up his guest room for her. It must have been smaller than what she was used to in Heaven(what were godly homes like?), but she bundled into the green blankets happily.   Neither of them mentioned the room next to Izuku’s; empty but waiting.

Izuku didn’t go shopping very often, mostly out of guilt at essentially stealing- it wasn’t like there was anyone there to give money to. But decorating Aurora’s room was a worthy cause, he decided.

What surprised Izuku though, was the color. Everything was a soft green, from the painted walls to the pillows. He should ask if that color was her favorite.

They often spent nights on movie marathons, passing out on the couch when it got late. Izuku always fell asleep first, not used to having anyone to stay up for. Every time, he woke up to her asleep on the couch too.

They travelled, starting small at first; long walks together around Musutafu to museums and mountains. Aurora took in his home with pure curiosity, excited in a way that made showing her places like seeing them for the first time. Eventually, they moved onto the world, staying in hotels and exploring before Aurora’s magic teleported them to the next spot.

Aurora still had her role as a goddess. Izuku definitely wasn’t complaining, but it was surprising how they let her work from Earth.

Sekhmet visited every few months. She brought news from Heaven, but mostly trained Izuku and became sort of a (terrifying) mentor figure. Sparring against her, Izuku improved immensely. It did wonders for his pain tolerance especially. 

Sekhmet came off as cold, at first. If Izuku was doing something terribly, she’d tell him. Her compliments were extremely rare, but this just made them more valuable. 

When she was with her sister, the facade broke slightly. Sekhmet was protective of Aurora, yet didn’t limit her actions. Izuku recognized that her vouch was probably the main reason Aurora could stay on Earth. 

While her sister’s magic was a warm, free presence, Sekhmet’s was tightly controlled. Sekhmet possessed two types of magic, her mana becoming an enchanting mix. Sekhmet healed him often(since he was injured every time they sparred), and he was familiar with the green mana fixing him. 

Her enhancement magic was different, the red surrounding her like a cloak. It multiplied her physical strength, already at ridiculous levels, to unstoppable. 

Izuku and Aurora were currently in a popular hotel in America, surrounded by grassy fields. Aurora usually preferred to sleep in, so Izuku trained the most in the morning.

Izuku swung his staff a final time, feeling the air burst around him from the pressure. He let the violet sparkling from his staff fade, and slung the cool metal onto his back. Izuku brushed back the hair that had been pushed in his eyes as he looked up at the parted clouds. 

His hair was completely white now, but to his relief didn’t show any signs of falling out. Izuku remembered when it was green, a shade of emerald matching his eyes. He knew what his mom looked like, and the fact that they wouldn’t match anymore felt like he lost something. The white suited him better though, long hair falling almost to his shoulders like snow.

Maybe he needed to cut it?

Izuku was pulled out of his musing by something nudging his foot. Looking down, he was surprised to see a cat pawing him.

There were no animals around the paused Earth, and he had assumed they were gone with everything else. But in front of him was a small, pitch black creature proving that otherwise. The cat stared at him with yellow eyes curiously as he bent down to it, but didn’t move away. 

“Hello” Izuku whispered softly. “Do you have a name?”

The cat stared at him. 

“I’ll just call you Kuro then. Do you want to come with me?”

There was no response, but when Izuku started walking away Kuro followed him, tail swishing in the grass.

Izuku walked into town, wandering he picked up pet food that Kuro had stared at along with other things he could think of needing for a cat before leaving the store. He had stopped feeling guilty about taking items long ago, it wasn’t like there was anyone around to complain about it. 

At some point, Kuro had climbed up to his shoulder as he returned to the hotel The weight was nice, and Izuku didn’t need to worry about losing him. 

Aurora opened her eyes when he shook her awake. 

“What?” she murmured, sitting up. Her purple hair fell to her shoulders now, 

He lifted Kuro off his shoulder, holding him out in front of her..

“This is Kuro. Can we adopt him?” 

Aurora blinked slowly, an adorable motion that gave him a familiar twinge.

“I don’t see why not. Do you know how to take care of him?”

Izuku shrugged. “I can probably figure it out. Have you ever had a pet before?”

Aurora tilted her head. “Mother gave me a dragon when I was young. They are extremely smart though, so it wasn’t much work for me. This...”.

“Cat.” Izuku supplied.

“...cat seems easy to care for.” She glanced at the creature, docile in his hands, purple eyes meeting yellow.

“But Kuro ? Really?” 

“What? It’s a good name.”  Izuku defended. Maybe naming a black cat black was a little unoriginal. Kuro didn’t seem to mind though. 

Aurora shook her head with an impossibly fond sigh. Izuku put Kuro down, and they watched him explore the hotel room before leaping onto the bed. Aurora gently stroked his black fur.

“You know, you didn’t have to ask me if you could have a pet, right?” 

“Why wouldn’t I ask if someone could join our family?” Izuku asked, confused.

Aurora’s purple eyes widened, and she stared at him for a moment. When she spoke, it was quiet.

“You think of me as family?”

Izuku paused, feeling the weight behind those words. He was probably overstepping, but when he thought about Aurora, who had always been there-

“Of course I do.”

Aurora smiled, small and genuine and soft, and Izuku felt like he was still outside in the sun.

2536

“How does courtship work in Heaven?”

The fist stopped inches from his face, the wind rushing by him and rippling through his hair. 

“What.” Sekhmet asked flatly.

Izuku felt a bit of heat rise in his cheeks. “You know...dating wi-”

“Yes, I know what courting is.” Sekhmet interrupted, then let out a sigh. The park was silent for a moment.

“This is about Aurora, isn’t it?” she asked.

Izuku’s eyes widened, shocked. “H-How did you know?”

“You just confirmed it. Also, you are acquainted with exactly two people. One of which is me.”

He winced. “It kind of hurts when you put it like that.”

“Do I look like someone you should come to for romantic advice?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

“No, but as you so nicely mentioned, I don’t really have any other options.” Izuku replied dryly. 

“Fair point.” Sekhmet paused, in thought. “For gods, it’s pretty much the same as with humans. Meet someone, date them, marriage. Your dating, right?”

Izuku stared at her. “No? That’s what I wanted to ask you for advice on.”

Sekhmet looked up at the sky.

“I never thought I would meet someone more dense than I am...” she muttered under her breath.

“What?”

“Haven’t you been basically dating for the past few centuries? You’re so clearly in love that I could see it.”

Izuku didn’t know what to say to that. He knew that, the thought bugging him for decades, but had it really been that obvious?

“Anyway, I was in your position once, a long time ago. When I got married-”

“You're married ?” Izuku broke in, completely shocked. 

Sekhmet glared at him, mana flaring, and he fell into silence instantly. “ When I got married, I really didn’t know how it happened. I’m terrible at this kind of thing, so it took that idiot a long time to get it through to me.” She smiled. “So you should tell her. I mean, my sister has more emotional knowledge than both of us put together, anyway.”

Izuku laughed. 

“You know, you seem really tough and closed off. But you're actually super soft and supportive!”

“I’m not soft. ” Sekhmet shot back, but the anger wasn’t there. 

“You’re like a tsundere.”

“ What the hell is a tsundere ?”

Sekhmet glared at the blonde girl on screen. “I am nothing like this.”

The blonde got flustered by the main character, and covered it up by yelling at him.

“Nothing.”

Aurora tilted her head. “But what about that one time Kensei-san got you flowers and you got so embarrassed you-”

“That was centuries ago.” 

“When you mentioned your husband, you called him a ‘baka’” Izuku noted.

“I’ll make your next training session twice as hard.” Sekhmet promised.

“W-What? Why?” 

“Three times.”

Izuku looked to Aurora for help, but she just laughed.

Betrayal. 

“Don’t worry Nee-san, you aren’t a normal tsundere. You’re evolved .”

“Like a Pokémon?” Izuku asked.

“Like a Pokémon.” Aurora agreed.

Sekhmet glanced between them, lost. “What’s a ‘Pokémon’?”

“So basically, a young child is given a familiar and is sent out to fight monsters, and strangers, given zero training?”

Izuku shrugged. “I guess.”

“The creatures are cute though.” Aurora piped up from the couch.

Sekhmet looked down at the device.

“It still seems stupid though. I don’t know why anyone would ever play this.”

“...”

“...”

“So which starter do I pick?”

“I can’t believe you’re addicted to Pokémon.” 

“I’m not ‘addicted’. I don’t know why you two think that.”

“Nee-san, it’s been 6 hours.”

“This is a masterpiece of tactical warfare, with a deceptively adorable art style. The strategy required is extraordinary. Me and my Bulbosaur will fight on forever.”

“Look at what you did Izuku, she’s corrupted.” 

“It’s not that bad.” 

Sekhmet grinned as she completed yet another Gym on the first try.

“I’m a gamer now.”

“Oh gods.”

“Yes?” Aurora asked.

“Yes?” Sekhmet asked, face buried in the game.

Izuku sighed. He had brought this upon himself.

2537

A date in Paris(where their first date was, though he doubted she remembered), then a confession on top of the tower. Yes, that was the culmination of Izuku and Sekhmet’s romantic knowledge.

The plan was incredibly simple, and there was no way it could go wrong.

Well. Unless Aurora rejected him, and then he would die inside and she would leave and then he would be alone-

Izuku paused in his spiral. Aurora was the kindest person he knew. If she said no, it would be gentle, and there was no way she would abandon him for something like this.

Izuku stood in his black and green suit, probably the most formal thing he had, a white scarf hugging his neck. Petting Kuro for good luck, he walked out the door, ready.

Aurora was already in the hotel lobby when he came down, greeting him with a smile. She was wearing a gorgeous purple dress, a fabric he couldn’t name making it seem ethereal with swirling blue designs. Her hair was styled differently today, making her look like a queen. 

Nevermind, he might just die here.

“You look beautiful. ” Izuku said breathlessly. 

Aurora smiled, a faint blush on her cheeks. “You look great too, Izuku.”

“So where are we going?” Aurora asked.

Gods had the ability to teleport long distances, using up stamina to travel across worlds in an instant. However, this meant that Izuku couldn’t surprise Aurora unless it was within walking distance. 

Right on cue, Sekhmet arrived behind them and put a hand on their backs, warping them away. 

They landed with a snap, travelling from America to France in an instant. Sekhmet immediately vanished, though with a last glance at Izuku( you better not mess this up ). Aurora’s eyes widened, and Izuku grinned. 

“This is...Paris? How did you get Sekhmet to help?”

Izuku shrugged.

He really did owe her one for helping him. Or three. 

Izuku smiled, offering Aurora his hand. She took it, and they walked.

The winter air was chilly, and Izuku was happy he brought his scarf. Sometimes he wished he was immune to the cold, like Aurora was; Izuku could remember watching her walk through the snow in a t-shirt.

Aurora’s hand was warm in his though.

They hadn’t been in Paris in decades, and Izuku was questioning that now. The city was amazing, bright lights illuminating the streets. They spent the evening like that, pointing out sights to each other. 

They ate a bento on the bridge, watching the river. The conversation flowed, and they talked about anything and everything. He was spending time with her, but now the atmosphere was charged. 

She laughed, and instead of laughing with her Izuku’s breath caught watching her. When Aurora realized they were going to the tower she grinned and he almost fell. 

Gods he was a mess.

There was a peaceful silence on top of the tower, and Izuku remembered that date centuries ago. He had given himself time, time to see if it was a mistake, if he was just latching onto the first person he had met who was kind to him. Time to see if Izuku had a chance. That time had passed though. It was easy to push it off for months and years and decades and centuries . 

Izuku looked at her. 

Aurora was radiant, a wide smile still on her face as she watched the city below. 

He loved her.

“Hey Aurora?”

Aurora turned to him. 

“Marry me.” 

Wait. Wait. Wait that wasn’t what-

And then she was kissing him, something impossibly soft and an answer all on it’s own.

“Sure.” Aurora replied, breathlessly, seconds later.

Well then.

“So? How did it go?” 

“It went amazing. But then we got on the tower, and I didn’t tell her I loved her-”

“You actual idiot. You had one job. One.”

“-but instead asked her to marry me-”

“What.”

“-and then she said yes-”

Sekhmet blinked. “ What?”

“-and then we kissed.” 

Sekhmet stared at him.

“I owe you like five favors.” Izuku said.

“This is what happens when you send an overachiever on a date, isn’t it.”

Izuku shrugged.

Sekhmet’s eyes hardened, and Izuku suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure bearing down on him. It was like gravity was multiplied. Her red eyes glowed, and mana flooded the area.

“You know that if you hurt her, I’ll destroy you right? Then I’ll heal you, and crush you again.”

Izuku nodded. “Of course.”

The killing intent vanished, and Izuku took a deep breath. 

“Good answer.”

There was a pause.

“You have to teach me that someday.”

“Teach you what?”

2540

“Are you sure?” Aurora asked.

Izuku nodded. “I want to meet her.”

Aurora bit her lip. “We don’t have to get her blessing. We have Sekhmet as a witness, and Kensei-san can legally marry us.”

“Aurora, did she raise you? Do you care about her?” 

“Yes?”

“Then I have to meet her, right?” Izuku asked.

Aurora sighed. “I do love her, but she’s a lot , and she’s scary-”

She was worried about him, Izuku realized. Her eyes were wide, and hands shaking so slightly he wouldn’t have noticed if he didn’t look for it. Aurora was so strong, yet she was scared of losing him. 

He knew how that felt.

Izuku smiled, gently picking up both her hands, holding them in his own.

“Your mother is probably terrifying. But I’ll survive. And she could never scare me off from you.”

“Izuku, my mother is the Queen of Heaven.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Sekhmet, out of curiosity, what are my chances of beating the Queen of Heaven?”

“0%” She answered immediately.

Izuku winced. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll delete your internet browsing history if you die.”

“Thanks, Sekhmet.”

Chapter Text

The first thing that hit him was the color.

Heaven was vibrant , the world around him incredible in detail. It was almost like he was in a dream, the woods they landed in so similar to what he knew but with amazing definition. His other senses caught up soon after; leaves rustling and a stream somewhere nearby. He could feel everything around him, his mana branching out like it was coming home. 

Izuku saw Aurora smile at him from the corner of his eye, probably from his reaction.  He felt the familiar urge to adventure, to explore. She understood, taking his hand in hers, and they walked out of the forest.

Izuku didn’t know what he had expected, maybe a futuristic sea of lights and skyscrapers, or a hall of golden towers. Instead, Heaven was more familiar. 

The buildings were traditional, something he could almost call Japanese. But the intricate detail spoke of centuries and centuries of construction. Looking around, Izuku could see things that he would probably never understand. Holograms walked around, carrying sentient conversation as they advertised products, and some kind of entertainment device was being held by a group of children.

Of course beings with a long, long lifespan would be far ahead in technology. 

“Aurora, do gods have flying cars?” Izuku asked, a bit of excitement leaking into his voice. 

Aurora laughed at the mental image. “We teleported here, didn’t we? Easiest way to travel. Some gods can fly under their own power though.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “You can fly ?” 

Aurora’s smile faltered ever so slightly. “I wish. But no. Few have the ability to do so.” 

Izuku wondered if there was more to it, but didn’t push her. They began to merge with the crowd.

He knew, of course, that there would be other gods. This was a whole realm, one that hadn’t all been whisked away. Cities were supposedly filled with people. But it was still so strange seeing so many people, walking near him, talking, living . It wasn’t too crowded, but there were presences all around him, and he felt the sounds start to be smothering. The many conversations filling around him were quiet, but together it was like he was trapped in a sea of strangers.

Aurora didn’t say anything, but she squeezed his hand in support. He took a deep breath, letting all the voices and footsteps and noise wash over him like a river. 

“Thanks.” Izuku breathed.

“Anytime.” Aurora said simply, like she wasn’t anchoring him to reality.

They got some strange glances, but nobody approached them. Izuku wasn't surprised people stopped to stare at him, but the reverent looks Aurora received confused him. 

Then Izuku remembered Aurora was an actual princess. Huh.

He was brought out of thought as they approached something that could only be described as a palace. If he didn’t know this was it from the architectural masterpiece in front of his eyes, the slight stiffening of Aurora’s shoulders and the unmistakable feel of power made it clear. 

The guards didn’t stop them, obviously informed they were coming. When they reached the office though, Aurora stopped outside the door.

“I can’t go further than this, she sent for you alone.” Aurora’s voice was calm, determined. Only from centuries of knowing her could he hear the change in tone, the worry. 

Izuku pulled her in for a kiss(chaste, he wasn’t trying to be killed before he even walked in). He watched the adorable furrow of her eyebrow lighten, a small blush at the unexpected affection. He grinned at her before turning to opening the door.

It closed behind him, royal purple mana sewing shut like a gap in reality. Izuku looked around the office, taking in the surprisingly homely room of couches and photos. Izuku hadn’t ever had a job before, but this workspace felt like a home instead of work. 

Before he could look closer, a woman stood up from the desk. Her hair was silver, and she wore a simple blue kimono unexpected of someone ruling a realm. 

“Hello, Queen.” Izuku started respectfully.

A faint smile curved into her jaded features at the title.

“Please, just call me Amaterasu. Have a seat.” 

She gestured to the couches, and he sat across from her. It was ridiculously soft, and if Izuku wasn’t so terrified he might have fallen asleep.

“Tea?”

Izuku nodded, and felt the fabric of reality shift in front of him. Instantly, there were two teacups on the wood table. He took his, carefully sipping. It was delicious and calming, the technique obviously developed over an incredibly long time. 

Amaterasu’s posture was regal, sharp gray eyes cutting through him. 

Hospitalities over, the kind host he just saw slowly began to recede, and the feel of her mana laced the room like increased gravity. 

“Sekhmet said you requested a meeting with me.” Amaterasu stated. “Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Aurora.” 

She tilted her head slightly. “Is this about the engagement?” 

Izuku blinked. “You know?” 

“Of course, everyone’s heard about it by now. A human marrying a god is exceptionally rare, and something like your case hasn’t ever happened before. I am surprised you told me though.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

“I’m not completely omniscient. Of course, I could obliterate you before you could even blink-” Izuku’s hands twitched, the threat said with absolute certainty without pause. “-but I wouldn’t be able to stop the wedding if you chose to hide it from me. Did you tell me out of respect?” Amaterasu asked.

“Amaterasu-sama, If I marry Aurora you would be family.” 

She raised a perfect eyebrow. “I would.”

“Aurora doesn’t mention you often, but I can tell how much your opinion affects her. She cares about you. That makes your approval important to me as well.” Izuku said, meeting her eyes. 

Amaterasu stared at him for a moment. “I see why there is so much talk about you now. You are...unique for a human.”

“Thanks?” He wondered what the rumors were. It was weird to consider a bunch of people he had never met knowing about him. 

“You certainly deserve a chance, so I’ll give you a test.” Amaterasu stood, and everything shifted.

The office was replaced with a completely empty, smaller room. The walls and floor were clouds, somehow solid. At the center was a mass of royal purple energy that Izuku now recognized as Amaterasu’s mana, supporting something obscured by fluffy clouds.

“I have something to take care of, so in the meantime I need you to hold that. Support it for a few minutes till I get back, and I’ll give you my blessing. Should be simple.” 

Izuku walked over, putting his hands under the purple barrier. This would surely be difficult, but what were minutes to the centuries he had lived? Izuku placed his staff next to him, and tensed his legs, arms curling in preparation. Amaterasu vanished, and the barrier went with her. 

Something huge pressed down, threatening to crush him. Izuku pushed back, bringing it to a grudging standstill. A second passed, and then the pain started to hit. 

After ten seconds, the burning in his arms was impossible to ignore. Soon, the pain began to spread and every muscle in his body strained. He couldn’t spare the effort to look up, but he finally realized what he was carrying.

Amaterasu had dropped the fucking sky on him.

Izuku stopped counting once a minute passed. His thoughts weren’t coherent, beginning to blend, cutting off and swirling into each other. There was only his body screaming to let go, and himself screaming back.

Izuku knew the sky was slowly lowering, the ridiculous weight pushing down. But he had no idea how to stop it. Izuku was just a human. A human with 300 years of training of course, but still a human. He felt blood start to drip from his nose.

There was no one around him. For the first time Izuku could remember, time was moving so slowly . Every second he endured felt like another year. How much time had passed? 3 minutes? There was no way he could last, black was already curling in the edge of his vision. The darkness would take him, Izuku would pass out, turn into a pancake, and then the sky would fall down, down through the clouds-

If he was holding up the sky, the beautiful painting he had stared at for hours and hours until his neck hurt, then he was above Earth. Something this heavy with any velocity crashing into Earth would completely destroy it. Their home. 

He couldn't let that happen.

Izuku sighed, then took a deep breath. His taxed lungs almost made him regret it, but they worked, bringing air into his body. He focused, feeling his mana rushing through his circuits as he had thousands of times before. It was harder than ever, working under literal pressure, but he managed. Izuku flowed mana into the air around his arms, solidifying it. He shaped two gauntlets of violet light, surrounding his hands and forearms, as dense as he could make it. Then Izuku gritted his teeth, and pushed .

Ever so slowly, the sky began to lift. The pain seemed to increase.

Izuku couldn’t tell if he was screaming or not.

The gauntlets had started to crack under the strain, pieces of air breaking off, but it was moving . He was lifting the fucking sky, using every bit of willpower he had.

Izuku didn’t know how long he stood there.

By the time Amaterasu returned, Izuku was completely numb. As soon as he felt the overwhelming force disappear, Izuku let his arms drop to his sides and blacked out.

Izuku opened heavy eyes to Aurora’s face looking down at him. 

“Sleep well?”

“Great actually. My arms are still dead, but I’m okay.” Izuku answered, smiling at her unsaid concern. 

He sat up from her lap, noticing they were in the Queen’s office. 

“Hello Izuku.” Amaterasu said. Surprisingly, she seemed chastised, like someone had scolded her. 

“You dropped the sky on me.” Izuku stated with a bit of uncharacteristic venom. He wasn’t the type to hold grudges; Sekhmet had attacked him without warning the first time he had met her. That had been a spar though, this had been agony .

“She what?! ” Aurora’s head whipped to her mother’s instantly in a powerful glare. 

Amaterasu nodded, a slight wince under her daughter's fury. Aurora was a powerful force. “I needed to know if he could handle my blessing.”

“I thought this was about our marriage. Isn’t that what that test was for?” Izuku asked, confused.

“I wasn’t testing if you were worthy of my daughter. I already know you are.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Aurora can marry whoever she wants. But from what I've seen, you make her happy, enough to live in an entirely different realm. And you two trust each other.” Amaterasu smiled at Aurora, who was speechless, before turning back to him. “I do approve of your marriage. And that’s why I'm glad you can take my divine blessing.”

“ Thank you mother.” Aurora said softly.

“Of course, dear. He’s the one who earned it after all.” 

“What’s a divine blessing?” Izuku questioned cautiously.

Aurora turned to him, lifting his hand in hers. He could feel their similar magic circuits through her fingers. “It’s an important thing for us, giving someone your blessing. It drains a lot of mana, and is a sign of trust. I gave you mine when I gifted you magic. But mother’s...”

“Would essentially turn you into a god.” Amaterasu finished. “Your body would be stronger and you would truly stop aging. You would also not need explicit permission to visit Heaven anymore.” 

Izuku felt a pure smile take over his face as it sunk in. “You mean that even when Earth is unfrozen, I won't age.” Izuku glanced at his fiancee, seeing his joy mirrored. “I could spend forever with her.” 

He very nearly kissed Aurora, but with Amaterasu there settled for crushing her in a hug instead. She returned it, and they seperated after a few moments before turning back to the Queen.

“Can we hug you?” Izuku asked hesitantly. 

Amaterasu didn’t say anything for a few moments, and he thought he went too far. Then she sighed.

“Just this once.” 

Izuku pulled her into a grateful hug, and Aurora followed with a grin. 

If the Queen of Heaven let it go on for longer than needed, well, no one would know. 

“This was the hard part. The easy part is convincing the rest of Heaven that Izuku is worthy. He’s going to become a prince, after all.”

Izuku just pushed that thought for later, the idea of him being royalty too weird to think about right now. “How do I do that?” 

“The Arena. When I give you the blessing you’ll be knocked out, so you can fight tomorrow once you’re rested. If you defeat a powerful competitor in combat, Heaven will have to acknowledge you.”

“So I beat some guy up with a stick and they’ll think I’m cool?” 

“Exactly.”

Aurora sighed. “Izuku shouldn’t have to prove anything to them.”

Amaterasu shrugged. “Politics are ridiculous.”

Aurora met her gaze for a few moments in thought. “At least it’ll be fun to see their faces when Izuku whacks them.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

With that, Amaterasu placed a hand on his forehead, filling his vision with purple.

The Arena was the biggest structure Izuku had ever been in. 

It was similar to a football stadium, yet with a Roman design. The ancient look clashed with how comfortable the seats looked, as well as the holographic billboards displaying views of the field. The Arena was almost completely filled, a mass of strangers. Izuku struggled to even process that many people. Thankfully, the stands were high up.

Izuku’s competition hadn’t arrived yet. He could feel his new divine blessing running through his magic circuits, brimming with power. He felt lighter, stronger. His mana capacity had probably risen as well, and he was excited to test it all.

On cue, a pillar of flame erupted on the other side of the field, making Izuku shield his eyes. The fire revealed a new figure glad in gleaming golden armor and tanned skin, a resting smirk on the man’s lips. He was slightly taller than Izuku. All in all, Izuku felt like he was in a movie for a moment.

“You must be the human .” The word was said like a cat person would have mentioned dogs.

“My name is Izuku.” Izuku said diplomatically. Even his limited social skills could sense the attitude radiating off the man in front of him.

“Agni.”

Izuku tilted his head. “Like ‘agony?’” 

Agni grinned, full of teeth.

“Exactly.” He pulled out a long spear from his back, blade shining in the sun. 

Izuku brushed his white hair from his face, almost feeling underdressed in his t-shirt and pants against a fully equipped god. He lifted his trusty staff, letting his improved mana run through it. His feet spread into the familiar stance.

Agni struck first, spear lunging at high speeds at his heart. Izuku twisted, letting the blade rush past him and lashing out with his leg at Agni’s side. The kick was blocked, forcing Izuku to leap back as Agni pushed him on the defensive with an array of stabs. 

Izuku’s staff was holding up well, deflecting and striking back, the reinforcement holding strong. He noticed his violet mana was now a darker purple, clashing against the gold of Agni’s spear with every parry. Izuku raised the tempo, landing his own strikes against the god. 

Minutes passed, Izuku only gaining small cuts. But the burning, fiery mana he sensed wasn’t being shown at all. Izuku landed a clean punch, aiming towards the unarmored head, and whipped Agni’s face back. The returning punch to the gut made him made him lose his breath. Izuku barely dodged the spear aimed at his head, drawing blood from his cheek.The crowd cheered.

Then Izuku started looking closer.

The same grin that Izuku finally placed as condescension still looked down at him, flashy thrusts and strikes to do maximum damage yet show off, the mana being held at bay. 

“That's all you got?” Agni laughed, the blade of the spear almost reaching Izuku’s throat before being batted aside. 

Agni was making the fight into a game, leading the battle like a play with wide, dramatic strikes and apparent ease.  If Izuku, the new prince, was killed here without any mana used with basically all of Heaven watching, Agni would get all the recognition a warrior could want and Aurora’s name would probably be dragged into the mud.

He needed to turn this from a performance into a battle.

Stance Six: Javelin. 

Izuku moved his staff into position, focusing all of his new strength into his arms as he launched it with all his might. The practiced movement was almost supersonic. Izuku twisted the air around the projectile, curling it into a spiral to increase the momentum as it flew.

“YEET!”

Agni’s red eyes widened with satisfying shock. The spear rose to block the missile on reflex, the impact knocking the golden weapon out of his hands as the arm dislocated. The staff went flipping up, up, into the air with a glint of metal. Izuku tensed his legs, and leapt .

“Stance Seven: Burst.” 

Everything slowed down- the spear stabbing into the ground, the staff falling, Agni’s body attempting to shift into higher gear with not enough time to do so. His arm gradually rose to block but Izuku was already in front of him, a purple gauntlet of air hardening around his fist as he drove it into Agni’s face with everything he had. There was a crash as the man’s head was introduced to the ground in a shockwave of force, and with his other hand Izuku caught the falling staff.

The crowd was silent, in awe or indignation he didn’t know. 

For a brief second Izuku thought that was it, but then Agni started to glow . 

Izuku jumped back just in time, as everything was enveloped in flame. From it, a golden figure walked out. Izuku’s enemy was now surrounded in beautiful sunset fire, weaving around his limbs and body like a cloak.

Agni spit out a tooth before turning back to him. The smirk looking down on him was gone. In its place were calculating, narrowed red eyes as he pushed his arm back into place with a crack. A trail of blood ran down the side of his head. His spear flew back into his outstretched palm, before being covered in fire as runes Izuku couldn’t read appeared. 

The arrogant showman was gone, and in its place was a ruthless warrior.

“It seems I’ve underestimated you.” Agni noted. 

Izuku nodded, bracing himself.

“I won’t make that mistake again.”

The battle finally started.

Agni's fire seemed alive, and for all Izuku knew it could be. It formed into whips and swords, creatures and fireballs, as Agni attacked. Izuku’s reflexes were put in overdrive, staff carving through the flames. The spear blazed through the air, easily slicing through his air shields. He caught it with his staff, and the heat made him wince. He blocked a golden fist with his palm, feeling it burn through his gauntlet with the brief contact. 

Close range definitely wasn’t safe, and the temperature would only increase as more and more flames covered the field. The crowd was excited, and Izuku was surprised to notice that some were shouting for him as well. 

Izuku began to get more creative. His air chains struck out at critical points, deflecting the spear or grabbing an arm. He shaped his air shields, curving flames back. Platforms of air let him move through the sky as he weaved through dragons of flame and bursts of fire.

He could feel the sweat through his shirt, dripping down his chin only to evaporate instantly. He couldn’t handle the heat forever.

Agni was relentless. Thin but powerful threads of flame tore his chains. Returned flames were deflected with the spear, and Agni propelled himself with his fire to catch up to him.

Instead of dodging, Izuku shaped the air into a handheld shield as he turned to meet the fiery god. Izuku absorbed the impact as the spear tore through his shield like butter, giving him time to land a clean hit across his face. Something broke.

“Stance Two: Bash.”

Izuku dissolved the platform under them, and Agni tumbled to the ground. Izuku swung the staff again, but Agni was already recovering and caught it in his hand, red eyes alight. Before he could move back, Agni stabbed forward with his other hand.

The spear sliced his forearm, the long gash instantly cauterizing as his vision briefly went white. Izuku tore his staff out of Agni’s grip, a huge fist of air colliding with his enemy’s gut in tangible desperation. Agni bent from the impact, but his arm still lashed out at lightning speed, catching Izuku’s throat and lifting him up.

The gleaming hand burned , the pain making him scream.

Izuku couldn't win with just power.

He kicked out on reflex, being dropped. Izuku rolled under the next slash, and saw a burning fireball flying his way. Something tickled the back of Izuku’s mind, of beaches and rackets. 

Instead of dodging, Izuku swung the staff and sent the ball of flame blazing back at Agni. It flew back at twice the speed before of course being absorbed into the spear-

Wait. Agni was immune to fire. Why was he blocking all flames? 

Agni was sweating too, and hadn't been walking through the burning fires around the field. Flames didn’t affect him, but the heat did. 

Izuku grinned.

“Stance One: Sweep” 

His trusty staff struck Agni’s knee, knocking him down. Forming a layered gauntlet around his arm, he gripped the blade of the spear and pushed until it was touching Agni’s face. They both winced under the heat, but it clearly did more damage to Izuku's opponent. Agni stepped back, readying to counterattack-

And stopped, as his back pressed up against a wall. Surprised, he finally looked around. 

Izuku and Agni were surrounded by dense barriers of air, forming a glowing cube of purple. It was faintly see through, like coloured glass.

Agni stared around him before letting out a loud laugh. The cloak of flames grew larger, his face now seeming to glow as he gained a cowl. Fire curled around his armor, tensing for an attack.

“A fatal mistake. You’ve trapped yourself in with me.”

Izuku let a smirk play upon his face, resembling Agni’s earlier. 

It was the other way around.

“Stance Five:”

Izuku twisted his body as he began to spin at full speed, pushing his body to it’s limit. His staff extended, the purple trailing it as he reinforced the swirling air into a powerful tornado-

“Whirlwind.”

-inside an enclosed space full of heat.

The twister knocked Agni upward, along with all the flames and fire as the heated air rose. The beautiful tornado of orange and purple crashed into the top of the cube, and finally it shattered, letting the swirl of color rise high into the sky.

Agni dropped to the ground when it faded, broken spear hitting the field next to him. His armour was burned off at places, and he was completely unconscious. 

The crowd was silent in awe for a few beats, then it roared . 

Izuku blinked back at the cheering gods, moving his burnt hand in a sheepish wave. This only made them louder. He felt a smile stretch his face at being so accepted, at this many people not only knowing who he was but praising him.

Something strange to imagine mere years ago. Izuku wondered if his old self, the one before all this, would have enjoyed it as much as he did.

He slung his staff onto his back, turning to leave. He walked down the glowing hallway, leaving the arena.

Izuku chose to ignore the catcalls as he realized his t-shirt was burned off, a faint blush on his cheeks. He should have brought more shirts.

At least he had an excuse to try on divine clothing now.

Chapter Text

They gave Izuku a fitting snow white cloak after he came back from the Arena, adorned in runic designs. Aurora said he looked great, so Izuku was keeping it forever.

Heaven had been very impressed when Izuku whacked someone with a stick, recognizing him as the future Prince. The palace sent a royal escort to take him and Aurora to the teleportation point, keeping the curious crowd away. 

Izuku wondered if he would ever get used to that many people existing, much less being around him. From what he read, Earth had billions of people before they vanished. 

He couldn’t even begin to imagine that. Izuku heavily thanked the guards before he left. 

The first thing Izuku did when they got back was take a nap, passing out on his bed in an instant. He woke up to sunlight shining through his window, feeling more well rested than he had in decades.

Aurora was lost in a book when he came downstairs, eyes scanning the pages at a rapid pace. Izuku knew how absorbed she was, knowing not to interrupt her yet. 

Izuku was surprised to see a stranger opposite her on the couch, but if Aurora trusted him he must be safe. He had bright red hair and intelligent blue eyes, framed by glasses. He was dressed light, and Izuku could see the hilt of a sword on his side. The man greeted him with a warm smile when he noticed him coming, petting Kuro absentmindedly as the cat laid next to him. 

“Hello. You must be Izuku, Aurora’s fianc é .” 

“You must be Kensei, Sekhmet’s husband.” Izuku returned.

Kensei let out a small chuckle. "I am. She’s mentioned me?”

“Sometimes. Doesn't talk about herself much.”

“I've heard a lot about you though. Your fight was brilliant. Almost no one realizes Agni’s major weakness, and your magic was fascinating to watch.”

Izuku felt himself grin under the earnest praise. “Thanks. You know Agni?” 

“Former student. Very arrogant, but driven.”  

“You're a teacher?” Izuku asked. It wasn’t too surprising, considering how friendly the man was.

Kensei nodded. “Me and Sekhmet sometimes take on students.”

“I thought Sekhmet rarely took apprentices?”

“Yeah. I have taught classes, but my wife usually takes on one serious apprentice at a time.”

Kensei looked down at Kuro, hand still gracefully stroking black fur. “I also must thank for finding Nox.”

Izuku blinked. “Who?”

Kensei’s hand stopped moving. “My cat, Nox.”

Izuku pointed at familiar black fur and yellow eyes. “That's Kuro.”

“No, that's Nox.”

“Are you sure?”

Kensei raised a red eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I would know my own cat. I’ve had him for centuries.”

“I found Kuro on Earth a decade ago-”

“-when he must have followed Sekhmet. Nox loves her, probably more than me actually...Anyway, Earth cats have a lifespan of like 15 years. If this isn’t my blessed cat, then why hasn’t he aged?”

Oh. That did make a lot of sense actually. 

“Wait, you gave a divine blessing to a cat?” Izuku blurted.

Kensei winced, looking a little sheepish. “It was kinda spur of the moment. I found out how long Earth cats lived.”

From what Izuku had heard, divine blessings seemed very precious. Kensei must care a lot about Kuro.

“How about a bet over the cat?” Izuku asked.

“What's stopping me from just teleporting Nox out of here?”

Izuku met his eyes. "Your pride."

Kensei stared at him for a moment, then broke into a grin. "Right. What are your terms?"

“We stand apart a fair distance and place Kuro down in the center. If Kuro walks towards you, he’s Nox. If he comes to us, he’s Kuro.”

Kensei looked intrigued at the wager. He had obviously known Kuro for far longer than Izuku. 

Kensei snapped his fingers, and everything shifted. Izuku was now facing Kensei, and Kuro appeared in a glint of blue light between them.

Izuku called Kuro softly, hands beckoning. Kensei did the same, and soon they were making strange cat noises in their effort to gain the cat’s attention. 

Yellow eyes flicked between them, contemplating, as Kuro assessed them. The black tail whipped back and forth.

After a minute of tense consideration, Kuro's tail stopped moving. He turned, padding towards-

-Aurora. The cat reached her couch and leapt up, curling into her lap. Aurora absentmindedly stroked his fur with her free hand, still reading her book. Kuro let out a purr. 

Izuku and Kensei stared for a few moments.

Kensei sighed, accepting defeat. “You knew this would happen, didn't you.”

"Yep." Izuku replied, smug.

“The cat stays one year on Earth, and one on Heaven?” Kensei offered.

Izuku tilted his head. “Only if you officiate our wedding.” 

“Deal.”

They shook hands, an oblivious Aurora between them.

2541

The wedding was a small, special thing.

Izuku chose Dagobah Beach, and Aurora immediately agreed. The sunlight touched a small venue, a designated red path leading from the teleportation point to a large, decorated arch. Half of it was runic in design, the other half was snow white and emerald green. 

The single line of chairs bridged through the red path in the sand. He could see Sekhmet, stern face softened into something else, as well as a few gods he assumed to be Aurora’s friends. 

Izuku stood next to Kensei under the arch in his black tuxedo, waiting. The fabric was soft, comforting with a green tie. He returned Sekhmet’s wave, smiling at the wind gently rippling through his hair and the sand beneath his red shoes. 

Aurora and Amaterasu appeared in a brilliant flash of light, violet and royal purple swirling together. Particles drifted through the air, meeting the sand. It was the most dramatic warp Izuku had ever seen. The light faded, revealing the daughter and mother linked arm in arm. 

The audience swiveled in their chairs to see, he saw Kensei smile out of the corner of Izuku’s eye, and Izuku-

Izuku stared . 

Aurora was in a bright white gown, the sunlight reflecting off the dress and making her purple hair shimmer in a way that felt absolutely magical as it rested past her exposed shoulders. The train of the dress smoothly floated just above the sand as her mother led her down the makeshift aisle. Aurora saw him then, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

“Holy shit.” Izuku breathed. 

Kensei coughed next to him, bringing him out of his trance. Izuku blinked, realizing that Aurora had already walked up to him. Her eyes were fond, lifting up to his. 

“Hi.” Her cheeks were tinted red, showing she hadn’t missed his reaction.

“Hi.” Izuku said back. 

Kensei’s speech washed over Izuku as he focused on the goddess in front of him. His green eyes were deep into her purple. The practiced vow flowed smoothly off his suddenly dry lips. Aurora said hers back, naturally poetic, and Izuku was moving.

His hand gently cupped the back of her neck, pulling her towards him as he pressed his lips against hers.

His hand slid to her back. Izuku’s other arm curled around the dress as he dipped her down. Izuku felt Aurora smile against his mouth as she kissed him back hard. She tasted like sunlight, warm and soft and sweet. The audience cheered and shouted somewhere behind him but Izuku barely heard it, like he was deep underwater. 

He finally came up for air after a few moments, their grins matching. On impulse, his hand went under her legs and he lifted the princess off her feet into a princess carry. Izuku cut off Aurora’s surprised shout with another blissful kiss. Izuku spun her in his arms with a wide grin, wind rushing through his hair and purple eyes still locked on green.

2548

Their honeymoon was an extended trip through the wonderland that was Heaven. The divinity now in his veins let him teleport to designated points himself, as he had seen Aurora and Sekhmet do countless times. The ability was required to travel the vast realm.

Warping, as Izuku called it, would always be unique. Everything he was broke into purple particles, his body dissolving into light like he was becoming mana itself. Yet the whole thing didn’t hurt at all. Instead Izuku felt free, almost pure before he reformed on the other side within seconds.

Heaven was so large that there were still vast stretches of nature untouched by civilization, despite the population. One of Izuku's favorite examples was the tundra Aurora showed him last year, a spot they used for training.

Miles and miles of winter were laid out around him, in entrancing hills of snow. Izuku’s white cloak staved off the cold as he watched Aurora practice her magic, the light making the carpet of white glow violet.

Izuku hadn’t let go of the idea of Aurora flying. It was such an amazing thing for him to imagine, cruising through the sky under your own power. Aurora’s magic really was wonderful, the applications limitless. She hasn't found one yet, but there had to be a way.

The first thing she tried was propulsion. Beams of light from her hands and feet could launch her in any direction easily. But there wasn't much control, especially the higher she flew.

Aurora stood on a platform of light for the next attempt, levitating the construction higher and higher until Izuku had to shield his eyes against the sunlight. It seemed to be working, but once it started moving faster-

Aurora was thrown off and Izuku kicked off the snow, catching her in his arms as she fell. His scarf blowed past him in the frosty wind.

They went through a few more ideas before she tried something different. Aurora concentrated, gradually forming a large eagle out of her mana. Sharp eyes gazed down at her, the majestic bird almost twice her height. It bent down, letting her gracefully leap onto it’s back, then shot off the ground with a powerful flap of its wings. She circled Izuku from above, arms lifting towards the sky. Aurora grinned.

After a few minutes though, it was clear a large living creature took too much mana to sustain. Aurora landed back next to him, out of breath, the violet eagle slowly dissolving.

Izuku insisted on a short break after that attempt, grabbing water from his bag and holding it towards her until she took it. Aurora rolled her eyes at his nursing, but couldn’t hide a small smile.

“Goodbye Sam.” Aurora said sadly, as the last of the violet eagle vanished.

“You named it Sam?” Izuku asked, amused.

“ Him ” Aurora corrected.

“You named him ‘Sam’?”

“He looked like a ‘Sam’.” 

“I guess? I thought you would name him something cool, like ‘Windwalker’ or something.”

“That sounds lame. Your names aren't exactly the best, you know.” Aurora teased.

Izuku held a hand on his heart, mock offended. “Slander. From my own beautiful wife.”

“You named our black cat ‘Black’”. 

“Are you ever going to get over that? Kensei named him the same thing!”

Aurora laughed, a bright sound that made the icy hills feel several degrees warmer. “Nope. I’ll hold it over you forever. When we have a child, you don’t get to name it. You would probably name them a old human reference or something, and then our child would hate us forever...Izuku?”

Izuku just stared at her, frozen like the landscape around him.

Aurora stopped her ramble, going completely red. She covered her face with her hands.

There was a pause.

“Did you mean it?” Izuku asked quietly, emotion leaking into his voice.

“The naming thing? I mean if you really want to-”

“Aurora.” Izuku cut her off, slowly pulling her hands away so he could see her eyes. Purple eyes met his.

“I want kids. I mean they're so adorable and everything but I know we only got married a few years ago and...” Aurora trailed off, carefully watching his reaction.

She hadn’t been this nervous in centuries. This must be incredibly important to her. He already knew his answer

“Sure.” Izuku said simply. “Why wouldn’t I want our family to be bigger?”

Because that’s what she was offering him. Not just Sekhmet and Amaterasu, who were technically related to him now, but their own actual family .

Aurora gave him a searing kiss in response, tackling him in a hug.

Izuku laughed at her excitement as she knocked him down on the frosty ground. 

They went back to training after calming down, his green scarf now checkered with snow. 

She tried something similar to the platform, forming small circles under her feet and mana surrounding her to stabilize. It was clumsy and unrefined, but it seemed to be progress.

“Aurora?” Izuku called after watching her glide around a while.

She floated down, surprisingly seeming relieved at doing so. “Yes?”

“Why don’t you cover yourself in your mana completely? Wouldn’t that be better?”

Aurora tilted her head. “I would have, but I  can’t layer it over myself accurately. Unless you have a mirror the closest I would get would be like armour, and it wouldn’t fly well.” She shrugged.

Izuku placed a hand under his chin in thought.

“I’ll do it.”

Divine marriage was special compared to humans. The process also connected mana, letting each god use the other’s mana in close proximity. This was part of what made it the ultimate source of trust; a god’s mana was part of them just like a limb.

Aurora’s eyes widened at his words, and she searched his face. Izuku held firm, and she eventually nodded her assent. She trusted him.

Izuku gently held both of her hands in his, closing his eyes. He immediately saw his own mana, always stretching out to interact with other beings and objects, and pushed past it. Izuku focused on the second source of mana, bright and warm and safe, almost as familiar as his own. It washed over him for a moment, like a river of energy. Izuku imagined the complex light construct he needed, shaping it around his wife.

When he opened his eyes, Aurora wore a new purple cloak made entirely of mana. It slid over her body and her jacket like a second skin, covering her up to the neck. Aurora twirled smoothly, looking down at it amazed, then took a step back to test it.

The mana cloak glowed, and suddenly Aurora shot up into the air.

It was perfect, giving her complete omnidirectional movement. The cloak was durable and flexible, so she could fight in it too.

Aurora let out an excited shout as she flew loops in the air, leaving trails of purple light in her wake.

Izuku grinned up at his wife as he sat back on the snow.

He could watch her be purely happy for hours.

2729

Kensei occasionally sparred against Izuku.

Practice against someone else with a weapon was useful, and his magic was a definite challenge to fight as well. Unlike Sekhmet though, in a fight Kensei talked.

A lot . Maybe it was payback for the cat thing? Izuku tried to tune him out, but it was largely unsuccessful.

“Are you even trying?”

“I can’t believe you’re attacking me with a stick .”

“You missed.”

“Are you okay? Took a hard hit there.”

“You missed again.” 

“Is your hair getting in your eyes? Maybe get a haircut, man.”

“Yes, I’m teleporting. Why? That’s no excu-”

Izuku suddenly broke off his swing, pivoting on his foot as he aimed right where Kensei was about to reappear, finally punching Kensei’s annoying mouth and pushing him back across the sand.

Kensei paused for a moment of blissful silence, raising a hand to his annoying, uninjured face, before grinning in warm pride. “That was great! I wasn’t expecting that feint, very clever of you.” 

Now Izuku couldn’t even be mad at him. The nerve .

He knew now why Agni had seemed so angry.

Contrary to his personality, Kensei was ridiculously powerful. He didn’t use the sword at his waist, the sheer power Izuku could feel from it was terrifying, even sheathed. Instead, Kensei pulled out a wooden bokken out of a thin blue rift in the air. Despite seeming to be ordinary wood, it met Izuku’s reinforced staff with ease, not showing a single hint of damage by the time they stopped to rest. Izuku glared at the weapon like it was responsible for all his problems.

Kensei’s earlier taunts finally began to register in his post-combat mind.

“Wait, you’re using a stick too!” Izuku blurted, indignant.

Kensei blinked slowly, then laughed. “Yeah, but I’m winning.”

Izuku...couldn’t really say anything to that.

2893

Two gods sparred on the beach, sunlight shining through clear skies.

“It just doesn’t make any sense.” Izuku muttered, watching the fight in front of him. 

Kensei twirled the bokken in his hand, deflecting all the approaching balls of light. He cut one in half, and just before he got hit by a violet bolt of energy he suddenly shifted ten meters to the right. 

“Is this about the stick again?” Sekhmet asked, sitting next to him on the sand She didn’t even look up, playing Tetris on her phone. 

“ Yes it’s about the stick. Look at that thing, it’s not even scratched!” Izuku exclaimed. Aurora slashed down with a giant axe of hardened light, and it was effortlessly blocked by wood before Kensei went to counter at blinding speed. Aurora’s purple cloak appeared, flying her out of sword range.

Sekhmet rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you just ask him? You’ve been on this for over a century.” 

“But that would ruin the whole point! Plus, he would probably be like ‘What? It’s just a wooden bokken.’”

“What if it is just a wooden bokken?” 

“Then how is it so durable?” 

Sekhmet shrugged. “Maybe you’re just weak.”

“Why don’t you break it then?”

“Too much effort.” 

Izuku opened his mouth, then closed it.

An array of violet spears and swords blazed towards the swordsman, Aurora’s frustration visible. Kensei parried a few then slashed the air in front of him with a powerful swing. Light blue outlined the cut, carving a small gap in the fabric of space that the remaining projectiles flew into. He closed the gap with a smirk. 

They watched Aurora and Kensei spar for a few minutes.

“What do divine blessings cost, anyway?” Izuku asked suddenly.

Sekhmet’s finger paused for half a second before clearing another line. “What?”

“Amaterasu and Aurora treat it as something precious, yet Kensei hands one out to a cat he just met. The gods in Heaven don’t seem to know much.” Izuku turned to Sekhmet, and she finally looked up. “And you don’t mention divine blessings at all.”

The goddess put her phone into her jeans with a sigh. “I forget how curious you are sometimes.”

“Like in a good way?” 

Sekhmet ignored him. “Divine blessings are pretty rare. It takes a lot of mana to even be able to do so, and the blesser loses some mana permanently. That’s part of the reason why it’s seen as a sign of trust, since you can’t take something like that back.”

Red eyes flicked back to the fight in front of them. “As for Nox, Kensei is very...impulsive.”

Izuku laughed, and the corner of Sekhmet’s mouth lifted.

"Have you ever given a divine blessing before?” 

Sekhmet didn’t say anything for a moment, sharp features growing a tiny bit more rigid. 

“Once.” She said quietly. “If I tell you, will you stop annoying me for now?”

Izuku nodded, abashed. Sekhmet leaned back into the sand.

“It happened centuries ago. Maybe...800ish years by now? Humanity was starting to manifest abilities, or ‘quirks’ as they called them. Emitter quirks are similar to magic really, but transformative and mutant quirks are unique.”

Sekhmet glanced at Izuku, who was listening with rapt attention, before continuing. 

“People without these abilities, the ‘Quirkless’ majority, began to fear the Quirked. They were more powerful, different . It’s in this time that two brothers were born. They had white hair, like you do.”

Izuku’s hand went to his head, surprised. 

“That was one of the only things the two brothers had in common though. The younger brother was kind and meek, yet had sparks of bravery. The older brother is more cunning, ambitious. The younger had seemingly no power at all, while his brother’s ability let him have all the power he ever could want. The older brother was nice at first, collecting abilities from those too scared to hold them and giving them to those who craved uniqueness of their own. But then...”

“He wanted more.” Izuku finished. 

Sekhmet nodded. “The older brother slowly conquered with overwhelming power paired with smarts. The younger tried to stop him, their relationship eventually crumbling, but was too weak, powerless. But he kept trying. I wasn’t sure why this stood out to me so much, maybe I saw myself in him. So I helped as much as I was allowed.”

Izuku’s eyes widened. 

“I gave the younger brother a tiny bit of my enhancement magic. But to my surprise, it molded with the quirk he never knew he had into something completely new, a mix of quirk and magic. He could transfer all of the compound to someone new, keeping the remains of energy within himself. So that’s what he did before the older brother killed him. And then they passed it off to someone before going off to die, and this cycle kept repeating.”

Sekhmet sighed. “I don’t know why this bothers me after so long. The users would be dead in like a century anyway if the compound was never made, and I’ve killed far more gods. But it does. So I don’t know if I could ever bless someone again.” 

This was probably the most he had ever heard her speak at one time.

“It’s not your fault, you know. The younger brother would have fought and died without your blessing, and the other users wouldn’t just ignore the threat.” Izuku said softly. "If anything, you helped the younger brother by giving him the ability to do something."

Sekhmet didn't say anything for a moment, closing her eyes. Sunlight poked through her blonde hair.

"Thanks, Izuku."

Izuku turned his attention back to the fight in time to see it end, Aurora yielding to the bokken resting on her neck. She seemed happy despite her loss, talking to Kensei  before he went to leave, walking to the teleportation point.

“Hey, Kensei! Wait!” Izuku shouted. 

“Yeah?” Kensei stopped, looking at him.

“Is your wooden bokken magical? Or is the wood on Heaven like, special or something? How did you make it so durable?”

Kensei stared at him in confusion.

“What? It’s just a wooden bokken.”

Chapter Text

2960

Akari was born.

She had green eyes and familiar purple hair, and was so small .

Izuku was terrified. They displayed enough power to level an Earth city on a daily basis, and here was this tiny adorable creature. He had absolute control of his strength, but now he was extra careful whenever he was near his daughter.

His daughter . Huh. 

Despite this, Izuku loved holding her. The tiny bundle of green in his arms was so light that he barely felt her, yet at the same time every shift made him so happy. Akari seemed to like being held by Aurora a bit more, but Izuku didn’t hold that against her. Aurora was amazing after all.

The kind people at the palace were extremely helpful in what they needed to raise a baby. They even had guidebooks!

Izuku missed being able to sleep in though. Besides them, there was no one else on Earth making any noise. But now, midnight wails were a constant. Akari was so loud . 

How did her small lungs even do that?

3010

Akari was unfortunately, old enough to attend school. 

Gods didn’t put their children into any kind of preschool like humans, raising them at home for the early stage of their life. After age 50, the school system progressed in a rank system. The ranks didn’t have a set time that each student had to take them for, instead students progressed at their own rate and tested out whenever they were ready. It was a flexible system. The tenth rank was specialized and usually the longest, depending on whatever career the student wanted to go into.

Neither of them had known how she would age, being half human and half goddess. But according to Aurora, she seemed to age just as much as a normal baby god; currently at 50 Akari resembled a human toddler. 

Divine life was quite long compared to humans. Izuku had thought about this before, yet so much time had passed he was now on the other side of the equation. 

Records he had read showed the Human lifespan was constantly increasing, currently at an average of maybe 100(ignoring healing/age related quirks). An entire human’s life could go by in the time it took Izuku’s daughter to become a teenager. 

If humanity came back, it would probably be depressing watching them die so fast. Izuku winced, shoving the thought deep under. 

He couldn’t remember the old Izuku-or as it makes more sense to call him- the young Izuku. To him, the 18 years he had spent alive must have felt like an eon. The difference between him and his past self was strange to think about.

Young Izuku had green hair. Izuku supposed it matched his eyes, but anything other than snow white was almost impossible to imagine now-

A small head slumped onto his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts. Izuku glanced at the now unconscious girl next to him, passed out on the couch. Foundations of Mana And It’s Usage rested on her lap, the book still lying open.

Thinking was a big part of him, and if he wasn’t stopped Izuku might keep thinking and thinking until the paths diverged and curved into each other.

There were more important things to him now than the past though.

Izuku placed her book on the table in front of him, sliding a glowing bookmark into it. Gently he picked up his daughter, walking up the stairs.

“Dad?”

Izuku looked down, seeing her start to stir. “Yeah? We're going up to your room.”

“I’m not t-tired” Akari slurred drowsily in protest, eyes half open.

“Uh-huh. Of course not.” 

Izuku tucked Akari in with her green covers, watching his daughter fight back a yawn.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Izuku asked.

Akari nodded, purple hair trailing the motion. “W-What if the other gods don’t like me because I’m a demigod? Or I’m not smart enough? The other gods are going to already have m-magic and everything...”

Izuku smiled softly. She rambled when she was nervous, just like Aurora. He carefully reached out, brushing back the hair that had fallen over her eyes.

“Akari, classes haven’t even started and you’re already reading about mana. You’re going to do amazing, you’re a genius.” Izuku said, putting every ounce of his sincerity behind the words. And she would; Akari had that same drive he did to discover things, to learn about them. Akari loved reading even more than Izuku, something that made him ridiculously happy. 

“And being a demigod just makes you special, right?”

Akari beamed at him. “Yeah.” 

Izuku smiled back, soft.

“You should rest now, you’ll have to get up early.” Izuku kissed her on the forehead, giving Akari a final glance before closing the door lightly behind him.

Aurora got home two hours later, exhausted. There was a teleportation point directly in their living room, so they didn’t have to go to the beach and back every time they visited Heaven.

Aurora’s required duties as the princess weren’t too bad, but she did have to attend meetings. Meetings which dragged on with debates. Izuku let her vent as he half hugged her on the couch. 

“How’s she? Big day tomorrow.” Aurora asked, leaning into him.

“I think she’s okay now. I talked to her, she was pretty worried-” Izuku rubbed small circles on her back, and she murmured appreciatively.

“Ah yes, worrying. Akari gets that from you.” Aurora nodded sagely.

“-and was rambling, just like you do.” Izuku finished.

“What? I don’t ramble. No clue what you mean.”

Izuku stared at her blankly. 

“Okay, maybe I've rambled before.” Aurora admitted. “What did you tell Akari?”

“That she was amazing and is going to do great.” 

Aurora smiled, warm. “Yeah. She will.”

“Akari’s going to outpace all of them, watch.”

“Izuku, it’s not a competition-”

“The other kids won’t stand a chance .”

3072

Akari’s magic came in. 

Izuku had met Aurora when her magic was fully developed, and lacked the skill to truly understand when he received his own. Seeing Akari’s mana slowly grow over years was beautiful, like a blooming flower. 

Her mana was a pure white, and she almost seemed born for light magic. Aurora showed her how to make a simple ball of light, patiently guiding her through the process of using mana. 

Akari’s grin didn’t fade for weeks.

She was already at the fourth rank in her education, ahead of most students her age. Despite how proud he was, Izuku was careful not to pressure her into advancing, letting Akari set her own pace. 

Divine education covered many subjects, with more course options the higher rank you were. Mandatory classes included academics along with hand to hand combat and mana foundations. After getting their mana after about a century, gods could take Mana Application to actually learn to use magic. 

Despite her inital worries, Akari absolutely loved school. The only class she didn’t like was History, and honestly Izuku didn’t blame her. Gods had far, far more history than humans did.

Izuku lifted himself up, pausing in his one armed handstand to check on Akari. She was drawing something intricate across the room, eyes narrowed in concentration. Her pen tapped against her chin, debating something as she hunched over her desk.  

“Homework?” Izuku asked. 

Akari sighed. “Yeah. Runes.” 

Izuku tilted his head, long used to the feeling of all the blood rushing to it. “I thought you loved Runes?”

“I do, but right now this just...” Akari glared down at the paper in front of her. “...isn’t working.” 

“Maybe you need a break?” Izuku suggested.

Akari placed the pen flat on her desk, watching him move up and down curiously. She wandered over, plopping down in front of him on the soft carpet. Akari struggled to lift herself up into a handstand, her eyes twinkling at him when she managed to stay upright.

“You know, this isn't really what I meant by taking a break.”

Akari’s arms bent, straining as her head approached the ground then lifted up again. “It’s a change of pace.”

“Whatever works for you I guess.” Izuku gave the upside down equivalent of a shrug.

They trained for a while, as Izuku worked through the end of his routine. Akari kept pace as well as she could.

“Your stamina is pretty good.” 

Akari rolled her eyes. “You’re not even sweating, and you’ve been doing this for hours on one arm.”

“Akari, I’ve been doing pushups for like 800 years. You’re fine.”

The demigod scrunched her nose. “Ha, old.” 

“I’m not old!” Izuku protested.

“That sounds like something an old person would say.” 

Izuku sighed dramatically. “Children, they grow up to be so cruel.”

“I’m not a child.” Akari insisted.

“You’re not?”

“I’m 112 years old.” 

“A baby, really.” 

Akari pouted, making her look adorable. Her arms were starting to shake from effort of holding herself up.

“C-Can I join you on your sacred routines?” Akari asked.

Izuku glanced at her. “Sacred?”

“I’ve watched you do it my entire life.” Akari panted. “I can’t even remember you missing a day either. By now I have the workout memorized. I asked a long time ago, but...but you said I couldn’t.”

Akari’s arms gave out, and she tumbled onto her back. Izuku pushed off his hand, sitting down next to her as she tried to catch her breath.

“Of course you can.” Izuku answered. 

Akari blinked. “Really?.”

“I didn’t want you to do it before because you were young, and could have hurt yourself.” Izuku shrugged. “My daily routine is something special to me, but of course I would love to share it with you. We’d work up slowly, adding to it like I did.”

Her eyes were wide. “You’re going to train me?”

“Well yeah, why wouldn’t-”

Izuku was cut off by a hug that hit him like a tidal wave.

3090

Akari turned out to have an innate ability for reinforcement magic as well. Izuku enjoyed passing on his skills, and his daughter was an incredibly fast learner. Part of it was that she had someone to properly teach her unlike him, but beyond that she just adapted to new information quickly.

Light and reinforcement magic paired well together. Akari could enhance anything she made, since it was easier to flow mana into mana constructions over actual objects. 

Izuku preferred to hold their sessions on Earth, with almost pure silence. 

A forest was the perfect place to practice magic- mana was everywhere around them, in the trees, plants, and soil beneath them.

Akari’s eyes squinted shut in concentration as her palm rested on a fallen tree. Her snow white mana flowed into the wood, gathering around her hand before spreading up through the branches. Izuku lightly poked the dead tree, seeing her enhancement hold firm.

“You’re getting good at this.” Izuku commented.

Akari smiled under the praise. “It’s kinda hard, sustaining mana over something this big. Who taught you all of this stuff, anyway?”

Izuku shrugged. “Aurora showed me the basics, but most of it is just trial and error.”  

Izuku lifted his hand, twisting purple strands of air into a swirling ball. The wind sphere floated above his palm.

“Took me a while to do anything weird like this. I pushed the idea of ‘enhancement’ so far, it turned into 'manipulation'.” Izuku let the wind dissipate. “Really, I think your time would be a lot better spent on other magic.” 

“Fascinating.” 

Izuku startled at the sudden voice behind him, his staff in his hands instantly as he spun. 

He had grown quite comfortable in his ability to sense mana. Not only was it excellent in combat, but to someone barely used to people, knowing who was around him was essential.

Yet this woman didn’t seem to give off any mana at all. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think that was wind magic...yet instead the air itself is becoming more durable as you reinforce it into shape. There isn’t any visible effort on your part either, how remarkable...” Green eyes glanced around him rapidly as the blonde’s words turned into incomprehensible muttering.

Izuku blinked. “Thanks?” 

“Sensei? What are you doing here?” Akari asked from behind him. Izuku relaxed seeing that she knew the strange character, slinging his staff over his back. 

The goddess pushed up her glasses, snapping out of her thoughts. “Sorry, I get lost thinking about magic sometimes. I’m Loki, and I teach every magic class at Arcadia. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” 

Izuku shook the offered hand, a little concerned. “I’m Izuku. You said you teach...every magic class?” Arcadia was a massive school, and Izuku distinctly remembered the crowd of students whenever he dropped Akari off.

In response two more Loki’s materialized next to the original, seemingly perfect replicas. Her mana suddenly emerged from however it had been hidden with a green glow, surrounding all three Lokis. The clones happily waved at him and Akari before vanishing.

Amazing.

“I can teach multiple classes like this, it’s incredibly useful. That’s part of why I’m here, actually!” Loki said cheerfully. She roamed into her bag for a few moments before pulling out a bright pink envelope. Izuku carefully opened it, curious. Green eyes scanned the paper, growing more and more incredulous. 

“Dad, what is it?” Akari asked, trying to read over his shoulder.

“You’re offering me a job? ” Izuku stared at her in disbelief. 

“Yep! As a magic instructor at Arcadia. As the only other magic teacher, help would be great!”

“Is this a joke?” 

“Nope.”

“I’m a human though, right?” 

Loki shrugged. “You’re considered an adult by godly standards, and have a ridiculously good grasp on magic theory. Plus, you're litterally the Prince.”

“I can only use reinforcement magic though.” Izuku pointed out. 

“I’ve heard from the Royal Library you’ve researched a number of the other types anyway. And reinforcement magic is part of the curriculum. I came here to see what kind of person you were before making this offer, but from what I saw it’s clear that you love teaching!” Loki finished brightly.

He didn’t exactly need a job, being a prince. There were also no bills to pay on an abandoned Earth. But teaching would definitely be a new experience, an interesting one. And Izuku wouldn’t have to worry about Akari, since she would be in school at the same time he was. 

“Sure.” Izuku answered finally. “But only if you teach me how you hid your mana earlier.” 

Loki grinned.

That’s how Izuku found himself walking into a classroom full of children a month later.

Thirty pairs of eyes snapped to him instantly. Izuku took in the large space, staring back at rows of confused yet curious faces. Why had he thought this was a good idea?

“Hello everyone. I’ll be teaching courses on magic from now on. My name is Izuku, so just call me that or Sensei I guess...” Izuku spelled his name in the air. The words traced under his finger, lighting up with purple mana. 

Izuku opened his mouth to continue, but then a hand shot up from near the front in a burst of motion. Izuku blinked at the girl, confused. Did she have a question? He hadn’t even started teaching yet!

“Yes...?” Izuku asked. The redhead seemed to be about Akari’s age.

“What did you just do? Also you’re the prince, right? I’ve seen you on the holoscreen! Are you going to teach this course? That would be so cool! Or are you subbing for Loki-sensei? I hope she’s okay...”

The girl suddenly stopped in her verbal barrage, cheeks flushing.

“What’s your name?” 

“Velocitia” She murmured, embarrassed. “Sorry Izuku-sama, I’m just really curious.”

Izuku smiled at her. “Curiosity will take you far. What I just did was reinforcement magic. I am the prince, yes, I’ve married into the royal family. I’m not sure when you would have seen me, though I do go out in public from time to time. I’m not subbing in for Loki, I’m a new magic instructor that will be taking over some of her classes.” He glanced around the room, seeing most of them listening intently. 

“You guys can ask me questions at any time, just wait till I call on you and tell me your name first.” 

A hand raised near the back.

“I’m Perseus. Reinforcement magic enhances tools and weapons, right? So how did you manifest words out of nothing, Izuku-sama?” The boy asked. 

Izuku winced at the honorific. “Please, call me sensei. ‘Sama’ feels quite odd.”

“Sorry, Izuku-sensei.”

“Reinforcement magic does enhance solid objects, correct. But applying this to liquids and gasses will let you harden and manipulate them.” As Izuku spoke, the air around the room slowly shifted. His reinforcement took hold, and the students gazed around them in wonder as purple threads levitated their pens, flew past them, and formed into shapes. The room was filled with light dancing above their heads. He ended his little show with the strands floating up, disappearing as his mana left the air. “Like so.”

The way they stared at him in pure awe made him grin. Impressing adults was one thing, but nothing compared to the feeling of broadening the world of a child.

“How come we've never heard of anyone doing this with reinforcement magic before?” Perseus asked, eyes wide. 

“Because no one put this much time into developing it before me.” Izuku replied simply. “And that’s what I’m here to teach you. How to learn to push your magic into something new, something wonderful .” 

The lesson went far better than Izuku had ever expected, his new students absorbing information like sponges. He felt himself relax, growing used to the attention and enjoying how natural it all felt. 

The bell seemed to ring far too early.

3092

With a mischievous smile, Loki raised her hands once again. In an instant, the feeling of her mana was gone. 

It was like there was a void of space. Izuku could see her, and knew the goddess was in front of him. But at the same time, his honed mana sense told him he was alone, that there was nothing there. 

Even knowing about it, the ability was terrifying.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Loki said dryly, mana popping back into existence.

Even after centuries,  Izuku couldn’t stop muttering. 

“Why did you make some of these techniques by the way? None of it is offensive, but it’s really clever.”

Loki paused, smile fading, and Izuku quickly reassured. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.

Loki’s voice held firm. “It's fine, Izuku. There was...a war a long time ago. How well versed are you on our history?”

“I’ve been going through some of it, but the amount of events in divine history is incredible. Did...Did you fight in it?” Izuku asked carefully.

“Something like that.” Loki glanced down at her hands. “I’m not much of a fighter. But I wanted to help, so-”

“Were you a spy?” 

“Yep. Got secrets, plans. General chaos. They gave me a title actually, the 'Trickster'. Being able to change my form was invaluable. However, it’s useless unless my mana is hidden as well. So this was my solution: Void.”

“You know, you’re a lot better at naming things than I am.” Izuku commented.

It earned him a small smile. “I’ve heard. Akari says all your technique names are ridiculous.”

“Wow. That traitor .”

Loki laughed, and a bit of the darkness in her eyes faded. He was glad for it.

“Ready to try Void again?” She asked.

Izuku nodded, focusing on the feeling of mana inside of him. The familiar energy rose to meet him, but that wasn’t what he wanted for once. He tried to suppress his mana, pushing it further down inside of him. 

“Anything?” He asked.

“Nope.” 

Izuku frowned. What was he doing wrong here? He had been at this for months.

Probably noticing his disappointment, Loki started to reassure him. “It’s fine, don’t worry if you don’t get it right away-”

Using magic was about embracing your mana, letting it grow and guiding it. What he was attempting to do was the opposite, so he expected it to be hard. Yet there hadn’t been any progress at all; according to Loki his presence hadn’t twitched.

“-not even sure how I do it, and my magic is perfect for this stuff-”

So then he was going about this the wrong way. Suppressing his mana meant hiding it deeper in himself. It would still be there though, and manipulating his mana like that would only make his presence more obvious. 

“-so it might take you a while. You never told me why you wanted me to teach you this anyway...Hey wait, are you even listening?”

Loki invented this technique, but the amount of instinct and personal mana use meant that explaining how it worked was hard. But when she used it, her mana seemed to be completely gone , not diminished. It was so simple, Izuku wondered how he hadn’t thought of it before.

“Got it.”

Loki blinked. “What-”

Izuku let his purple mana pass through his circuits, pushing it out through his body. But instead of flowing it into the air, he let it run through existence itself, filling into the space around him.

Kensei came to mind, his blade carving into reality like butter. That strange emptiness the slashes opened was what Izuku aimed for. 

And Izuku could feel his own presence vanish, suddenly unable to sense himself for the first time. He glanced down at his palms with a smile, the feeling strange yet fun.

In contrast, everything around him seemed to burst into his awareness. Izuku couldn’t do any magic with his mana woven into reality, but with his mana touching his surroundings his mana sensing had improved by leaps and bounds. He could feel every tree around him and their shapes, every fallen stick and hidden rock. Izuku had never known the ground beneath his feet, Earth , this clearly before.

Loki’s jaw dropped. Izuku noticed that she stood out, a beacon of green mana the shade of her eyes. If he looked at Amaterasu like this, he would probably go blind instantly.

Loki closed her mouth with an amused sigh. “You really are a genius.”

Izuku grinned at her. “Why didn’t you tell me about the sensing? This is amazing!” 

“The sensing? My sensing abilities don’t change when I erase my mana. How exactly did you do it?” 

Izuku told her, watching her eyes get wider the more he explained.

“I just suppress my mana - my magic is extraordinary at trickery and stealth. But you found a way to sense things as well. The things we could do with this!” Loki said, excited.

Izuku matched her smile, pulling out a new notebook. "Let's push this further."

They lost track of time as they worked, twin mutters blending together in a stream of ideas and research. 

Aurora found them hours later, shaking her head with a smile at the pile notebooks laid around the forest floor. In a well practiced motion, she poked Izuku on the forearm. He glanced up from his writing, surprised. The sun was starting to set. 

“How long-”

“You two have been here all day.” Aurora glanced down. “Research, probably. If it was anyone else, I would have been worried! Have either of you even eaten?”

Guilty silence. 

Aurora let out a sigh. “Children, really. I ordered food anyway, come on.”

“You’re my favorite.” Izuku stated..

“I know.” 

“Thanks, princess!” Loki said brightly.

“Just call me Aurora.”

“Gladly, Aurora-sama!”

Aurora squinted at her in consideration. “If I ask, would you drop the ‘-sama’?” 

“Nope!” 

3121

Izuku’s classroom was huge for a reason. 

No one was more excited than in personal practice, when Izuku let them work on whatever magic they wanted. Fireballs flew around the room, lightning crashed into the desks and walls. If the room wasn’t so durable, it would collapse every week. 

Izuku zipped around the room, keeping everyone safe at supersonic speeds. They were having fun, but the control of the godly equivalent of teenagers was terrible.  

“Izuku-sensei?” He barely heard him over the chaos.

“Yeah?” Izuku asked, reaching his desk.

Leo was one of his quieter students, which wasn’t great when half the class was talking to each other. “I’m trying to do something, but...it isn’t really working.”

Izuku hummed. “What exactly are you doing?” 

A bit of excitement was visible in the boy’s eyes, and it made Izuku smile. “I love my fire and everything, but-”

Burst.

The classroom around them slowed as Izuku accelerated, cutting the boy off mid sentence as his mouth stopped. The world came to a halt as he reached max speed; mana and energy stuck in the air. Everybody froze, like a chaotic group picture.

Izuku started walking.

He moved carefully, weaving through the bodies and misguided attacks. He saw some sort of impressive mini tornado in the middle of unfurling and gently pulled a girl’s head from where she stared down at it. He pushed a boy talking to her just out of it’s range, and as an afterthought reduced the spin on the twister a small amount. 

A guy had actually tripped , and with no one to hear him Izuku freely chuckled at the wide eyed shock before placing him firmly on the floor.

Izuku sighed when he finally reached the corner, three boys pooling their fire magic together in some sort of ball. Kids. Somehow, he had missed them pulling off this stunt before it was almost too late. Their faces were captured in grins, and Izuku could definitely admire the effort. But that thing was clearly about to explode.

His body was starting to feel the strain of moving at this speed, a familiar burn. Izuku grabbed the fiery ball out of the air and crushed it in his palm, dispelling the mana instantly. Izuku glanced around for any other reckless children before stepping back to Leo and letting the world continue it’s flow around him. The sound came back in a rush, and Izuku swatched Leo’s mouth slowly start to move once more.

“-but it’s almost purely offensive. Fire is super cool in fights and everything.” Leo made a little spark with his hands. “But I want to show how beautiful it is too. Is-Is that dumb?” 

Izuku shook his head. “Of course not, that’s amazing.” He pointed at the other side of the room, the boy following his gaze. “Those three lost control of a triple fireball and almost killed us all a second ago. I’m definitely onboard for less destructive fire spells.” Leo looked incredibly alarmed, and Izuku laughed. “What’s your idea?”

“What if fire didn’t burn anyone?”

Izuku tilted his head. “Like in an intimidation tactic? Or the enemies fire??” 

“No, I mean what if I only burned mana? I could protect everyone, and neutralize attacks at the same time!”

Izuku’s eyes widened. “By literally burning them out, yet without any danger. The perfect peacekeeping technique. That’s genius, kid.” 

Leo’s cheeks blushed. “T-Thanks, Izuku-sama.” 

“Cmon, you just called me Sensei!” Izuku protested.

Leo’s reply was drowned out by the bell, and Izuku glanced up at the clock.

“Alright everyone, that’s it! Keep practicing, just please have supervision or something. Especially if you’re going to make giant tornados or fire bombs.” The mentioned kids looked down, sheepish. Izuku shook his head with a smile.

“Dismissed!” 

Akari met him outside the school. Izuku met her eyes curiously. 

“You got out early?” Izuku asked. 

Akari nodded. “I think we broke the substitute. Was kind of sad, really.”

Izuku winced in sympathy. Children could be merciless. 

He followed her to a grass field near the edge of the grounds, watching his daughter stretch and copied her. “Guess you want to spar. Right after classes too.”

Akari grinned. “Yep. Today’s the day I beat you.”

“Isn’t that what you said last time?” Izuku teased.

“I mean, you haven’t beaten your teacher either.” Akari retorted.

Izuku paused, looking through years of fights. She was right, he had never actually beaten Sekhmet before. Huh. 

“And starting right after I’ve taught my classes, when I'm usually tired, isn’t a coincidence either right?” Izuku asked.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” Akari lifted her hand, a perfect sphere of white light resting on her palm. Izuku watched, surprised, as the white split into six smaller balls of light. Together they made up the rainbow, a spectrum of color. 

“That’s new.” Izuku commented. 

“I call it Prism.” Each orb floated up, taking up positions around her in a circle. Then, they struck. 

Each ball flew separately, controlled with extreme precision as they attacked together.

Red and Orange rushed towards his head first, forcing him to duck. Yellow streaked at his exposed neck, and a barrier of air deflected it towards Green.

“When’d you think of this?” Izuku asked, impressed. His staff blocked Red and Yellow as they bounced back. Purple and Blue struck at his blindspots, keeping constant pressure.

“A decade ago. Cool, right?” Out of the corner of his eyes, Izuku noticed her eyebrows were tightly knit in concentration. Then, each color started transforming. 

Izuku sped up as each light suddenly became a sword, twisting through the storm in a blur of motion. He wrapped the blades in chains of air as he countered, staff beating them back. The chains limited their motion, giving him less to keep track of. Izuku was proud of her, manipulating that many projectiles wasn’t easy. But something like this had it’s weaknesses.

His chains suddenly multiplied, catching every sword at once as they reoriented for another assault.  Akari turned them into circular saws, cutting through their bindings, but the effort to do so left her completely open. 

Akari barely dodged his fist, and it breezed past her hair. In the same breath, Izuku’s leg swung low and knocked her off her feet and onto the grass. He went to follow up, but then that same white light glowed from her hand-

Everything went completely white. Izuku blinked in surprise, but nothing changed.

He was completely blind.

On instinct, he activated Void, his mana sense growing exponentially. His vision covered, Izuku instead felt the lights return.

Saws of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple flew at him from all angles. 

The staff went back into its sheath; he had no need for it. He closed his eyes, filtering out his eyesight completely to focus on his mana sense.

Akari’s patterns were getting more creative, he noticed. Green swung for his legs, almost blending in with what his senses told him was grass. Izuku sidestepped a Red dagger, watching Purple cut through the space in front of him. He flipped over Blue, the huge spear making his hair rustle. He stepped back as Orange and Yellow tried to wrap him with rope, and Red cut through it. But despite all this movement, the white mass was still at the exact same spot.

Hm.

Izuku rushed towards it. The white form shifted, a limb extended towards him. He twisted, blocking the blow and launching his own.

The blazing punch stopped just in front of her face, 

The effects followed a second later.

The burst of wind was massive, and in his not-vision her hair blew past. The air shook from the punch, the shockwave swept through the grass, and the trees in the distance shifted with the force.

Izuku opened his eyes. 

Akari was staring at him in pure awe. The grass behind her was completely flattened for miles.

“Dad, you’re fucking overpowered.” Akari breathed. 

“Yep.” Izuku smirked. He dropped his fist, watching her lights return back to her palm and vanish. She dropped onto the grass, catching her breath.

“That ability has a lot of potential, by the way.”

“Really?”

Izuku nodded. “Being able to do six things at once is powerful. But you need to make it seven.”

“Seven? You want me to make another light?” Akari asked.

“Nope. When you use Prism, you put all your focus into your lights and forget about your physical body. You need to fight with both.” 

Akari’s eyes widened. “That amount of coordination sounds....”

Izuku smiled at her, letting all of his pride show. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

Akari smiled back, her eyes starting to droop. “Thanks. I did kind of use too much mana though...” 

Instantly she was encased in a bundle of purple blankets, air stitched together around her. Izuku floated her up, the daughter burrito levitating after him as he turned to walk home. Akari let out a little shout in surprise before snuggling into the softness gratefully. 

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime.”

3240

“You know, if you keep jumping through grades, you’ll be like, the first baby to graduate.” Izuku commented.

Aurora elbowed him in the stomach, hard. “What he means is congratulations on passing ranks once again, Akari. You’ve been studying a lot, you deserve this.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

Akari laughed. “Thanks, both of you. Also dad, I’m 280. Not a baby.”

Izuku and Aurora stared at her in consideration, then exchanged a glance before turning back to their baby.

“Sure, honey.”

“Whatever you say.”

Akari leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes so hard Izuku thought they were going to fall out. 

And then Izuku’s senses were overwhelmed by mana. 

His entire sensory range was filled with multicolor mana he had never encountered before. For an instant it was all he could feel, a blanket of energy. At the same time, it wasn’t hurting him or his family, yet was doing something else to a huge space around them. 

And then the mana suddenly vanished as fast as it came.

Izuku stood up, glancing at Aurora and Akari who were unharmed yet just as confused. 

A new presence demanded his attention, yet there was only latent mana. 

A woman had appeared by the table. She was short, barely coming up to chest. Her eyes were emerald green, just like him , and her long hair was the  same shade. The very back of his memory tingled at the sight, something forgotten stirring as he watched her eyes that had always teared up so easily began to do so, his heart calling out to her in some deeply ingrained way that hadn’t vanished no matter how many years, decades, centuries had passed-

“M-Mom?” Izuku choked, the word falling off his lips automatically.

His mother finally unfroze, let the tears out in a waterfall as she wrapped her arms around him in a full hug. “Izukuuuuuu!” 

Izuku hugged her back, the feeling so familiar in a way that made him want to cry too. “Hi Mom.”

Mom held him tighter. “It’s been so long! The nice people said that all of humanity was gone for five years, which was not a bad vacation but then you weren’t there so I didn’t know what to do! No one could tell me where you were so I just hoped you were safe! Your quirk still hadn't manifested but you were so determined despite it but there are monsters now and...”

Izuku gave her a watery smile. This was where his muttering came from. 

She pulled back to look at him, eyes growing wider as she stared. “You’re so tall now! When did your hair turn white?” Mom poked his cloak, confused. “And when did you get fashion sense?” 

Aurora laughed. Mom blinked, noticing Aurora and Akari for the first time. 

“Who-”

“I have a lot to tell you, Mom.” Izuku said. “We should...probably sit down for this.”

Chapter Text

Izuku talked.

His mother listened. 

He told her what he remembered from those hard early years; the empty longing and having too much time with nothing to spend it on. Her hand gripped his tighter when she learned he was completely alone six out of seven days of the week, and the only sound on the abandoned planet was his own footsteps.

Then his voice got lighter as he told her about his training, cleaning the beach so long ago. It had been so satisfying , that day he finally saw the sunrise on perfect sand, not a single piece of debris in view. His Mom smiled when he told her about his ever-growing training routine, and how proud he was of it. 

Izuku glanced at the kitchen, where Aurora and Akari were out of earshot. He told her of traveling the planet, falling in love with a goddess without even realizing it. He felt so nostalgic, the memories wrapping around him warm like his cloak. 

Izuku told her about his teacher, a hardened softie who loved games and their years sparring on his beach until night came, and her husband that Izuku co-owned a cat with.

His mother looked amazed when he vividly described Heaven and its beautiful cities, landscapes that would take lifetimes to fully explore. 

He didn’t tell her about the sky - the worst pain he’d ever felt. Only Aurora knew about that. 

But he did tell his Mom of the Arena, of feeling truly recognized for the first time he could remember and crowds cheering.

His Mom looked down when he told her of the wedding, of how purely happy he was. Izuku could feel her pride, but there was so much guilt in her eyes with it.

Finally, Izuku told her about Akari. How fast she learned, grabbing onto knowledge with both hands, and how amazing her magic already was. 

Izuku talked until his throat was dry. 

His mother didn’t say anything for a long moment when she finished, fingers fidgeting together. She looked back at him, aching sad yet no more tears came. 

“1000 years...” Mom whispered, so quietly he almost missed it. “Oh my god, Izuku, I-I’m so sorry I left you.”

Izuku stilled. He didn’t know what to do.

Carefully, he pulled her into a delicate hug, looking for the words to say.

“I forgot what your voice sounded like.” Izuku blurted. His mother flinched in his arms, but he kept going, he had to. “It’s been so many years that I can barely remember you, the details slowly fading no matter how hard I cling to them.” Izuku took a breath. “But I do have a video. There’s no sound, but I can clearly see that bright green trying to teach tiny baby me something. I keep messing up, over and over, but you never faltered or stopped and when I finally got it you were just so proud .” 

“I still remember how warm you are, that you give the best hugs in the universe, I still remember you cheering me up with katsudon, I still remember you, Mom.” The tears felt like dropping a burden, a light touch sliding down his cheeks.

Mom smiled at him, something vulnerable and soft but determined. “I’m so sorry I was gone."

"But I’m here now, and I’m never leaving again.”

Izuku smiled back, and green eyes matched as they stood up. 

“Ready to meet the rest of our family?” 

His mother’s eyes went wide, the realization starting to set in. 

“I have a granddaughter .”

Izuku laughed.

“Yep.”

Izuku led his mother into the kitchen to meet his wife and daughter. He saw Aurora’s eyes note their tear tracks, then soften at the expression on his face. 

“Hi!” Akari said brightly. “I’m Akari. You’re Dad’s mother, right?”

Mom nodded. She was shorter than Akari, reaching her chin. 

“Can I call you Grandma then?”

Mom choked, almost bursting into tears again. “ Of course you can honey.” 

She then looked at the goddess next to her. “You’re Aurora, right?” 

Aurora nodded. “Hello, Midoriya. It’s great to finally- ”

Mom cut her off a hug, embracing her daughter-in-law. 

“Thank you for being here for Izuku, for making him so incredibly happy. And please, just call me Inko.”

A soft smile formed on Aurora’s face. “Okay, Inko.”

Humanity had finally returned from their unwilling vacation.

Everybody was back from whatever world they had been sent to. Some brought back stronger quirks and magic, while others returned completely changed from their experiences. Five years was a long time to humans, apparently.

The media deemed the event “The Drift”, the time all of humanity drifted away in search of new worlds. Around the world, people compared their otherworldly adventures, stories spreading like wildfire as loved ones and friends reunited, 

The world’s governments were immediately on top of the aftermath. Magic was treated like an extra emitter quirk, needing to be registered. The new influx of abilities made it easy for Izuku to register his family with new identities, almost no one bothering to thoroughly check through records.

The line to the registry had been pretty long. Izuku wished he had brought a book.

Izuku and Aurora were now both listed as 40 years old, since having a biological daughter Akari’s age wouldn’t make any sense otherwise. Akari passed for 20; a young adult by human standards.

Izuku wrote down a mutant enhancement quirk to explain his and Akari’s strength, and then just labeled their magic. They just needed to show their magic, and it would be approved. He had to keep reminding himself that humans had only known about magic for 5 years, especially when Akari’s complex light display left them speechless. 

Aurora was easier, with an “energy quirk” that she used along with her light magic interchangeably. They were all listed under the Midoriya surname, something Izuku would really need to get used to hearing again.

And just like that, Izuku’s entire family was legally human. 

A few months were given for humans to adjust, to take time off whatever jobs or education they had to go back to. It was more courtesy really; people would be with their family as much as possible after being gone for so long. 

Not every family had been separated, of course. Plenty of people seemed to have been sent to the same place, and reports showed that anyone in contact had been whisked off together. 

Izuku didn’t want to think about how differently his life could have gone if he had drifted like that.

“-wings Dad! He has wings!”

Izuku walked along the road with Akari, sounds buzzing around them. It was a Kuro year; the cat resting on Izuku’s shoulder. He didn't seem to worry about all the new presences around him. 

They were off to buy groceries - something Izuku hadn’t had to do in centuries.

“Pointing is rude, Akari.” 

“I can’t help it! It’s so strange seeing people with mutations, especially the really cool ones...”

Mutant quirks were really interesting, since they were nothing like magic or anything Izuku had ever seen before. It was like those humans had gone through another stage of evolution.

“I know, but-” Izuku trailed off, his daughter already walking up to the winged boy, waving to get his attention on the crowded street.

Izuku sighed, deciding to watch. 

“Hello! Those are your wings, right?” Akari asked.

The boy stared back at her, confused. His bright yellow wings shifted slightly. “Yeah? Who else’s wings would I have?”

“Just checking. I’m Akari, by the way.” 

“Is that your given name or...” 

Akari’s eyes widened. “Right, sorry. Akari...Midoriya.”

“I’m Haruto Fuji. You were interested in my wings?” 

“Yeah, Har-” Izuku coughed. “-Fuji. Not really used to the whole ‘family name’ thing yet. Your wings seem really beautiful. Are they made of feathers? Can you fly?” Akari fired off, excited.

Fuji slowly unfurled his wings, careful of the people passing around them. They reached his full wingspan, a wide two meters around the teenager. 

“Thank you. They're made out of some kind of feathers, you’re right. I can fly, though it tires me out after a while.” Fuji answered.

“What’s it like living with wings?” 

Fuji thought for a moment. “Well, I remember how painful it was to grow them.” His wings shivered from the memory. “They’re pretty cool now, though. The main problem is that I need to wear custom shirts, and how they get in the way sometimes.” 

“Can I uh...” Akari raised a hand in question, not sure if she was crossing some kind of line or not. 

Fuji nodded, a hint of pink on his cheeks, and Akari gently felt his wings. Her fingers trailing through feathers as she moved her hands along them in wonder. 

“This is amazing, they're so soft and fluffy! I wish I had wings-wait, the feathers are turning red...” Akari glanced back, seeing the poor boy’s face turn a similar color. “Oh, they're related to your emotions- I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I’m just super curious about things.”

Fuji waved it off. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You’re right, they turn red when I’m embarrassed...like just now. I don’t hate this color really, when my wings are red it’s kind of like I’m Hawks.” 

Akari tilted her head in confusion. “Who?”

“Hawks...?” Fuji repeated, seeing her blank look. “You know, the third-ranked hero? He has those huge red wings? I guess it has been five years, but he’s still really famous for all his rescues.” 

“Huh. Sounds like a cool guy.”

“I know right! There aren’t too many heroes with quirks like mine, but he’s my inspiration to be one. I want to swoop in and save people, just like he does.” 

“So you’re going to become a...hero?” 

Fuji nodded, excited. “Yep! That’s why I want to get into U.A University, though no one really knows what the exam this year is going to be like...” 

He was cut off by a call, and he pulled out a device, eyes wide. “Oh no, my mom’s going to kill me. I really need to go. I'll see you again?” 

Akari waved as he rushed off. “Thanks for letting me feel your wings!”

The sunny yellow feathers flickered back into red as Fuji ran out of view.

“Huh.”

“You forgot I was here, didn’t you?” Izuku asked, amused. 

Akari jumped, startled. “Wha-oh. I kind of did, sorry.” 

“I do that sometimes too. Focus isn't really a bad thing.”

“Dad, why was he that embarrassed?” Akari asked. 

“He can probably feel through his wings pretty well if they're connected to his emotions. Imagine if a stranger felt your hair like that, even after asking.”

“Oh. That makes sense. I should apologize or something, right?”

“Probably.”

They walked into the grocery store, buying and thanking the cashier. It really was strange for Izuku. He had a salary in Heaven, of course, and was used to paying for things there. But on Earth, there hadn’t ever been anyone to pay. 

They left the store as night started to fall, familiar streetlights showing the road. Cars were slowly trickling into usage, and more and more people were out getting used to their planet again.

Then a portal appeared in the middle of the street, stretching wide.

 Out of it came a wolf, its fur an unnatural, eye-catching orange. The portal closed behind it soundlessly, and most of the humans backed away from the clear threat.

The creature was large, taller than Izuku while it was on all fours.  

“Huh, so that’s a monster.” It was one thing hearing about monsters, but seeing one in all of its glory was different. Red eyes flickered around wildly, and Izuku heard someone scream somewhere behind him.

“Are you going to kill it?” Akari asked.

Izuku shrugged, walking forward. The wolf’s head snapped to him, growling as he stepped closer. 

“Hello,” Izuku said. “Are you here to-”

The wolf lunged, jaw wide, and Izuku’s hand instantly swung in a deadly arc. He sliced through the center and the monster erupted into golden dust, its blood not even having time to fall before its existence was gone.

“Guess so.”

Akari wrinkled her nose at the dust now covering his shirt. “Killing actual monsters is a bit messy. I think I like Mom's light animals more.”

“I mean, the body vanishes. No need to clean up a giant wolf corpse.” Izuku reasoned.

Izuku waved off the thanks of the passerby, and Akari watched him closely as they kept walking.

“Dad, what do you think of heroes?”

“Is this because of that boy earlier? Or what happened just now?” 

“Both.”

Izuku hummed, considering. “I love the idea of saving people, of rescuing. Though I don’t really know much about heroes yet, I’m sure my old notebooks have something.” 

“You have notebooks from before the Drift?” Akari asked.

“Yep.”

“Huh. They’ve just been sitting there for 1000 years?’

“Couldn’t throw them away. I guess I thought they would be useful when humanity came back someday.”

Akari paused in consideration.

“Dad, can I become a hero?”

“You know you would need to leave Arcadia for three years while you attend hero school, right?”

Akari shrugged. “I’m already ahead of the other gods, three years won’t make any difference. Besides, this sounds like it’ll be more interesting. I know I’ll have to be on Earth more if I become a hero.”

“Akari, you’re amazing enough to do whatever you put your ridiculous amount of energy into. But...”

“But?”

“Please ask your mother first.”

“Why do you want to be a hero, Akari?”

“To save humans, I guess. I have this much power, but I don’t really have much to use it for. Plus, Fuji’s doing it.”

“Who?” 

“Kid with colorful wings we met earlier.” Izuku answered for her.

“Sure. I would never stop you from saving people, and your father’s trained you pretty well. Izuku, you’re going too, right?”

“Wait, what?” Akari said.

Izuku nodded. “I don’t know much about my old self, but he definitely wanted to be a hero. It sounds interesting, and being a hero would let us use our abilities more easily too.” He thought of the monster and the panic and fear the humans around him had at the sight. “And Japan definitely needs more heroes right now.”

“Are you going to take the licensing exam?” Aurora asked. “I heard that it’s an easier thing to get into now, with that need. It’s not like you can attend U.A as a student with Akari.” 

“No...”

Izuku raised his phone, opening U.A’s website.

“...but maybe they could use a teacher.”

Aizawa Shouta was tired.

This was nothing new, of course. He had always been something of an insomniac, and being an underground pro hero hadn’t helped. Then, he’d started teaching high schoolers.

But then the Drift happened. Aizawa was suddenly warped away to another planet on patrol one night and told that he would have to stay there for five years.

Monsters were real and could be found on several planets of all kinds of types. Sure, why not. In a world with Quirks, something like that was easy to accept.

Aizawa was sent to Antica, one of the world’s infested with dangerous wolves. The government was focused on killing these monsters, funding a group of Slayers. Aizawa was a logical person: if he was going to survive, and if he was going to continue to be a hero when he came back to Earth, then he needed to learn how to kill monsters. 

And so he did. His capture scarf was reinforced, durable enough to restrain giant canines and he learned how to use a sword to slice them to pieces. Interestingly, he could use Erasure on mana to forcibly suppress it and prevent magical attacks, but besides that, it had zero use against the wolves of Antica. 

So he trained as hard as he could to efficiently destroy the creatures he fought, as well as anything that might be on Earth.

Five years later, he was back at U.A with his chaotic, terrifying boss.

Nezu didn’t seem to have changed those who didn’t know him. A fluffy, adorable person in a suit, innocent impression only slightly marred by a large scar. But Aizawa could see the harder glint in his eyes, the tighter grips. 

But right now, his eyes were curious in a way that made Aizawa feel a headache appear in advance.

“Aizawa. Please sit down! I’ve found something quite interesting.”

Aizawa sighed, taking his usual seat across from Nezu’s desk. “That’s pretty concerning to hear from you, you know..”

In response, Nezu turned his computer towards him with a grin.

Aizawa’s eyes widened. In the clip, a giant wolf appeared from a portal and a white-haired man effortlessly cut through a giant wolf with nothing but his hand. Behind him, a girl stood without a hint of fear, despite the monster. They talked casually before walking away as if nothing had happened.

A Sunset Wolf. Aizawa honestly hated the name, but it fits. Bright yellow fur like the sun, they were incredibly fast. Their bite was highly toxic, and the monster had set the sun on many bright slayers. They were classified as a B-Class monster, in the new ranking Earth’s governments were creating.

“Either an immense strength enhancement ability or some kind of cutting quirk. It’s not vigilantism, because it’s a pretty clear case of self-defense. Vigilante laws are pretty outdated now after drifting, anyway. Why are you showing me this?”

“Izuku Midoriya, 40. Has a family, as well as an impressive quirk and magical ability. And...”

Nezu paused dramatically.

“...applied for the position of Heroics Teacher, just a week after the Sunset Wolf incident.”

“What.”

No one applied to be a teacher at U.A. Nezu invites them, not the other way around. Especially since the Drift, where people were going into the new licensing test the hero commission set up. Aizawa knew firsthand how valuable fighters were when dealing with monsters. 

Nezu clapped his paws. “It’s intriguing, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of him before! So is he a vigilante coming into the light after drifting? A civilian who got enough experience to think they could teach heroics? Or maybe a new player entirely?"

"I’m going to find out.”

Aizawa watched a man enter the room, closing the door behind him lightly. 

Midoriya’s hair was pure white, but his eyes lived up to his surname. They scanned the room in an instant, landing on Nezu - but not in disgust, simply interest. 

“Hello. My name is Midoriya Izuku. You’re the Principal of this school, correct?”

“That's right! I'm Nezu, the one who could be a dog, or a mouse, or a bear!” 

Nezu gestured for the man to sit, and the man took his seat gracefully. “Tea?”

Midoriya nodded, and Nezu smiled before pouring him a cup. Nezu leaned back after the man took it, a smile across his face. But Aizawa could see hints of the brain behind the scenes, gears shifting at a rapid pace as he analyzed the man in front of him. 

What was completely terrifying was Midoriya doing the same thing. Green eyes gazed back like they were sifting through a database, lighting up with curiosity when they trailed across Aizawa's capture scarf and then appearing thoughtful when he saw his forehead and eyes as if he had already figured out his quirk.

“You sent us an application to teach at U.A. We don’t get applications very often, so understandably I was quite surprised.”

“Do you not accept applications, then? I found the form on the school’s website, and may have assumed too much.” 

“Normally, I send invitations to join our staff. Quality staff is essential for a school, after all, especially one of the finest ones in heroics. However, all things have exceptions.” 

Nezu’s eyes narrowed, a bit of the innocent act vanishing. “Like you, Midoriya Izuku. Why is it that a teenager with no known quirk, rumored to be the last quirkless in some medical circles, appears after the Drift, now 40 years old? Not to mention having a quirk, magic, and a family. Your physical form clearly supports the story, along with your post-drift records. Yet with access to information from before, it’s a little suspicious, correct?”

Midoriya sipped his tea, calm. “You’re operating under the assumption that the Drift lasted five years. And it probably did, for both of you.”

Aizawa spoke for the first time. “Are you saying...”

“Most humans drifted for a five-year period. Humanity isn’t the only race that was drifted, though, and I’ve seen drifters who had been on my planet for a decade. As for me, I was sent there for twenty. You can imagine what meeting my mom again on Earth was like.”

“I had considered that something like that would be possible, but currently all statements point to a drift period of just five years. 20 years is quite a long time, and long enough to fall in love and have a daughter that’s nearly an adult. You must have a great knowledge of the magic listed on your record, with two decades of practice.”

Midoriya laughed like he was remembering an inside joke. “Yeah. I do. I've trained a lot, both my mana and my body.” 

“‘Titan’. A mutant enhancer allowing the user to exponentially gain strength through training. It makes sense that you wouldn’t have discovered a quirk like that before drifting. Where did you drift, Midoriya-san?”

Midoriya’s voice grew fond, almost wistful. “The planet I drifted to was called Arret. It was quiet and peaceful. There were no monsters and almost no other people. But it was very beautiful. I started training, wishing to grow stronger, and eventually met my Sensei.” 

“Was this Sensei from Earth as well?” Aizawa asked.

Izuku shook his head. “No, she isn’t. Sensei is incredibly strong. My technique was mostly self-taught, but she sparred with me often and helped me grow. That’s how I discovered my ability.”

“And your reinforcement magic?”

“My wife was a natural at magic. She helped show me the basics, and from there...” Midoriya picked up his empty cup, and Aizawa watched purple energy flow into and around it like a transparent shell. Then Midoriya let go of it.

The cup hit the floor with a thud, yet remained perfectly intact.

“Fascinating.” Nezu noted. “Reinforcement magic isn’t very versatile, but enhancing objects seems to be quite useful."

"This was a very refreshing interview. Your exam will be in a week, so please return then.”

Midoriya smiled, thanking him and nodding to Aizawa before walking out of the office. 

Aizawa watched his boss slowly drink the rest of his tea once Midoriya left. Nezu's composture was still perfect, but his eyes were a bit too wide and his thoughts seemed to be moving faster and faster.

Nezu’s paw was shaking when he set his cup down. 

“High Spec is a useful quirk, one that has served me well so far. Enhanced intelligence to where an animal can live in a human’s world, and then far beyond that. I wouldn’t have gotten this far, survived this far, if I didn’t have the ability to analyze potential threats as well as I do.”

“Everyone has weaknesses. How limited Thirteen’s combat experience is, how Snipe relies heavily on bullets, how your quirk, Eraserhead, fails against mutants and is overall useless without higher skill than the enemy. How Endeavor isn't completely immune to his own heat. Even All Might has weaknesses: a grievous injury in his side that probably wouldn’t have been healed if he hadn’t drifted to such a lucky planet and the other; his own naivety. Everyone has weaknesses,” Nezu repeated. “Ones that my quirk lets me instantly breakdown and analyze, from abilities to behavior to physical condition.”

His next sentence made Aizawa's over-caffeinated blood freeze. 

“So then how does that man have none?”

Chapter Text

Aizawa watched Midoriya closer this time as the man walked into the viewing room. 

There was a staff slung across his back now. His smile was light, excited, and his eyes grew curious again when he saw the other teachers.

But there was also the ease in which the weapon rested on his back, the way power rippled across his skin as he moved, how his eyes had scanned all of them like he was grasping all their strengths and weaknesses instantly.

“Midoriya-san! Welcome back to U.A!” Nezu greeted cheerfully. Any hints of his fear at their last meeting were already analyzed and dealt with.

“Thanks, Nezu.”

“You’ve already met Aizawa Shota, aka Eraserhead, 1-A’s homeroom teacher and Head of the Heroics Department.” Aizawa nodded to the white-haired man, watching him glance back at him in recognition. “This is Sekijiro Kan, aka Vlad King, another Heroics teacher. He also has 1-B’s homeroom. Here we have Ectoplasm and Ken Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, who teach mathematics and modern literature, respectively. Lastly we have Thirteen, who specializes in rescue, and Majima Higari, also known as Power Loader. He’s the Head of the Support Department.”

Midoriya seemed quite confused at their hero names, obviously trying not to stare at Cementoss, but smiled genuinely. “It’s great to meet you all.” 

Aizawa stepped forward, feeling the familiar weight of his capture scarf warm his neck. 

“Midoriya-san, your exam will be in three parts. First, is the Rescue portion.” Aizawa gestured out the testing window at the fake city. Majima held up one of the robotic dummies. They were nearly as large as an adult.

“These are the ‘hostages’ you will save, found in various buildings." Aizawa continued. "Several safe spots have been placed around the city, and once you bring a hostage there you will be granted points. They have sensors on them for damage, and points can be reduced if they are ‘injured’. If a hostage robot is ‘killed’, they do not grant any points.” 

“There will be enemy robots, which represent villains and monsters. You can destroy them for a low amount of points, and they will be an obstacle in retrieving the hostages safely. The exam portion will end after 30 minutes have passed, or all the hostages have been rescued. Us staff will be grading your performance for the duration of this exam. Any questions?” 

“Do I have any limitations?” Midoriya questioned.

“Other than keeping building damage and injury to the hostages to a minimum? Not really.”

Midoriya grinned. “That makes it easy.”

There wasn’t a hint of arrogance in his voice, the statement said as fact.

They watched Midoriya on screen, the many cameras in the fake city providing a nearly perfect view. He seemed completely relaxed, examining the constructed buildings. 

The white-haired man stood in the middle of the city, waiting. He seemed completely relaxed in his white t-shirt, his staff still sheathed.

“Begin!” Nezu announced through the speaker, and-

Midoriya vanished.

Aizawa blinked, confused. Midoriya wasn’t appearing on any of the other cams either.

“Where did he-” Kan started.

Thirteen cut him off. “Look, the extraction point!” 

At the grassy square, a hostage robot had suddenly appeared, completely undamaged. Then another, and another, piling on top of each other.

A street full of villain robots turned into a street full of scrap metal. 

“He’s not teleporting.” Kan realized. “He’s just moving so fast we can’t even see him on the cameras. That's incredible. It’s like All Might...”

“I made these robots extra durable, and he’s not using that metal staff of his yet they're being obliterated. That means Midoriya’s got more than speed. His control is perfect too, each villain destroyed and every hostage rushed to safety undamaged.” Majima said.

“What even is his quirk?” 

“Mutant enhancer.” Aizawa answered. “His strength and speed grow exponentially as he trains.”

Midoriya flickered into view on a rooftop. After a second of deliberation, he blurred out of sight and a building further along was searched through, hostages appearing outside.

“He’s using the easy vantage points to target buildings with a higher concentration of villains.” Aizawa commented. “Midoriya’s already hit all the obvious targets, we’re seeing more of him now as-”

A loud beep from the speakers cut him off, signaling the end of the test.

Nezu grinned. “Truly excellent! I don’t think anyone’s ever done this that fast before!”

“W-What?! It’s only been a minute! That’s a half hour rescue exam!” Thirteen blurted, incredulously.

Kan and Majima just stared at the screens in pure shock. Ectoplasm gave Aizawa a pained glance, visible even through the mask, and Aizawa let out a deep sigh.

This next part wasn’t going to be fun.

“Congrats on completing the first stage, Midoriya-san! Don’t worry, this second portion will be a little more interesting.”

“Three of our staff will be released-”

“We’re not pets, Nezu.” Kan interjected.

“-into the city!” Nezu continued. “The staff win if they wrap their capture tape around you, or outlast you for the full 30 minute duration. Midoriya-san, you win if you knock out every hero within that time!”

Aizawa winced.

On-screen, Midoriya hummed. “I’m guessing you gave me some limitations this time, right?”

“Correct! You have to limit your overwhelming speed and strength to normal human capabilities for mobility and hand to hand combat! However, you may use small amounts of your strength in other ways."

“And my magic?” 

“You’re free to use your reinforcement magic as you wish! I’m quite interested in seeing your capabilities with it, after all.”

“Alright. Well, I’m ready, I guess.”

Eraserhead leapt through the rooftops, jumping from building to building with familiar ease. Ectoplasm ran next to him, his powerful prosthetics making long strides.

Ectoplasm’s clones made their way in different directions, combing through the streets and camping different buildings. Aizawa remembered when his friend had thirty clones, an invaluable resource in any intelligence mission.

Now he had a hundred clones, all reporting information as they looked for one Midoriya Izuku.

“You see the snowy powerhouse yet?” Kan’s voice crackled through the earpiece.

“Sno-no, not yet.” Ectoplasm answered, shaking his head at the nickname. “We’ve found scraps of bots though, and they lead a pretty clear path to at least where he’s been.”

“We’ll keep following the trail. Kan, I know you’re terrible at stealth, but be careful.” 

“Hey! I’m great at sneaking around!”

“Kan. You’re wearing red and white.” 

Ectoplasm sighed. “Can you two banter...after?”

“Fine. Hey Ectoplasm, can you send me another clone? Aizawa just made me worried to be here with only five.” 

Ectoplasm stilled next to Eraserhead, making him stop too. “Five? Wait, there are only five of my clones there. I gave you ten. Vlad King-”

The earpiece fizzled out.

Simultaneously, both underground heroes turned to rush in his direction, adrenaline rising. Vlad King was a pro hero for a reason, and he had several clones with him. But Midoriya somehow got the drop on him, without even using his speed. It was another tense few seconds before they reached the fight.

Midoriya was pushing back Vlad King in hand-to-hand combat, countering each punch with two of his own. The Ectoplasm clones circled around him, exploiting openings and keeping the pressure of the blood hero.

Vlad King clenched his fist, enveloping Midoriya in blood and pinning his arms to his chest. Green eyes opened wide in surprise, meaning Kan had probably saved his quirk for just the right moment.

A clone jumped in, metal leg gleaming in the light as it swung in an arc towards the man’s face. At the same time, another clone flipped forward, heel crashing down in a powerful axe kick.

Midoriya leaned back, the first kick passing close enough to ruffle his hair. At the same time, he kicked straight up, blocking the axe kick with his foot. Midoriya then twisted, the second clone falling and the first one couldn’t react fast enough to dodge a kick that pierced straight through, returning him to harmless white ectoplasm.

Kan’s blood formed into a greatsword, thrusting forward. The snowy powerhouse sidestepped easily, the blade cutting open his blood restraints. Kan’s face broke its stoic mask as a freed fist shot towards him, only to be stopped by a grey capture scarf as Eraserhead finally got close enough.

Midoriya shook it off easily and swung his other hand at Eraserhead-

Eraserhead’s mind flashed back to the footage, of Midoriya ripping apart a Sunset Wolf with that same hand-

and he instantly dropped to the ground, pulling his scarf back out of the way. The blade of wind streaked above his head, slicing through a stop sign. Eraserhead activated Erasure(almost losing his composure at the sheer amount of mana that he could now see) yet was still forced to dodge more wind blades. He felt one graze his arm, blood dripping to the ground.

Erasure proved Midoriya wasn’t using any kind of magic right now; the air itself turned into a weapon from the sheer amount of strength he possessed. That power was currently being held back because of Nezu’s limitation, judging by the fact that Midoriya fighting them hand to hand hadn’t ripped the heroes apart instantly. 

Eraserhead’s capture scarf snaked through the projectiles, reaching the man and stopping him from firing again. Midoriya paused, looking down at the scarf once again wrapped around his hand.

“Huh. Never seen any material like that before. How the hell is this thing doing all that?” 

The real Ectoplasm suddenly struck down from his blind spot and Midoriya rolled out of the way, his arm still held tight by the capture weapon.

Ectoplasm’s leg hit the ground, the impact resonating through Eraserhead’s body and forming a large crater into the city ground. He kept up the assault, powerful kicks letting out force every hit as Midoriya blocked them with one hand.

“Those legs are pretty interesting. Are they a mutation or something?” 

“Nope. They're prosthetics. You would be amazed at how cool alien metal is.”

Midoriya sighed, almost wistful. “Yeah, I probably would be.”

Eraserhead and Vlad King broke into the conversation, Kan’s greatsword formed into gauntlets of blood to avoid cutting Eraserhead’s scarf as the capture weapon lashed out at Midoriya like it had a mind of its own. They fought together with Ectoplasm seamlessly, building on years of field experience.

But their opponent was ridiculously skilled. Midoriya flowed through the battle, catching Kan’s enhanced fist before ducking through a swarm of metal legs as the remaining four clones attacked. His style was a mix of Karate and many others, but mainly something Eraserhead had never even seen before. Every move was perfectly calculated, punches and kicks deflecting attacks and breaking through their teamwork. The fight got even harder when Midoriya finally got time to shake the scarf off again, giving him another limb to fight with.

Eraserhead kept Erasure on Midoriya, not letting him use magic. They had no idea what his real capabilities were with it, but given how they were already struggling Eraserhead really didn’t want to let him have an ability.

Before they realized it, Midoriya had maneuvered the fight back to their original position. He picked up the fallen stop sign, spinning it above his head. Then it was already lashing out, grey metal flashing as the red octagon bashed through clones easily. It moved faster and faster, beating back Kan’s blood.

Eraserhead’s scarf whipped forward to stop the makeshift weapon, but expecting it Midoriya’s hand easily snatched it out of the air.

He’d been too careless.

Midoriya pulled , yanking Eraserhead towards him. He caught Ectoplasm’s kick with his other hand, moving Eraserhead in front of him like a shield in the same instant. Kan’s blood punch stopped inches away from Eraserhead’s face, and he could see the way the blood hero’s face froze at what had almost just happened. Kan also seemed pale; he was reaching his quirk limit.

Midoriya used the distraction to swing Ectoplasm at them like a human baseball bat. Aizawa gritted his teeth against the blow, feeling his wounded arm ache, and rolled back onto his feet. Blood spikes suddenly rose, finally crushing Midoriya’s pole and forcing the man to leap back, giving them some breathing room. Midoriya started to rush again and Eraserhead forced his body to get up again-

Then reinforcements finally arrived.

98 Ectoplasm clones, two of which newly reformed, emerged from the city. Duplicates came from every side, running through the streets and dropping from the rooftops. Together, they surrounded the white-haired man.

Midoriya’s green eyes went wide.

“Oh shi-”

He was cut off by a storm of bodies landing on him, covering him from view completely. It was a whirlwind of glinting metal and masks, a white t-shirt standing out vividly in the army’s attack. 

Kan supported from the back, attacks launching at Midoriya at the perfect time. The attacks were slowing down, probably from the amount of blood needed just to keep pressure on their opponent. 

Eraserhead jumped into the tornado, supporting Ectoplasm’s attacks with his own strikes and adding the element of unpredictability. Vicious kicks landed, actually pushing Midoriya back as Eraserhead’s scarf disrupted the white-haired man’s attacks.

But as time went on, Midoriya got less and less overwhelmed, somehow adapting to fighting 101 enemies at the same time.

He was learning , understanding their fighting styles more and more. The number of clones was dropping as they were taken out with decisive blows.

Eraserhead felt the energy around him grow frantic, more and more combos being countered as Midoriya ducked under one kick, blocked another, and used the momentum to sidestep a third, punched through the stomach of a fourth, let the fifth dissipate from an unlucky spike, and then suddenly grabbed the sixth and threw him at Eraserhead . There was no time to dodge, the sudden impact to his head hit the underground hero like a train-

Eraserhead finally blinked, his eyes closing in a single, agonizing moment-

-and then everything went purple.

In a split second, a hundred chains shot out, piercing every Ectoplasm clone at once. They were beautiful, a vast network of linked pieces of mana bursting into existence at once. The real Ectoplasm(how did Midoriya know ) and Vlad King were both slammed into a building, the impact knocking them unconscious.

Eraserhead watched Midoriya speak, the entire area around them filled with purple light.

“Good fight, Eraserhead.”

The man tapped his head with a single finger and Eraserhead fell back, the darkness pulling him into a much-needed nap.

Izuku watched a woman walk up to him, casually stepping through the craters and damage in the fake city despite her use of a cane. She was short, and her hair was gray. 

This was an old human, right? Gods stopped physically aging at a certain point, so this was his first time seeing someone with gray hair and wrinkly skin- how interesting.

The cane brought him out of his thoughts, clacking against the ground as she reached him. The woman glanced down at the fallen Eraserhead before her eyebrow raised at the other two heroes slumped against a wall.

“Did you do this?” 

“Uh...yeah?” Izuku answered hesitantly. She was wearing a costume too, so it was probably her friends he just knocked out.

She only nodded. “Do you have any injuries?”

“No, not really. Um...who are you?”

“I’m Recovery Girl, the one who keeps all these idiots alive.” Recovery Girl answered, bending down to kiss Aizawa on the forehead. Instantly, the cut on the underground hero’s arm began to close, without even a scar. Izuku’s eyes widened. Healing abilities were pretty rare, and literally lifesavers.

“Midoriya Izuku. I might be a teacher here.” 

“Might?”

“The Principal’s giving me these...practical exams right now.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’ve beaten up those three.”

Izuku looked down, a little sheepish. “Sorry about that.”

Recovery Girl hummed. “It’s alright. This is actually better than usual; no one was injured too badly. Well, the two over there are probably going to have a concussion, and at least a terrible headache.” 

Izuku winced. He didn’t think he had overestimated the heroes, but smashing people into buildings was a delicate art.

Izuku picked up the three fallen teachers on her request, laying them over his shoulder as he followed Recovery Girl to the infirmary.  

“Planning on hurting any more of my coworkers?”

Izuku tightened his hand on Eraserhead’s leg, keeping him from slipping.

“Well, there's apparently one more part of the exam...”

They got to her office, and Izuku carefully placed each hero in a hospital bed. He wasn’t really sure what to do after that, waiting awkwardly as she looked them over. 

Recovery Girl waved her cane at him. “You know where the infirmary is now. Go, get back to whatever that insane rat is making you do.”

Izuku paused. “You’re the only reason this school even runs, aren’t you?”

The hero sighed.

Izuku only had to wait minutes before the Principal’s excited voice rang throughout the fake city once again. 

“You’ve progressed to the final part of this exam. This part will be a test of endurance. Either escape the city or hold off your enemy for the full half-hour mark. You lose if you’re knocked unconscious, or are unable to fight! Your only limitation, this time, is that you won’t be allowed to use magic.”

Nezu stressed that it was an endurance test, and didn’t even mention defeating the enemy as a win condition. Izuku hadn’t even unsheathed his staff yet, so this was probably meant to force him to go all out.

There was no warning or command to begin this time. Izuku closed his eyes, focusing with his mana sense on the energy from the other side of the fake city.

It was a dense red, coiled around a body that was approaching at high speeds. The magic was familiar. For a second, Izuku thought it was Sekhmet somehow, but then he noticed that her bright green was missing from the mass. This person was more erratic, like lightning was lancing through their mana circuits.

Izuku opened his eyes as a man landed around fifty meters in front of him, the force traveling throughout the ground as the air stirred. 

Blonde hair like Sekhmet and bright blue eyes like Kensei, but Izuku could easily tell it was a coincidence. Despite the power radiating off him, the man was completely human. Yet his mana felt like Sekhmet’s, as if he had taken part of her strength. Huh. Something to think about later.

The tall man wore an eye-catching red, yellow, and blue costume, and his muscles rippled across it as he straightened to full height. Even Izuku knew who this man was, the hero who filled most of young Izuku’s notebooks, well known for his unstoppable speed and strength.

All Might. A bold name, unless you were also the Strongest Hero.

Young Izuku had wanted the man’s autograph so badly, and Izuku just wanted to see how ‘unstoppable’ the man was. How things had changed.

All Might laughed, warm and loud enough to echo around them. “You aren’t running away, it seems.”

Izuku shrugged. “Nope.”

“That’s some real confidence you have there, young man!” All Might boomed. “Let’s see if you can back it up!”

All Might rushed forwards, right arm back in one of the most telegraphed punches Izuku had ever seen. Barely any of the mana was in the attack, and Izuku almost sighed as he watched it slowly reach towards him.

Izuku hadn’t been underestimated this much in a long time.

He didn’t like it very much.

Izuku grabbed the large arm, twisting his body with it as he controlled the approaching momentum. He lifted All Might over his shoulder, slamming his body down into the concrete.

“As a human with that much raw power, you probably have to hold back on people all the time. I bet it’s rare that you get to go all out, fight with everything you have.”

All Might aimed a punch at his chin, recovering instantly.

Izuku caught it easily, watching as shock filled the hero’s face. He punched All Might’s chest at twice the speed of the initial blow, sending him skidding back against the asphalt. 

“But now is a great time to do so.”

The hero’s iconic smile turned into something more intense as his blue eyes narrowed.

All Might raised his arms in front of him, actually getting into a stance. His muscles tensed against the costume, his mana starting to flow throughout his body. You didn't get a far as someone like the Number One Hero without being able to read people.

The first blow slammed into his hand, the shockwave ripping at his t-shirt. The second one was a bit stronger than the first, the third punch moving faster than both. His arms protected his upper body, but for some reason, All Might was also shifting his body to keep Izuku’s view off the left side of his stomach.

All Might was a boxer. His legs served as a strong foundation, letting him attack at high speeds as his fists flew. Izuku kept on the defensive, blocking and weaving through each strike. They were targeted; whoever taught All Might seemed to know what they were doing.

Hm.

Izuku started to get an idea of All Might’s strength and began to counter.

Izuku’s physical capabilities weren’t an ability. They were him , strength slowly trained through so much training. He couldn’t turn it off- meaning he was essentially a walking bomb. Of course, this didn’t matter when it was just him and Aurora; it didn’t really matter if he accidentally broke a table or dropped a building. But it would matter eventually, he knew that. The first time he visited Heaven only reaffirmed it.

So Izuku practiced controlling his strength, of knowing exactly how much power he needed to use. He had worked at it until it became instinct.

Izuku deflected All Might’s next hit, and this time his fist collided with All Might’s stomach with the exact same force. 

The blonde winced from the blow, and his fist smashed down. Izuku flipped over the arm to land a powerful kick on his back, already ducking under the next blow, on reflex, as All Might spun around. All Might’s fist clenched, mana rushing into it. 

“Nebraska...”

All Might’s arm suddenly spun , rotating mid-strike in a circle as it launched forward and formed a horizontal tornado.

“SMASH!”

The whirlwind struck Izuku by surprise, the force blasting him through the street.

Izuku tumbled across the ground, pushing himself to his feet. 

Now that was interesting.

All Might pushed his advantage, crossing the distance instantly for another punch.

Izuku sidestepped, and in the same movement his leg swung up into a powerful roundhouse kick. It viciously collided with All Might’s left side, the man’s eyes opening wide from the impact. His body went smashing through walls and windows as he flew sideways, buildings collapsing in his wake. Izuku leaped after him, watching the man slow to a stop in the debris.

“You guard your side too much. Maybe a recently healed injury?” Izuku asked.

“Yes. Healed while I drifted. I am one of the few lucky ones, who was given far more than others from the adventure.” All Might replied, struggling to his feet. “Before, I couldn’t even fight a few hours, but then I was back in my prime once more.” He stared back at Izuku. “You were right, there have rarely been monsters and people to push me tha far since the fight that injured me.”

All Might grinned, teeth flashing. “Would you like to challenge me for the title of ‘Strongest Hero?’”

Izuku grinned back. Then he flickered.

Izuku appeared in front of All Might’s face, moving so fast the air shook, flipping forward in an axe kick. All Might crossed both arms above him to block it on instinct, gritting his teeth under the blow.

Izuku brought his hands down on the blonde's head.

The shockwave blasted away the rubble around them, shattering the nearby windows.

Izuku pushed off, knocking the hero away and backflipping onto his feet. He kept up the assault, increasing the tempo with every attack, every movement as All Might was forced to push himself to keep up. The air shook with every strike, the city vibrating under their feet.

“Texas SMASH!” 

Izuku blocked the punch, the burst of wind blowing back his white hair. Izuku kicked up and All Might barely ducked in time, losing a blonde tuft of hair. In the same motion he struck down, bringing all his force onto the ground.

“Detroit SMASH!”

Izuku jumped, watching the earth crumble below him. All Might’s legs tensed, enhancement magic flooding into them-

“CAROLINA-”

The hero shot into the air like a bullet towards Izuku, red lighting trailing behind him, arms crossed. There was nowhere to dodge without his magic-

“SMASH!”

Izuku raised both arms against the double chop, blocking the strike in time. All Might’s head swung forward into a headbutt as they floated.

Izuku twisted in mid-air to avoid it, kick crashing into All Might and knocking him back towards the earth-

“New Hampshire Smash!”

-where the blonde immediately punched the ground, rocketing him back towards Izuku.

The hero’s back hit Izuku’s face, the sudden pain disorienting him for a moment before instinct took over. He crossed his arms over All Might then leaned back, suplexing the hero into the ground in a painful takedown.

The already mutilated ground broke further, the crater stretching wide.

Izuku pushed himself back onto his feet as the blonde pulled his head out of the ground, cracking his neck.

“Got anything else?” All Might asked, raising his fists again.

“Can you take any more, All Might?” Izuku teased back.

All Might laughed, blood running down his cheek. “Are you familiar with the concept of Plus Ultra, Midoriya?”

“‘Further beyond’, right?”

“Right. It’s the motto of U.A, the school that I graduated from, and exactly what I’m about to show you.”

All Might's fist reared back, and his legs tensed.

The red lightning was back, this time crackling around the hero’s entire body. Izuku could feel All Might’s mana as a tangible force, and might have mistaken him for a god if he didn’t know who he was. 

The energy grew and grew, blue eyes glowing as they contrasted with flashing red.

All Might kicked off the ruined street, a shockwave rippling through the ruined road behind him. 

“UNITED STATES OF-”

He moved faster and faster as the punch streaked towards Izuku-

Then started to slow. The red lightning emitting off him froze.

All Might’s entire body was moving at a crawl, like it was underwater as the blonde slowly inched towards Izuku. Sweat could be seen on the man's forehead, unmoving.

Izuku started walking, stepping in front of the nearly frozen hero for a better look. 

This is the result of what Sekhmet did over 1200 years ago. Her small blessing of enhancement magic stockpiled and then exponentially increased, power growing more and more...

200 years was quite a while for humans. In another few centuries, how far would this power go? Soon, this ability would be on par with an average god, if humans could still handle it. Even now, the fact that All Might’s body was still moving , albeit at an incredibly slow pace, was proof of that.

Izuku walked in a circle around the blonde hero. All Might’s eyes were wide, slowly tracking him. They were the only things moving near Izuku’s speed.

It was Sekhmet’s mana, but like Izuku’s blessing, it had adapted to each person it was passed to until the small changes added up like a game of Telephone.

Izuku stood in front of All Might and his outstretched fist.

Then Izuku slowed back down and punched.

All Might shot forward, jumping back into motion like a released spring as his final blow rushed forward-

“-SMASH!” All Might boomed.

-right past his target. The force destroyed the buildings behind him, the wind shattering as a shockwave tore into the ground-

“Smash.” Izuku said softly.

-while Izuku’s punch rammed into All Might’s stomach at twice the force of his final smash. The man bent forward, curling into the blow before it launched him flying, the sound of him slamming into a building across the city still an audible boom. There was no sudden blitz from his opponent, this time, so Izuku assumed he finally unconscious.

He wasn't dead, Izuku hadn't hit him that hard. Probably.

Izuku looked at the destruction around him, of broken buildings and torn roads in the demolished fake city. Not a single window was left unscathed, and debris was strewn everywhere as craters littered the streets.

The snowy powerhouse hummed, rolling back his shoulders.

“Well, that was fun."

Chapter Text

The viewing room was completely silent as U.A’s staff stared at the screens in front of them.

“Holy fuck.” 

Aizawa wasn’t sure who said it, but he definitely agreed.

The new unknown had just taken out All Might , the Number One and known as the strongest hero. Every blow had been matched with ease, even when said attacks were completely wrecking the city around them. 

Parts of the fight had been just too fast for the cameras to pick up, leaving behind nothing but a blur of white and blue. Titan obviously didn’t just give Midoriya strength on par with All Might.

All Might’s vast strength was probably the most popular thing about the hero; being able to finish fights with a single punch and shrugging off attacks with a smile.

But what Aizawa cared about was speed. It didn’t matter how strong, or how skilled you were if someone could kill you before you could react.

So as soon as Midoriya showed that capability, he watched him during the battle closely.

“The fight was a slow escalation.” Aizawa stated.

Kan nodded. “All Might would fight with a certain amount of power, and then Midoriya would force him to use more. And then more, and more-”

“Midoriya wasn’t the one being tested. All Might was.” Thirteen breathed, eyes wide in her helmet. 

“All Might definitely wasn’t holding back on that last punch.” Ectoplasm said. “I’ve never even seen him use that much power before. And what was up with the red lightning? Magic?”

“And then Midoriya hit back just as hard without even trying.” Nezu’s voice cut through the discussion like a knife.

“We couldn’t even see him do it though," Majima said. "One moment All Might is charging forward with his Super Move, and the next he’s blown backward. The power too, that’s got to be Midoriya going all out, right?”

One of the screen’s changed, showing Midoriya walking back through the fake city.

“What do you all notice?” Nezu asked.

“He’s completely unharmed?” Thirteen tried, confused.

Kan’s eyes went wide with realization. “The staff. He was wearing it when we fought him too. It’s still resting on his back.”

“Meaning the Symbol of Peace wasn’t enough to make him draw his weapon, or use his magic. And also-” The camera zoomed in on the white-haired man.

“He’s not even out of breath."

Izuku pulled All Might out of the remains of a building, slinging the unconscious man over his shoulder.

He had shrunk a little, blue and red of his costume seeming little tighter around his form, but mostly looked the same. This was probably what the blonde looked like when his ability was inactive. 

Izuku managed to fit All Might on one of Recovery Girl’s hospital beds, wincing a little as he watched her fuss over the fallen hero.

“He’s okay, right?” Izuku asked. 

Recovery Girl waved it off. “Don’t worry, that big idiot will be fine. He’s been through far worse.” 

Izuku smiled. That human was kind of tough. “I knew he was the Number One, but he was a lot stronger than I thought! I wasn’t really sure what his limit was. His last punch was pretty cool, so I dodged and tried it with twice the force-” 

Recovery Girl's hands twitched.

“-but it may have been a little too much. So I’m glad to see he’s alright.”

“This was the last part of your exam, right? The rat and other teachers should be waiting back at the viewing room for you.”

Izuku nodded. “Thanks, Reco-”

“Call me Shuzenji, please. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.”

The conversation in the room seemed to cut off as Izuku walked in, heroes stopping to stare at him with a mix of awe and curiosity. It reminded him of when he beat Agni, the champion of the Arena, and the looks of wonder he was given for years after.

Wait, Izuku basically had just beaten humanity’s Agni. 

Huh.

“Congratulations, Midoriya-san!” Nezu said, bringing him out of his thoughts. “You passed our little exam easily, exceeding all expectations. I’m delighted to have you as our Heroics teacher, and hope you'll take care of our students.”

Izuku nodded. “Thanks, Nezu.”

“You’ll also soon be a fully registered hero. On that note, what are you planning to use as your hero name?”

Izuku blinked. Right, they all had aliases. He was used to gods, who only had one name, yet most humans had two; a surname added to their given one. A hero name would be something humans would call him, that he would be known for. 

The heroes he had seen so far seemed to name themselves based on their quirks, but this wouldn’t really work for someone like Izuku. Quirks were all unique abilities. That wouldn't work for him.

Instead, Izuku would pick a name that showed a part of how he had lived, how he had endured-

“How about Atlas?” Izuku said,

The Titan that holds up the sky.

Nezu raised an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty interesting name. Is it based on your quirk?”

Izuku smiled.

“Something like that.”

Izuku’s hero license arrived days later, and he was now official. 

Now, he could legally beat up people and kill monsters. Izuku probably would have done both of those things anyway, but the tiny rectangle in his hands would stop humans from bugging him about it.

Aurora lightly took it, reading the license curiously.

“The Enduring Hero: Atlas.” Aurora’s eyes narrowed with small hints of concern. “It’s a great name, Izuku. But are you sure you want to be known for the greatest challenge you’ve faced?”

Izuku smiled. “More than that, it’s the memory. I’m proud of being able to overcome that, and taking it with me means I’ll always have part of it with me, even if no one else understands. Also, being a hero means I’ll be holding up the sky again..not literally this time.” 

Aurora sighed, smiling back. “You never do anything by halves, Izuku.”

“Not really, no.”

Aurora stared down at the card for a few moments. “You got pretty unlucky with the picture though. Why didn’t you change it?”

Izuku winced.

“You...you can’t change the picture, can you?”

“They only take it once, and I wasn’t really expecting the flash-Hey! Stop laughing!”

Izuku’s first patrol was...uneventful so far.

As soon as he started looking for trouble, it was suddenly nowhere to be found.

His ‘hero costume’ was just his white cloak on top of his clothes. It could be considered a costume, and durable enough to go untorn after so many years. There was a sheathe on his back for his staff, runic designs matching his cloak. 

No monsters had appeared out of nowhere, nor any villains he had heard about. Izuku did kind of want a fight, but no humans being attacked was great too. 

It was peaceful, really, turning into one of his walks around the city. The weather was nice, and Izuku could see more humans around than he usually did.

His ‘exam’ hadn’t been released, so no one really knew who he was yet. Unlike in Heaven, he could still walk down streets without much attention. 

“Wow, you’re really tall! Are you a hero?” 

Izuku glanced down to see a small boy, his eyes wide as he took in Izuku’s cloak. 

He bent down  so he wasn’t staring down at the kid.

“Thanks. Yes, I'm a hero. Do you need help?” 

The boy nodded vigorously. “My cat, Neko, she’s stuck in a tree!”

Izuku blinked. Huh, so this kind of thing really did happe-

“Wait, what did you say your cat’s name was?”

He followed the boy to a park, half-listening to him babble on about heroes and how cool they were. It was adorable, really, but it was also kinda concerning that he was letting a stranger follow him. 

“-here! This tree!”

Izuku tuned back in to see the most gigantic tree in existence. The roots themselves were as big as Izuku himself, and the trunk stretched up into the clouds.

“What the heck.” Izuku blurted, barely stopping himself from cursing in front of a child.

Izuku had been to this park thousands and thousands of times; there was no way he would forget something this huge. 

“That’s what Onee-san said!” The boy exclaimed, pointing. As they got closer, Izuku could in fact see a dark-haired girl, fingertips pressed together as she stood in front of the trunk, concentrating. Despite her efforts, though, nothing seemed to be happening.

The boy ran up to her, poking her arm to get the girl’s attention. “Nee-san, look! I got help, he’s a hero!”

She seemed to be around Akari’s age, meaning she was around...19? 20? in human years. Her eyes were suspicious as he approached, but it seemed to fade a little when she heard he was a hero. 

“I'm Yui Kodai. This is my little brother, Makoto.” She stated simply. “Makoto has no control-” The mentioned boy looked a little sheepish. “-so when Neko got stuck, this happened.” Kodai gestured at the behemoth in front of them.

“How did Neko get stuck in the first place?” Izuku asked.

“Neko has this really cool jump quirk, and can get really high! Which is why I’m supposed to be extra careful at parks...” Makoto trailed off.

“When I change plants, they grow really big and then go back to normal. If I shrink it now, Nee-san says that Neko will fall! But it’s too big for Nee-san to use her quirk on...” 

“So you need me to get Neko down first.” Izuku nodded. “Alright.”

He took a few steps back from the two kids. Then he leaped .

Izuku shot straight up into the air, watching the bark pass by him as he flew, Makoto’s surprised shout barely reaching his ears. The houses shrank beneath him, the kids turning into small specks on the ground. 

He broke through the clouds, covering his eyes from the sun. They stretched below him in a vast expanse, like a beautiful, fluffy blanket covering the world.

Izuku landed on a huge branch, gazing up at the forest of branches above him. That would take a while to look through for something small...

Izuku activated Void, his mana weaving into the atmosphere as his mana sense increased a hundredfold. He had to concentrate to ignore the tree itself, a huge mass of mana probing at his mind.

Makoto’s quirk was amazing, and he really wanted to ask the kid how it worked. His sister too, since it seemed to resize things as well. If they increased the amount of mana as well-

There, A small amount of mana, slightly moving as well. Izuku placed one foot on the trunk, then the other-

and started walking straight up, the air around him twisting to support his body and anchor it to the wood. He ran a bit, until with a flip he was on the right branch, at last. 

Neko seemed terrified, probably from being this high up. Izuku took a step forward, then hesitated; spooking her would be a bad idea right now. Neko saw him, inching a bit away from him and towards the edge of the branch.

It reminded Izuku of Kuro when he had scared the poor cat those first few weeks, and wanted to calm him down...

A small bundle of blankets formed out of the air, purple and fluffy. Neko blinked as they wrapped around her fur securely. Thankfully, she wasn’t struggling and seemed comfortable.

“You ready, Neko?” 

Blue eyes stared back at him, and he took that as a yes.

Izuku stepped off the branch with a grin, wind trailing through his hair and blowing at his cloak as he fell through the sky.

He kept firm control of the blankets, making sure Neko was safe. They broke through the clouds, plummeting fast as the ground rose up to meet them.

Izuku landed lightly, absorbing the immense impact with his legs. He grinned at the siblings, seeing the open awe on their faces.

The cat bundle floated next to him, Neko letting out a meow. Makoto moved to grab the cat, hugging her to his chest happily. Kodai was still staring at him, eyes wide.

“Got your cat. It’s a good thing you didn’t do this near the center of the park, that could have been...bad.”

Kodai unfroze at his words, bowing slightly. “Thank you, for saving Neko.”

Makoto smiled back at him, warm. “Thank you so much...”

Kodai sighed. “You didn’t even ask for his name?”

“Atlas.” Izuku said.

“-Atlas-san! You’re so strong! Was that your quirk? You went whoosh into the sky all of a sudden!”

“Thanks, kid.” Izuku ruffled his hair on instinct, and the boy beamed  at him.

“Can I have your autograph!” Makoto asked, bouncing on his feet.

Izuku blinked. “My...what?” 

The boy offered him a notepad and pen(where did he even get that?) “Your autograph!”

“He wants you to sign it,” Kodai said quietly. 

“Oh, sure.”

Izuku wrote his hero name, watching the boy hug the notepad as if it was a present well wished for. Neko didn’t seem to mind being squished against the boy, shifting slightly as the air blankets dissipated. 

Makoto shrunk the tree, and the effort to do so seemed to knock the boy out completely. His sister caught him, twisting so Makoto and Neko were resting on her back. 

“Do you need any help taking them back?” Izuku asked. 

Kodai tilted her head for a moment in consideration, before shaking it in response. She waved as she walked away, her cat and brother slung across her back.

Izuku glanced back at the now normal-sized tree, feeling the mana resized down by the same proportion. 

Quirks really were something.

“This is ridiculous.” Akari huffed.

Izuku blinked, looking up from his hero guidebook. “What is?”

“Humans. You know the study guide for the U.A exam, right?” Akari asked, waving the paper at him.

“Yeah...?”

“U.A is one of Japan’s top universities, or whatever. But most of the academics here are stuff I learned before I was even in school! The only new subjects for me besides heroics are going to be history and 'english” 

“Isn’t that a good thing? You’ll have a break from how much you study in Arcadia, and you’ll have more time to focus on heroics.”

Akari slumped face-first into the couch. “But I’ll be soooo bored! You know, there are only several thousands of years of recorded human history...”

“That’s still quite a bit.”

“Yeah, but humans only care about the last 200 years before the Drift, when quirks first started to appear. Two centuries, and that’s it. I’m older than that!”

“Huh. That’s pretty weird, actually.”

“Right?! It is just three years, though, for their entire history curriculum...”

Akari stilled. “The other students.”

“What about them?”

“They’re twenty years old. Twenty. Dad, they’re babies.”

Besides the occasional robbery, most of his work was just saving people who lost control of their quirks.

Since the tree incident, Izuku had stopped a woman from flying into space, another from putting her neighborhood to sleep, and two twins from burning down their house. 

Magic was something you learned to use over time. In contrast, humans had quirks almost as soon as they were born, and a lot of them really needed to practice more.

Izuku sighed, closing his eyes. It would be a while before humans had full control of their abilities again. The teacher in him badly wanted to fix that, but there wasn’t much he could do. It wasn’t like these people were his students.

Something small ran straight into him and Izuku stopped on instinct, arms curling around to stop them from falling back. Another child. Quirk related?

“Hello-” Izuku started, then froze as he got a proper look at her.

Her hair was long and silver, trailing down almost too long, and wide, terrified red eyes stared up at him. Combined with what she was wearing, old pieces of cloth, it was a clear picture. 

“There you are, Eri.”

Izuku looked up from her to see a young man, a bird mask covering the lower part of his face. His fingers danced a little on his coat, drawing Izuku’s eyes to black gloves. 

Izuku grit his teeth, hiding his growing anger behind a smile. “Is she your daughter?”

The man smiled back. It reached his eyes, but the contempt in them didn’t fade. “Yes, she is, hero. I’m sorry she ran into you.”

“It’s alright. I am a little concerned, though. Was your drifting time hard? Your...daughter seems to be wearing rags.” Eri shifted slightly in his arms, horn poking Izuku’s chest. “And she’s wearing bandages.”

“Coming back after drifting is weird indeed. Eri is a little clumsy, and it’s just terrible how often she falls. Eri, let’s go home. No need to bother the hero more.”

Eri gripped him a little tighter, and the man's gloved hands finally stopped tapping.

“You know, I haven’t been a hero very long,” Izuku said.

“Really?” 

“Nope. So I don’t have much experience with things like this.”

Izuku bent down, picking up the small girl with one arm.

“I do have a daughter, though. And it’s pretty obvious Eri's not yours.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. People around them were starting to stare at the confrontation, pausing on the street.

"This isn't any of your business."

Izuku held Eri closer, clenching his other fist.

"I think it is."

He glared, facade finally dropping.

“So this was your plan, Eri? Run, run, until you find a hero dumb enough to think they could stop me. Is that what you thought would happen? Even after this long?” His voice grew louder with every word, malice practically dripping from his tone. 

“It’s been a while since I showed you, after all.”

The black gloves came off, slowly gliding to the ground.

“ That you’ll never be free.”

The man pressed his palms to the ground, and the earth rose up.

Huge spikes erupted from the ground, taking up the entire street in a single attack-

About to kill every human around them, including Eri.

-Izuku sidestepped the attack about to impale him. At the same time, dozens of purple chains lifted every bystander high above the sea of spikes, dangling them in the air.

“That was fast, hero. How about thi-”

Izuku crossed the distance between them in an instant, eyes blazing. 

“ Shut up. ”

Izuku barely held back in time, the uppercut hitting the man’s chin so hard his head whipped back, mask shattering into a million pieces from the impact.

And Izuku found that he didn’t mind much.

The villain flew up in an arc before crashing onto the ground, unconscious.

Eri gasped in his arms, and he could have sworn he heard one of the people above him cheer as he carefully lowered them to the ground.

The street was completely ruined, spikes filling the area and stabbing into the nearby buildings. But no one seemed to be hurt besides the villain, so Izuku counted it as a win.

Izuku realized he was still holding Eri, looking down at her.

“Um, do you have anyone to stay with that isn’t...like that?”

Eri shook her head, and Izuku sighed.

Figures.

Chapter Text

Eri was quiet.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Izuku had seen plenty of shy children at Arcadia, and it usually lessened over time.

But Eri still tried to be as unnoticeable as possible after weeks. She moved as lightly as she could across the floor, and when encouraged to eat always ate just enough. It was like she was trying not to get on anyone’s nerves. She spoke, only when spoken to, and even then it was so soft you had to strain to hear. She wasn't just shy but clearly traumatized. 

Honestly, Izuku wanted to go and punch that birdman again. Maybe break more than just his mask this time.

‘Overhaul’ had apparently been a big deal, a well-known villain with an organized crime group. His quirk let him manipulate any matter in contact with his hands. Such an amazing ability, completely wasted. The advancement of technology that was possible, not to mention the use in healing...

...which brings him to Izuku’s fight with Overhaul. Those spikes would have definitely killed Eri, but if the man could fix her, then why would he care if she got hurt?

He still didn’t exactly know what Eri had suffered, or even how long Overhaul had her for. Asking her was out of the question, given how she reacted just seeing the villain on the news, but he needed to know more-

“Dad?” 

Izuku looked up from his work, ignoring the new crack in his pencil. “Yeah?”

“You alright? You've been really glaring at that piece of paper.” Akari asked.

“It's just some paperwork.” 

Akari leaned over his shoulder. “Oh, this is about the birdman, right?” Izuku cracked a small smile at the nickname and nodded. “Forgot that you had to file an incident for these things.”

“It’s a hassle really, but it makes sense to log when you resolve incidents. But in this case, even though nobody was injured, the area was completely wrecked. Plus the fact that Overhaul’s a major villain...” Izuku gestured towards his large stack of forms.

Akari winced in sympathy. “Need any help?”

“Thanks, but I think I just need a break; I'll go check on Eri."

Eri’s eyes were wide as she sat on the floor, gazing straight up at the television screen. Akari’s old sweater was just a little too big for her, hanging off the girl’s shoulders.

Izuku stepped into the room, footsteps audible to not surprise her, and sat down next to the eleven-year-old.

Animated horses ran across the screen, lit up in bright purple and pink. They seemed magical as they dashed across grass plains, stars trailing in their wake.

On top of each of their heads was a single, glowing horn.

Eri stared in wonder, her hands gently cradling her own horn. It had grown back to its full length now, yellow branching off her forehead.

“They’re like me...” Eri murmured. 

“Yeah. They’re called unicorns,” Izuku said softly.

“Uni...corns?”

Izuku hummed. “Pretty, aren’t they?”

The girl bit her lip.

“Are...are the other unicorns cursed too?”

“Cursed?”

Eri gave him a small nod, silver hair falling on her sweater at the movement. “I’m...c-cursed. That’s why he took me. I hurt people, and he can use that.”

These were probably the most words she had ever spoken to him.

“Eri, were you ‘cursed’ around six years ago?” Izuku asked.

Her eyes gave him his response as they widened. “I hurt everything around me, everything I t-touch.” Eri’s lip trembled. “You asked me if there was anyone else to stay with? That’s why. They’re gone. ” Her breaths came a little too fast, hands shaking. “T-That’s why you should just leave me. You’re all so nice but I’m evil and cursed and I’ll hurt you all...”

Izuku could feel her quirk, glowing gold as it flowed from her body into the horn on her head in a mass of energy. Izuku’s own mana poked at it curiously, the brilliant light responding in kind.

“You know, Eri, I believed in curses once.”

Izuku watched the unicorns run bright and free as wide red eyes turned to him.

“Unlike everyone else, I didn’t drift. Out of every human, I ended up being the only one left on Earth. One out of billions. With just a weekly checkup, I was left here, completely and utterly alone for so many years.” A hint of old bitterness filled his voice. “What else could it be but a curse?”

“But it wasn’t. I got everything I could ever want now- and more. So I don’t believe in curses anymore. I believe in myself because it’s what I do that matters in the end.” 

“Your ability could be a terrible thing. It took so much from you the past six years. I don’t even know what it does yet, but so much power can always become destructive.” 

Izuku smiled. “But I can also feel how beautiful it is, how much that same energy wants to be free. You aren’t like that man , you’re so much better. If you try, it can be a blessing too.”

Izuku wrapped his arms around Eri, slowly pulling her into a hug. She stilled but didn’t tense up.

“So Eri, let go.” Izuku finished, softly.

And Eri finally let herself cry, arms hugging Izuku back. He felt the sobs, tears finally releasing like a broken dam as Eri’s quirk activated, the built-up energy from her horn releasing in a burst of golden light. Eri flinched in his arms, but Izuku held her closer, smiling wide.

“I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

And everything was bright, light surrounding Izuku’s body and tickling his skin.

Izuku glanced down at the girl in his arms when he could see again, green eyes meeting red.

Eri was staring back at him, scanning him only to find nothing wrong. “Y-You’re not hurt?” Eri asked, eyes full of hope.

“Nope! Are you?” Izuku asked.

Eri blinked. “No?”

Izuku grinned. “See? I even feel a little better than before, like my skin is tingling.”

"Thank you, Eri."

They watched the unicorns together for hours, and when Izuku glanced over, Eri’s lips had curved up the smallest bit.

That made it all worth it.

“Entrance exam?” Izuku asked.

Arcadia didn’t have an entrance exam since gods attended it as their first school, usually staying throughout their academic careers. But for just a university, especially what was known as one of the top schools in the area, an exam made sense.

Nezu nodded. “The new school year is starting in just a few months. Usually, we hold a written test and a practical if they are applying to the Heroics or Support courses.”

“Each examinee has drifted for a whole five years somewhere different.” Midnight said. “Examinees could be far ahead of their competition, or behind after studying some other world’s curriculum.”

Nemuri Kayama, aka Midnight; the Modern Art History teacher. Did that mean she taught Modern Art and History, or some kind of combined course? 

“We still have our old study guides online, from the last exam.” The talking block of cemen-Cementoss pointed out.

“My daughter is taking the exam, and the guides have been very helpful,” Izuku said. 

Every head in the room turned to him in surprise.

“What?” 

“You have a twenty-year-old daughter? You look so young!” Midnight blurted, eyes wide.

Izuku blinked, taken aback. “Thanks?”

If only they knew.

“To answer your question, Midoriya-san, we won’t be. My idea is to focus more this year on essay-based questions, to judge their mental ability and thought processes instead of specifically what each examinee knows.” Nezu responded.

“That seems like a great idea to test the listeners! It is a little iffy for an English test though...” Present Mic said, his voice echoing throughout the meeting room.

Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic. Izuku liked the blonde, but he was a bit...loud.

“The history portion is going to have to be scrapped too.” Midnight winced. “No way any of them practiced their Earth history while drifting.”

“What about the practical exams?” Vlad King asked.

“The Support Exam doesn’t really need any changes.” Power Loader replied.

Izuku tried not to stare too much at the large, jawlike mask over the man’s head. How did he even see through that thing?

“But the Heroics Exam definitely needs some,” Nezu said.

“What's  the current Heroics Exam?” Izuku asked.

Eraserhead huffed. “Robots. They come in three main varieties, and the stronger the robot the more villain points the examinees gain.”

“But...what about people with abilities that affect living beings? Or really anything that doesn't cause physical damage? Do they get weapons?”

“No, they aren’t allowed any items that aren’t needed to use their quirks. It’s irrational, really. There is a rescue points system, granted upon saving other examinees, but since it would defeat the purpose students don’t know about it. The exam is completely biased in favor of physical quirks, and the Hero Commission has never let us change it.”

Eraserhead’s own quirk was useless on robots. Izuku could see why he was bitter about giving an exam like that.

Nezu clapped his paws, excited. “But this year is different! After the Drift, no one can stop us from overhauling the exam. After all, robots won’t prepare them for monsters and magical villains.”

“We should keep the rescue points, though.” Vlad King said. “Saving people in danger should always be something we look for in an examinee.”

Eraserhead nodded. “But what about the villain points?”

Izuku smiled at the underground hero as he pulled out a small communicator, shaped like a circle.

“I may have an idea for that, Eraserhead.”

Eri looked at the full shelves around her in awe as they walked through the doors. 

“There’s so much . What is this place?”

“It’s a grocery store, Eri.”

“Store...Oh, I’ve heard of those!”

“It’s where we go to buy stuff to cook with.” Izuku pulled out a shopping cart, watching her red eyes flickered around. “They have lots of good food and ingredients. Mom, do you want anything?” 

“We’re just running low on rice. Didn’t you say you were cooking tomorrow?” Mom asked.

Izuku hummed as they reached the meat section, putting some pork chops into the cart. “Yep. I’m making katsudon.”

Mom stilled. 

“Katsu...don?” Eri repeated, curious.

Izuku grinned down at her. “My favorite food, it’s delicious. You'll love it.”

“You still love katsudon.” Mom said softly.

“For as long as I can remember. I had the ingredients on...Arret, so I’ve always made katsudon once a month. I got that from you, right?”

Mom’s emerald eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Yeah, you did.”

“Izuku! What’s this?” Eri asked, a small box in her hands. 

“They’re noodles. Do you want to get them?”

Eri hesitated. “Can...can we?” 

Izuku nodded with a smile. “Of course we can, Eri.” Eri’s face lit up, running over to place the box in the cart.

Eri had never been able to get the things she wanted. The fact that she had gained the confidence to ask meant everything.

“You’re a good parent, Izuku.” Mom said.

“Thanks. I’m really proud of Akari-” 

“I meant Eri.” Mom cut him off with a knowing smile.

Izuku blinked, confused.

“Eri’s not my...” Izuku trailed off, fondly watching Eri zip around the store. Mom raised an eyebrow.  

Izuku sighed. “I took her in on a whim because she didn’t have anyone, and there was no way I was letting people like Overhaul go near her again. Then I would find a kind, safe foster family...”

“But?”

“Her quirk. ‘Rewind’ is what I’ve been calling it. It’s amazing what the quirk could do. But to humans, being rewound 30 years is a big deal. I’m probably one of the best people on Earth to teach her control, so I thought she should just stay with us for a while. But now, only a few weeks later, Eri's already becoming like a daughter to me. Is that...weird?”

“Yes.” Mom answered nonchalantly, pulling some eggs off the shelf. 

“Wow. Thanks, Mom.”

“Yet, that’s exactly what makes you Izuku . The Izuku I knew cared so much for everyone, even when they didn’t care nearly as much about him. I know you aren’t the same person now, but there are still so many beautiful things that I can recognize in an instant.” Mom glanced up at him. “Though you are a lot taller now. And that hair...are you sure you didn’t dye it, sweetie?”

Izuku rolled his eyes, and she chuckled. 

“But if you really do feel that way Izuku, you should just ask her. I’m sure Eri would be deligh-”

“Inko?!” 

Mom whirled around to see a blonde woman, eyes widening. 

“Mitsuki?”

Mitsuki crashed into her with a powerful hug, which Mom happily returned once she got her breath back. 

“Inko, it’s been such a long time! This ‘drifting’ thing came out of nowhere .” Mitsuki said. “Masaru was really confused too, and Katsuki didn’t even go to the same place as us!” 

“It’s been a very strange five years, hasn’t it?”

The blonde nodded vehemently. “Crazy, really. I’m just glad to see you’re okay Inko, as well as-” Mitsuki stilled, noticing Izuku and Eri next to her for the first time.

“Is that Izuku?”

“Hello-” Izuku greeted her. From how close she was with Mom, ‘Mitsuki’ was probably her given name. But even if Izuku wasn’t close enough to use it, he didn’t know her surname. “-Mitsuki-san.”

“You look so much older. And taller too. What even ...”

Eri tugged at his shirt, and Izuku glanced down to meet her curious eyes. “This is Eri. She’s eleven.”

“Hi.”

Mitsuki just stared at them for a minute.

“Why..why don’t you three come over for dinner?” Mitsuki asked, voice a little shaky. “We can swap our stories then.”

“That works for me.” Mom said. “Izuku?”

“Yeah. I’ll just need to call Aurora first.” 

“Aurora?” 

“She's my wife.”

“Your what? ”

“You became a model?” Mom asked.

Mitsuki nodded, a proud grin on her face. “It was pretty weird at first. Utopia is so bright and future-y, so it took a while for us to adjust. But once we did, it was great. Right, Masaru?” The blonde elbowed her husband in the side.

“Yeah.” Masaru Bakugou seemed like the complete opposite of his wife, overbearing confidence replaced with quiet thoughtfulness. “We were unexpectedly quite successful in the show business.”

“Masaru already worked in the fashion industry, so with my quirk and looks, we were set!”

“What exactly is your quirk, Mitsuki-san?” Izuku asked. He watched Eri out of the corner of his eye as she ate, making sure the curry wasn’t too spicy for her. 

“Just call me Mitsuki.” The woman waved off the honorific. “My quirk lets my skin emit Glycerin, so my skin always stays youthful like this.”

Mitsuki tilted her head, a bit of confusion in her eyes. “But wouldn’t you already know that, Izuku? I remember you being a huge quirk nerd...”

“I-”

Izuku was cut off as a blonde boy walked down the stairs, red eyes sweeping over everyone without notice before he pulled out his chair and sat, piling Mitsuki’s cooking into his mouth at a rapid pace. 

“Katsuki?”

The blonde glanced up, doing a double-take when he realized, in fact, that there were three other people at the table.

“Auntie Inko? And... Deku? ”

Izuku blinked, realizing the boy was looking at him. “I’m Izuku, not Deku. Those do kinda sound similar, though, I can see why you got them mixed up after so long.” 

The blonde stared, angry red eyes narrowing.

“Deku what the f-”

The world slowed to a familiar halt, Mitsuki’s spoon frozen mid-bite.

Carefully, Izuku stepped around the table, covering the boy’s mouth with a clean napkin.

“-mmph!”

Izuku frowned. “There’s a child here, don’t curse. Also, my name is Izuku.”

Katsuki glared at him, and Izuku removed the napkin. “What child ? And how did you teleport here you-”

“That one.” Izuku pointed at Eri. 

Eri waved shyly at the Bakugous, and Mitsuki cooed.

"Who's child is that, Deku?"

"Izuku." Izuku corrected.

"Deku." Katsuki insisted.

"Izuku."

"Deku!"

"Deku."

"Izuku-argh!"

Izuku smiled. "Thanks, Katsuki. As for the other thing, I was just about to explain that to Mitsuki-”

“ Mitsuki?”  

“-before you interrupted. Now, may I finish?”

Katsuki huffed. “Fine. Let’s hear your sh-mmph” He spat out the napkin. “That’s disgusting .”

“Then stop cursing near Eri.” Izuku scolded. “I drifted to a planet called Arret, it was pretty nice. Though instead of drifting for five years like you all, I was gone for over twenty-”

“ What.” Mitsuki and Katsuki said at the same time.

“-so I found my quirk and magic, trained a lot, got married, and had a daughter.”

“You have a quirk?” Katsuki blurted.

“You’re married?” Masaru asked, incredulously. 

“You have a daughter? ” Mitsuki said, the loudest.

Izuku was sure those things were normal for humans. Maybe the Bakugous were just an over-the-top family?

“Yeah, my mutant quirk doesn’t really change my appearance, so I didn’t realize I had it until I started training. Yes, I’m married, and I have two daughters, the younger being Eri here.”

Izuku smiled. “Actually, my oldest is around Katsuki’s age,” Give or take 260 years. “Next time, you should all meet her.”

Masaru spoke up hesitantly, almost like he didn't want the answer. “Izuku...how old are you now, exactly?”

“...forty, why?”

Mitsuki choked.

Chapter Text

It was almost night when they left the Bakugous, Eri dozing off peacefully in Mom’s arms.

Mitsuki had plenty of stories to tell of the past five years and reminisced with Mom about Katsuki’s childhood with Izuku. It was interesting to hear about young Izuku, but Izuku also felt quite guilty for forgetting her now. 

Masaru came out of his shell the longer the evening went, his well-meaning remarks slipping behind Mitsuki’s words with ease. Despite their contrast, Izuku could understand their dynamic now.

Their son clearly took after his mother, but his pride was far, far greater. From the way Katsuki acted, the relationship between him and young Izuku was nothing like what Mitsuki had told him.  

“Mom, can you go on ahead?” Izuku asked.

“Izuku? Is everything okay?” His mother spoke softly, careful not to wake Eri.

“Don't worry, I’ll be there in a bit. There's just have something I need to do.” Izuku smiled fondly, watching the slight tension leave her shoulders as she nodded.

Izuku was alone for a minute on the street, watching the stars above him. It was quiet now, spare the cars passing by and low conversations around him.

Angry footsteps broke him out of his thoughts, and Izuku looked at the approaching boy as his blonde hair reflected in the streetlight. Red eyes already fixed into a glare.

“Katsuki.” 

“Deku.” Katsuki returned.

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “You do know that’s not my name, right?”

“Of course I fucking do.”

“Then-” 

“I grew up with that shitty nerd, my entire life until I drifted. The only kid without a quirk, without any power . Yet he still wanted to be a hero, despite being so weak, so pathetically useless. That’s why ‘Izuku’ is Deku.”

“But you're right. You’re nothing like Deku. That wasn’t fucking teleportation, was it? You were faster than I could see .” Katsuki gritted his teeth as if the admission pained him. “You’re even a hero, and your hair is fucking white.”

Katsuki's fists were clenched at his side, tensing as his voice rose.

“You’re not that shitty Deku, there's no way. So who the hell are you?”  

“Right, I’m not Deku. I’m Izuku.” Izuku stated simply.

Katsuki snapped. The boy lunged, his palm outstretched as the sweat sparked-

A purple sphere of air appeared in front of the charging boy, covering the large explosion inside of it as the attack nullified.

Even as Katsuki’s eyes widened at the display of magic, his leg was swinging forward in a kick, foot covered in flame-

Izuku stepped past the flaming kick, too fast for the boy's red eyes to track.

With one leg still in the air, the boy was unbalanced; a targeted poke to the back and the blonde was knocked to the ground. Chains materialized, tying him to the asphalt.

“You-”

“Twenty years is a long time, Katsuki.” The words were quiet but so heavy with meaning the boy stilled.

A thousand was even longer.

“Your right, I am pretty different from the Izuku you know." A hand drifted to his head, rubbing his white hair self-consciously.

"My quirk is called Titan. A simple mutant enhancer; the more I train and my body develops, the exponentially stronger I grow.”

Katsuki’s face shifted in realization.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? I didn’t even notice the quirk until I had trained for a decade, and I was far stronger than I should be.” A part of that was true, actually. Izuku hadn’t realized how powerful he was for quite a while. “My ‘drift’ was enough time for me to find power and family; to realize things and change.”

Izuku turned, chains vanishing.

“I’m Izuku, not Deku. Remember that when I’m teaching you next year, Katsuki.” 

The words hung in the air as Izuku walked away, leaving a stunned blonde to an empty street.

Izuku clumsily tapped the green button on his smartphone, raising it to his ear. Heaven’s communicators were much easier, but unfortunately, this was just what humans used. They didn’t even work sometimes...

“Hello?”

“This is Sir Nighteye.” A stern voice said. “Can I assume I’m talking to Atlas?”

“That’s right. Do you need something?” Izuku asked.

“I’m calling to set up a meeting about the Shie Hassaikai case. I couldn’t find the number of your hero agency-”

“Oh, that’s because I don’t have one.”

There was a pause.

“Then we should meet at my agency. Does Saturday work for you?” Nighteye asked.

“Yea-”

“I’ll see you then.”

The line cut off abruptly, the equivalent of someone dashing off mid-conversation.

Rude.

Izuku walked into the building, a little curious. Of course, he could go anywhere he wanted during the Drift, when there were zero humans to stop him, but the idea of breaking into a place like this was strangely uncomfortable. 

A blue girl led him to Nighteye’s office, bright with excitement, and gave him a brief tour on the way. Bubble Girl was nice, but her hero costume was just ridiculous. She was supposed to fight in that, right? It was like the girl was asking to be hit in the gut...

Izuku kept those thoughts to himself though, thanking her for showing him where it was. He would surely have gotten lost in the maze of hallways. 

A man glanced up from his as Izuku walked in.

“You’re an All Might fan?” Izuku couldn't help asking. The walls were filled with posters and merchandise, and there was even a life-size cut out of the hero. 

Nighteye nodded seriously. He wore glasses and a suit and had green hair mixed with yellow stripes. The lean man pulled off a strict presence like he was observing you with complete focus.

“The biggest. He’s who gave me your number, actually.” Nighteye reached into his desk, pulling out a file. 

"You know All Might?"

"We...go back a long time." Before Izuku could question that, the hero was moving on.

“My agency worked for months on the Shie Hassaikai case. But then we drifted, and as you can imagine, resuming cases from five years ago is...difficult.”

Izuku winced in sympathy. Paperwork was annoying. Paperwork from years ago must be a pain.

“What’s the Shie Hassaikai?” 

“A powerful yakuza group that’s mostly stayed under the radar, with almost no evidence to stick to them. After the drift though, their movements started to become erratic, traceable. And then one day, you came along-”

Nighteye held up a photo of a man in a bird mask.

“-and took out their leader, taking the girl that was with him in the process. The Shie Hassaikai are essentially headless chickens running around now, and we’ve almost captured all of them. I must thank you for knocking out such a dangerous threat.”

Izuku shrugged. “It wasn’t much.”

“But currently, we lack information on exactly what operations the yakuza were running. I asked you to come here today to see if you learned anything from the girl you took in, and her time with the villain.”

“I’m surprised you waited this long to call, Nighteye.” Izuku commented.

“Anyone with working eyes can tell that Overhaul clearly wasn’t treating her well.” Nighteye stated. “An adjustment period is necessary, especially for victims in cases such as this.”

Izuku noted the traces of emotion behind that stern mask. Good.

“Rewind, Eri’s quirk, lets her reverse any living thing back to a previous state.”

He met Nighteye’s wide eyes.

“From what Eri has told me, he definitely wanted to use that ability for his own goals, and didn’t mind disassembling and reassembling her to do so.”

Nighteye nodded grimly. “Overhaul’s quirk makes this picture a lot more gruesome.”

Izuku thought of the wrecked street, massive with no care for the lives around them.

"Yeah, it really does." 

The man stood, so Izuku did as well. “Thank you for coming today, Atlas. I’ll inform you if this case has any urgent developments.” 

Nighteye held out his hand.

Izuku was a little surprised at the dismissal, almost as abrupt as he was over the phone. But seeing the man in person, he was must be quite a busy person. 

Izuku shook his hand, and suddenly there was energy focusing into Nighteye’s eyes as yellow turned to purple, pupils changing-

One of the man’s hands started to go to his head, eyes shut in pain before he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Izuku blinked.

“Huh.” 

Thankfully, the camera told the agency that he had, in fact, not knocked out their boss.

He carried the downed hero on Centipeder’s(and hadn’t that been an interesting looking human) instructions to a hospital bed before waiting in a provided chair, a bit of anxiety poking at him. Izuku had no idea what happened after all, just that Nighteye's ability failed somehow. So he just decided to wait.

Nighteye stumbled out of the infirmary half an hour later, hand on his forehead. His sidekicks fluttered around him, worried, until the hero raised a hand and shooed them away(except Bubble Girl, who was still stubbornly watching her boss.)

“Are you...okay?” Izuku asked.

“A headache, but that’s my fault.” The man admitted, slumping down in the chair next to Izuku. His perfect composure from before was missing.

“My quirk is called Foresight. With a touch, I can accurately see someone’s short-term future.” Nighteye said.

Izuku’s face tightened a little. “And you tried to use this on me.”

That was a pretty big breach of privacy, someone seeing some of his life without his permission. 

“I apologize for using my quirk on you like that. But someone completely unknown, powerful enough to best our strongest hero, needed to be verified.  Now that I trust you, I won’t do so without consent or necessity.”

Izuku had to admit that he was pretty suspicious, especially when he dealt with Overhaul so easily. But-

“You had to spy on my life with your ability? There was no other way?”

Nighteye looked a little uncomfortable. “Foresight is impossible to deceive.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. “So, what did you see?” 

“My quirk failed on you. I saw nothing but a blur, the film blazing over my eyes in an instant. I felt a piercing pain in my head before I lost consciousness.” 

Izuku tilted his head. “Wait, but if you didn’t see anything, then why do you trust me now?”

“Centipeder told me how you carried me to the infirmary. Also, this experience has shown me that blindly using my ability on others instead of trusting my instincts and those of my coworkers is...inadvisable.”

Nighteye pushed up his glasses. “But I am quite curious about something. Why did foresight fail? Is it because of your quirk?”

Izuku nodded. “My speed comes from a mutant quirk. Even now, I'm slowing down to a stop.”

“That’s why...a sudden burst in speed would be normal if a little disorienting. But you-your constantly moving at incredible speeds, needing to adjust yourself to a base level. No wonder seeing the world from your perspective caused that much backlash.”

Not to mention how Izuku’s sense of time perception was far, far different from Nighteye’s. But the man was certainly smart, and despite this experience, Izuku could tell he had earned his role as an investigative hero. 

“See you later then, Nighteye. I'm looking forward to working with you in the future.”

Before Nighteye could reply the man was gone; dashing out of the agency faster than he could see.

The heroes stared at the spot where Atlas had stood in wonder.

“...I deserved that, didn’t I?” Nighteye muttered.

“You sure did, boss!” Bubble Girl chirped.

Dad had left early for U.A, probably to set up the exam. So after getting ready(they were supposed to wear a school uniform, but Akari was ‘homeschooled’ so a hoodie it was) and armed with school supplies, she walked out the doorway.

Even though Dad had definitely made the physical part a challenge, she could do this...probably. Well, either way, she was going to try her bes-

“Good luck, Nee-chan!” Eri called out brightly.

Akari was going to destroy this exam.

U.A was impressive, with huge buildings that stretched straight up.

The auditorium wasn’t nearly as large as Arcadia’s, though. Akari took her seat near the back, next to a blonde with red eyes. He was glaring up at the front with some kind of intense focus, as a man walked up to the stage-

What the hell was that hair? It shot straight up, like the man had lost a fight with an electrical outlet.

“Hello, listeners!” The cockatoo boomed. Despite his lack of a microphone, it echoed throughout the spacious room. 

“I’m the Voice Hero: Present Mic, your host for this practical exam! Who’s excited? Can I get a YEAH?” 

She was! Akari cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back-

“Yeah!”

-then realized that not a single other examinee had responded. Almost every head turned to look at her, and Akari now wanted to bury herself into the ground.

Mic, however, grinned. “Thank you, listener!”

A board lit up behind the hero, three shadowed figures listed.

“This year’s practical exam will be point-based! There are four different enemies you will encounter. Robots will count for one villain point, and you will find several throughout your zone. Fake monsters, stimulated through an ability, will be more of a challenge and count as two villain points each. And for the three pointers-” Mic’s grin grew wider and next to him a familiar woman appeared, blonde hair with green eyes scanning the room.

Was that Loki-sensei?

“-Loki here will be helping out!” Mic stepped back, and the goddess took the stage.

In her hand, a microphone appeared. 

“Hello everyone! My name is Loki, and I’ll be serving as your three-pointer today.” A clone of the woman appeared next to her, and they both bowed to the audience.

“There won’t be too many of us around, but we’ll definitely be a challenge. Good luck, students!” 

With that, both Lokis winked and vanished into thin air.

“That covers your three enemies, listeners! Also-”

Mic paused, looking at a student waving his arm in the air frantically.

“Yes?”

A boy shot up from his seat(were those engines in his legs?). “Excuse me! I have a question-”

Mic cut him off kindly. “Then it should wait till after I’m finished, you dig? I could end up answering you!”

Engine Boy sat down, abashed, as the loud hero continued.

“There will also be an obstacle, worth zero points. The enemy is not worth defeating and is there to hinder your quest for points. You may all use your fancy quirks for this exam, but there will be no attacking other examinees whatsoever. Now, are there any questions before we begin? No?”

“Then let’s get started!”

U.A. had a giant fake city to battle in, complete with roads and buildings for them to freely destroy.

Akari was starting to wonder just how bottomless their budget was.

She was moving as soon as the gates opened, Mic’s loud “GO!” ringing behind her.

Akari raised her hand, a sphere of white light forming in her palm before splitting into her six colors. 

“Prism.”

She couldn’t help but smile, no matter how many times she used it. Because Prism was hers, born and practiced through hard work. And now was one of the times she got to show off.

Akari controlled each of her lights, shifting them into weapons. 

Red and Blue formed into twin blades. Akari blazed through the first swarm, agonizing slow robots not having time to fire before she sliced through them like butter.

This was going to be fun.

Orange, Yellow, and Green streaked through the air, cutting through anything not in her path of destruction. Akari kept Purple behind her, swirling around to take out anything she missed.

A giant green scorpion lunged, three stingers aimed towards her head. Akari ducked, kicking through its body with the same movement. Orange and Yellow turned into daggers, stabbing through a robot aiming at her from behind as she swung Blue to take out a flaming bull. Akari hadn't seen many monsters, but now that the Drift was over. she noticed most of them seemed like mutated Earth creatures-

Akari sidestepped as some kind of scaly thing with two heads spat poison at her, using Purple to stab it in panic. The poison seemed to eat away the ground as it landed.

But some of them were completely alien from what she knew. Curiously though, all the monsters were a bright green, the mana creating the beasts familiar. 

The humans were starting to catch up. Akari forced herself not to stare as they used their abilities, especially when a girl with giant hands punched through a robot, and Engine Boy blazed past her to dropkick a robot. How did his quirk even work? Humans evolving extra limbs was possible, maybe even emitter abilities, but that was technology inside his body! Did that make Engine Boy a cyborg?

Red turned into a battleaxe, the extra power cleaving through a robot before it whacked a girl. Her eyes were wide as the threat was knocked into a building with excess force(well, it's not like U.A couldn't pay for that or anything).

"Are you okay?" Akari asked. She had horns, like Eri, curling off the top of her head.

"T-Thank you!" She bowed so low that Akari had to step back to avoid losing an eye before dashing off. 

Akari ended up having to save other examinees quite often, the zone filled with chaos with lasers and monsters everywhere. She turned Green and Yellow into shields, blocking blows for humans pushing them away from debris as she kept up her rampage, the other colors wrecking any target in sight. She hadn't had this much fun in a while, a rush of adrenaline and a rhythm as she let loose a little-

A flash in the corner of her eye made her move, blocking a laser from hitting a guy in the face. He had weird elbows with...holes? and blinked in shock when he registered the glowing shield in front of him.

“Oh! Thanks!”

Blue sliced through the attacking robot, and Yellow turned into a spear to impale the lion behind it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Weird Elbow guy cover the next robot with tape, spewing out from his elbows as he trapped the enemy before kicking it’s head off. 

“You’re a tape dispenser? ” Akari blurted.

Tape Boy winced. “Uh ye-”

Akari turned to him, eyes wide. Behind her, Green and Orange decimated a pack of green wolves. “Dude, that’s so cool. You have like, unlimited duct tape.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re blazing around-” He taped the mouth of a beast shut before it could bite him, and she cut it in half. “-with weapons of light. Meanwhile, I’m just a knockoff Spiderman...”

Akari blinked in confusion, blasting a robot into pieces with a burst from her palm. “Who?”

Tape Boy sputtered. “W-What! You don’t know who Spiderman is?!”

He didn’t even notice the robot behind him, and Akari had to use Purple to stab through its head before it could fire.

 “...Should I?” Akari asked, hesitantly. he turned green turned into a whip, striking out at a wolf before it could bite a downed examinee before dragging them out of harm's way. Akari wasn’t exactly sure how far Loki’s magic monsters would go, but she didn’t really want to find out. 

“You know what? The next time I see you, when we’re not...fighting a bunch of monsters or whatever, I’m showing you what a comic is.” 

Akari brightened. “Oh! I’ve heard of those! Like Batman!”

Tape Boy sighed. “How-you know what, whatever, I’m not going to question the scary girl’s taste in comics.”

“Sca-”

A woman appeared suddenly, lashing out in a kick. Purple blocked the blow, the force on the shield making Akari wince, and Green and Yellow forced the new woman to leap back.

“Hello, Akari.” The goddess greeted cheerfully, green eyes alight-oh.

“Loki-sensei...why are you here?”

Loki shrugged, even as two clones appeared behind her student, firing off blasts of green energy. “Izuku asked me for a favor, and I was bored. Here we are!”

Red and Blue flashed, cutting through both. She would probably feel bad for killing clones of her teacher later, but right now, she honestly didn’t care. 

Tape Boy was struggling against a Loki, but she couldn’t help him without dealing with her own clones first as they came from every direction. Two more clones appeared with every one Akari dispelled, her six colors suddenly not enough against the onslaught-

“Hey, aren’t you going way harder on me than anybody else?” Akari asked, forced to turn Blue into a shield for the extra defense. Each Loki clone was using all kinds of magic, toned down on the humans of course. But naturally, they were at full speed for her.

“Yep.” A Loki replied, shamelessly.

Purple floated around her in shield form, Red and Blue a sword and buckler as she pushed herself to counter. Her concentration was stretched thin with the rest of her colors flying around in offense, keeping the Lokis from gathering together. 

Red slashed at a Loki, but instead of slicing through the trickster caught it, aiming a powerful punch that slammed into Blue like a sledgehammer. The Loki raised both arms to fire-

-before they were completely wrapped in white tape. Loki’s eyes went wide, and Akari used the moment to lunge through her with Red.

“Thanks, Tape Boy!”

“No problem, Scary Girl!”

Akari squinted at him. “I’m not scary.”

Tape Boy stared at her, incredulous. “Are y-”

Every Loki suddenly vanished as one. leaving behind many confused students. 

Akari didn't question the good fortune though, gathering her mana to leap back in.

With the abrupt gap in, Akari noticed the students hiding along walls or away from the fighting. It wasn’t like combat was for everyone, after all, and better they find that out now than in an actual fight. That was one thing this crazy, unorganized exam was good for.

With the Loki’s gone for some reason, reaping through the monsters and robots was easy. She left Tape Boy back there somewhere, but he would be fine. It wasn’t like there was anything more dangerous her-

Then the ground shook, trembling like her very thoughts were an insult.

A huge robot stumbled into view, taller than a skyscraper as glowing red lenses scanned the ruined fake city. Its giant head rotated to face the now terrified examinees, weapons preparing to fire.

Right. The Zero Pointer. She forgot about that.

Well, that was...cool. But it was just that, a zero-pointer that would give her absolutely nothing but stress. Akari ran the other way, like a calm, reasonable person. She wasn't going near that massive thing, probably worth more money than their Earth apartment-

Mana pinged at the edge of her senses, especially since, unlike the other escaping humans, this light pink presence was right in front of the approaching robot.

And not moving.

Meaning they were stuck in front of the giant threat.

Briefly, Akari wondered how anybody could hold such an uncontrolled, dangerous exam. Then, she remembered her father and Loki were both here, and it all made sense again. 

Akari turned, sprinting back the way she came to find a girl trapped beneath some rubble. Thankfully, the behemoth wasn't very fast, or this girl would probably be dead.

Carefully, she lifted the rocks of the brunette. She winced when she saw the girl’s leg. There was no way she was running away by herself, then. She slung the girl over her shoulder, ignoring her embarrassed protests as Akari made a run for it.

Akari carried the brunette for around ten seconds before the exam finally ended, the deadly heap of scrap metal slowing to a stop. She sighed, watching a nice grey-haired woman kiss the girl she just saved on the leg, the injury vanishing in an instant, as the girl with giant hands from earlier carried a guy made of steel out of the testing zone, unconscious, while half of the examinees just stared around in shock.

This was going to be a long three years.

Chapter Text

Izuku picked up the phone on the first ring, the sun starting to rise as his daily routine finished. 

“Oh, hey Nighteye-” 

“Overhaul is dead.”

Izuku blinked as the words set into his hazy morning brain. 

“Overhaul? Wasn’t he in jail?”

“He was,” Nighteye confirmed. “And his cell was isolated, so it couldn’t have been another prisoner. This morning guard came by for a check and Overhaul was just...dead. We can’t even tell how it happened, since there’s zero sign of injury.” 

“Was he sick?” Izuku asked.

“Perfectly healthy the day before. And if this was an attack, the list of people with a grudge against a yakuza boss is...high.”

 I thought you should be the first to know, being the one who captured him, after all.”

Izuku was new to the investigative part of heroics, but he had a feeling this wasn’t just a petty grudge.

“Thanks for telling me, Nighteye,” Izuku said. “You’ll call me if you need help, right?”

The line went silent, and Izuku was just about to check if he had been hung up on again when the man spoke. 

“Of course.”

“Open it, open it!”

“I don’t know...maybe we should wait for Dad and Mom?” Akari wondered.

“Nee-san!” Eri whined, pleading with her eyes. Adorable.

Akari smiled, picking up the girl and placing her in her lap. 

“Alright, alright.”

Eri adjusted herself, content, and Akari avoided her horn as she leaned over to open the package.

She was expecting a letter, but instead, the fancy U.A envelope dropped a metal disk on the table. 

A hologram lit up above the disk, casting Eri's awed face in blue light as it displayed a dark-haired man.

“Akari Midoriya, you got 135 villain points. When we add the rescue points-” Rescue? “-your total score comes out to 151.” The man yawned. “That makes you the top score on the entrance exam, or whatever. Can’t believe I have to do 19 more of these...”

“Wow. You're amazing, Nee-san.”

It was a human exam and she had been training way longer than her competition. But getting first, especially when she tried her best, still meant a lot to her.

Akari patted her sister on the head, and Eri leaned into the touch.

“Thanks, Eri.”

The doorway, like everything else in this school, was huge. Though with mutant quirks existing, like the tall guy sitting in the back with six arms , Akari could see why. 

More students filled in, taking seats near their friends.

Akari wasn’t really used to new people, ranking up with the same kids until she passed them. Having nineteen new classmates was a little surreal, and she observed them as they made their first impressions.

Humans called their abilities ‘quirks’, the abilities they suddenly gained as a child. Akari knew enough English to directly translate the word. 

A unique trait or habit.

It made sense now, seeing her new classmates. Every human was strangely unique in some way, with physical differences even outside mutant quirks and emphasized personalities. Akari was happy to see that Tape Boy got in, especially. The angry blonde from before sat in front of her, slamming his feet onto the desk in front of him and setting off Engine Boy into a rant.

“Fuji!” Akari said, getting the attention of the winged boy as he walked in. His was the only name she knew here, after all.

Fuji glanced at her, surprised. “Midoriya-san, right?”

Akari nodded.

“I remember you, it’s been a while. It’s lucky that we’re in the same class.”

“I-” Akari cut off, her head snapping to the side. A muted presence, but with their mana unsuppressed it was like a beacon to anyone who could sense magic. 

A giant yellow caterpillar was slowly making its way across the floor, undetected to the talking students. When Akari stared at it, the caterpillar paused, standing up .

Oh, a sleeping bag. That made more sense. 

The bag was unzipped with practiced speed, leaving an exhausted-looking man in a dark combat suit; the same guy who gave her the exam results. There was some kind of wrapping around his neck, and the conversations around the room slowly stopped as they noticed him.

“It took a full minute for you all to quiet down, and only one student here even noticed me come in. Much to improve on. My name is Aizawa Shota, and I’m your homeroom teacher. Behind me are your gym uniforms; get dressed in the changing rooms and meet me on the field. Hurry up, you have five minutes.” The scruffy man walked out of the room as he finished, leaving them rushing to comply.

Aizawa-sensei seemed like a serious person, which was probably exactly what heroes-in-training needed. But at the same time, he seemed to exclude an aura of pure exhaustion, like he was seconds from falling asleep. It didn’t look like he had taken care of his hair once in his life, either.

Were all human teachers like this?

Dark eyes scanned the crowd. “Today we’ll be holding the quirk assessment test; a simple set of physical exams.”

“But sensei, what about orientation?” A brunette asked. Oh, girl Akari saved.

“A waste of time, really. So every year, I’ve held this instead. You’ve probably done exercises like this to measure your growth throughout your schooling on Earth, without any quirks. But now you’ll have free reign to use your abilities, including magic, to get your best score...” 

Lots of students seem to light up with excitement, getting to show off, test themselves-

“...but whoever comes in last is expelled from U.A University.” Aizawa finished with an evil smirk on his face.

Silence.

Then, everyone started talking at once, protesting with loud voices that drowned each other out.

Akari only smiled.

A challenge was exactly what she was here for, after all. The rest, on the other hand-

“You can’t do that! It’s not fair!” A blonde yelled, a black bolt running through his hair. 

Aizawa only raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “And? Are you going to say the same thing when you're fighting for your life against villains? Or trying not to be eaten by a monster?”

“But we passed the exam...” a voice came from somewhere behind Akari.

“Congrats. Now you need to pass this.” Aizawa cut them off. The man held up a red ball.

“Midoriya. You got first place in the entrance exam. As a demonstration, stand in that circle and launch the ball as far as you can.”

Akari caught the ball in her palm, feeling its weight as she stared at the field in front of her. She could hear the students whispering behind her, excited to see the top-placed examinee’s abilities.

She could, really, just toss the ball and get more than enough distance. After decades of training with Dad, her physical strength was nothing to scoff at, especially by human standards. 

But that would be boring. Moreover, she definitely wasn’t going to spend three years holding back, and Akari had shown off her magic in the exam.

If Akari was going to be a hero, then she might as well be the best one, right?

Akari glanced back at the crowd. 

“You uh...might want to cover your ears.”

A girl with headphone-like jacks did so immediately, along with a few others. The rest just seem confused, though.

At least she'd warned them.

Akari’s mana flowed out, a brilliant sphere of light enveloping the ball. Soon it was completely covered, a white projectile bristling with energy in her hand. It was almost too bright for the other students to look at, lighting up her face. Akari winded back her arm-

“YEET!”

-and launched the ball with all her strength. The white beam streaked through the clouds, vanishing in an instant.

The boom came immediately after as the sound barrier shattered. The force knocked a few students off her feet, their eyes wide as the wind blew past them, the bushes around them flattened. There was a giant hole in the clouds, stretching wide from where her throw pierced through.

Akari grinned. It wasn’t as strong as Dad’s Javelin, not yet...

...but it was definitely pretty cool.

Aizawa was still standing, impressively, despite being the closest to her. Akari could see a bit of his carefree mask break, eyes calculating. But then the tired look was back, just a second later.

“Infinity, you must have thrown it outside the atmosphere.” Aizawa intoned, holding up the distance gauge. “The rest of you, see this as an example to push yourselves as far as you can go.”

“Holy shit!”

“Did she say ‘Yeet’...”

“That chick just launched the ball into space !”

“How do we beat that?”

Aizawa ignored them. “Next.”

Akari felt a little guilty, destroying her classmates at the physical tests. Then again, some of them clearly hadn't trained their bodies at all, like that electric guy.

Most of them were creative with their abilities. A guy who shot beams out of his stomach propelled himself for the sprint, and she saw Tape Boy launch the ball with a tape slingshot.

Some people were perfect for a specific test, like when the brunette matched her score on the ball throw by removing its gravity, making it float into space. On the long jump, Fuji simply hovered with his wings until Aizawa sighed and told him to come down.

A dark-haired girl seemed to be able to create objects with her body, which was probably the most useful quirk Akari had seen so far. Almost anything she'd need, right at her fingertips. She breezed through the tests, able to make the right item to get through each one while the red and white-haired guy created large amounts of ice, scoring high with similar ease. For some reason though, the ice only seemed to come from his right side.

In contrast, the invisible girl had it the worst. Being invisible was useless for physical tests, and while she was a lot more flexible than the majority of her class, she couldn’t get an impressive score on any of them.

Akari came in first, the dark-haired girl behind her. In third was the angry blonde, seething. Akari thought he did pretty well, really, fire magic boosting his legs while explosions emitted from his hands for a lot of mobility. Her eyes slide down to the end of the list, wincing at the invisible girl’s dejected pose. 

“By the way, that was a logical ruse to make you try harder. No one is getting expelled, Hagakure.” Aizawa said casually. 

The class burst into an uproar, Hagakure straightening up in surprise.

“We’re already on the roster. Of course, he wouldn't actually expel us.” The dark-haired girl commented over the fuss. Unfortunately, their teacher heard her.

“Actually, Yaoyorozu, I expelled the entire class the year before the Drift.” Her face changed from a reassuring smile into shock. “The only reason the twenty of you aren’t going home is that I see a bit of potential in all of you. Class is dismissed for today, so go check out your dorms..."

"...before I change my mind.” Aizawa finished.

The field was empty of students in an instant.

1-A had an entire building for their class dorms, called Heights Alliance. The girls would be moving into the right-wing, with the guys on the left. Akari’s room was on the third floor.

It was pretty similar to her room at home, with a green bed and blanket with purple walls. The stars lit up on the ceiling above her when she turned off the lights, and she had brought a few pictures to put up. There wasn't much yet, but she could probably take more from the house.

Akari was sad to move out after living in her Earth apartment for so many years. It helped that Mom, Dad, and Eri were moving into the faculty building near her, but she couldn't help feeling homesick over living somewhere new now that she was really here.

The class filtered into the first floor after setting up their rooms, taking spots among the couches.

A girl with eye-catching pink skin and a bright smile spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. “Hello everyone! Now that we’re all here, we should introduce ourselves! Name, abilities, and something you like. I’m Ashido Mina and my quirk’s Acid. I love dancing!”

“Kirishima Ejiro.” The redhead next to Ashido said. “My quirk’s Hardening!” Kirishima flexed his arm to demonstrate, the limb turning sharp and rock-like. “I like manly things!”

What did that even mean?

“Asui Tsuyu. My quirk is called Frog, which is pretty self-explanatory. I learned a bit of water magic since I love swimming, kero.”

“I’m Hagakure Tooru!” The invisible girl waved her sleeves at them. “I’m invisible, as you...might have noticed. I'm trying to learn light magic, and I love dogs!”

“Mashirao Ojiro.” The blonde nodded, curling his tail behind him. “You can see what my quirk is. I’m learning enhancement magic, and I enjoy martial arts.”

“My name’s Rikido Sato, and my quirk is Sugar Rush. I love baking.”

Almost every head whipped to him, eyes wide.

“You’re free to use the kitchen whenever you want.” Ashido promised, grasping his hands seriously. 

“Uh...thanks?”

“Mezo Shoji. My quirk is Dupli-Arms.” The tall boy with a mask said quietly. “I like cats.”

In contrast, the blonde next to him posed dramatically. “Yuuga Aoyama! My fabulous ability is called Naval Laser! I love...myself☆”

How did he just-

“Fumikage Tokoyami. My fate is to be forever possessed by a powerful being. I am one with the darkness.”

Then a dark bird thing popped out of him. “And I’m Dark Shadow, cursed to forever possess a weak body. Oh, and I love video games!”

Humans were so weird . 

The boy with a rock-like head was up next. He seemed flustered as the room’s attention turned to him, unable to speak.

“I know sign language...if that would be easier?” Shoji asked, and the boy turned to him with relief.

“He says his name is Koji Koda-” Shoji glanced at the boy again. “-and his quirk is Anivoice, letting him speak to animals. He loves nature.”

“My name’s Kaminari Denki, Quirk: Electrification! I love girls-Ow!”

Akari winced as the blonde was cut off with a sharp blow.

The girl who just elbowed him rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. I’m Kyoka Jirou, and my quirk’s Earphone Jack.” Her long earlobes twisted into a lazy circle. “I love music.”

“Haruto Fuji, my quirk’s called Angel Wings. I love pizza and flying!”

“Dude, that's so cool. Your quirk is just like Hawks!” Kirishima exclaimed.

Fuji beamed at the redhead, his feathers turning a vibrant yellow behind him. “He’s my favorite hero! Who’s yours?”

“Crimson Riot! He’s kinda retro, but he’s just so manly, you know?”

“I’m Uraraka Ochako.” The brunette next to Akari said. “My quirk’s called Zero Gravity, and I love space!”

“Is that what you did earlier? Removed the ball’s gravity so it floated off?” Akari asked, curious.

“Yep! Oh, and thank you so much for saving me from that giant robot...” Uraraka trailed off.

“Ak-Midoriya Akari.” Akari realized that she was next to introduce herself anyway, and continued. “My quirk’s called Demigod, and I know light magic. I-” Eri flashed in her mind, and Akari smiled. “-love unicorns, and katsudon. In that order.”

“Is it your quirk that makes you so strong?” Uraraka asked. “You threw the ball so fast it just went whoosh then bam! ” Her hands moved as she talked with wild gestures.

Akari couldn’t help but smile at her antics. “Yeah, I got it from my Dad.”

The angry blonde huffed when he realized it was his turn. “Name’s Bakugou Katsuki. My quirk, Explosion-” His hands sparked. “-is a lot better than all of your lame-ass abilities. I know fire magic too, and like really spicy food.” 

The elegant girl next to him narrowed her eyes at his arrogance. “My name is Yaoyorozu Momo, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all. My quirk is Creation, and I enjoy reading.”

“I am Iida Tenya, and my quirk is called Engine. I am fond of studying and furthering academic achievement.” Iida bowed formally. “I look forward to working with you all!”

“Hanta Sero! My quirk’s called Tape, and I like comics.” Tape Boy said.

Everyone looked at the last student, the red and white-haired boy zoning back in when he realized they were waiting for a response.

“Todoroki Shouto. Half-Hot-Half-Cold.” He said flatly.

“And uh...something you like?” Kaminari prompted when he didn't continue.

Todoroki stared at them for a full twenty seconds, as if Kaminari just asked him the meaning of the universe.

Finally, Todoroki tilted his head.

“Soba.”

Ashido clapped her hands like that hadn’t been horribly awkward. “Great! Now that we all know each other-”

Akari interrupted with a mental apology to the pink girl, desperately avoiding an icebreaker. “-we should be eating dinner soon, right? Does anyone else know how to cook?”

Among the other nineteen students, there were only a few raised hands. She could see it dawn on them that they would need to cook their own food; that their class was now living together for another three years .

Akari sighed.

Izuku met twenty pairs of eyes with a smile, his runic cloak snug around him. He was probably just as excited as they were, to be honest, but he couldn’t help it. Unlike magic, every quirk was almost completely unique. Furthering all of their abilities was going to be so cool.

“Hello everyone! My name is Midoriya Izuku, also known as the hero Atlas, and I’ll be teaching you Foundational Hero Studies.”

A dark-haired girl(Yaoyorozu, his mind supplied) raised her hand. 

“You’re the man who arrested Overhaul, are you not?”

“Yep. You’ve heard about it?” Izuku said.

Several students spoke at once.

“I saw the video, it was so cool!”

“How did you move that fast? What’s your quirk?” 

“What will we be doing today, Atlas-sensei?” 

“You’re right, I do have a powerful mutant enhancer. Though when you're in the classroom, please raise your hands like Yaoyorozu did when you have something to say. To answer your question, Iida-”

Behind him twenty slots opened in the wall, each holding a suitcase.

“-today you’ll be getting used to your hero costumes!” Izuku grinned at their excited faces(except Akari, who was rolling her eyes). 

He lined them up in Gym Gamma, which he reserved the day before. He shouldn’t have bothered really; U.A had quite a few training areas, all just as big. The budget for the university truly was amazing.

Izuku didn’t know a lot about hero costumes; his own was literally just his favorite cloak. But he did understand the basic concept: something to wear in battle, usually designed for ease of combat and to improve the effectiveness of a hero’s unique abilities. 

Present Mic’s directional speakers let him aim his Voice quirk for example, and Vlad King had a glove that removed his own blood for him to manipulate.

“Doesn’t my cape look stunning?” Aoyama asked.

“It does. All your hero costumes look amazing!” Izuku praised. And they truly did, making the group of almost adults seem impressive, each imprinted with their own distinct style.

That didn’t change how horribly impractical some of them were, though.

Aoyama’s beautiful indigo cape was a glaring weakness, easily pulled on in a fight.

Todoroki’s entire left side was covered in what looked like...fake ice? That would probably mess with the “hot” side of his quirk, and if it was symbolizing that the boy was just going to be using his ice, well, that was even worse. 

Yaoyorozu’s costume was...revealing. Though it made sense with her quirk; more exposed skin would let her wield her creations better, and bring out bigger objects. It didn’t change the fact, though, that she was practically asking to be hit in the stomach. It worked for Kirishima, whose ability was essentially armor, but Yaoyorozu didn’t have that same luxury.

He almost winced when he saw Hagakure’s 'costume'. It was probably tough to make a costume that could turn invisible, but a support department just giving someone gloves to fight in was absolutely ridiculous. 

Izuku would definitely bring this up to them later. But for now, he let them enjoy their first time being in costume, glancing at each other in awe. He gave Akari a thumbs-up when he saw her, and she forgot to be embarrassed by him long enough to grin back.

He put them through stretches first, getting their muscles ready for what they were going to do next. Plus, if a costume was too bulky or constraining to stretch, you probably couldn’t fight in it.

Some of his new students had barely stretched before(no matter how much Jirou teased Kaminari, she still showed him exactly what to do) while on the opposite end Ashido looked like she was having fun. He had to concentrate on the feel of her light refraction to even get a vague idea of what Hagakure was doing, but the invisible girl was even more flexible than Ashido.

When they were done Izuku reinforced the air, creating a large purple dome in the center to function as the arena.

“I’ll be pairing each of you off to fight,” Izuku said. “The rules are simple; if you are unable to move, surrender, or are forced out of the battle area, you lose. No maiming or other serious injuries, obviously.” He ignored Bakugou’s disappointed huff. “When you're not fighting, try to observe your classmates since we’ll be discussing the battles after. Any questions-Ashido?”

“Are we allowed to damage the floor?” The pink girl asked.

Izuku blinked. “Yeah, sure.”

The muttered Yes! was...concerning.

Ojiro was up first for his casual confidence, clearly used to sparring. He faced Fuji, the boy’s wings turned a light red, tensing up behind him.

As soon as the match started, Ojiro leaped . He flipped mid-air, building momentum as his tail swung down like a sledgehammer on his opponent.

Fuji’s eyes widened, wings folding above him just in time. The blow made him wince, knees bending from the force.

Ojiro landed smoothly, tail sliding off the block as he aimed a flurry of jabs at Fuji’s body. Fuji seemed to have some training as well, deflecting and countering with his own attacks. His wings shot forward, forcing the tailed boy to back out of range whenever they lashed out. The two danced around each other, launching wide attacks with their extra limbs. Fuji was doing his best to keep Ojiro away since his wings weren't nearly as agile as the boy's tail, but he was already tiring. 

Ojiro ducked under Fuji’s left-wing, landing a fierce punch before sweeping out the winged boy’s legs from under him. The match ended with Fuji pinned on his back, wings flapping below him uselessly.

Ojiro let him up once Izuku called it, grinning despite the sweat on his face. “Good fight.” 

Fuji smiled back hesitantly, his wings flickering into a light yellow. “You too.”

Ashido slid across the cement, her acid letting her skate circles around her opponent. The ground withered beneath her as she moved.

Shoji was chasing after her, multiple arms growing to grab the pink girl. Ashido tossed globs of acid in wide arcs to keep him at bay. The tall boy was surprisingly agile, sidestepping her attacks.

Izuku noticed that her projectiles didn’t eat through the ground, meaning that she could effectively control how corrosive her acid was. To use her quirk in combat, she needs perfect control to avoid permanently injuring her opponent.

This was probably how Shoji was catching up to her so easily. Subconsciously Ashido was afraid of messing up and hurting him, so she wasn’t aiming hard at him. 

Ashido was mobile in a way only years of practice could get you, dodging through the barrage of arms with grace. The girl didn’t seem to have an actual basis in hand-hand combat though, so when Shoji did grab her, Ashido was easily tossed out of the arena.

But there was definitely potential there.

Aoyama had the right idea, blasts of blue energy forcing Yaoyorozu to focus on dodging so she wouldn’t have time to make anything. She seemed frustrated at first, unable to make anything complex, before the solution came to her. She had been commenting on the matches before her, her tactical sense was impressive for someone so young.

Yaoyorozu ducked under the next beam, a shield forming on her left hand as she sprinted toward the fancy blond, the metal letting her deflect the light beams as she approached. The downside of freely attacking that much was the intelligent girl had now figured out his pattern, letting her weave through his increasingly panicked attacks easily. 

Aoyama’s eyes widened as she got close, firing a huge beam-

-that literally backfired when the girl pulled a mirror from her stomach. The light reflected off the shining surface, crashing back into the unfortunate blonde and throwing him out of the arena.

The less said about Hagakure and Koda’s match, the better.

Sero and Uraraka’s fight went on the longest, a tense match to see who’s quirk would grip the other first. Sero finally slipped up when Uraraka grabbed his next string of tape, removing the gravity and pulling the surprised boy towards her into a vicious punch before throwing him out of bounds.

Kaminari let out all of his electricity in a single burst that Kirishima’s fully hardened body tanked. The redhead lowered his arms to attack, only to find the blonde stumbling around with a dazed expression.

Izuku definitely needed to fix that; unleashing a single attack before becoming useless and vulnerable could get the boy killed. Fighting without frying his own brain would be great as well. 

Katsuki and Iida were up last for the day, since this would probably be the most intense match...

...and at least one of them would most likely need to visit Recovery Girl. 

Iida’s hero costume was a bright white that protected his entire body, complete with a helmet. The well-designed suit of armor didn’t seem to hinder him at all, instead offering protection that he was probably about to need

Katsuki's hero costume fit his demolition theme, with huge grenade bracers attached to his wrists. The bottom of his boots were bare, and Izuku immediately found out why. 

Mana concentrated into his feet, fire pushing out and launching him like a rocket as soon as Izuku started the match. At the same time, his arms pointed behind him and let off explosions, boosting him even further.

Iida accelerated immediately, ducking just in time as the first flaming kick blazed over his head and swinging his own roundhouse to counter. 

Katsuki seemed ready for it though, blasting himself over the kick in an impressive show of control before landing behind his opponent and landing a searing palm to Iida’s back. 

“Take that, fucking four-eyes!” 

The other boy stumbled, recovering fast to throw an armored elbow. Katsuki easily sidestepped, a cocky smirk as he lashed out with a fiery leg-

-only for Iida’s own engine-enhanced kick to slam into his attack with a crack. The blonde was knocked off balance and Iida’s engines kicked into gear, grabbing Katsuki as he zoomed towards the edge of the arena.

Katsuki reacted fast, twisting out of the taller boy’s grip. His palms blasted away armored arms before scoring a clean hit on Iida’s torso, a large explosion throwing Iida back.

Katsuki lunged for Iida’s helmet only to miss as the boy ducked, knee shooting up at his opponent’s chin. Katsuki parried the attack with an explosion, showing off his pure reaction speed, before kicking straight up, a whip of flame striking Iida’s chest with a hiss.

Iida was exhausted, and while Katsuki was too, sweating only made the blonde’s quirk powerful. Then tall boy’s stance set into something determined, and his engines began to fire blue -

His speed increased almost tenfold, as Iida streaked towards his opponent at a velocity that only Izuku could properly see.

-his first kick was a blur of silver that Katsuki’s arms raised to block on instinct, red eyes widening as the powerful blow hit his side. The impact traveled through, knocking the blonde harshly to the ground as he tumbled. 

Katsuki rolled to his feet blasting the ground as Iida approached. The rippling cement was a smart obstacle against an enemy too fast to defend against. But Iida was too fast, leaping over the attack and catching the blonde in a tackle. Katsuki blew him off with a blast, but Iida was already blazing back towards him, unfazed. There was no way for the blonde to dodge or counter another blow, so his hand drifted to the gauntlets on his wrist but there was no way he was going to make it-

Then Iida’s engine stalled, blue fire giving way to smoke as the boy slowed to a stop a few meters away from his opponent, unable to move. He was stuck, stiffening as he realized he was out of time.

Katsuki released the pin on both gauntlets and all his built-up power burst-

Pause.

The explosion was like a blooming flower of fire, captured in front of Iida like art, his white armor glowing in orange and yellow light. Katsuki’s face was frozen in a wide grin. 

Izuku passed the awed faces of his students as he stepped into the air dome, inspecting the flame. Pretty powerful for human levels, but not enough to seriously injure his strictest student. If Katsuki had more time to collect sweat, well, it would be a completely different story. Just to be safe though, Izuku carved away a bit of the explosion. 

He pushed Kaminari and Ashido, who were directly behind Iida, out of the way before stepping back.

-in huge twin blasts, slamming Iida into the wall with a massive crash. 

Ashido gasped, not even noticing she had just teleported as the armored boy slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, Katsuki stumbled out of the arena, standing on pure stubbornness before collapsing onto Kirishima.

Akari was staring at Izuku, the only one to catch a hint of what he just did, and Izuku winked at his daughter before picking up both of his fallen students.

“Great work today, everyone!” Izuku grinned at the rest of his class. They really had been amazing, especially for the first day. “Your fights were pretty impressive, though it got a little bit more...exciting at the end than I expected. If you didn’t battle today, then you’ll be going next class. Remember to talk to me about any concerns or changes you want to make to your costumes!”

Izuku gave them a thumbs-up at the chimed ‘Yes, Atlas-sensei!’.

“Class dismissed!”

Chapter Text

Recovery Girl didn’t, in fact, kill him. 

“You did the right thing, dearie, a simple exercise in a controlled environment. Better than I can say for some idiots...” Shuzenji muttered, kissing both unconscious boys on the forehead. Izuku watched as the energy ran through their bodies, healing the results of their fight.

“The Bakugou boy is mostly just exhausted, and with my quirk, Iida will be fine after just a little rest. That said-” Shuzenji’s cane hit the floor with a sharp clack. 

“-I don’t want to see any more of your students here for a while, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Izuku gave her a salute, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“Bakugou, you can’t put that much in there.” Akari sighed.

The blonde turned, a handful of peppers held over their curry. “Why the hell not?”

“You’ll kill, like, half our classmates.” 

Bakugou huffed. “Serves them right, the weaklings.”

“My preparation is do-Bakugou, are you putting in all of those? ” Ojiro exclaimed.

“It’s going to be spicy .”

“But uh...how are the rest of us going to eat it?” 

Bakugou paused, considering. “You have a point, Tail-”

“I just told you my name-”

“-my cooking going to waste would be a fucking tragedy.”

The blonde went to remove the poison, tucking away half-

“Kaminari.” Akari reminded him.

- most of his peppers, muttering something under his breath about wimps and natural selection as he did.

Kaminari coughed, hurriedly sipping his water. “Man, this curry’s really spicy!”

Todoroki blinked at him from his spot on the couch. “I thought it was mild...I don't feel anything.”

Bakugou’s head whipped back and forth between them, unable to choose who to lash out at.

“Iida-san, you're part of the Iida Family, correct? I’ve heard that they have been in heroics for generations.” Yaoyorozu asked.

Akari closed her eyes, savoring the taste of her next spoon. Bakugou acted like a child, but his curry was pretty good(nothing compared to her family’s cooking, though).

Iida pushed up his glasses. “Indeed. Just like my brother, Ingenium, I will become a worthy hero to fulfill my family’s legacy!”

“That’s really cool, Iida! I wish my reason for being a hero was as noble...” Uraraka trailed off.

Akari glanced at her, curious. “Can I ask why you became a hero then, Uraraka?” 

The brunette fidgeted with her hands. “For the money.“My parents have a construction company, but they aren’t very well off...” 

“But Uraraka-san, is your quirk not perfectly suited to such work?” Yaoyorozu pointed out.

“That's what I said!” Uraraka exclaimed. “I could make all that heavy lifting so easy, and they wouldn’t have to worry about machine costs! But they wanted me to follow my own dreams. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve idolized Thirteen, the Rescue Hero. I’ll rescue people just like she does, and earn enough that they’ll never need to work again!” 

Uraraka stopped in the middle of her speech, a little sheepish. “It’s not really as cool as the rest of you, I bet.”

“So basically, you want to save people and help your parents?” Asui asked.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think you can get much nobler than that, kero.” 

“What honorable goals!” Iida boomed. “You should be proud of yourself!”

Uraraka’s face turned red at the praise, arms flailing. “It’s not that big of a deal!”

“What about you, Midoriya?” Uraraka turned to ask.

“Hm?”

“Why do you want to be a hero?”

Akari shrugged. “I learned about heroes a few months ago-”

Iida coughed.

“-and I was like ‘Huh, that seems kinda fun, why not.’”

“You came to U.A...because you were bored?” Yaoyorozu blurted, incredulous.

“Pretty much. Dad’s a hero too.”

“Atlas-sensei is your father, correct? You have the same surname, but I didn’t want to assume...” Iida said.

“Yep. It’s kinda weird having your dad as a teacher, to be honest.” Akari said.

“It seems we’re both related to heroes, Midoriya-san.”

“Please, just call me Akari.” She didn’t think she would ever get used to being called ‘Midoriya-san.’ Mom, on the other hand, seemed to love it for some reason.

Akari was used to given names. Having to worry about a surname and when you had permission to call someone by their given name was just a hassle. Then again, with so many humans around, they would probably get confused without two names to identify themselves...

Iida gasped, looking scandalized.

“Then you should all call me Tsu.” Asui chimed in.

“Isn’t it too early, Asu-” Iida started.

Tsu’s eyes narrowed, cutting him off with a glare. “ Tsu .”

Iida wilted, resigning himself to informality, and Yaoyorozu giggled into her hand.

“Y’know, I think I’m getting used to it,”  Kaminari said brightly, his eyes watering. “This isn’t spicy at all!”

Bakugou finally snapped, and his palms sparkled.

“Time to die, Pikachu!”

A high-pitched scream.

Aizawa popped his head in, alert, saw a panicked Kaminari running around the couch while chased by a yelling Bakugou, then immediately walked back out the door.

Setsuna showed exactly why she was a recommended student, splitting herself into fifty different pieces that each flew independently as they barraged her opponent, Nirengaki. The small boy seemed helpless against the onslaught of body parts, scrambling to dodge as they attacked him from every angle.

It was then that Izuku truly gave up on making sense of quirks. 

Maybe Setsuna had a link to each piece of herself, letting her move telekinetically(related to her body’s proprioception?). But how was she breathing while separated like that?

“Setsuna wins!” Izuku announced as Nirengaki was forced out of the purple arena after he was finally cornered. He had done well, really, considering how bad of a match-up his Twin Impact was against Lizard Tail Splitter. 

Twin Impact had an incredible amount of potential(oh how Izuku would love to have such an ability), offensive power growing exponentially with the user’s physical strength. A fight like this would force the boy’s skills outside his quirk to come into focus; something that was important when his quirk enhanced things that were already there. 

Their costumes were more practical than 1-A’s, Izuku noticed. Though there were exceptions, like that ceremonial armor weighing Shiozaki down, most of the students had chosen gear to enhance the effectiveness of their quirks. They seemed to have fewer powerhouses, but the unique nature of their abilities made up for it.

Maybe Eraserhead and Vlad King would let him pair the classes up against each other. That’d be interesting.

Izuku raised an eyebrow as Katsuki stormed up to him, the rest of 1-A not even out of the changing rooms yet. 

“Where the hell are they?”

“What do you mean?” Izuku asked.

Katsuki held out his grenade-like gauntlets, intact except for the missing firing pins on the front. “Don’t treat me like a fucking idiot.”

“Ah, those. Don’t worry, they haven’t been misplaced, I just removed them for now.”

The blonde scowled. “This is about that fucking Glasses, isn’t it. Why? His stuck-up ass is completely fine-” 

“This time, at least.” Izuku cut him off. “Katsuki, how full were your gauntlets when you pulled the pin?” 

Katsuki hesitated for a split second. “Not very. The match didn’t last long, so I didn’t have much sweat built up.”

The pause before his answer was obvious after decades of dealing with bullshitting students.

“Your gauntlets are designed well,” Izuku said. “They function as bracers, protecting your wrists from the backlash of your quirk. But more importantly, they store your explosive sweat as you fight, letting you unleash it in a huge blast later.”

“I fucking know-” 

“But your gauntlets don’t actually tell you how much sweat is stored up, right?” Izuku continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “Of course, they might weigh a little more as they charge, but ultimately, you have no clue how powerful of a weapon you're about to use. From what I gathered, the blast you launched carelessly-” 

Katsuki stiffened. 

“-was at around ten percent of the gauntlet’s max capacity. It was a short fight, but you still managed to build up enough sweat for quite some force, not to mention how you fired off both on a whim.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened. “I thought the left one didn’t fire when I was sure I pulled both. That was you, wasn’t it? You’re fucking fast enough now to block half of it without anyone noticing...”

Izuku nodded. “Meaning that you only hit Iida with five percent, yet you knocked him out for a day. If he wasn’t wearing that armor, he might’ve even broken limbs. Unlike your carefully controlled explosions, your support gear is truly lethal."

"If you want to use them in the field, you need to prove to me you understand that, Katsuki." 

Izuku didn’t know much about being a hero, but he did know what controlling overwhelming power was like. And that knowledge was exactly what a boy with this much pride and drive needed.

To be honest, most of Akari’s new classes were pretty boring. She didn’t mind having an easier year, but there was a point where it just felt slow.

You would think that with a divine sense of time an hour would breeze by. 

Wrong. It was the opposite, every pained minute stretching more than it should as Cementoss talked about literature. 

It helped a little that all her teachers were unique, each with their own pro-hero persona. The amount of innuendos Midnight dropped in a single class was incredible, some so subtle it was like a verbal scavenger hunt.

Present Mic was a bit too loud, but he did teach the only new subject she had. Akari had almost zero background in English, so learning it actually took some effort.

Maybe she should learn other human languages? She'd probably never use them, though. 

Akari sighed. She couldn't wait for Heroics, where she could work off her boredom by beating someone to a pulp.

Wait. That sounded bad.

Bakugou was sulking when Akari walked in, which was weird, but the lack of screaming was definitely welcome.

“Today we’ll be finishing off the battles from last class for those who haven’t gone yet.” Dad’s clear voice carried throughout the gym as he set up his fancy air sphere, the arena brimming with purple mana as it expanded.

What a show-off. He could’ve just drawn a circle or something.

Sato pulled a sugary treat from his hero costume, and his muscles bulged as he ate. The bright yellow costume stretched with him as his quirk activated, and the boy rushed forward-

-only to be cover his ears as a wave of sound blasted past him. 

Jirou’s jacks plugged into her legs, weaponizing her heartbeat in vibrational bursts. She crouched low on her side of the arena, focusing her attacks on Sato’s head.

Akari winced. No matter how durable Sato’s quirk made him, that noise wouldn’t hurt any less. If her ears were ringing from here, then the boy must be in agony.  

Sato’s fist smashed into the ground in front of him, cracking open the concrete. Jirou sidestepped the fissure, forced to cut off the audio as she moved.

Sato leaped towards the girl in the opening, fists already swinging as he landed.

Jirou ducked under his punches easily, edging towards the boundary. It seemed that Sugar Rush didn’t make Sato any faster, only enhancing his physical strength.

In fact, the added muscle mass made him even slower. Combined with how straightforward he was in his attacks, Sato was just too predictable.

Jirou was just about to be pushed out when her ear jacks suddenly stabbed straight for the boy’s eyes. His hands immediately rose to cover his face in reflex, and Jirou used the distraction to step behind him.

Jirou’s jacks went into the amplifiers on her arms, releasing a powerful short-ranged blast into Sato’s back, knocking him out of the purple dome.

Akari walked into the arena as Jirou helped the boy up, Todoroki doing the same. They were the last ones to fight.

The purple arena grew bigger as if in preparation for the mayhem they were about to cause.

Akari’s hero costume was simple, a green cloak with runic designs similar to Dad’s. Unlike his, though, it was more reinforced, and its cloth was weaved just for her. 

She could see Todoroki's scar completely, facing him like this; a deep red reaching down the left side of his face. His eyes were just as mismatched as his hair, a bright blue contrasting with a dark grey.

More importantly, though, was the large layer of fake ice covering the left side of the body. Not only did this boy have zero fashion sense, but he’d also rendered his left arm completely useless. With his quirk was called ‘Half-Hot-Half-Cold’-

“You're not going to use your fire, are you?” Akari asked.

Todoroki’s emotionless face didn’t shift, but his heterochromatic eyes narrowed.

Akari shrugged. “You're only handicapping yourself after all, so it’s fine...”

“Start!” 

Todoroki’s right arm swung forward, and with it came a wave of ice crashing toward her like a tidal wave-

-that Akari shattered with a single slash, blade of light bright in her hand.

“...as long as you're strong enough to go without it.”

Lines of spikes taller than she was, pillars rising beneath her, and sharp ice fragments fired at her body like bullets. Unlike most of their classmates, Todoroki seemed experienced, launching dangerous attacks with a familiarity you could only get from years of sparring.

Akari’s physical abilities could be held back to peak-human levels, but she couldn’t turn off her reflexes, her dynamic vision. Her sword sang through the rapidly chilling air, reaping his ice with precise slashes as she countered his attacks.

Todoroki couldn’t manipulate ice, Akari realized, as each of his constructions was stuck where they were instead of being used again. Sure, that was less space for her to dodge, but the left-over ice wasn't even an obstacle. 

His right side cooled down the air, letting him create ice...from the water vapor? Akari had no clue, and it didn’t really matter where he was getting it. What did matter was how she could feel her skin getting colder, her uncovered hands bristling just before his next attack. 

Akari could sense mana now, somewhat, but sensing quirks was usually impossible. Dad could do it, but well...he was weird. 

Todoroki’s ice, though, was enough like elemental magic to let her trace it. It also helped that whenever the boy attacked his right arm whipped around he was conducting an orchestra-

Akari frowned. Her opponent hadn’t actually moved a single step the entire match. She must be going way too easy on him.

That could be fixed. 

Akari dashed at him, batting away ice shards. She flipped over a massive hand that drilled through the concrete under her and sidestepped a massive spike before ducking under the twisting ice pillars before slashing them apart. 

She hadn’t had the chance to be this acrobatic in ages, and it felt wonderful. Todoroki didn’t seem to share her opinion though, his attacks getting larger and larger.

Todoroki stomped and the ground froze, covering the concrete with ice like a snowy field. Akari’s feet were now stuck to the ground as another wave rushed towards her-

Akari pushed off the ground, shattering the ice around her as she kicked off. She rose high into the air, the purple dome now so wide she didn’t need to worry about hitting its ceiling.

She could see his breath clearly from above, white mist blowing against his ice. Todoroki glared up at her, gritting his teeth in concentration.

Ice spikes emerged from the entire arena below her, flying up in a single inescapable attack. Akari's sword glowed with mana as she swung, energy trailing behind the mighty slash and cleaving through the attack with an arc of light. 

She fell, forcing Todoroki to dodge as she crashed down where he previously stood.

“What’s it with you and spikes, man?” Akari asked. She was getting a little tired of his lack of creativity.

Before the stunned boy could reply, Akari suddenly launched her sword, the blade flying in a deadly line for her opponent. Todoroki instantly raised an ice wall but it pierced through with ease, narrowly missing his face as it scored a small cut on the right side of his face. His eyes widened, his body quivering more as he raised another defensive wall...

Wait. Todoroki wasn’t trembling. He was shivering. But why would he be...

Akari couldn’t help it. She laughed, so bright that she could feel the chill recede and so loud that the other students probably thought she was insane. 

This was so stupid.

“What.” Todoroki growled. Oh, he must think she was laughing about hurting him. 

“Sorry, it-it’s just...your quirk.” Akari snickered. 

“You're throwing around half your power; just your ice, out of pride or something, instead of fighting with both your ice and your fire. If you had like, magic, then that would make sense. But I forgot that you have a quirk .”

“And?” Todoroki prompted, a little annoyed.

“Sorry, I ramble a bit sometimes. Quirks have different side effects and backlash from their use. I was like ‘Why is he shaking? I'm not even that scary!’ But then I realized that when you reduce the temperature, it affects you too!”

Todoroki’s right eye twitched.

“That means all you've done this entire match is damage yourself and act too stubborn to stop. Right now, you're freezing your own body and rapidly reaching hypothermia, which looks really painful. Why don’t you warm yourse-”

“I’ll never use his power.” Todoroki snarled. “I don’t care. I’ll become the number one, with just my mother’s ice.”

The floor around them was wrecked, pieces of ice littered throughout. Every ice creation had been decimated, leaving Todoroki with nothing but debris and a cut on his cheek that was starting to bleed. The air now felt freezing cold, and she could almost hear his teeth chattering.

Meanwhile, Akari didn't have a single scratch, costume almost pristine despite the fight. She raised an eyebrow.

“And how’s that going for you?” Akari asked. “I don’t even need to beat you myself, you're freezing yourself out of commission for me! How are you going to be a hero like that, much less the best?”

The air temperature suddenly dropped even further, the chill making Akari wince as it swept past her.

It was a full-on glacier, jagged and so huge that for a second she could see nothing but all-encompassing ice rushing towards her like a tsunami-

Akari’s mana focused into her hand, more and more until it was too bright to see her own fist. Then she punched.

The massive storm fell to her blow, shattering into a million pieces that rained around her. The arena turned solid, a reinforced wall protecting the audience from the shrapnel.

The shockwave rammed into Todoroki’s body, and an instinctive wall was all that stopped the boy from flying out of bounds. The ice cracked as it stopped his momentum.

Todoroki was completely shivering now.

Akari was on him as soon as he managed to stand up with a series of jabs. She batted away a freezing palm before landing a hit on his shoulder, and then another to his chest. Todoroki was good at hand-hand combat but while exhausted and half-frozen he was just so slow. He ducked under a kick just in time, and the attack destroyed the damaged wall behind him.

Todoroki’s right hand moved for the last time, swinging a sword of ice that she punched straight through like paper. His mismatched eyes went wide as her fist struck his gut before she spun, launching a crushing kick that knocked him out cold.

Akari picked up the unconscious boy as the match was called, his skin so icy it stung.

That wasn't just pride. There had to be a reason Todoroki wouldn’t use his fire, even when he was almost completely frozen.

But why?

Chapter Text

Izuku walked in for homeroom, and a surprised class stared back at him.

“Atlas-sensei?” Uraraka asked, tentatively. “Why is there a little girl playing with your hair? And...where’s Aizawa-sensei?”

Izuku smiled, patting Eri’s leg. The girl didn’t stir from his spot on his shoulders, completely focused on her task. She wasn’t doing a very good job(he could feel his long white hair twisting into unruly strands)but she was having fun. Maybe he’d ask Aurora to teach her.

“This is my daughter, Eri. She’s eleven.” Izuku said. Eri looked up when she heard her name, meeting twenty pairs of eyes, before flustering under the amount of attention. “Today is...a little different, so you’ll be in Heroics for the entire day.”

“She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Ashido declared immediately. Hagakure nodded her entire body in agreement.

Eri waved shyly at the students, and Ashido squealed. 

“What will we be doing, Atlas-sensei?” Yaoyorozu asked, unable to resist waving back at the girl.

“We’ll be going on a field trip to the USJ for Rescue training. This isn’t necessary, so you can opt-out if you really want to, but it's a valuable experience.” When no one spoke up, Izuku continued. “We’ll leave in about ten minutes, so suit up in your hero costumes.”

A few students had taken his costume suggestions, Izuku noticed. Aoyama’s red cape was gone from his shining armor. The boy had been reluctant but gave in after Izuku convinced him that it wouldn’t be very stylish to get pulled by it. Uraraka switched out her heels, and her new shoes could absorb her landings even better.

Eraserhead met them at the buses, his eyes scanning over their students as he counted them over. Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Did you think I lost one of them?” Izuku asked.

Eraserhead muttered something about “not underestimating the hellspawn” before climbing into the bus. Iida tried to organize the class seating before Yaoyorozu, the new class president, pointed out that they didn’t need to.

Eraserhead was already bundled into his yellow sleeping bag like a caterpillar when they filled in. Izuku took a seat near the front with Eri, conversations starting up behind him as the bus started moving.

“Akari, I’ve been told that I’m very direct at times. Can I ask you something?” Asui started. 

Akari smiled at the frog-like girl. “I’ve noticed that, Tsu.”

“Your magic is really advanced, far more than from anything I’ve seen heroes use so far. Where did you drift to learn that much?”

Several students seemed to lean in, interested in learning about their strongest classmate. Even Katsuki had stilled at the question.

Akari shrugged. “It was a pretty normal world. My school taught us magic. My mom’s even better than I am at it, and she taught me almost everything I know about my light magic.”

“What about the thing with the different colors?” Sero asked from the back. “I saw you fight during the entrance exam with them, but since then your magic’s just been a pure white.” 

Akari used Prism, splitting a small white ball into her lights. “I call it Prism, sort of a trump card.” Akari grinned, a little bit of challenge in her eyes. “None of you have made me use it yet, though.”

“I’ll take you on any day, Flashlight!” Katsuki barked. 

“That’s so manly, Midoriya,” Kirishima said. He glanced down at his hardened arm. “I wish my quirk was that flashy, but it's kinda...boring.”

“Your quirk definitely isn’t boring, Kirishima.” Izuku cut in. “That kind of defensive ability is incredibly useful in a fight and is also perfect for protecting people. Not to mention that you look pretty cool when your quirk is fully activated.” 

Kirishima’s face was almost as red as his hair. “Thanks, Atlas-sensei.”

“What about me, Atlas-sensei?” A student chimed in.

“Or me-”

“Hello, everyone!” Thirteen greeted them, her full spacesuit on. “Welcome to the USJ; otherwise known as the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.”

Uraraka’s eyes were wide. “Oh my god, it’s Thirteen. This is the best day of my life-” Eraserhead rolled his eyes as several others had similar reactions to the Rescue Hero.

Thirteen launched into a great speech about how dangerous their abilities could be. Eri, still on his shoulders, was hanging on her every word.

Instead of listening, though, Izuku’s attention was focused on something else.

Some kind of strange energy was forming below, at the central plaza. Not magic, so it had to be a quirk of some kind. Eraserhead picked up on his alertness and turned-

Then the energy condensed into a mass of darkness. Pitch black with dark purple edges, extending wide as a group walked through.

The first figure was a normal-looking man with a pleasant smile, a fashionable suit fitting his form. His hair was pure white, just like Izuku’s.

The second was...less normal, a younger man covered in severed hands trailing after the first figure like a child would a parent.

A third wasn’t the slightest bit normal. A giant hulking creature with black skin that had red scars running through it. The monster(because what else could it be?) had a beak and its brain was exposed. 

A small army of humans followed, filled with confidence and cocky smirks. The last one through was a cloud of darkness in a suit, obviously the one who made the portal that closed behind him.

An attack, then. He squeezed Eri’s leg in reassurance, before placing her in Ashido’s arms. Izuku smiled at them before walking up to Eraserhead’s side. 

“What’s going on? Is this an exercise?” Kirishima asked, a bit of fear in his voice. 

“This isn’t an exercise. Those are villains.” Eraserhead stated. All traces of exhaustion had vanished, sleepiness fading to reveal a veteran hero as he barked out orders. “Kaminari, use your gear to try to get a signal through. Koda, are there any birds around?”

“It’s not working, everything’s jammed!” Kaminari responded. Koda shook his head.

“Then we’ll have to get Iida out, he’s the fastest runner-”

Eraserhead cut off as the villains approached, getting into earshot.

The white-haired man spoke, as smooth as silk. “Hello, U.A. We’re the League of Villains. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Who are you, and why are you here?” Eraserhead demanded, his scarf unraveled.

The villain merely tilted his head at the hostile tone. “Asking for someone’s name without introducing yourself is rude, Eraserhead.” He chuckled as the underground hero continued to glare at him. “My name is All for One.”

That was...pretentious, but it somehow suited the man. 

“Why did you come here, All for One?” Izuku asked.

He was looking forward to this class, too! Oh well, at least he’d get an interesting fight out of it. Maybe his class would learn someth-”

“Atlas, right? I’m here for One for All. If you could hand it over, that would be wonderful.” 

Izuku blinked. One for All? Like the opposite of his name? “What’s that?”

“Don’t play dumb with-” All for One’s eyes narrowed, searching for something. They were a deep crimson, like blood. His hand twitched, and Izuku could feel mana crackle with the movement. Enhancement magic, just like-

“You think I’m All Might.” Izuku realized. “Yeah, I don’t have that blessing. And even if I did, I definitely wouldn’t give it to you.” Eraserhead tensed next to him, clearly confused but listening intently.

All for One paused, considering. “Hm. So you're not the successor, then. Assuming that you were, or even that the big oaf had one, was a bit of a leap.”

“I don’t have the ability you want. There isn’t a reason for you to be here anymore. Leave .” A bit of anger flowed into the last word, making several villains flinch.

Izuku loved fighting. But attacking him along with his family, his students?

Unacceptable.

All for One hadn’t moved, but now his full attention was on him, calculating. “You don’t have One for All. But you're not a normal hero at all, you're something different. Something stronger. As for your request, we won’t be leaving just yet. We still have a second goal to fulfill.”

“The death of every student behind you, there.” All for One stated calmly. The pleasant smile didn’t change but now just felt...cold. “Tomura, take the party and boss and kill all of them. I’ll have a nice chat with this one.”

Hand-Man reacted to the name, and the army, monster, and suited darkness followed him as he marched towards the class.

Eraserhead’s voice was completely steady, calming down the terrified students. “Gather together and don’t move until I tell you too. Thirteen, be ready to use your quirk.”

Thirteen didn’t seem to have much combat experience, but they were a hero for a reason and could hopefully defend the students. Eraserhead was incredibly skilled for a human, and Izuku didn’t doubt that he could take on the weak-looking army of villains easily. The newly named Tomura and portal villain were more of a threat though. And that monster...

From what Izuku could tell, that thing was as strong as All Might. He had no idea how they had a monster following commands, but it would snap his co-workers like toothpicks. Izuku would have liked to defeat that thing himself before wiping out the rest, but he couldn’t risk taking his eyes off All for One. 

He’d have to rely on Akari to kill it, and that made him grit his teeth.

All for One raised an eyebrow, surprised when Izuku didn’t move. “You’re not going to help them with that?”

So the best thing to do would be to deal with this man as fast as possible, who had the nerve to try to kill his class.

“That’s some confidence, hero-” 

Izuku stepped behind him.

All for One reacted in an instant, whirling around as a green barrier formed between them-

-that Izuku’s fist shattered, continuing to slam into the irritating man’s face. All for One’s body tumbled against the ground, and Izuku dashed in to follow up with a kick. 

Suddenly, something welled up from his enemy and Izuku leaped back just in time, spikes erupting from the man’s chest. The metal retracted into his body, a centimeter away from impaling Izuku, red energy crackling along their edges.

“That one’s called Spike Body.” All for One explained proudly, like he was showing off a new phone. As he spoke, his jaw lit green as it mended itself...some kind of healing. 

Izuku recognized that energy; a quirk, but nothing like he’d ever seen before. It was confusing, so fragmented yet running through his body like mana. Now that Izuku looked closer, it was like a set of parts. His face was the most emphasized in the array as the healing quirk worked.

“I thought people only got one quirk?” Izuku asked, confused. If each of those fragments of energy were a separate quirk, then this human was even stronger than All Might. 

All for One laughed. “Usually, yes. I’m a bit of a...special case though.” He raised his hand as a third quirk activated, and with a tunnel of wind shot forward like a miniature hurricane-

Only to do nothing, rolling off Izuku’s body harmlessly like a gentle breeze as the air was tinted purple. Attacking Izuku with air was like splashing water on an island.

“Fascinating.” All for One said. “Some kind of air quirk? Or was that mag-”

The reinforced air shifted.

“I don’t really care for a chat right now.” Izuku cut him off.

Four bladed chains pierced every one of All for One’s limbs, looping back to wrap around the man like a mummy.

Lightning sparked, a bright yellow that ran along the chains to Izuku and made him wince. With a single tap of All for One’s hands the purple bindings unraveled into nothing, and two bolts of lightning lanced towards the hero.

“Fair enough.” All for One replied casually like his arms and legs hadn’t just been stabbed.

Izuku’s trusty staff spun, deflecting both attacks. He had no idea how the chains had been broken, but Izuku knew that All for One’s regeneration had limits now. His legs were still bleeding, healing too slowly to let the man move, and his arms were in similar condition. Yet despite how much that must have hurt, All for One’s face hadn’t even twitched.

Izuku ducked under a burst of flame from the man’s mouth. With no way to dodge, the man was vulnerable-

“Stance Two: Bash!”

-and the glowing staff slammed into All for One’s stomach, throwing him across the plaza in an unwilling tour.

The man crashed into the ground near the Flood Zone, the impact wrecking the area below. Izuku leaped near the crater, seeing his enemy in an unconscious heap. The biggest threat dealt with.

Then All for One disassembled . 

Like a glitch in a video game, his wounded limbs dissolved before reforming completely healed, new limbs attaching to his body. It was strange to watch, like he was rewriting himself. Even his suit stitched itself as good as new.

All for One rose, completely unharmed, a slight smirk playing across his face. 

“Overhaul. A ridiculously useful quirk, wasting away on some low-time yakuza.” All for One said. “I suppose I have you to thank, for practically wrapping up the quirk in a gift for me.”

“You can take quirks.” Izuku realized. 

What an amazing power. The potential it had was limitless...yet just like Overhaul, it ended up with a villain.

All for One smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His fingertips lit up, red energy shooting out like streaks of light. “What gave it away?”

A shield of air blocked the projectiles, and Izuku’s staff spun, stopping the lightning that followed. All for One was forced to duck as a chain sliced past his head, and disassembled a second one.

“The name,” Izuku answered honestly. ‘All for One’ should have set off red flags in his head, really.  

All for One’s hands slapped the ground and it opened underneath Izuku in a gaping pit. The edges of the abyss were jagged, and Izuku caught himself on a purple platform as he fell before jumping up, the earth shutting beneath him like a giant jaw. 

Two deep blue dragons shot out from All for One’s back, zooming towards Izuku’s airborne form. The hero twisted, easily shattering both with twin kicks.

Izuku landed, launching the air in a spiral that drilled towards his enemy. It was casually ripped apart as well, but the purple covering his view let Izuku land another blow to his face-

Izuku leaned back, a deadly hand just short of grabbing him-

“Stance One: Sweep!” 

-and knocked All for One down, and the man was forced to fix his destroyed legs. Izuku leaped away, safe.

Izuku grimaced. Overhaul was way too overpowered. Not only could All for One heal his body completely, but he could also attack like he’d mastered Earth magic. 

And with a single touch, it would be over. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Eraserhead engaged the crowd of villains, knocking them out with practiced ease. Behind him were the students he was protecting, and Thirteen, who was glaring at ‘Tomura’ and the portal guy. They were too close, so Izuku couldn’t just go all out on the terrain around them.

All for One, however, seemed to have zero issues with that, reforming it to his will as he attacked haphazardly with an array of different abilities. The man could be as unpredictable as he wanted; there was no way of knowing how he’d attack next. He even had magic; enhancement magic flowing through the mass of quirks like a booster. Unlike All Might, who enhanced his body with it(despite not knowing that magic existed, somehow), All for One enhanced his powers themself. 

And All for One didn’t have to worry about protecting kids. How annoying.

But was the man really completely unpredictable? Izuku wondered. All for One fought like a strategian, every quirk perfectly used in attacks and traps and combinations. He reacted faster than what should be possible for a human. It must be a mental quirk or several; meaning that Izuku was basically fighting a calculating robot instead of a person.

Mana flowed down Izuku’s body into his feet, then through the ground towards the lake. 

A well-oiled machine was still a machine.

Izuku found the pattern and rushed forward, his staff swinging down just like before. All for One reacted; finger-beams activated to fire, a green barrier formed to block the attack, regeneration surged in anticipation, hands reached to counter with Overhaul-

-and lightning sparked, to follow up.

The air froze around Izuku’s staff as he let go of his weapon, a ridiculous move to block the red lasers All for One would never predict. The green barrier hovered uselessly with no staff to hit it, and lethal hands grabbed at nothing as Izuku gracefully sidestepped, grinning as the lightning erupted from All for One’s form-

-before the tsunami washed over him, tinted purple as Izuku bent the water to his will.

All for One’s eyes went wide, too late to stop that last quirk.

Kaminari Denki’s quirk was Electricity, letting him discharge voltage from his body like a battery; zapping Kaminari did nothing but charge the boy up. Whatever All for One was using, though, Izuku could tell it was nothing like his student’s.

The ill-timed electricity crackled, current zipping through the water and into the villain inside it.

Akari watched as Aizawa fought, his capture weapon wrapping up enemies and tossing them around. Quirks were erased with glaring red eyes, leaving confused villains completely open. He wielded the sword in his hands well, countering attacks and knocking out humans with the flat of the blade, and to top it off vicious kicks met anyone too close. This man was nothing like the unkempt, sleepy teacher she knew, and she almost didn’t recognize him.

Pretty badass though.

She’d immediately gotten Iida out(the boy had argued, but a single glare had gotten those engines moving pretty fast) through the large hole now in the doors.

Thirteen was holding the black cloud guy back with careful use of her Black Hole. He had almost redirected Thirteen’s quirk against her, but luckily the hero had dodged in time. Akari wasn’t very helpful there; she couldn’t tell where hitting him would actually do shit and her light magic would be aimed at her classmates.

Eraserhead had given some of them permission to use their quirks on the army of villains. They were really weak, and 1-A was mowing through them like grass. Akari kept an eye on her little sister, Ashido protecting her near the rear. 

She’d have to thank her, after this.

Eraserhead was fighting defensively, instead of just carving straight through them, and Akari could see why. The guy covered in hands(terrible fashion choice, really) and the huge monster were waiting, watching the battle.

‘Tomura’, as the boss guy had called him, was a much bigger threat than the cannon fodder in front of them. He seemed thin but lean, and his hand was vigorously scratching his neck in agitation as the villains fell.

What worried Akari even more, though, was the bird thing. It was tall, and she could feel how powerful it was. It wasn’t like any monster she’d ever heard of before; standing still and only reacting to Tomura’s orders.

Minutes passed, the army of villains thinning. A few students were trying to help Thirteen, but Kurogiri(which reminded her of the cat. They even looked kinda similar!) was experienced, running circles around them even after Bakugou figured out his solid part. 

She fired off a few stray shots at Tomura, but the monster moved in front of him, tanking the attacks easily. In the distance the ground shook; Dad no doubts beating the crap out of the leader.

“This battle’s getting boring. Our summons are fucking pathetic and not getting anywhere.” Tomura mused. “Oh well, Sensei will be happy if I finish early.”

The scratching stopped.

“Nomu. Kill.”

The giant bird thing moved -

It was like Akari’s limbs were filled with lead.

The students and villains around her were in slow motion. Aizawa was punching a woman in the face, a rare blink stretching on forever, and one of Kurogiri’s portals was slowly opening; an oval of collapsing darkness.

The Nomu, meanwhile, was jogging, bulky arms reaching out to crush her closed-eye teacher, so fast that none of the humans could even track it.

But Akari knew exactly what this was like. Trying to move at Dad’s speed was like moving underwater, every movement a painfully slow process. It was as if he’d conquered time itself, and you could do nothing but watch as he drifted through it as easy as could be.

Nomu, well, was nowhere near as fast as he was.

She leaped, her arm lifting up, up as white mana concentrated into her hand. She wasn’t moving fast enough-the Nomu was almost there, its palm way bigger than Aizawa’s head-so she pushed herself to be faster, and now it was less dragging herself through the currents and more swimming -

In a single movement, Akari pushed her teacher out of the way and a completed white sword slashed up, cutting off the monster’s arm.

The black limb fell to the ground, and everyone blinked as they both seemingly teleported.

“Midoriya, get back from that thing” Aizawa shouted. 

His concern was admirable, but- “Aizawa, you stand zero chance here. Let me handle it.” 

Aizawa wasn’t stupid, but she could see how much it hurt him to have a student fight the bigger threat as he turned, punching the next villain a little too hard.

“What’s this?” Tomura said(How was he looking at her through the hand on his face?). “Someone brave enough to take on the Nomu. How interesting.”

Like a bad horror movie, the stump on the monster's hand regrew until in seconds it had a fully functional arm once more. Tomura snickered. 

“You don’t stand a chance against a boss of this level, though."

“A boss level, huh?”

Akari grinned. 

“That sounds pretty fun.”

“Nom-” Tomura started. 

She could do without the whole kill-order thing, thanks. Out of her non-sword hand, a whip of light struck fast, forcing the man to leap back. It clipped his face, slapping the hand off and it landed on the ground. She was just collecting severed limbs now...

Angry red eyes, pale skin, and chapped lips were revealed to the unfortunate world. 

Akari winced. “On second thought, you can put that thing back on-”

“Father!” The weird guy shrieked. What. “You-you dare! Nomu, kill her!”

Akari launched her sword straight forward. As predicted, the Nomu dashed in a direct line for her, letting the blade pierce through its exposed brain. 

Naturally, this made it pause for exactly one second before it started moving again. She was going to need to do a lot more than that.

Prism.

Akari didn’t even get to say her super cool name out loud before she was forced to roll under a strike that pulverized the ground. Her lights formed as she stood up, five lights forming into blades that whizzed around her enemy, scoring cuts as she dodged.

It was like playing tag, but not fun and very stressful. Purple formed into a large shield, weathering blows that she couldn’t avoid. Each impact jolted her arms, and she gritted her teeth.

The Nomu grew back every wound she made. It just wouldn’t die , even when its heart was gone. 

Todoroki was trying to help, but the ice was barely an obstacle for the monster. Todoroki still wasn’t using his fucking fire, something she’d yell about later(though he probably wasn’t precise enough to cauterize the Nomu’s wounds even if he did). Each time he stabbed it, though, he bought Akari valuable time. 

Tomura laughed when she cut off the stupid bird’s head for the tenth time. “That isn’t going to work! The Nomu can regenerate as much as it wants! With its quirk combination, you don’t stand a chance!”

Oh. Quirks. That made sense. She wasn’t sure why her enemy was giving out information though, but she definitely wasn’t going to complain.

Red and Orange formed into spears, stabbing through Nomu's arms while her other colors linked into chains, wrapping around its legs.

“Aizawa-sensei!” Akari yelled.

He turned, assessing the situation in an instant, and Erasure turned on the monster.

The stab wounds in its arms stopped healing and Akari immediately attacked in a whirlwind of rainbow blades in a desperate effort.

The Nomu fell to the ground without its limbs, head, or heart like the mess it was. Akari’s blades flew back to her, hovering, and she drew a long breath with no monster chasing her.

The Nomu, finally, didn’t get up.

“You cheaters .” Tomura seethed and sprinted towards Aizawa. The man whirled, capture scarf wrapping around the manchild-

-only for the scarf to disintegrate into nothing. Aizawa’s eyes widened as he ducked under the lethal hands, aiming careful kicks to avoid becoming dust. Some of the remnants of the scarf fell as they fought, a bit blowing into Aizawa’s eyes and he blinked-

-and a familiar crunch reached Akari’s ears. 

Of fucking course.

The Nomu stood, fully healed, ready to continue its previous order. 

What was it going to take to kill that freakshow? Its regeneration kicked in after it was definitely dead, and Erasure would have taken care of any revival quirks. Meaning they’d have to completely eradicate the thing, and Akari wasn’t strong enough to do that.

But she knew who could.

Izuku wrinkled his nose as the water flowed away to leave his ruined enemy. He’d been lucky to never smell burning flesh before; it really was rotten .

All for One broke himself and came back together whole once again, standing up, several quirk combinations already set. He hadn’t even bothered to repair the suit this time.

“Atlas, was it? I thought you were a hero.” All for One mused. “In my 200 years, I’ve never seen a proclaimed ‘hero’ that was this violent. Stabbing, lethal amounts of impact, electrification . Really, it’s a wonder I missed a monster like you five years ago...”

Izuku rolled his eyes. “You’re clearly still fine, so it’s not like I’ve overestimated you. And why would I hold back on an enemy like this?

“...then again, you are Quirkless.”

Izuku stilled. “What?”

All for One laughed. “You thought I didn’t notice? I can’t sense any quirk inside of you, despite the impressive amount of mana you have. But if you don’t have One for All, how are you this strong?”

“I guess I’ll just have to pull the truth from your dead body.” All for One sighed. The villain was getting ready to kill Izuku, meaning he thought he had seen everything he had to offer. 

For someone so smart, All for One really was an idiot.

Izuku activated Void, and his mana flowed into the air, stitching itself into space. He had no access to magic now-

The quirk combination All for One was about to use was offensive, enhancement magic flooding into quirks Izuku couldn’t recognize. The rest of his quirks were affecting his eyes and brain- to keep up with Izuku’s speed.

All for One smirked. “I know you’re still holding back some of that strength. It’s hard to tell, with how brutal you fight, but you have the same problem as that blonde oaf. We’re still too close to the students, aren’t we-”

Izuku charged . 

The sound barrier broke as soon as he took a step, the ground starting to break behind him, air whistling past him so fast it stood still. 

Walking like this made him feel like he had been running for days, but Izuku still pushed himself into a sprint. He gripped his staff harder, an anchoring weight in a silent world.

All for One was still moving, mental and reflex quirks stacking on top of each other to bring the human to incredible heights. The Quirk combination activated as Izuku approached.

Hundreds of swords formed into existence in front of him, hanging for an instant like a wall before the telekinesis kicked in with a red outline. They launched forward in a deadly maze of metal.

The weapons couldn’t fly nearly fast enough to catch up though. Izuku weaved through them gracefully, his cloak protecting him from the few glancing blows as his staff spun, flicking away the last few blades aimed straight for his heart. 

The magnetism was less expected, forcing Izuku to tightly grip his staff before he lost it and duck under the storm of blades returning like boomerangs. One scored a cut on his temple, a light prick that could have been much worse. 

 All for One’s left hand broke off his body, his arm turning into a spring. Izuku’s fist slammed the palm aside, All for One tried to activate Overhaul in triumph-

-only for nothing to happen. After all, how could he focus on a biological process when they were moving that fast? 

All for One’s mistake cost him, ten strikes slamming into his chest in a single breath. His other hand turned into a massive drill, and Izuku sidestepped to land a crushing kick that shattered it, rendering the arm useless.

Then every bit of All for One’s energy focused into a single quirk. 

Izuku was forced to stop moving as something pressed him down, the world returning to sound and perception. His feet dug into the ground like someone had put a huge weight on his back, yet he couldn’t feel anything there.

All for One was breathing hard, finally able to activate Overhaul with visible relief. Yet Izuku couldn’t move from whatever quirk had been used on him, his tired muscles aching further-

Ah. The bastard turned up the fucking gravity. That quirk didn’t even make sense! 

“Like that, hero?” All for One mocked, clearly glad that they had slowed down from supersonic speeds. “Even someone that powerful can’t handle that much gravity for very long. Your insides are going to collapse as you’re crushed-

Izuku stood up fully, and All for One was finally struck speechless. 

Izuku rolled back his sore shoulders. 

“Finally, you shut up.”

That was nothing compared to the weight of the sky.

Void deactivated, mana rushing back to the strongest hero. Before the villain could move a huge purple fist uppercut him into the clouds, and All for One soared high above the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.

Far, far away from Izuku’s students. The ones this man was trying to kill.

“Stance Nine: Onslaught.”

In the air, there was nothing All for One could do to defend himself from the vicious combo. Purple platforms let Izuku strike past him again and again like an angry ping pong ball as his trusty staff hit thousands of times, pushing Overhaul’s instant recovery to its limits-

A familiar flash of mana lit up near the gate. Huh, so his daughter had a plan. 

Who was Izuku to object?

Izuku’s next strike sent All for One hurtling towards the ground like a meteor, hitting the ground with a mighty crash near where they had started. 

The man slowly pushed himself to his feet, swaying. The businessman mask was completely gone now, Overhaul and Regeneration struggling to repair his broken body as he glared, burning with anger.

All for One raised his arm for a final attack, quirks surging-

-before cutting off completely, like a dead car. The villain looked at his hand, confused before a giant form landed on his head and knocked him to the ground.

The Nomu lay sprawled on top of All for One’s totally ruined suit as they laid in a pile of limbs, and All for One’s face finally twisted into fear as he realized a certain underground teacher just rendered them both powerless.

“Dad, now!” 

Izuku’s remaining mana flooded into his staff, glowing so bright that the purple lit up his eyes. He pulled the weapon back so that it was parallel to the ground, lined up directly with his targets. 

“Stance Three...”

Izuku stabbed forward, every single bit of his force focused into the small base of the reinforced staff in a single lethal thrust-

“Pierce.” 

The air shattered around the staff in a horizontal tornado of power as everything hundreds of meters in front of him was erased .

The ground wasn’t spared, the eviscerated earth was left in a giant trench, extending out in a straight line. There wasn’t a single trace of All for One or the Nomu.

Students and villains alike stared at the destruction brought with one move with a mix of awe and absolute terror. Even Tomura was frozen in shock, letting Eraserhead knock him out.

Izuku’s trusty staff slid onto his back as the strongest hero turned to face the remaining villains.

“So, who wants to surrender?”

Chapter Text

Tsukauchi Naomasa waited till Atlas was comfortably seated in the meeting room before he began.

If he was being honest, the detective had been quite curious of the hero ever since he appeared out of nowhere a few months back. There were many new heroes after the Drift; people who now had stronger abilities and wanted to fight villains. Atlas, though, was something unique. From the clips he'd seen, the man was overwhelmingly strong, finishing most of his fights with a single hit and perfect control. And then there was his fight with Overhaul...

“First, some basic questions I’m required to ask. What's your name?” This part of the protocol was usually seen as useless since the answers were already in the file. But with Tsukauchi's quirk, they became a possible piece of evidence.

“Midoriya Izuku.” Atlas responded.

“Age?” 

“40.” Tsukauchi’s quirk went off, a sharp ping in his brain. People lied about their age constantly(everyone wished they were younger, including him), but never in a police report. He glanced at the file-

-which for some reason, also indicated that Midoriya Izuku was 40.

“Blood Type?” Tsukauchi asked, hiding his reaction.

“O.” 

“Quirk?”

“Titan.” Another ping, this time a lot more concerning.

Why was the pro hero lying about their quirk? Atlas’s quirk was known to be a powerful mutant enhancer(and Tsukauchi knew that this man didn't have One for All to cover for); powerful but simple. Was there some secret part to it?

At this point, Tsukauchi would have told the witness about his quirk; Lie Detector. But this time the detective didn't; there was clearly something going on here.

Despite that, Atlas seemed like a pleasant man, kind and curious. The hero was surprisingly a big fan of detectives, usually, it was the other way around.

Then he told him what happened in the USJ, and Tsukauchi’s blood turned to ice.

All for One, apparently alive and healed, had attacked with his successor, a warper, a small army, and a ‘Nomu.’ The calm malice, manipulation, and of course the many quirks matched up with the terrible evil from so long ago.

And then Atlas eliminated him and his monster with ease, something that even All Might in his prime couldn’t do. Not to mention that every villain, including the warper and successor, had been captured.

Toshinori had told him, of course, about his spar with Atlas. And Tsukauchi hadn’t really believed him. How could a new hero best the Symbol of Peace? His long-time friend must have been exaggerating.

Tsukauchi had clearly been wrong.

Atlas spoke about his battle with the most powerful villain ever like a game. The fight had been ‘exciting’, especially seeing all the interesting abilities the man had. Overhaul(at least Tsukauchi knew where that quirk went) had been ‘irritating’, but made everything riskier, and therefore 'fun.' 

But Tsukauchi could see where Atlas went all-out, not willing to endanger his students in the battle. The detective was hesitant to believe All for One was completely dead, yet the ridiculous amount of destruction he could see from Atlas’s final attack seemed to have done the job. 

And Tsukauchi’s quirk still hadn’t triggered a single time the entire tale.

A man came out of nowhere, powerful enough to destroy All for One with ease. Tsukauchi could only stare down at the incorrect file after Atlas left, confused.

Who, exactly, was Midoriya Izuku? 

Izuku dropped through the clouds, landing softly on the sidewalk, and the opening exposed the stars to the world below.

Aurora flew down next to him. Her magic vanished in a flash of violet, and her hair sparkled in the streetlight. 

Earth restaurants were familiar, somewhere they’d gone together for centuries. A new atmosphere, instead of just eating in. Of course, there hadn’t actually been any cooks there.

This would be the first time they actually ate out since humanity came back, and the change was small yet jarring at the same time. There were now light conversations around them as they took their table, 

“I wonder if you're ever going to get tired of eating that.” Aurora mused as Izuku instinctively ordered katsudon.

“I was so worried I would.” Izuku laughed. “I think when the Drift happened, I ate it almost every day.”

“I remember that. It was kind of tedious, getting you the ingredients every day. But I did get some every Saturday, and well, human food is wonderful.” Aurora slurped up her soba from the chopsticks, letting out a pleased hum. How she could still look so elegant while eating soba, Izuku had no clue.

“You know, I don’t think you missed a single Saturday back then.” Izuku realized. “How?”

Looking back, the princess making every weekly meeting for centuries was pretty incredible.

Aurora shrugged. “It was guilt, at first.”

“Over me being abandoned? You didn’t make that choice.”

“No, but it was still us as a whole, Heaven, that sent humanity away and left you behind-”

Izuku grinned. “I certainly didn’t mind those centuries alone with you.”

She continued like he hadn’t spoken, cheeks tinted pink. “-the years before I moved in, especially. I can’t even imagine what it was like to have absolutely no one. I could only show up once a week, so...that’s what I did.”

Izuku’s teasing smile turned into something softer. “Every Saturday I would stare out on the beach and wonder if you would come. It’s what I had most to look forward to, after all; you were the only thing that changed in a silent world. I never really had to worry about food, so you didn’t have to warp to that beach every week. But you did.”

“Soon you were more to me than just ‘The abandoned human’. And in just half a century, I was in love with a dense dork.”

“I wasn’t that bad.” Izuku protested, indignant even as his chest fluttered at the indirect confession.

“It took you literal years to realize that I did. I still remember that night the realization finally dawned; it was so adorable you were just like Huh-” 

“Aurora, please .” Izuku’s face was completely red now, and Aurora laughed.

The sound was bright and warm, lighting up their little bubble, and Izuku couldn’t do anything but stare into her purple eyes.

“I love you too, Aurora.” Izuku murmured. She heard him, and her smile grew even wider.

“You two are so cute together!” The waiter exclaimed as she brought Izuku’s katsudon. “How long have you two been married?”

“Almost 700 years,” Izuku answered cheerfully.

The human paused for a moment before she chuckled walked away, most likely taking it as a joke. 

“It’s been...a really long time since then. We’re pretty old now, hu-ouch.” Izuku winced as Aurora casually stomped on his foot under the table. She was wearing heels!

"We traveled so much those years," Aurora said. "You know, we still haven't explored all of Heaven yet. We could visit next time we both have a day off."

"Oh, like a date?" Izuku's eyes lit up.

"Exactly like that, yeah...just please don't beat anyone up this time." 

"What? I would never do something like that!" Izuku protested.

"Izuku, we're still banned from Kashima Village."

Izuku paused. "...okay, but that guy totally deserved it."

Aurora rolled her eyes, like he couldn't see the fond smile on her face.

The thunder god lived up to his title...a little too much. Izuku had finally got baby Akari to sleep when someone had decided to shake the sky with their magic for fun. So Izuku had asked him if he wanted to fight, and Kashima had arrogantly agreed. The fight didn't wreck much of the village...just the god's pride.

"Akari's with Eri and Kuro, right? I wonder how they're doing right now...Eri must be happy to spend more time with her sister."

"Yeah, they're at the dorms. Eri's completely fascinated with her new horn buddy,” Izuku said.

“Horn buddy?” Aurora repeated, confused.

“One of my students, Ashido, has two horns on her head," Izuku explained. "They aren’t really the same as Eri’s, but, well, it's the concept that counts.”

“That must be a mutation quirk, right? It's strange to get used to; we don't really have anything like horns on Heaven-” 

“Also, her skin is pink and she shoots acid.”

“...What?”

Class 1-A dressed a lot quicker now, Izuku noticed, compared to that first day of class almost a week ago.

The class had gotten the day off after the USJ incident(and rightfully so). No students had been hurt in the attack, and Eraserhead and Thirteen only ended up with light injuries. But that didn’t change the fact that everything could have gone much worse. 

Despite being heroes-in-training, they were still children who had to fight off murderers to survive.

The young students facing him seemed more serious now, with an actual desire to improve. The U.A Staff had made sure every student knew about the free counseling sessions, but only a few students seemed like they were considering it. 

Todoroki seemed stoic as ever, of course. And Akari was only angry that her little sister had been put in danger.

Izuku brought himself out of his thoughts, clapping his hands. The low sound echoed in the monitoring room, cutting off any lingering conversations.

“Welcome back, everyone! Today's exercise will be more strategic, and I got a pretty big space reserved for it.”

The monitors flicked to life, glimpses of an entire fake city from countless angles. Hey, if the school was going to have a ridiculous budget, Izuku might as well make use of it.

“Atlas-sensei, this is where the Entrance Exam was conducted, was it not?” Iida asked. “Are we performing urban battles once more?”

“Nope.” Izuku ignored Katsuki’s huff. “Instead, we’ll be playing Tag!”

“That sounds kinda fun!” Kaminari exclaimed. 

“Will we be chasing each other, Atlas-sensei?” Yaoyorozu asked. 

“Nope.” Izuku grinned. “You’ll be chasing...me!”

A pause. Then multiple voices started complaining at once.

“That’s impossible, Sensei!” Sero protested.

“Seeing you fight was like a Hawks video,” Fuji added. “We couldn’t even see you move! How are we going to tag you?”

“Not me, specifically.” Izuku corrected, waving his hands in a totally unnecessary motion. 

On-screen, a shape began to form, solidifying into a simple, human-like body. There were no features, like a mannequin, and he was as tall as Izuku. The figure waved a hand at the camera, his skin the bright purple of Izuku's mana, and the Uraraka gasped.

“Meet Cloudy, class. He’s the one you’ll be trying to catch today.”

“Sensei, how are you doing this? I thought your magic was some kind of air manipulation.” Asui asked.

Izuku blinked. “I don’t have any kind of elemental abilities. I only use reinforcement magic.”

“What! But that doesn’t make any-” Yaoyorozu blurted, before covering her mouth, embarrassed at the outburst. 

“That ‘air manipulation’ you saw, Asui.” Purple unicorns floated into existence, flying around the monitoring room. “That’s just me reinforcing the air around me, and then changing its shape. Stuff like-” Izuku gestured at Cloudy. “-him are the same thing, just really complex.”

Yaoyorozu was actually taking notes , her eyes wide. Where had she even gotten a notepa-right, her quirk. “But how are you reinforcing things that you aren’t touching? Not to mention something so far away?”

“Who says I’m not?” Izuku smiled, not elaborating any further. Yaoyorozu glanced at the air clone, confused.

Izuku turned back to the rest of the class. “You’ll be put into random groups of four, then enter the city. There is a five-minute planning period, after which you must capture the ‘enemy’ by wrapping your capture tape around him. The exercise ends if your entire team is unconscious, or if you exceed the thirty-minute time limit. Any questions?”

Katsuki didn’t even bother to raise his hand. “Can I kill the fucking thing?” Akari snorted.

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Hm. If you can destroy Cloudy, then yeah, that counts as a win.”

Katsuki slammed his gauntlets together, a savage grin on his face.

“Sir, is it really a good idea to randomize the groups?” Iida asked.

“There’s no way to know who you're going to be working with in the field. Random teams will set you up for that.” 

Iida bowed low. “I apologize for questioning you, Sensei!”

“You...really don’t need to bow to me.” Izuku turned to the screen, letting four names flash.

“First group; Bakugou, Tokoyami, Kaminari, and Iida.” 

On second thought, he definitely should have picked the teams, though...this would be a great learning experience for the students.

And pretty funny to watch, too.

They totally had this in the bag, in Kaminari Denki’s humble opinion.

Bakubro(the man got angry whenever they called him that, but it just fit so well!) and Iida were both on his team. They had been so cool when they fought on the first day, moving so fast that Kaminari could barely see them. It was like an action movie!

Tokoyami had a strong quirk too...some kind of shadow demon? All these OP quirks combined with Kaminari’s Electrification, and they were set!

Iida stepped forward to take charge, pushing up his glasses.

“We cannot underestimate this opponent! We shou-”

“Ha?” Katsuki interrupted. “Who died and made you king, fucking Four-Eyes?”

Iida sputtered. “How rude! And for your information, I am the vice-representative-”

“I don’t give a shit. Here’s a plan;” Angry red eyes glared at the three of them. “Stay the hell out of my way.”

Kaminari couldn’t help but ask. “But Bakubro...isn’t this like a team thing?”

“Shut up, Pikachu. I’ll beat that purple thing all by myself.” With that, Bakubro stormed off into the city, his palms sparkling. A loud timer sounded, signaling the early end of their planning time. Iida was frozen for a few moments before dashing after him, leaving their remaining two teammates alone.

“What a mad banquet of darkness,” Tokoyami muttered. Kaminari had no clue what he just said, but he agreed. 

“It seems that Bakugou isn’t going to be working with us,” Iida said when they caught up, his jaw clenched. Damn, no honorifics? Iida might as well have cussed. “We’ll need to work around him.”

“That replica is but a pale imitation of the real threat. While our foe is contending with the flames of wrath, we can force it to yield with our combined strength.” Tokoyami said.

...What?

Dark Shadow laughed. “The looks on your faces! Fumi here’s a chunni, you see. He means that he wants to attack the air clone while it’s busy with the hothead, or something.”

“Oh...that sounds good!” Kaminari gave the shadow creature a thumbs-up. This class really had some...interesting personalities. That only made it more fun to get to know them, though!

Iida nodded. “Simple and effective. We wait for the perfect moment, and...”

Katsuki flew above the buildings, explosions from his hands and fire from his feet propelling him forward.

He’d been waiting for a chance to fight, training harder than before(up till the fucking hag made him go to bed) ever since those bastards had attacked the USJ. Now he had a chance to test that out. 

Katsuki’s eyes scanned the fake city from his aerial view. He’d picked the most likely path for the fake Deku to appear; a straight path from where they’d started. This wasn’t hide and seek, so the target should be easy to spot...

-and then Katsuki did, a bright purple completely exposed against the dull grey buildings. 

Gotcha.

Katsuki grinned, sharply changing direction with a twist of his body. He blasted towards the clone, palm outstretched.

“DIE!”

Cloudy backflipped, landing smoothly on the next building over as Katsuki smashed through the rooftop. Katsuki reversed his momentum, feet flaring like thrusters as he flew back at his opponent. 

Cloudy sidestepped the punch, grabbing Katsuki’s arm in an iron grip. Before he knew it the world turned on his head, and he was slammed down with a painful thump. 

The fucking nerve! 

Katsuki reacted immediately, mana flowing into his legs as he aimed at Cloudy's ankles. The bastard leaped up to avoid the attack, blocking Katsuki’s next kick. A purple forearm took Katsuki’s explosion-enhanced elbow like it was nothing.

Cloudy punched forward and Katsuki ducked in, getting close enough for both of his palms to hit the clone’s head-

“Go to hell! Compressed Bomb!” The huge boom almost covered his yell, and smoke filled the rooftop.

A lethal technique created solely for monsters; a point-blank explosion between his hands. Katsuki readied another explosion, ready to finish the clone off.

The smoke cleared to reveal a cracked building, no opponent in sight. Where-

A kick hit him hard in the back, making him hiss. Katsuki’s reflexes kicked in and he swung behind him.

The counter missed as Cloudy jumped back a safe distance, watching. 

Katsuki clenched his fist. His explosions affected the thing, dealing knockback, but Cloudy was super durable and could hit back strong. Not even a scratch had remained from his point-blank attack.

On the other hand, he was moving at only above-average speeds, instead of the insane shit that the white-haired bastard did. That meant Katsuki could still land hits--

Cloudy suddenly turned and sprinted away, skipping across the rooftops. Katsuki froze, before running in pursuit.

Shit, Cloudy had no reason to fight him, did he? All the purple fucker had to do was run, and Katsuki would lose.

“Get back here, damn it!” Katsuki shouted.

Cloudy wasn’t too fast, and with Katsuki’s speed he could catch up to him easily. But Cloudy was skilled, weaving through explosions and flames and dodging every attack he threw at him. That white-haired bastard was controlling him, wasn’t he? The reflexes on the thing were irritating. 

Cloudy met his palm-strike with one of his own, and the sweat ignited harmlessly in his purple hand. At the same time, his knee nearly cracked Katsuki’s chin, and the opening let him get away again. 

The counter-attacks were the biggest problem; if he wasn’t careful that shit was going to knock him out. Katsuki needed to corner him somewhere...

Katsuki’s leg swung in an arc, a blade of flame slicing through the air. Cloudy changed direction as the roof in front of him was destroyed, vaulting over the sudden fire. An explosion wrecked a building a few minutes later, keeping him moving in the same direction. 

Katsuki kept up his small explosions and fireballs as he herded the pest, keeping up the pressure. Actually hitting Cloudy was almost impossible though; the clone running gracefully over ledges and rolling under obstacles. If Katsuki wasn’t so annoyed, he’d probably be impressed at Deku’s parkour.

The debris everywhere from Katsuki’s attacks had become weapons; anything was a lethal attack when launched with an explosion. Rocks and pipes had become unwilling projectiles, shattering against his purple enemy. 

Finally, Cloudy approached his cage; a ridiculously tall building marking the center of the city. In there, Katsuki could let loose, with no way for Cloudy to dodge in the confined space, and bring the entire thing down.

He blasted forward at top-speed and Cloudy whirled around, arms lifting to block a punch-

Only for Katsuki to feint into a dropkick, striking him full in the chest and sending the clone flying towards the skyscraper.

Suddenly, Cloudy twisted in mid-air and planted both feet on the side of the building. Instead of falling, the clone kept moving, running straight up as windows cracked below him. The fuck?

Reinforced air, Deku had said. Molded into a solid human, and running around with perfect agility. Of course, it wasn’t affected by gravity; that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

“Damn, Bakubro’s strong,” Kaminari-san exclaimed, watching the blonde unleash pure destruction with his quirk and magic, chasing after Cloudy. Despite the wrecked building, the clone was still getting away, defying physics as it leaped between falling debris. It was even running faster than Iida without his Recipro. 

“But uh...how’re we going to get up there, Iida?” Unfortunately, the rest of them couldn’t fly or run up buildings. 

Iida only stared up at the skyscraper, speechless. Impossible. Had Bakugou really gotten that much stronger in such a short time? 

Or had the blonde just been holding back when they fought?

Cloudy grabbed onto the ledge, flipping himself onto the roof of the building...

Big mistake.

Katsuki soared up right behind him, rising higher, higher with a fierce grin on his face.

On the roof of the skyscraper, there was nowhere for Cloudy to run. All the clone could do was watch as Katsuki pulled out his trump card.

Katsuki stopped, now far above the clone, hovering in place.

Then he fell like a meteor, spinning faster and faster, explosions twisting the smoke around him in a spiral as a trail of flame pushed him even faster. 

“Howitzer...”

Katsuki broke out of his spin at the last moment, palm crackling with an explosion from all of his momentum. 

“...IMPACT!”

The blast was deafening, a sharp pain against his ears as the rooftop crumbled below him. Katsuki winced as the knockback hit his wrists. Fuck that hurt.

The heat left in a rush, bristling against Katsuki’s skin. The shockwave knocked Cloudy high into the air, and the clone plummeted down, unmoving as the air rushed past his body.

He slammed into the street, the crash inaudible to Katsuki’s ringing ears as he landed nearby, explosions slowing his descent. Did that do it? 

Cloudy was embedded in the concrete, stunned. The only damage from the massive explosion and resulting fall were thin cracks and the dust covering his body.

Katsuki made his exhausted body move, dashing towards his fallen opponent with his capture tape-

A purple fist suddenly shot out, catching him in the gut. The breath was fucking pushed out of him as he tumbled across the street, coming to a stop. 

Cloudy stood up, slower than before but moving nonetheless. Despite the fact that his enemy had no eyes, Katsuki just knew the fucker was looking down on him as he forced himself to his feet, panting. He could keep going, he wasn't done yet-

“Now! Attack!” An annoying voice shouted, somewhere to his side. Fuck, he’d completely forgotten about those idiots.

Cloudy’s arm shot behind him, catching a kick from Glasses. Glasses’s other leg slammed into Cloudy’s ankle, putting the clone off balance. The armored boy rushed in to keep up his attack, but this time Cloudy sidestepped and he tripped.

Dark Shadow lunged, pinning Cloudy to the ground. Katsuki used the chance to fire off an explosion, but the clone was unfazed. The shitty shadow demon, though, was very scared of the explosion for some reason, leaping back to Bird Brain. 

The now free air clone had no problem fending off Glasses and Katsuki. The damn engine kid was getting in Katsuki’s way, and it was so fucking frustrating; his missed kicks jabbing at Katsuki’s strained arms as they jostled each other. Their styles didn’t match up at all, and they were doing more damage to each other than Cloudy.

“Fuck off, Engines, Bird Brain!" Katsuki shouted. "I have this covered!”

Tokoyami tilted his head, glancing at the ruined landscape. “It does not seem to be so, Bakugou.”

“Shut up!” 

Dark Shadow’s next rush completely missed, making Glasses trip and face plant into the concrete. This would usually be hilarious, but the opening let Cloudy land another punch on Katsuki’s chest that ached like hell. Dark Shadow moved to attack again, but Katsuki’s next kick made him flinch back.

Was he...afraid of the light? The thing that Katsuki, with his explosions and flames, made constantly?

The sentient quirk nudged Glasses off-balance as it suddenly drew back, making him stumble. When Cloudy ducked, Katsuki’s foot slammed into Glasses’s weird helmet. 

Now that was satisfying. 

“Bakugou!” Glasses yelled as the blow knocked him to the ground. If he could see his face, the idiot would probably be glaring at him. Heh.

Katsuki threw another punch, battering against Cloudy's arms. Then something crackled, but the sound wasn't not coming from Katsuki’s palms. Oh-

“Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!” Pikachu screamed.

Fuck.

Electricity streaked across the street, enveloping up the entire area in a single attack.

Cloudy just leaped straight up, avoiding it completely. 

Katsuki pushed himself off the ground as well, but he wasn’t fast enough. His legs took the brunt of the charge, an extremely painful jolt that made him bite his tongue as he fell to his knees. Bird Brain’s eyes went wide as he was zapped, Dark Shadow retreating completely into him from the bright yellow light.

Glasses was the worst off; metal armor was an excellent conductor. He screamed, and Katsuki almost felt bad for him.

Dunce Face, the absolute dumbass, had fried his brain with that single attack. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, and the other two idiots followed.

Katsuki forced himself to stay awake, legs unresponsive. He fired off a final explosion that rolled harmlessly off the purple bastard’s head before his vision went black.

The monitoring room stared at the screens, stunned at the absolute trainwreck they’d just witnessed.

“So...that was a pretty good example of what not to do.”

Chapter Text

A thin strand of mana, invisible to the inexperienced humans in the room, was connected to Izuku’s palm like a wire. It ran out of the monitoring room, through the hallways, and into the fake city.

Air clones were something he’d worked out with Loki, modeled after her abilities. They weren’t as good as Loki’s clones; they were actual beings that could think and function while Izuku’s were more like drones. Still, the advantage of numbers was undeniable.

Cloudy was effectively just manipulated mana. To work long-range, Izuku needed a camera set up on Cloudy’s forehead to see what was happening. 

“What do you think that the first team did wrong?” Izuku asked. He would have liked to go over it while the team was here, but somehow, all of them had ended up unconscious.

Yaoyorozu’s hand shot up. “This exercise is based on teamwork, correct? Team 1 seemed to...struggle with that.” Jirou snorted. “Bakugou-san abandoned his team at the start, and while Iida tried to lead the remaining members, his plan was too simple and directly clashed with Bakugou. Neither of them could fight in a team.”

“And Kaminari-san messed up pretty bad at the end, kero,” Asui said bluntly.

Izuku hummed. “That’s all true. But what about Tokoyami? What could he have done better?”

Yaoyorozu wavered. “I thought Tokoyami did well in the exercise. He listened to his teammates, and carried out the plan.”

“Dark Shadow is weak to light,” Izuku explained. “Being on a team with Bakugou was terrible luck for him, yet Tokoyami never told his teammates about that; as a result, Dark Shadow couldn’t function well. Of course, Bakugou didn’t even plan with them, but Kaminari’s quirk produces light as well.”

“Fighting with someone means that you cover for their weaknesses; not just work with their strengths.”

“Atlas-sensei was pretty cool back there!” Kirishima Ejiro exclaimed. Teamwork was so manly! “If the four of us work together, we can totally beat this exercise!”

“We get five minutes to plan, right?” Ojiro said. “Can’t believe that the first team wasted that...”

Tsu tilted her head in thought. “From what we saw, I doubt we can knock Cloudy out; he seems super durable, kero. To win, we’ll need to use the capture tape.”

“Our quirks are both good for capture, right Asu-”

“Call me Tsu.” Tsu interrupted.

“-Tsu.” Sero corrected. “If Kirishima and Ojiro hold Cloudy off, the two of us can wrap him up. From there, we’d just need to get the capture tape around him.”

“We can’t afford to underestimate Cloudy, though. The skill he showed against Bakugou was still incredible.” Ojiro noted.

Cloudy’s body looked like some kind of purple stone, strong enough to tank a giant explosion with ease. 

Would his Hardening be enough?

Izuku’s phone connected to the camera on Cloudy’s head. He reinforced Cloudy’s body, fixing up the minor damage Katsuki left, before making the clone stand up. 

It was oddly similar to playing a video game; just with a very difficult controller. It had taken a lot of practice to make complex movements with Cloudy; moving each part of his body precisely. Now Izuku could control the clone easily, even from this far away, to the point that Cloudy was like an extra limb.

The planning period ended, and Cloudy took off in a sprint. Izuku decided to run through the streets, this time keeping off the rooftops. The camera on Cloudy’s forehead was holding up well, and the empty streets came through in perfect quality despite the fast pace. He’d have to thank Power Loader for helping with that, again.

Minutes passed, yet strangely, nothing happened. The students should have attacked by now, he was in plain view, yet he hadn’t seen a single one.

Asui, Kirishima, Sero, and Ojiro. They didn’t seem like the kind of group to slack off an exercise, so they must have a plan of some kind. 

Cloudy twisted his head side to side as he ran, scanning his surroundings. He didn’t need to go looking for the students; he would win if he just kept running till the exercise ended...

Huh. There was some kind of resistance as Cloudy moved, barely noticeable. Was Izuku not using enough mana? 

Cloudy glanced down, only to see many, many white stripes wrapped around his legs. He must have been running for several minutes, only getting progressively tangled without even noticing. 

Cloudy’s only had two senses; the vision and audio coming from the camera. Izuku couldn’t detect the additional weight of something as light as tape . 

“Now!” Someone yelled behind him. Sero. Cloudy was suddenly flying backward, and his head dragged across the concrete.

Cloudy turned just in time to block a thick tail, knocking him off balance. Before he could counter something pink wrapped around his arms, keeping them in place as Kirishima leaped forward, his capture tape in hand.

All of Cloudy’s limbs had been immobilized with quick work from Sero and Asui, Izuku noted. Ojiro had set up the perfect chance for Kirishima to capture the enemy. An impressive show of teamwork from the start, absolutely nothing like the first team.

Izuku couldn’t make it too easy for them, though.

Cloudy leaned backward, unnaturally so for a human. Kirishima’s grin vanished as he missed and Cloudy’s wrapped legs hit his head in an uppercut. He hadn’t hardened his face; sloppy. 

Cloudy used the motion to flip back, landing away from the four awkwardly, like some kind of purple burrito. Kirishima smiled in excitement, hardening his fists. Asui said something that was muffled by her tongue, Ojiro was in a karate-like stance, and Sero still had his arms out, keeping Cloudy contained. 

Cloudy swung his foot forward, yanking the tape- and by extension, Sero- towards him. His other leg slammed into the boy’s side, and Sero tumbled across the street.

He moved towards Asui next, to break her grip on his arms-

“Red...Gauntlet!” Kirishima shouted, and a hardened fist drove straight into Cloudy’s gut, making him bend from the impact. Ojiro followed up with a leg sweep, knocking Cloudy to the ground.

Cloudy reacted instantly as he fell, rolling to the side. He aimed a kick at Ojiro as he stood up, only for Kirishima to proudly step forward and tank the blow.

“Thanks, Kirishima!” Ojiro used the opening to attack, and his tail swung in a fluid arc. 

“Anytime, bro!” Kirishima yelled back as his rock-like arms blocked Cloudy’s next kick.

The three fought together well; with Kirishima stopping Cloudy’s kicks while Ojiro pressed the attack. Asui’s tongue was still tightly wrapped around Cloudy’s arms, not letting him get far or throw any punches. He was worried about damaging her tongue at first, but it seemed to be durable.

Ojiro was well trained, smoothly flowing into blow after blow. He was obviously dedicated to karate, and his mutation made it into something unique. His tail functioned like an extra arm, yet it had even more flexibility and range. Most interesting though was the red mana tinting his limbs before every strike; basic enhancement magic.

Kirishima was a brawler, swinging his fists without any type of martial art. There was talent though, and his quirk could be amazing in hand-hand combat. From what Izuku could tell, his upper body was entirely hardened at the moment, holding strong even as the fight stretched on. If Sero recovered fast enough to help them, Cloudy would probably be captured.

The issue with their approach, though, was that it only worked because Asui was behind him. With Asui holding him from the back, Ojiro and Kirishima were free to pressure him without getting in the way of her tongue.

Cloudy sidestepped Ojiro’s tail, letting it crack the concrete next to him, and twisted into a low roundhouse kick. Kirishima stepped in front of it, abruptly realizing that his legs weren’t hardened as Cloudy’s leg struck his shin. The redhead toppled to the ground, and Izuku heard several of his students hiss in sympathy.

Ojiro was now left standing between Asui and Cloudy, and she was forced to let go of the clone. Cloudy used this chance to turn and sprint away in the other direction, purple footsteps ringing through the fake city as Ojiro cursed behind him.

There were only a few minutes left on the timer, after all. 

Ojiro was close behind him, using his enhancement to push his legs further. He was panting, but still closing the distance.

“You’re not going anywhere, kero.” Asui swung around, as her long tongue wrapped around a streetlight, before landing a powerful dropkick that whipped Cloudy’s head to the side. She landed in a crouch, and Cloudy ducked as her tongue punched past his head. 

Cloudy took her by surprise by picking Asui up by the shoulders and tossing her at Ojiro, forcing the poor boy to stop running and catch her. That should hold those two, now where was-

“Improvised Move: Red SLINGSHOT!” Cloudy turned just in time to see a massive amount of tape between two poles, pulled taut with Kirishima at its center. With a yell, the boy slammed into the clone like a missile.

Sero’s tape lashed out as soon as they hit the ground, sticking them in place, as Asui wrapped the capture binding around Cloudy’s body.

Huh.

The rest of class 1-A cheered behind Izuku as the second team won as the four of them stood Cloudy, tired yet victorious. The cameras picked up them walking back together, Sero complaining about his...dry elbows?

He hadn’t expected that last move or that twenty-year-olds could adapt that well. Izuku smiled. It seemed that whether they were humans, or gods, his students always managed to surprise him.

“Next team;" Izuku called out. "Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Hagakure!”

Yaoyorozu Momo was up next and she was quite nervous about it. 

After getting the chance to learn magic for five years(it still hadn’t sunk in), she returned from her impromptu vacation to fulfill her dream of being a hero. Despite what her parents had said, she passed the recommendation exam and got into U.A University, one of the best hero schools in the country, and she couldn’t be more excited about it. She had even got elected class president!

Once Yaoyorozu was here, though, something started to change. She worked hard to get this far; mastering her difficult quirk, fighting the best trainers. 

Yet most of her classmates seemed to be leagues ahead of her. Bakugou’s combat ability was incredible; he almost took on Cloudy completely on his own.  Todoroki’s quirk was ridiculously powerful. And then there was Midoriya; the girl who protected the entire class while all Yaoyorozu could do was watch, terrified of the monster. Creation was cool, but did she have the power to match up to the rest of them?

“Yaomomo? You okay?”  Yaoyorozu was jolted out of her thoughts as a gloved hand waved in front of her face. “You were kinda staring into space there.”

“Yes, I’m fine-Hagakure-san, did you just call me 'Yaomomo'?” 

“Yep!” Hagakure replied brightly. “Mina thought of it this morning. It’s pretty cute, right?”

Yaoyorozu blinked. Was that a nickname? She’d never been given one of those before. 

“Do you have an idea for this exercise, Pres? You reviewed the other two teams and their plans pretty well.” Jirou asked. 

She loved analysis, so she’d been happy to go over the fights she saw in the monitoring room. Looking back, she might have come off as prideful or blunt when detailing their mistakes...maybe she needed to apologize to them?  

Yaoyorozu forced herself to focus. All of that wasn't important right now, she needed a plan.

Creation gave her a lot of options, including capture. Yaoyorozu was certain that Jirou’s quirk gave her a better sense of hearing; something invaluable for capturing a target. Aoyama’s Naval Laser would be the perfect sniper, and the invisible Hagakure could set the perfect ambush.

The biggest issue they faced was that they lacked firepower. They probably couldn’t take out Cloudy with sheer force and precision like the second team did.

But maybe their team could do something different.

“It seems that our m agnifique leader has thought of a plan,” Aoyama noted.

“I think I do...though it’s more of a strategy.” Yaoyorozu made four earpieces as she talked, handing one to each team member. “Hagakure-san, your quirk and magic are light-related, right?” She looked at where she assumed Hagakure’s eyes were, but it was nearly impossible to tell.

One of Hagakure’s floating gloves lifted, and a small sphere of white formed on the palm. When her hand moved, the light drifted with it. “Yeah, why?”

“Do you think you could manipulate Aoyama’s lasers?” Yaoyorozu asked.

Hagakure hummed. “I’m not too sure if I can with my magic, but with Invisibility? Definitely.”

“With my quirk, I’ll be able to boost all of your attacks. From there, we’re going to wear Cloudy down until we have a chance to capture him-Hagakure-san, that’ll most likely be your job.”

“Sure!” 

“What’s my task, mademoiselle Yaoyorozu?” Aoyama asked.

“We’ll be splitting up into two groups. Could you stay with Hagakure? Her abilities would be perfect for strengthening and redirecting your lasers.”

Aoyama beamed. “A chance to show off my beautiful quirk to its fullest extent! Wonderful!”

“Wait, we’re pairing off?” Jirou asked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea against someone this strong?”

“The goal of this exercise is to catch Cloudy, instead of a straight-up fight,” Yaoyorozu said. “Chasing him with two groups is the best option.”

“When we force him to stop running, though, we take him on with all four of us.”

Jirou’s ear jacks plugged into the ground, and the purple-haired girl closed her eyes in concentration. She listened for a few more moments before opening them again.

“He’s up ahead, running straight through this street,” Jirou said. Yaoyorozu nodded, pressed against the other wall of the alley. Just a few minutes had passed, and Jirou had already found Cloudy. Her quirk was amazing.

“How long till he passes us?” Yaoyorozu asked. She let her formulas come to the front of her brain, and her quirk tickled her stomach.

“A few seconds...now.” A purple blur ran past their little alley.

Yaoyorozu unzipped the back of her costume, imagining the metal and gunpowder and the exact structures she needed...there. She stepped out onto the street as the creation finished, pulling the contraption from her exposed skin and setting it onto the concrete.

“Holy shit.” Jirou breathed. “Did you just pull out a fucking cannon from your back?”

“Cover your ears,” Yaoyorozu warned in response, though she couldn’t help the smile on her face. 

Jirou did so just in time, and a shattering boom launched the cannonball at incredible velocity towards the escaping clone.

Usually, of course, artillery is a terrible choice for an ambush. Ridiculously loud, not to mention heavy and inconvenient. However, Cloudy was essentially deaf; the mana construct, though impressive, was only hearing through a camera. 

The projectile slammed straight into Cloudy’s back with a crack and the impact carried the clone forward into a nearby building.

Jirou’s jacks plugged into her legs, and she fired off a vibrational blast into the unstable foundation. The concrete tumbled down, covering Cloudy completely. He burst out of his coffin just a moment later, and rocks were thrown to the side with frightening ease. 

Yaoyorozu immediately fired again, but the cannonball flew past the clone’s head as he dodged, tearing through the street.

Another wave of sound clipped Cloudy’s legs, giving Yaoyorozu an opening. A steel katana formed out of her shoulder, her hand closing around the simple handle and she swung the blade in the same movement-

Cloudy simply raised an arm and the sword stopped short, barely making a dent. Atlas-sensei had said Cloudy was made out of the air, yet the purple, stone-like clone was durable enough to take a cannon shot like it was nothing, and her katana couldn’t even slice his body.

Cloudy seemed to switch strategies as they pressured him, counter-attacking to force them to back off instead of merely running away. Her katana chipped against his arms as they fought, dealing little damage and barely deflecting Cloudy’s attacks. His blows were held back, but still heavy and fast enough that she couldn’t afford to lose concentration. Meanwhile, Jirou supported her from a distance, taking shots at Cloudy whenever she could.

Yaoyorozu sidestepped a punch, forming a boot around her shoe for a metal kick that struck the clone in the chest, knocking him back. She used the breather to make her staff, making wide, controlled swings. She created more and more weapons; daggers and gauntlets and grenades to force him towards-

“Jirou-san!”

Earjacks stabbed near Cloudy’s feet, and a shockwave wrecked the ground below. He tripped, vulnerable, and Yaoyorozu pulled a massive greatsword out her back, making the edge as sharp as she could. Her tired arms protested under the weight as she struck down with all of her might.

Cloudy rolled to the side and the sword dug itself into concrete. He moved before she could recover, his purple fist striking her exposed stomach hard enough to make her stumble backward. He was even stronger than she expected! She needed a new plan, something to create-

Yaoyorozu’s eyes went wide, creating a metal shield just in time for another punch to slam into it. The impact knocked her down, her mind scrambling to think. 

Cloudy’s head suddenly whipped to the side from a burst of sound. Jirou plugged her jacks into her arms, and the vibrational jolt of a punch at short range was almost concussive. She used the opening to get Yaoyorozu out of the way, and instead of continuing the fight, the powerful clone escaped down the street. 

He was out of sight within moments.

Jirou held out a hand and Yaoyorozu took it gratefully, panting as she was pulled onto her feet. 

“You okay, Pres? Took a pretty bad hit, there.” 

“Yes...I’m fine. We should get moving, he shouldn’t have gotten far.”

Jirou blinked. “What? We just tried taking him on ourselves, it clearly didn’t work out.”

“We got a lot of information, though!” Yaoyorozu brightened. “Our attacks affect him, he’s just very durable. His vision is limited, just as I thought, and your quirk works quite well despite Cloudy being deaf.”

Jirou shrugged. “I don’t need to hold back on the vibration since Cloudy isn’t human. So, what now?”

“For our next ambush...”

Another bright blue beam struck Cloudy’s side, and the clone stumbled. 

Aoyama posed from a distance, a shining sniper firing laser after laser. His quirk had its limit, but with stomach medication on hand, that limit was much higher.

Hagakure had ditched her gloves, going for a capture whenever she had the chance. Cloudy couldn’t see, hear, or even feel the girl, but since the capture tape became visible when she took it out of her hair, his reflexes were enough to keep getting away. She lacked experience from what Yaoyorozu could tell, but her invisibility was hard to counter and Aoyama was making more and more openings for her.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Yaoyorozu was starting to see the results of their strategy. Repeated attacks and guerilla warfare were getting to the clone, thin lines of damage visible on his purple body.

With Cloudy running away from Aoyama and Hagakure, it was the perfect time for Yaoyorozu and Jirou to cut him off from the front.

Yaoyorozu leaped out in front of him, activating her little reinforcement magic. She swung her reinforced staff down, and the metal connected with his shoulder. A white ball appeared behind him, seeming to float before the magic struck Cloudy’s legs. Hagakure pulled out her capture tape starting to loop it around his arm-

Cloudy twisted away at the last moment, knocking heads with the invisible girl in the process. Jirou’s jacks stabbed into Cloudy’s camera, but they didn’t seem to do any damage to it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hagakure, are you okay?” Yaoyorozu asked, worried. Did she get a concussion from that? 

“Yeah, I’m fine. That hurt a lot, though!” Hagakure made another light sphere as she talked, punching Cloudy in the face. At the same time, one of Aoyama’s lasers struck the back of his head. Yet Cloudy was barely fazed. How could a clone even be this durable?

Cloudy caught the end of Yaoyorozu’s staff, yanking it out of her grip. It twirled between the clone’s purple fingers, lazily spinning in a wheel. Yaoyorozu’s eyes went wide. She’d never considered that someone could take one of her weapons before. And then use them better than she could-

The grey metal blurred into motion, somehow deflecting a vibrational blast. The weapon swung in a perfect circle around Cloudy, and there was an audible crack as it knocked Hagakure down.

Yaoyorozu barely had the time to form a new staff before Cloudy attacked, and the blunt end was stopped inches from her face.

The way Cloudy used the staff was nothing like she did. It was graceful and precise, every part of the weapon jabbing and swinging in perfect balance. It was almost like it was an extension of himself.

Cloudy batted away a poke at his head, launching another two attacks that she barely blocked. She didn’t see the low arc that swept her off her feet and Yaoyorozu’s back hit the ground, leaving her winded.

The clone sprinted towards Aoyama, the only team member left standing. He weaved through the array of lasers effortlessly, getting closer and closer to the boy.

Aoyama panicked, firing off a massive blue beam, only for the clone to duck under it-

The attack flew past Cloudy and into something invisible before the light was redirected back the way it came.

-and the laser slammed into Cloudy’s back, throwing him across the street.

Yaoyorozu forced herself to her feet, tapping the device on her wrist and pulling up the formulas she needed.

Cloudy lunged at Aoyama, but he pushed himself far away using Naval Laser just in time. 

Yaoyorozu finally pulled her strongest weapon out of her back a few seconds later, bracing the heavy weight against her shoulder as her stomach screamed at the loss of lipids.

“Hagakure-san?” Yaoyorozu called out.

“Here!” The voice responded cheerfully next to her.

Jirou blinked, covering her ears on instinct. “Wait, wait, Pres is that a-”

Yaoyorozu fired, and the rocket moved faster than her eyes could track. 

The smell of smoke was almost tangible, and the explosion did more than anything Bakugou had managed, she noticed with satisfaction. 

The area around Cloudy had been completely wrecked, the building behind him unrecognizable and the street ruined. Cloudy was still standing, but his arms had a clear dent in them and cracks were running down his body. The stolen staff had been destroyed from the attack.

Yaoyorozu only had enough food left for a metal baton now, and the rest of her team was just as tired as she was. Despite that, she was having so much fun, fighting such a strong enemy, like a real hero. 

Her parents would probably call her crazy if they could see her now.

Yaoyorozu reinforced the baton before jabbing his chest. At the same time, a wave of sound pushed him to his knees and Hagakure leaped onto Cloudy’s back. The invisible girl wrapped the capture tape around him, letting out a cheer.

“Gotcha!”

Their teacher's voice rang throughout the fake city soon after, signaling their victory.

Atlas-sensei smiled at them as they returned, and the class clapped like they’d won a war.

“That was well done.” Atlas-sensei praised, and she smiled back in pride. “So for this team's analysis-”

Then Yaoyorozu’s stomach chose that moment to finally voice its displeasure, letting out a rumble loud enough to cut her teacher off. Yaoyorozu flushed, sheepish.

“Um...can I go get dinner first?”

Chapter Text

Yaoyorozu happily munched on her bento as Izuku resumed class.

The rest of the third team was still trying to catch their breath; Aoyama and Jirou had pushed their quirks pretty far, and Hagakure had to be constantly on the move. They had passed and done great, in Izuku's opinion.

"Their plan was smart," Akari said. "And they carried it out well."

“Yaomomo, I didn’t know you could make actual rocket launchers. And grenades too!” Ashido gushed. “You're like a cooler Bakubro!”

Naturally, the mentioned boy took offense to that. “What the hell did you just say, you damn extra-”

“Yeah, and you were super fast with that staff! Where’d you learn that?” Kirishima interrupted.

After only a few days of living in a dorm, it seemed the other students were used to Katsuki’s language. Izuku still wasn’t; why did the boy even need to curse that much? 

Yaoyorozu blushed under the praise. “I have several tutors I practice with often, since my ability to create weapons would be useless without training.” 

“I guess that’s true,” Kaminari said. “I don’t think I could remember how to make all of that stuff.”

“Of course you couldn’t, your brain’s completely fried.” Jirou teased.

“Hey!”

“Jirou did great,” Uraraka said. “Her quirk is how you all kept finding Cloudy, right?”

Yaoyorozu nodded. “Right, her sense of hearing was the reason we could plan all those attacks in the first place.”

"Thanks, Pres."

“Her sound blasts did lots of damage, too!” 

“What about moi? ” Aoyama asked. “Wasn’t I fabulous back there?” 

Kirishima smiled wide, exposing his shark-like teeth. “Yeah man, your aim was amazing-” 

“...though you overused your quirk, and ended up sick to your stomach.” Ashido snickered, and the prideful boy wilted a little.

“I couldn’t really tell where you were, Hagakure, in all the fighting,” Fuji admitted. “Were those white lights popping around yours?” 

The floating gloves waved at him. “My light magic isn’t very good yet, but yeah, I can do cool stuff like that!”

“Atlas-sensei couldn’t do much against it, since you were completely invisible. But how did you avoid running into your teammates?” Sato asked.

“Oh, Yaomomo told me to step really loud!" Hagakure answered. "I didn’t get it at first, but apparently Cloudy can’t really hear that well, so it worked out great for us!”

Akari was staring at where Hagakure was, thoughtful. Did she notice something about the invisible girl’s quirk, Izuku wondered, with her similar affinity for light?

Izuku didn’t think he’d ever have to teach an invisible student before. He could sense when she was nearby; the light did something weird around her and his mana could keep track of that. But that fact didn’t change that he couldn’t actually see Hagakure. What if she got knocked out, and nobody could find her?

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Atlas-sensei.” Yaoyorozu mused, bringing him out of his thoughts. “How are you controlling that clone so easily through a camera? Not to mention fighting fluidly. The vision range must be quite small, not to mention how we kept attacking from different angles...”

Izuku shrugged. “Practice. The more precise your magic is, the more complex things you can do with it with the righ-” 

He paused, turning to glance out the window at the fake city as tangible amounts of familiar mana covered the entire school like a red blanket.

Ah. There goes his classtime.

It came from the sky; a streak of yellow crashing down faster than the cameras could catch. It hit the street like a meteor where Cloudy stood, smashing Izuku's poor air clone into a million pieces. Red eyes glanced about curiously at the ruined city, flickering out of existence.

Yaoyorozu blinked, confused, as Cloudy seemed to vanish on-screen. “Wait, Atlas-sensei, where did-”

“Oh, there you are.” A voice came from Izuku’s side.

Every student in the room was startled at once, their heads whipping to the new blonde in the room. Kaminari screamed.

“Hello, Sekhmet.” Izuku smiled. “It’s been a few years, hasn’t it?”

Sekhmet hummed. “Figured I’d visit, it really has been too long. But you seem...” The goddess glanced at his stunned class. “...busy at the moment.”

Izuku introduced them.

“Sekhmet, this is class 1-A-”

“Wait, are those humans?”

“And class, this is Sekhmet-”

“...did she just call us ‘humans?’”

“Well, we are humans, Ojiro-san.”

“But who says it like that?”

“Aunt Sekhmet!” A girl shouted, and the goddess’s red eyes instantly softened.

Sekhmet caught the flying Akari easily, whirling her around with a smile. “My favorite niece!”

“But I’m your only-”

“How’ve you been?" Sekhmet asked. "You’ve gotten even taller since the last time I saw you!”

“Great! So I beat up a god this week with that punch you mentioned, and-” 

Around Akari, Sekhmet flipped from a calm goddess into an excited aunt. It would be cute if Izuku wasn’t so terrified of her influence.

“Sekhmet? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a hero like that.” Iida murmured.

“Ah, that’s because she isn’t a hero,” Izuku said. “Sekhmet’s her actual name; she’s like my sensei.”

“Atlas-sensei’s sensei? She must be really strong!” Kirishima exclaimed.

Izuku shivered. “Yeah...”

Sekhmet put Akari down before she could get dizzy, ruffling her hair. “So you have human students now, huh. When’d that happen?”

“A few months ago. Seemed like fun.”

Iida was so taken aback by the casual answer, but most of the class just nodded with his explanation.

Sekhmet blurred in front of Ashido, curious, and the girl jumped. “So this is the quirk thing you mentioned, right? Been so long since I’ve seen one. Is the cool alien-skin your ability??”

Ashido seemed to relax, almost unconsciously. “My quirk’s called Acid; pretty self-explanatory, and I’ve looked like this my entire life as a neat side effect! What’s your quirk, Sekhmet-san?”

“Mine? Ah, I don’t have one of those things.”

Yaoyorozu’s eyes went wide. “Wow, I’ve never met a quirkless person before! I didn’t know there were still any people without quirks-ah I’m sorry, that must have been so rude!”

Sekhmet waved it off. “Don’t worry, I don’t need one of those. I-”

Izuku could only sigh as she moved at blinding speed once more, stopping in front of Ojiro. She was scaring his students on purpose, wasn’t she?

“-have enhancement magic, just like this kid seems to.” Sekhmet squinted at the tailed boy. “Though he is super weak right now.”  

Ojiro winced.

“Is it rude to ask how this girl’s invisible?” Sekhmet wondered as the floating gloves let out a surprised ‘eep’. 

“Yeah, but since when did you care about things like that?” Izuku asked.

“Well-”

Eraserhead burst into the room, capture scarf ready, his eyes tinged red as they searched the room.

“Where’s the intruder...” The hero trailed off, watching Sekhmet pat Dark Shadow on the head. 

“This is Sekhmet,” Izuku explained cheerfully. “I know her, she’s just visiting!”

“Midoriya, she just broke through so many alarms-where did she even come from?”

“The sky, probably.”

“We have a perfectly functional gate.”

Sekhmet tilted her head, confused. “Who’s Midoriya?”

“That’s my family name,” Izuku answered. 

“Your name is easier to say, why do you need another?”

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow. “Who exactly...is she?”

Sekhmet poked him in the side, and Eraserhead flinched. “Who’s this? Another one of your students? He seems really...scruffy.”

Uraraka choked.

Eraserhead ground his teeth, and Izuku hurriedly stepped in. “No, no, this is one of my co-workers. His name’s Eraserhead-”

Sekhmet laughed. “What kind of name is Eraserhead? Does his head...erase things?”

Izuku brightened. “Exactly! It’s cool, his eyes change and then abilities just go...poof!”

“Really? Oi, tired man. Use it on me.”

Eraserhead seemed to have aged twenty years in the past minute but complied nonetheless, his eyes flashing red.

“Huh,” Sekhmet said, thoughtfully. “It’s like my mana’s being suppressed, somehow, yet he isn’t using any magic at all. I wonder if I could overpower it-”

“Please don’t.” Izuku pleaded. No way would that end well.

Sekhmet rolled her eyes. “ Fine. I swear you take the fun out of everything. Remember when I wanted to see how far I could punt a person last decade, and you didn’t let me?”

“...I think I was completely justified there.”

“It would have been hilarious!”

Iida cleared his throat. “Excuse me...but if ‘Sekhmet’ isn’t an alias, is that her actual name?” 

“Hm? Yeah, just call me Sekhmet, kid.”

Iida gasped, scandalized at the very idea.

Eraserhead sighed, turning to Izuku as hands flew into the air, the rest of the class full of questions. 

“Just...get a visitor pass next time. So I never have to run here again.”

“...alright.”

“This is weird,” Sekhmet noted. 

She stood on Dagobah Beach next to him, watching the sun start to set like she had so many times before. Now, though, the beautiful sight was tainted by the groups of humans playing in sand and water and shouts covered up the sound of waves.

“It really is.” Izuku agreed. “I’ve had a few months to get used to it, but even then, seeing so many people is just strange. Especially here.”

His spot.

“How do you train in peace, then?” 

Izuku shrugged. “I go to Heaven or just run further into the ocean, out of sight. Training on the water is good practice for my magic, anyway.”

“Right, you can make water solid. That still doesn’t make any sense, by the way.”

“Sekhmet, I’ve explained it so many times-”

“Shouldn’t the water just get stronger?”

“...do you want a lecture on magic theory?” 

Sekhmet shook her head, vehemently, and Izuku huffed.

Maybe next time.

“That’s what I thought. Also, I’ve been meaning to ask, but uh, why are you wearing armor?”

Sekhmet blinked like she hadn’t noticed the decorated plates running along her body, colored an intimidating red. 

“Oh, this. Mom made me go to this thing earlier...something about a challenger for my champion title? I don’t know, it was really boring-”

“Wait, wait. Isn’t that supposed to be a really big deal!” Izuku exclaimed.

"Nope-it’s just a pain. I can tell when there’s an actual fight, and when it’s a weakling that I still have to deal with anyway. Like you!”

Izuku frowned. “I’m not that ba-”

Sekhmet ruthlessly cut him off. “Izuku, how many times have you won against me?”

Izuku opened his mouth, before closing it. Ah. 

“Exactly,” Sekhmet said, smug. “Alas, I’ve tried so hard to teach you everything I know-”

“You never teach me anything, Sekhmet, you just beat me up.”

“-for centuries, only to be so disappointed. But anyway, so I knocked her out with a punch-" Izuku winced in sympathy. "-and came to check on my precious student, to see if he’s gotten any stronger.” Sekhmet’s voice was still light, but Izuku tensed.

“The speed I used in that room, with the humans. You’re faster than the last time I saw you, but the actual reflexes...they're slower.”

So she hadn’t just been zipping around the room for fun, Izuku realized too late.

“You haven’t had a serious fight in years, right? I haven't either. Most of the gods, and definitely none of the humans here, would really give you much of a challenge.”

Izuku thought of All for One, how much power he'd had to use. But that was more like dealing with an elusive bug- the man himself hadn’t really posed a threat to him. All Might, who didn’t have annoying amounts of regeneration, could be knocked out without using his staff. And there was no way other humans would be as strong as those two.

“And?” Izuku asked, really not liking where this was going.

Sekhmet grinned, full of teeth. “I can fix that for you, my dear student.”

“Don’t worry sensei," Izuku started. "You really don’t need to go through the trouble-”

Sekhmet warped the both of them before he could even react, the beach around them disappearing in a blur of mana.

Fuck.

Izuku’s vision sharpened, taking in the bright green trees stretching below him as far as he could see, the fact that he was high up in the air and currently falling down, down through branches that barely stopped his fall. He tucked his body in on impact, tumbling across the forest floor before finally coming to a stop.

He stood to his feet, brushing the leaves out of his shirt. Sekhmet had probably taken him somewhere in Heaven, but he had no idea where. Somewhere isolated, where a huge fight wouldn’t disturb anyone. 

With Void, his mana would be untraceable, so Izuku could hide and escape. Knowing his Sensei, though, that’d never work; she'd just destroy the entire forest. She was also ridiculously fast.

So that left combat, Izuku realized, and with his trusty staff sheathed across his back, he waited.

Five seconds passed before he felt the wind shift, and he dove to the side on instinct. The tree behind him shattered as the Sekhmet’s first punch flew past his head, wood flying out like shrapnel. 

Izuku ducked under a roundhouse kick just in time, throwing his palm out, and the air tinged purple as it forced her back like a weighted blanket.

“If you wanted to fight, you could’ve just asked,” Izuku muttered under his breath.

His tyrannical sensei let out a laugh at the thought. “But where’s the fun in that?”

She sliced through the air barrier like it was nothing, and Izuku attacked.

Sekhmet deflected two punches easily before sliding past the following kick, her elbow striking his gut before her arm whipped the other way, and the back of her fist smacked his jaw. 

Izuku stumbled back, recalculating, raising both arms to cover his face like a boxer. 

He caught her next chop on his forearm, his fists flying in a volley of jabs in that same instant. Sekhmet weaved through the attacks before aiming straight for his unprotected stomach.

Izuku caught the punch with both hands, turning in the same motion to throw her up over his shoulder-

Only for Sekhmet to twist in mid-air, straightening out her legs to somehow land on her feet. He was still holding her arm and she pulled him in, knee slamming into his gut and knocking the breath out of him. She grabbed him by the shirt and launching him through a tree, sending him tumbling across the forest clearing.

Sekhmet was dashing forward before he could even stand up, but this time countless air chains stopped her, tugging at her arms. Sekhmet broke free in an instant, but more chains wrapped around her legs and dragged her down into the ground, like purple snakes.

Izuku reinforced the earth to trap her before he lifted the trees around him at once. Stray leaves drifted down as Izuku raised the woods higher and higher, little threads of air connected to the roots and flowing his magic through the floating forest.

They shined purple as he dropped them down, an angry storm of trees crashing down on his sensei. She was completely covered in the pile, and Izuku wondered for a split second if that had really worked.

Then the world exploded, the wall of wood helpless against the overwhelming force. Izuku’s eyes went wide as the wind rushed past him, blowing back his now dusty hair.

Sekhmet stood without a scratch, the forest clearing devastated around her, hand raised in the air. Her fist glowed a bright red

Ah, he’d made her get serious. Izuku felt instant regret seep into his bones.

“That was tricky, actually.” Sekhmet mused. “Not using my magic after a move like that would be pretty rude, wouldn't it?” 

As she talked, her enhancement magic slowly massed around her like a cloak; very much not a good sign. He needed to interrupt her.

“Stance Six: Javelin!” 

In a fluid movement, he unsheathed the staff from his back before pouring his reinforcement and throwing it with all of his might. The weapon cut through the air like a missile, straight at her face.

Sekhmet tilted her head and the staff blazed by, only grazing her cheek. “That was too obvious, Izuku-”

But then the air pulled at the staff, strings upon strings of mana connecting and yanking it back like a rubber band. The attack slammed into her back at twice the speed, and she stumbled forward in surprise.

He kicked her in the side in the opening, catching his staff as it fell and swinging it towards her face-

Sekhmet’s palm glowed red as it effortlessly stopped the blow, and Izuku’s eyes went wide. 

The next kick sent him flying back as dug his heels into the dirt and blinked back stars.

Sekhmet moved way faster than he could react. Then what he needed to do was...

With a flash of red, Sekhmet was already on him. This time he willingly took the punch, feeling his chest scream even as he moved with the momentum, pulling one end of his staff down to lift the other side like a lever.

“Stance Ten: Uppercut.” 

The blow cracked against her jaw, forcing her head to glance up. 

“Stance One: Sweep.”

Sekhmet leaped up, barely clearing the attack in time, but Izuku was already flowing into his next stance as he grabbed the base of his staff with both hands and swung.

“Stance Two: Bash.”

In the air, Sekhmet couldn’t dodge fast enough. The impact carried through her arms, pushing her off balance.

“Stance Three: Pierce.”

As Izuku pulled his staff back, he stepped to the side so he was holding the staff parallel to the ground and stabbed forward-

Sekhmet’s hand closed around the staff, centimeters from her face, and his second-strongest stance stopped dead short. 

Her entire body was imbued with mana now, seeping through her like blood. It was almost tangible in the air around her, the pure energy burning his skin as she got stronger and stronger.

Izuku had never seen her use this much power before, and he was terrified. He pulled on the staff desperately, but it didn’t even budge in her grip. 

“That was a good fight, wasn’t it? Very fun.” Izuku said, his voice shaking. “But you know, we really should be getting back now-”

Sekhmet cracked her knuckles. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I told Aurora we’d be back late. And we’re just getting started, right?”

Izuku let go of the staff, dropping to the ground.

The attack missed, and the air pressure uprooted an entire forest behind him, loud winds all he could hear as the miniature hurricane swept across the ruined landscape.

Holy shit.

He didn't have time to stare, rolling to the side as an ax kick carved the earth where he stood.

Sekhmet threw his precious staff to the side carelessly. He made obstacles to buy time but it was useless; she shattered his air shield and her enhanced form tore through his chains without pause.

Reinforcement magic was useless without his staff, apparently. So Izuku activated Void, letting go of his magic as the technique took effect.

His ability to sense mana was unmatched in this state, and the only way he’d last another few seconds.

The only source of mana for miles was the overpowered goddess in front of him, a bright red outline. He focused, following the red body as it started to move-

Izuku ducked under a roundhouse kick, seeing the mana build for a follow-up and sidestepping just in time. He weaved through a barrage of red fists before leaping back as she punched a hole in the ground.

All he could see was a blur, but with her entire body enhanced that was enough. He parried a blow that would have taken his head off, and then another aimed at his side.

“How are you doing that? Are you predicting my moves?” Sekhmet mused, even as Izuku narrowly dodged three more jabs. “I doubt it’s some kind of precognition...wait, I think I’ve got it.” Her mana suddenly flared out, and Izuku jumped back on instinct.

“Oh, my mana. That’s clever. But you can’t even attack like that, too concentrated on dodging-” Izuku winced, forced to block a punch that made his left arm ache. “And what if I go faster, say...eighty percent?”

Izuku twisted but the speeding punch still struck his side before he could get out of the way.

“I don’t remember you being this mean,” Izuku whined, letting out a hiss of pain.

Sekhmet shrugged. “You're strong now. Why should I go easy on you?”

Izuku blinked. What?

“Really? You think I’m strong?” 

Sekhmet rolled her eyes. “I haven’t gotten a chance to fight this hard in thousands of years. You're skilled, Izuku, even if you are really dense.”

“...Huh. That’s not what you said earlier.”

“That was just so you’d let your guard enough for an unwilling warp. Which worked, by the way.”

Oh. Izuku felt a wide smile stretch across his face.

“Stop doing that.” Sekhmet frowned. “That’s weird.”

"Doing what?" 

Izuku turned Void off and pulled his staff back into his hands with a few air strands. This time, he tried for more reinforcement than before, flowing more and more mana into the staff until he finally felt the metal crack.

He actually had so much more mana now. Why was he sticking to a familiar limit?

Izuku smiled wider. “Thanks, Sekhmet.”

“For wha-”

Stance Seven: Burst.

Izuku focused on his legs, pushing off against the ground in a single breath and launching himself forward.

For a single instant, he was just as fast as Sekhmet.

He stepped behind her, slashing down in an arc. She barely ducked under it in time, and his staff twirled in his hands as he attacked, lashing out in flashes of purple.

Izuku blocked a devastating kick, and the staff held against the massive amount of force without complaint even as the impact jolted through his arms.

He couldn’t see attacks coming as he had before, but the more he fought the more he adapted. The staff spun in front of him, batting away blows as he made his own strikes; he was having fun, he realized. 

“Stance Eight: Hook.” 

He caught the back of Sekhmet’s neck, yanking her forward as the other end of the staff struck her stomach. 

Izuku sidestepped her next blow easily. “Stance Two: Ba-”

It was a feint, and the actual punch slammed into his side with an audible crack. He didn’t falter, countering back.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, but Izuku...why do you say your stances out loud?” Sekhmet asked, aiming another strike that he deflected on reflex.

“Why not? It’s fun.”

“It sounds dumb-”

“Stance One: Sweep!” 

Sekhmet stepped back automatically, and Pierce drove into her stomach and knocked her back.

Izuku grinned. He pressed the attack, metal flashing as his staff spun faster and faster. He could win if he kept this up!

Sekhmet was a being of perfect control. As the strongest, if she didn’t know how to hold back, she’d accidentally kill her opponent. 

So she took her ridiculously huge amount of power and divided it into neat percentages. By accurately judging the enemy, she knew exactly how much enhancement to use, and they wouldn’t end up dead. And as Izuku grew to have similar strength, she taught him that control so he didn’t break his precious city with a twitch. Sekhmet spent ages rarely going above a comfortable twenty percent. 

But for the first time in forever, she got a chance to go all out.

Izuku didn’t see it. 

One moment he was swinging his staff, and the next his chest exploded with pain and he was slamming into a mountain miles and miles away.

He slumped to the ground, staring at the path of destruction; trees and bushes destroyed in line from where he flew from, stretching as far as he could see.

Huh.

The adrenaline started to wear off. His limbs were numb, his back was wrecked, and his ribs were definitely broken from that last hit. He let out a sigh before grimacing as his body protested the action.

Izuku heard Sekhmet land near him, and she snapped her fingers, healing him in a familiar flash of green. The bones and bruises knitted together through magic, reigniting the pain.

Luckily, he had insane pain tolerance Izuku thought, half-conscious.

“Good fight, Izuku.” 

He glanced up, expecting sarcasm, to see Sekhmet smile genuinely at him, actually reaching her eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his sensei that happy. Whatever it was, he was glad for her.

Izuku took her hand, and as she pulled his exhausted body to his feet he couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yeah, it was.”

Chapter Text

Izuku looked up at the mountain’s peak, ignoring the freezing winds against his cloak. High above the surrounding landscape, and with nobody around as far as he could see, it was the perfect place to train. 

Really, Izuku needed to start a travel agency. He’d seen and explored enough area for several lifetimes.

After so many years, Izuku finally forced Sekhmet to stop holding back, and evidently, he wasn't close to matching her yet. How could he change that?

Izuku fought by reinforcing his staff using the violet reinforcement magic Aurora gave him, and his air constructs.

He trained his physical body diligently, getting a bit more powerful every day. And his stances and martial arts were his own, practiced over and over again until a simple attack turned into a triumph card of its own. He could destroy entire cities with a kick, hold up the sky, and survive a punch from the second-strongest goddess.

But what about his magic?

The amount of mana he had increased many times over. He’d been proud of himself for creating his Void technique; something creative and useful. But despite all that practice, Izuku hadn’t really improved his magic in centuries. Even after he became a teacher at Arcadia, there just hadn’t been a need, and his entire life wasn’t consumed by training himself anymore.

Izuku pushed reinforcement magic farther than anyone had before, but in the end, he’d just stopped just like everyone else, hadn’t he?

Sekhmet broke through his air chains like they were nothing, and his reinforcement wasn’t even enough to faze her with solid objects. The only thing that’d worked was...

Izuku glanced down at his precious staff, tossing it from hand to hand.

Scratches and dents lined the metal from centuries of use, and one end was visibly cracked after his fight with Sekhmet. The weapon was worn, old. Izuku slowly reinforced it, flowing more and more mana into the weapon like a river of energy.

The staff outlined in violet at the first stage, his mana surrounding it like a coat. Then he filled it up from the inside, the grey starting to change color. 

He stopped when the staff glowed bright, shining with power in his grip.

Izuku frowned. At a mere 50% of Izuku’s mana, the weapon trembled in his grip. Any more reinforcement and it'd break. His no-longer-trusty staff had gotten too weak for him long ago, and Izuku hadn’t even noticed.

If a physical staff didn't work, what about...

The frosty air solidified into a new bo staff, and Izuku adjusted the weight until it was just right. Then he reinforced the makeshift weapon even further. His air constructs were mostly held together through mana, so they could handle a lot more of it than metal. 

Hmm. Izuku angled himself so that his left side faced the mountain, the beautiful violet staff held parallel to the snowy ground beneath him, and thrust forward with all of his might.

“Stance Three: Pierce.”

The rock in front of him exploded inward in a massive burst of force, drilling a huge hole through the mountain and clearing the snow and mist. The strike kept going, a shockwave slamming through smaller mountain peaks almost like collapsing dominos. 

But when Izuku glanced down, the air staff had completely crumbled into nothing, dissipating back into the chilling air around him. His mana couldn’t hold up to the immense force yet.

But an air staff could still perform a single stance and meaning they had potential. Izuku had never even considered it before-too attached to his metal one.

Izuku created a second staff, stepping into another Pierce that devastated the icy landscape in front of him. Then a third weapon formed into existence, thrusting again. A fourth disintegrated, then a fifth, each one just a bit stronger than the last.

He could definitely use this.

“I’m done with them, Tooru!” 

“Hmm? Done with what?” 

Akari tapped the cover of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire with a finger. “The books you gave me this morning.”

“Oh, those-wait, you’re already done?!”

“Yeah?” Why wouldn’t she be?

“Wow, you read super fast!” The invisible girl exclaimed. “I haven’t gotten anyone else hooked on my pre-quirk era books yet. What’d you think?” 

“I liked them a lot, but the magic's weird.” Akari mused. “It does all sorts of different things, but I couldn’t imagine having to shout strange words to a stick to do anything.” It’d probably feel pretty ridiculous.

“True. But this was written over two hundred years ago, back before humans had any kind of powers! I doubt the author could have guessed humanity would end up like this.” White sparks drifted off her t-shirt, flying up to the ceiling. “I mean, it’s been five years and I still can’t believe I have magic!” 

Their mana was the same color, Akari noticed. Tooru wasn’t nearly as experienced at magic as she was(she’d only known that it existed for five years, after all) but her mutant quirk was essentially just a difficult application of magic. Akari could see Tooru’s vague form when she squinted, the constant light manipulation poking at her mana sense. Hmm.

“I haven't seen anything like their magic items, though. Like, having the invisibility cloak sounds really fun.” The pranks were practically endless. “Though you would know about that, Tooru. What’s being invisible like?” Akari asked, curious.

The floating t-shirt froze.

Akari instantly regretted the rude question. 

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that-”

Tooru waved a sleeve at her. “No, no, it’s fine. I get that question a lot; looking like...this.”

“It’s fun, sometimes. No one sees me, so I can get away with a lot of small, silly things. I made this bully think he was being haunted, once! That was fun.”

"Wow."

“But the rest of the time? I hate Invisibility, so much. Some things are impossible when you can’t see yourself, or get noticed.” Tooru said quietly. 

Her voice was the only way Akari could tell what she was feeling without any facial expressions. That’s why she moved her clothes so much almost every time she talked; Akari realized with growing horror.

Quirks came in when humans were very young, Akari knew. Could Tooru even remember what she looked like?

“You can’t turn it off, can you?” Akari muttered. 

“Nope! Even if I try as hard as I can, or get knocked unconscious, I’ll stay just like this.” The t-shirt sleeves dropped, falling to her side. “Sorry for venting on you like this, Akari-I’ve only known you for weeks-but I really needed you to understand.”

“I’m going to help.”

“...I don’t think anyone can, Akari,” Tooru muttered bitterly. “My parents have taken me to so many-”

“I’m going to help,” Akari repeated, determined, as she grabbed both of Tooru’s invisible hands.

“I swear it.”

Aizawa-sensei let out a long yawn. “So...why am I here, again? It's late.”

The three of them stood in an empty Gym Gamma, Akari still holding her friend’s hand in a death grip.

“I’m doing some testing with Tooru’s quirk-” Akari stated. 

“Aizawa-sensei I have no clue what she’s doing, help-”

“-and you’re here for if, well, anything goes wrong.” 

“So I’m insurance, then. Fine, but this better be worth ruining my nap.” Aizawa-sensei said. (Yet Akari didn’t miss how the underground hero tensed, ready.)

The demigod interlocked their hands, closing her eyes. “Okay, Tooru. Don’t move.”

Akari’s mana flared up, a wealth of white energy that filled the space around her, and she focused it through Tooru like a circuit.

“Wow," Tooru gasped. "That tickles!”

“Careful, Tooru. This is kinda a delicate process.” 

Mom had taught her this years ago: how to flow her mana through another person. It was usually a pretty important show of trust for gods.

Not that Tooru knew that, or the fact that Akari was scanning her.

Tooru’s mana seemed normal, and the girl wasn’t currently using any of it. Right now, Akari could vividly see how her entire body was constantly manipulating the light around her, making her invisible. 

But if her quirk was affecting her eyes, too, how could Tooru even see? And how could Akari see things behind Tooru?

Akari needed to understand exactly what Invisibility was doing before she messed with it. So carefully she pushed a bit of hardened light at her friend’s arm, barely enough to be a poke, and observed the results.

Instead of being redirected, the ball reappeared behind Tooru’s arm. Weird. The projectile never actually passed through Tooru. Did Invisibility move light around as soon as it hit Tooru, in some kind of transparent-like effect? 

Clearly, this quirk was a lot more complicated than she expected. She concentrated, building a mental image in her head before letting go of the scan.

“I’m going to work on this,” Akari said, opening her eyes. “You and you-” She pointed at a confused Tooru and an exhausted Aizawa-sensei. “Meet me here in twenty-four hours. On the dot.”

Aizawa-sensei sighed.

Akari marched back into Gym Gamma, dragging Tooru behind her. In her other hand, she held a bright green notebook.

Tooru watched, stunned, as Akari flipped through pages filled with writing. “H-Huh? Wait, when’d you get all of this information?”

“Yesterday, duh.”

“Oh...that sparkly thing. But when did you have time to write all of this? Please tell me you slept, Akari.”

“I did...totally. Anyway, Aizawa-sensei, come here.” The man grumbled but complied, walking over to the side. Akari pointed in front of her. “Tooru, stand there.” 

Akari tore out the last page of her notebook; a highly detailed diagram of Tooru’s mana circuits and her Invisibility. Different parts of her body were labeled with varying levels of the quirk. Notes were scribbled all over the paper, arrows pointing out how the different levels of refraction worked, and how it’d all affect Tooru. 

The system she was planning had taken her all night, and she was pretty excited to try it.

“Uh...Akari? What exactly are you going to do?” Tooru asked nervously.

“If this is going to kill us, I’d at least want to know beforehand,”  Aizawa-sensei muttered.

“This isn’t going to backfire...I think.” 

“Very reassuring, Midoriya.” 

Akari tried again. “Don’t worry, Tooru, I’m just using a very intricate mana system I made last night to nullify your body’s automatic light refraction, so you become visible again.”

“What.”

“That sounds scary, but also really cool! Do it!” 

Akari smiled at her. “Alright, then, I’m going to start now.”

This time, Akari’s bright green eyes were open, concentrating on what she was doing. She was about to do a lot more than a simple mana scan; she couldn’t afford to mess up and hurt her friend.

Pure white mana drifted through their connected hands, flowing all the way down to Tooru's toes before rising up to her head. Her hair was tricky, taking longer to work with, but Akari got every last strand before moving on.

Once she had a firm hold, Akari felt Tooru’s light refraction with her mana and then pushed in the opposite direction, as if she was stopping a river.

“Tooru, are you okay? Nothing hurts, right?”

“Nope, I'm fine. It just feels really tingly!”

Akari nodded, adding more energy. Keeping track of Tooru's entire body was starting to give her a headache, but as the minutes passed, she could tell it was working. Just a little more...

And then Tooru shimmered into existence. Her concerningly pale hands turned visible first, still held in Akari’s own, before the rest of her came into focus.

She had long, opal-like hair that almost came to her shoulders, and colors danced in it like pieces of a rainbow. Tooru’s wide eyes were a pure blue, and the rest of her face was blank from shock. She must’ve never had to worry about facial expressions before. 

Akari blinked, realizing she had been staring way too long. “Wow.”

Tooru watched her hands move incredulously, curling and uncurling her fingers.

“Wait, I’m...visible?” Tooru whispered.

Akari grinned. “Yeah.”

"No way."

"Yep."

“Oh my god, oh my god Akari, I’m visible. Look at my hair! It’s so shiny! And-” Tooru poked her elbow. “-I have arms!”

“You do!”

“Legs too! Wow, this is so weird.” Tooru giggled. “Wait, you can see my face, right? What do I look like!” The now-visible girl smiled, excited.

“...amazing. You look amazing, Tooru. Here, try to take a selfie-careful, don’t let go of my hand, you’ll break the connection!”

“Wow, is that me?! I look nothing like I remember!”

Aizawa-sensei stepped up behind them, hand cupping his chin. “Interesting. How long can you hold that with your magic, Midoriya?”

“As long as I’m touching Tooru? Around ten minutes, I guess. The mana usage isn’t much, but the amount of focus I need is...a lot.”

Aizawa-sensei nodded. “I can use my Erasure on Hagakure now that she’s visible if you need a short break, but it won’t last more than a minute-”

Arms wrapped around Akari as Tooru pulled her into a fierce hug. “Thank you thank you, thank you Akari, I don’t even know how to-”

“You don’t have to do anything in return for me, Tooru, you're my friend.” Akari hesitated for a moment before hugging Tooru back. “It's not complete yet, you’re only visible for a few minutes right now...”

“You don’t get it. Being able to see me, even if it’s temporary, means everything. I even have a picture now, so I can’t forget my face again.”

Tooru pulled away enough so that Akari could see her face, the no-longer-invisible girl still holding on to Akari’s shoulders. “But uh, Akari? Can I ask you something?”

Akari tilted her head. “Yeah? What is it?”

“...Can I introduce you to my parents?”

And that was how Akari was here, sitting with the Hagakure family for dinner and having no clue what to say. Had she even processed Tooru's request before she said yes? Probably not.

“Your cooking’s really good, Hagakure!” Akari complimented, breaking the silence-

Only for both of Tooru’s parents glanced at her. Her cheeks reddened.

Right, that was not just Tooru's mother's surname...and she’d forgotten the honorific thing, too.

“Thank you, dear. Don't worry about surnames and all that here-if it’s less confusing, you can just call me Okaa-san!” Hagakure Mari said brightly. It was pretty clear where Tooru got her personality from.

Akari nodded. “Sure...Okaa-san.” The word was a little weird on her tongue, but if she was going to live in Japan she should probably get used to stuff like this. She couldn't call everyone their given names, after all.

And for some reason, Akari wanted to make a good impression on these two.

“The both of you are classmates, right?” Hagakure Takashi said. “How’s U.A been for you two, so far?” Tooru’s father seemed to be a little more reserved than the other two, yet he had that same energy around him.

Surprisingly, neither of Tooru’s parents were invisible like she was. Akari desperately wanted to ask about their quirks.

Was that rude?

“I’ve been enjoying the classes so far. U.A University is an unique experience,” Akari said thoughtfully. “And all my new classmates are all interesting.”

“Akari’s the strongest in our class!” Tooru exclaimed. “We saw her fight at the USJ, and it was so cool!.”

“That field trip was terrible for us to hear about," Takashi said. "I’m glad you were there to protect Tooru, Midoriya.”

Akari blinked. “How’d you-”

Takashi smiled. “Just a guess from what Tooru told us about the attack. And while the media doesn’t know much about the incident, there are plenty of theories.”

“Do you need to call your parents, Midoriya-chan?” Mari asked. “I know that Tooru probably troubled you, inviting you over so...suddenly.” A glare and the floating shirt seemed to wilt.

Akari waved it off. “Don’t worry Okaa-san, I told my mom where I was. Tooru didn't trouble us at all. And Dad’s...away, right now.”

“Away?”

“He’s-” somewhere in Heaven, but she couldn’t say that. “-out of country, right now.”

“Isn't your father Atlas, Midoriya-chan? Hero work must make him really busy.”

“Yeah.”

What’s having your dad as your Heroics teacher like?” Mari asked.

Akari shrugged. “Dad’s a really good teacher, he’s helped me train ever since I was little. Learning from him at U.A is just expanding on that.”

“Atlas-sensei’s really nice...though he doesn’t go easy on us when we train.” Tooru shivered a little, likely remembering Cloudy. “He kinda reminds me of All Might.”

“Atlas reminds you of The Symbol of Peace? Really?” Mari repeated.

“Exactly! It’s strange. You know how All Might goes-” Tooru made her voice several times deeper. “‘I am here!’”

To her credit, Tooru’s mother didn’t even blink at the impersonation. “Yes?”

“With Atlas, he doesn’t need to say anything like that.” Tooru shrugged. “He’s a lot more casual than All Might is, but reassuring all the same. He was making jokes when he was fighting the ringleader guy, too!”

“He sounds like a great hero, Tooru,” Takashi smiled.

“Yeah, he is!”

“Hey Tooru,” Akari asked. “Do you want to...do the thing, now?” 

“Oh, right, I almost forgot. Mom, Dad, we have something really cool to show you!”

“Hmm? A surprise?” 

Tooru jumped out of her seat, excited, and Akari took her hand in hers. It was easier to make her friend visible the second time; nullifying her quirk almost immediately.

The room was silent.

“...Honey? Am I dreaming right now?” Takashi whispered.

Mari rubbed her eyes. “I’m seeing the same thing, dear. Midoriya-chan, how...”

Tooru’s mother stepped forward slowly, gently brushing Tooru’s silver hair to the side. She framed her daughter’s face with her hands. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen you...not that we love you any less for it! But wow. You’ve grown up so much, Tooru.”

Akari almost felt like she was intruding on a private moment. But she couldn't go anywhere when she was the one keeping Tooru visible.

Tooru’s blue eyes were shining. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Midoriya,” Takashi started, awed. “How did you...”

Akari smiled softly. “I’m pretty good at light magic. I wanted to help Tooru-”

“Tooru?” Takashi murmured.

“-so I found a way to do it. It only works while I’m touching her at the moment, but maybe someday, she’ll be visible whenever she wants!”

Tooru gripped her hand a little tighter.

“I don’t know how we can thank you for showing us our daughter-”

Akari shook her head. “I did this because I wanted to, Hagakure-san! You don't have to thank me. By the way, I can keep this up for ten minutes, so if the three of you want to take pictures...”

It was a little awkward, taking their group picture with one hand without letting go of Tooru. The Hagakure family’s smiles, though, were blindingly bright.

And Tooru looked like she was having the happiest moment of her life.

“Now you come in too, Akari!” Tooru cheered. “You’re tall enough to take the selfie, right?”

Akari blinked. “Wha-”

“Come on!”

Then Tooru yanked her forward, and Akari was stumbling right into the center of the Hagakure family.

Oh. This is happening now.

Aurora closed her book as Izuku walked through their front door, glancing at his snow-covered cloak.

“Were you training in the mountains again?” She asked, placing a hand on his cheek.

“Yeah-wow, your hand’s warm.” 

Aurora frowned. “That’s because your skin's practically freezing, Izuku.”

“Oh.”

“How long were you there? I didn’t see you come back after you fought Sekhmet, and that was hours ago.”

Izuku blinked. “How’d you know about that?”

“Sekhmet passed by earlier before she checked in on you and...well, my sister starts a fight whenever she visits.”

“That she does.” Izuku agreed, his entire body still aching from that last punch.

“You avoided my question, I see. Let me guess: the second Sekhmet healed you, you went off to train.”

“...No?”

Aurora’s beautiful eyes narrowed, and Izuku instantly backtracked.

“Okay, okay, I did. But don’t worry Aurora, I’m completely fine-” Aurora poked him in the chest. “Ow!”

"Fine, hmm?" The goddess sighed. “This is why I worry. Neither you nor my sister have any sense of self-preservation. How did you get this badly hurt? Sekhmet’s healing magic usually has you as good as new in minutes.”

“Actually, I finally made her use all of her mana! We were fighting for a while, and it was really fun. Though I was mostly terrified since she started the fight out of nowhere. But I was doing well and then suddenly she went all out like bam and I was flying- wait, where are you going? Aurora?”

Violet mana filled the living room as Aurora’s armor formed around her like crystal scales, the princess marching towards the door on a warpath.

“...I just need to talk to her.”

Izuku wrapped his arms around his wife's waist, barely holding the goddess in place. “No, wait! Don’t kill Sekhmet.” 

“Why not!”

“We like her, remember? And she’s Akari’s favorite aunt!” Izuku pointed out.

“...What? I don’t have any other sisters, and you're an only child.”

“Exactly!”

The armor finally dropped with a shimmer of light, and Aurora crossed her arms with a huff. 

“Fine. But next time we’re fighting her together, alright?”

Izuku grinned, hugging her tighter. “Of course.”

“Only after you’re completely healed, Izuku.” Aurora leaned back into his chest with a sigh. "And please be a little bit more careful.“

"Sure."

"You got snow everywhere, too.”

“My bad. But hey, Eri’s never seen snow before, right? She’ll love it.”

Aurora hummed. “That’s true. We should show her somewhere with plenty of it sometime.".

Izuku rested his chin on her hair. “That sounds fun, Aurora. I’ll ask Akari when she gets back."

“I’ll buy Eri a cute jacket and everything. It’d probably be easier to plan a trip if we went to Heaven, right?"

"Yeah, we can't travel across Earth without raising a lot of questions," Izuku murmured. 

"Speaking of Eri, she wanted to show you-”

Izuku lifted his wife up, zipping over at full speed to their youngest daughter’s room.

“-something earlier.” Aurora paused as the world around her blurred. “Izuku, you know I can walk by myself, right?”

“But this is more fun, right?” 

Eri’s red eyes lit up, as soon she saw them. “Izuku, your back!”

They both bent down to her level, catching their unicorn in a hug.

“Hello, Eri,” Izuku said. “Did you want to show me something?”

Eri nodded, turning to search through the piles of papers strewn all over the floor. Some were folded into various shapes, while the rest had all kinds of drawings on them. There were pencils littered throughout the storm of art.

“Here!” Eri proudly presented her creation to him, and Izuku took it carefully.

It was a paper cone, shaded light yellow by a colored pencil. The bottom was held together firmly with tape. Oh, it was a...

“What is it?” Izuku whispered to his wife.

Aurora rolled her eyes at him. 

“It goes on your forehead, silly!” Eri pouted. 

“Like this?” Izuku asked, reinforcing the hat(?) to make sure it stayed on. Eri squinted at him, judging it acceptable, before handing Aurora one too. 

Oh...that's what those were.

Eri beamed at them, and Izuku’s heart melted faster than the snow in his hair. “Now you’re both unicorns, just like me!”

Aurora smiled, soft, as she gently adjusted the paper horn on her head. “I love it, Eri. Thank you. How did you think of this?”

Izuku patted the girl on the head, and Eri smiled even brighter.

“I was thinking about how you and Dad-” Izuku froze.

“-don’t have a horn, as I do. And Mom, you always say that mine is super beautiful. So I made horns for you two!” Eri finished, happily.

“That’s really clever, Eri." Aurora's lip trembled.

“Mom, Dad...are you okay?”

“We’re fine. W-We just love you, honey.”

“Oh.” Eri thought about this, then brightened. “I love you both, too! A lot!”

They pulled their daughter into a hug, sobbing into her unicorn onesie, and Eri’s tiny arms wrapped around them tightly.

Chapter Text

Izuku hummed a song he’d heard somewhere under his breath, leaping across through the sky in his iconic cloak-turned hero costume. Violet platforms formed underneath his feet like stepping stones, pushing him further with each jump. Excited shouts and points came from the street below.

He was rapidly rising through the hero polls. He wasn’t very flashy, all of his fights ending in a blink, yet he somehow had a growing fanbase anyway. According to his coworkers at U.A, he was seen as the next ‘Symbol of Peace’, his strength compared to All Might.

Izuku didn’t really care-the hero rankings were based on popularity, not strength, and that’s not why he became a hero. Fighting human enemies was interesting and new , each villain with their own unique quirk and/or magic. And then there were the-

Sharp, foreign mana brushed against the edge of Izuku’s senses, jolting him out of his thoughts.

Izuku twisted mid-air, kicking off in the opposite direction, wind blowing past his face and rippling through his hair. 

Ever since humanity returned, yellow portals had been opening-carrying with them this unnatural mana that made Izuku’s gut twist. They hadn’t been a problem at the start, both extremely rare and bringing ridiculously weak monsters. Heroes could deal with them with ease, especially those used to taking out monsters during the Drift.

But as months passed, the portals only grew increasingly common and more dangerous. 

Izuku cut through the sky, a few jumps taking him to Hosu City in a minute. He closed in on the scene, landing on the street without a sound.

Heroes were already on the scene, Izuku noticed. The duo had gotten all of the civilians out of harm's way(instead of running, the dumb humans stayed close enough to watch the fight) and were beating back the creature. 

There was only one monster, the large yellow portal slowly closing behind it. It was bigger than anything Izuku had seen so far, a green, scaly body as wide as a truck. Two heads whipped around, blasting yellow energy at the heroes.

Izuku watched as the leader, a man completely covered in white armor, blazed circles around the beast, dual blades on his arms slashing at it with each pass. His sidekick fired off blue blasts while he drew its attention, attacking from range. Their teamwork was fluid and impressive.

The monster lunged and the armored man slid under its jaws, tracing a long cut with his blades. It roared in pain, golden dust floating off the wound, and the other hero struck with a burst in the opening. 

Izuku stepped next to the hero as he caught his breath, the engines on his arms giving off smoke. “Hello.”

He startled, eyes going wide behind his helmet. “Atlas-san? When’d you get here?”

Izuku lifted his hand and the twin heads harmlessly crashed against an air barrier, protecting Ingenium’s sidekick. She stared at the sudden forcefield, confused.

“Just now. Do you two uh...want help with that thing?” Izuku asked. They were handling it fine, but Izuku could never just sit back and watch when people were in danger. Also, this guy was clearly Iida’s dad or something.

Iida’s dad nodded. “Yeah, that’d-”

Izuku’s fist flew and a gaping hole carved into the monster’s chest in an instant. . It stilled, both heads glancing down in confusion as it disintegrated into dust.

He still didn’t get why monsters died like that, but not having to deal with the bodies was nice.

“-be great...” he trailed off. “Holy shit, they weren’t kidding about you. Thanks for the assist.”

“No problem. Hey your Ingenium, right? I think your son’s in my class.” Izuku said.

Ingenium’s sidekick coughed next to him, and the hero seemed to wilt behind his armor.

“My what ?”

Izuku held a hand in front of his chest. “This tall, serious, has engines?”

“...Oh, you mean Tenya. I heard you were the heroics teacher at U.A. How’s my brother doing?” Ingenium stressed the word. 

“He’s driven and has potential, but kinda stiff. Iida emulates you a lot.” Izuku commented. Their hero costumes looked nearly identical, and they even fought similarly with their engines. Ingenium seemed a lot smoother though, more natural.

Ingenium chuckled. “That he does. Can I ask you something, Atlas-san?”

“Sure.”

“Why is there a yellow cone on your head? I thought it was a mutation at first, but up close-”

“Oh, this?” Izuku smiled, tapping the reinforced implement with a finger. “It’s my horn.”

Ingenium stared. “But it’s clearly made of paper-”

“ It’s my horn.”

A yellow sleeping bag slithered into the gym like some kind of giant snake. Akari and the rest of her class didn’t even bat an eye at Aizawa-sensei’s entrance. 

Though she did wonder when the man actually got into the bag. Did he crawl all the way here from the teacher’s lounge?

Aizawa-sensei yawned as he stood to his feet. “Alright hellspawn. As you know, the U.A Sports Festival is in four weeks. That means we’re going to be increasing your training immensely-Plus Ultra or whatever.”

Akari slowly raised her hand. “...What’s the Sports Festival?” 

Aizawa-sensei blinked. “...Huh, I guess it has been five years. Basically, all of the students in the year face off in competitions, with the last round being tournament fights. Many citizens tune in to watch it every year.”

Huh, that sounded pretty fun! 

“Didn’t we just get attacked by a bunch of villains? What if that happens again?” Kaminari asked.

“That won’t be a concern. We will have several heroes patrolling the event and in attendance, including Atlas and All Might. This is the first Sports Festival after the Drift, making it incredibly important to display the strength of our future heroes.”

“...Isn’t showing off our strengths and weaknesses a terrible idea?” Fuji said hesitantly.

Aizawa-sensei sighed. “Yes, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen to any hero that works in the spotlight. If you need to, talk to me after class so you can opt out. However, this is also an excellent chance to get internship offers from heroes who see you in action.”

He walked over to the training mats at the center of the gym, the class trailing behind him like baby birds.

“Raise your hand if you have any experience with hand-to-hand combat.”

Akari did so, along with barely a third of their hero class. Aizawa-sensei sighed. 

“Those you have at least some idea what you’re doing, pair off on the mats there. No emitter and transformative quirks allowed, first one to be pushed off or knocked out wins. The rest of you will be working with me to get some foundation.”

“Isn’t this a little...unfair for people who don’t have mutation quirks?” Shoji asked. Despite living in the same dorm, Akari never saw the man without that cool mask on. He probably liked being mysterious, or something.

“Preparing for that kind of situation is part of why we’re doing this.” Aizawa stated simply. “And asking you, Fuji, and Ojiro not to use your extra limbs would throw you off balance. Asui, you're an exception. Don’t use your tongue.” 

“Okay, Sensei.”

Aizawa-sensei glanced at Akari, probably thinking about her physical strength. He knew she had the common sense to hold back, though she doubted he knew just how much stronger she was.

“Fuck yes! How badly can I hurt them?”

“No permanent injury, Bakugou.” Aizawa-sensei said, leading his group away. The remaining members of 1-A edged carefully away from the blonde.

Akari paired up with Kirishima, standing across from the boy with the large blue training mat between them. His hero costume left him completely shirtless for some reason. Maybe it got in the way of his Hardening?

“Let’s have a manly fight, Midoriya!” Kirishima grinned, his teeth razor sharp. 

“Sure.” Akari smiled back, his excitement infectious.

Aizawa-sensei called the first round.

Kirishima threw the first punch and Akari sidestepped just the right amount, throwing a kick at his exposed side. Kirishima winced but didn’t falter, launching blow after blow.

He fought completely directly, Akari noticed, steadily advancing forward like a battering ram. His punches had a bit of practice behind them though they were wild, unrefined. 

Akari caught a hook on her forearm and elbowed him in the chest, forcing the boy to take a step back. She swung an axe kick before he could recover, carefully holding back as she struck down his unhardened shoulder.

He stumbled, barely keeping his footing. “Whoa, that was fast!”

He rushed forward and she weaved through every punch easily, leaning just out of range. Despite that, he only grinned wider.

For Akari, sparring with her classmates was a control exercise. It was easy to regulate her strength after decades of living on Earth(and it’s very breakable stuff)and practicing with her dad. 

But actual combat meant that she had to regulate every movement, every touch, constantly keeping her speed at human levels. And her attacks , well, she really didn’t want to murder her classmates.

“I’m going to kill you, bastard!”

...Except maybe Bakugou. He was loud and annoying.

She couldn’t lower her own reflexes, though. Even when she stood still, Kirishima’s inexperienced punches moved at a snail’s pace. Her mind wandered to the rest of her classmates as they sparred at the edge of her vision.

It was incredibly sad to watch Aizawa-sensei teach Kaminari how to throw a basic punch, his arms wobbly and thumbs inside his fist. Sure, none of her classmates were actually as old as she was, but they were still nearing human adulthood and entering a profession based on combat...

Heroes primarily fought with their quirks, almost to the point of relying on them. While there were heroes like Aizawa-sensei without physical/combative abilities, they were almost completely overshadowed. Akari understood why most humans didn’t focus much on martial arts, but to someone like her it was a little disconcerting.

“You must practice a ton, Midoriya!”

Akari blinked, surprised. “Thanks, Kirishima.”

Akari zoned back in to deflect a punch, landing a clean palm strike on Kirishima’s chin. The boy went flying off the mat, back hitting the ground hard. 

She internally let out a sigh of relief when Kirishima took her hand, unharmed, letting her pull him to his feet.

“You were holding back a lot, huh.” Kirishima stated. 

Akari nodded, a touch guilty. “Yeah. I’m sorry-”

Kirishima shook his head. “Nah, it’s cool. I have a long way to go. But Midoriya, how’d you get that good? You fight so...fluidly!”

Akari shrugged. “I train a lot, I guess. My dad taught me.”

Todoroki’s eyes flicked to her from the other mat, suddenly interested.

“Oh, I see. You must have practiced a ton!”

Akari smiled. Not many people seemed to notice that-especially humans, who believed her strength was from a lucky quirk instead of decades of effort. “Thanks, Kirishima.”

“Switch!” Aizawa-sensei called out, and the sparring students rotated. Akari turned just in time to see Sero fall over from trying to kick too high, deepening Aizawa-sensei’s scowl even further. Kaminari was on the ground, unmoving.

“Heaven, he’s going to kill them,” Akari muttered.

“I didn’t take you for someone religious, Akari.” Tsu, her new partner, glanced up at her in question.

Akari blinked. “What-oh, yeah, I believe in gods and stuff. I mean humans already have quirks and magic, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched...”

“I wasn’t judging you, kero,” Tsu said. “I apologize if I came off as direct or rude-it’s just in my nature to say what I think.”

“I think that’s pretty cool, Tsu,” Akari said honestly. “Someone blunt yet true is very trustworthy.”

Tsu nodded just as Aizawa-sensei called them off.

The frog-like girl immediately fired off a set of kicks, launching off the ground like a spring.

Akari ducked under an impressive dropkick, watching Tsu’s dark-green hair fly up at the movement. The girl landed smoothly, twisting into a roundhouse kick that clipped Akari’s nose. Akari punched at her stomach and Tsu flipped back out of range.

Tsu’s fighting style was the complete opposite of Kirishima’s, airborne and full of kicks instead of his pure brawling. She wasn’t bad.

Tsu leaned back a full ninety degrees, dodging a hook before aiming a blow at Akari’s head. She was certainly flexible-possibly from her mutation? Akari didn’t really know much about frogs.

“What abilities does your mutation give you?” Akari asked, curious. She was starting to push Tsu back now, kick by kick.

“A couple-” Akari blocked a punch, feeling the girl’s notably larger hand. “-things, kero. I have stronger legs and a very long tongue. I also swim really well.”

Akari caught Tsu’s leg and threw her, the frog-like girl rolling with the impact and stopping just inside the mat. “That’s kinda cool. Where I’m from, there aren’t many mutation quirks.” More like none. “So I think they're pretty interesting.”

Tsu croaked, moving into a crouch. Next she was going to...

Akari sidestepped and Tsu’s legs flew past her, her eyes wide before a perfectly timed uppercut sent the airborne girl tumbling to the ground. Tsu came to a stop outside the area, staring up at Akari from the ground.

“A lot of people would disagree with you.” Tsu murmured. “Mutation quirks aren’t looked kindly upon, especially after the Drift...”

“Well, they're dumb.” Akari stated simply. “I don’t think any people in our class are like that, either. 

Tsu looked at her for a moment before nodding. “...I guess so, kero.”

Her last opponent was clearly excited, the floating gym shirt bouncing in place. Tooru was wearing short sleeves, Akari realized, so without focusing on her mana she couldn’t tell where the invisible girl’s arms were. Clever.

“I won’t go easy on you, Akari!” Tooru declared.

Akari smiled. “I wouldn-”

She stepped back on reflex, a slight breeze brushing her face. Tooru hadn’t even waited for Aizawa-sensei before attacking. “Hey!”

A disembodied laugh was the only response she got as Tooru moved again, her sleeves slashly wildly. Akari focused on her shirt as she blocked, trying to trace the girl as invisible fists crashed against her forearms.

Akari couldn’t fight blind like her Dad could. She knew the general area where Tooru was from her still-visible clothes, but with no way to see her arms nearly all of Tooru’s punches landed, impossible to counter.

“You’re being really mean, you know.” Akari complained. 

Tooru giggled. “It’s not like I can make myself visible! And Akari, you’re barely affected!” 

Akari couldn’t turn her godly durability off, either, which was pretty unfair. But that wouldn’t matter if Tooru pushed her off the mat.

Tooru must have worked really hard to be a hero with an ability like hers, and it showed. Her footsteps were quiet, blending in with the loud voices around them

Tooru was getting more confident, pushing Akari back against the mat. Attacking Tooru’s shirt wasn’t working, so Akari improvised-throwing twisting hooks and swinging her leg for where she guessed Tooru’s head was.

The floating uniform crumpled in at the last moment, and Akari’s roundhouse kick hit nothing but air. If Akari could see her face she bet Tooru would be grinning her wide smile, her bright blue eyes glittering as she danced out of range yet again.

Hm. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way.

Akari automatically stepped back when she saw her shorts raise, letting the kick fly by. She dived in with a palm strike, knocking Tooru back in the opening.

Instead of trying to react in time, all Akari needed to do was predict her movements. Now that she had a decent handle on how fast she was moving...

Akari swept low for Tooru’s legs, forcing her to leap up. Timing it perfectly, Akari grabbed the space above her and caught an invisible fist in her palm.

“Gotcha.” Akari cheered.

“Oh fuck-”

Akari twisted, throwing Tooru over her shoulder in a fluid move. The invisible girl shrieked as she was swung down in arc and slammed into the mat. The breath left her in an audible gasp.

Quickly Akari pinned Tooru’s other arm down, giving her no time to escape.

“You surrender, Tooru?” 

Tooru struggled a bit, Akari’s grip not budging at all, before letting out a sigh. “Fine, I give up. It’s unfair-you’re way too strong, Akari!” 

Akari grinned down at her. “Thanks.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

Akari stood, pulling the girl up with her. Tooru swayed a bit with the movement, brushing against Akari’s arm as she regained her footing.

“You’re pretty strong too, Tooru.”

Tooru snorted, still panting. “Uh-huh, that’s why you didn’t even break a sweat.”

“I mean it!” Akari insisted, staring where she guessed her eyes were. “Your form is really good, and you have a lot of talent.”

She really wished she could see Tooru’s face right now-wait, Akari could do that!

Sapphire eyes blinked into existence, her long silver hair forming out of nothing like an illusion.

“Really-” Tooru paused. “Oh, I’m um-visible. Why?”

“Hi.” Akari said, watching Tooru’s cheeks flush red as she got her breath back.  “Anyway, I think you just need more experience. Want to spar again later?”

Tooru stared back. “Uh...sure.”

Akari smiled. “Cool-”

She was cut off as Mina screeched at the top of her lungs. “Oh my god, is that Tooru-”

Izuku hadn’t even noticed that night had fallen, stars visible against the sky and streets nearly empty. That happened sometimes-hours slipping through his hand like grains of sand before he knew it. 

He’d most likely patrolled far longer than he was supposed to, but Izuku didn’t really mind. Hero work wasn’t really work for him, it was just something easy yet satisfying to do when he wasn’t teaching. Staving off the eternal boredom was his real job.

He stopped on the edge of a high building, relaxing in the view of the world below. Everything was silent, as it rarely was after humanity returned. As much as he loved the constant clamor and voices that told him that the Drift was over, moments like this were precious.

The air shifted, and Izuku’s hand snapped up on reflex. Something soft caught between his fingers, a twitching red feather trying to escape his grip. 

“Damn, your reflexes are fast.” A man landed a few meters away, wearing an open jacket and a yellow visor over his eyes. Most noticeably for Izuku, though, were the huge red wings poking out of his back.

Izuku shrugged. “Thanks. You uh-” He held up the feather. “-dropped this.”

The feather glided out of Izuku’s hand, flying into the man’s wings. So he could control them telekinetically, that was interesting. Fuji couldn’t do that.

“You’re a hero...right?” Izuku was pretty sure he was the only top hero with wings. And that was named after a bird. 

He grinned. “Yeah, that’s me-the number three. You must be Atlas.”

“You’re ranked third? Wow. You must be strong, then.”

“...You don’t recognize me?” The man looked surprised.

Izuku squinted at him for a moment before it clicked. 

“Oh wait, I know you! You’re the bird guy! My students love you.”

The bird guy just stared at him. “My name’s Hawks. I can’t say I’ve ever gotten this reaction before.”

“Sorry, I don’t know many heroes.”

“Seriously? But you’re a hero. You should least know the top ten?”

Izuku rubbed his horn in thought. “Well, I’ve met All Might. He was pretty funny, I guess.”

Hawks swept a hand through his own hair. “Huh. Well, whatever. I wouldn’t say I’m strong, but I am really fast. I heard rumors about you, and had to see if you were as speedy as they say. I know I'm Hawks but-”

“Cool. So...do you want to race or something?”

Hawks blinked. “Wow. No one’s ever asked me that before.”

“Really? That sucks.”

“I know, right? They just give up immediately, because ‘I’m Hawks’, saying I just want more bragging rights. Which is true, but I also want to race!”

Izuku nodded in sympathy. “My wife and daughter work together to trip me up, now. This one time I was ahead, and they made this-” Izuku stretched out his hands. “really big rope of condensed light that I never saw coming. Totally unfair.”

Hawks winced. “Do you usually win, then?”

Izuku skillfully changed the subject. “...Anyway, where are we racing to? U.A?” 

Hawks raised an eyebrow at the deflection. “Nah, you teach there. Bet you know some super shortcut.”

“Fine. Alright, let’s go for the-” Izuku suddenly sighed.

“What?” Hawks asked.

Izuku waved a hand. “Monster attack. It's the third one today, for some reason.”

Hawks still had a lazy smile on his face, posture completely loose but when Izuku glanced at him his eyes were alert.

“Where?” 

Izuku hummed. “...Right here, apparently. Weird, never had a portal form on me before.”

“You’re pretty casual about this.” Hawks noted. “Most heroes are terrified of these things.”

“Are you?” Izuku asked.

Hawks smirked. “Nope.” 

The foreign sense of energy came to a head, yellow rift tearing into the space in front of them. It was smaller than usual, Izuku observed, and thinner too. But Izuku’s senses were prickling, ready, and a hand drifted to the staff on his back.

A single figure stepped through before the portal closed. Izuku blinked.

The man was tall, almost a head taller than Izuku himself. Two horns extended out of his inky black hair, long and curled, but neither were as cute as Eri's. He was shirtless, some kind of scaly armor covering his bottom half, and his skin was a crimson red.

A single human figure. Then Izuku felt his mana-an overpowering mass that almost felt sickening, wrong like a mysterious monster portal multiplied a thousandfold. Nope, no way was he human. 

Izuku doubted Hawks could sense mana, but the winged hero tensed next to him, clearly aware of the threat.

“Greetings!” The man boomed, arms wide in front of him, his powerful voice loud enough to wake the entire block. “My name is Briareus, the Hundred-Handed One.”

Hawks snorted. “Sorry to break it to you, man, but you only have two of them.”

“That’s rude.” Izuku admonished. “I mean, it’s probably a title or something.” 

“Still sounds pretty dumb.” Hawks commented.

“...Isn’t your hero title literally just ‘Wing Hero’?”

Hawks grimaced at the reminder. “Well then, what’s yo-”

The air temperature dropped several degrees as Briareus narrowed his pitch-black eyes. “I do not appreciate being ignored. You. The one with the white hair. You’re ‘Izuku’, correct?”

Izuku blinked. Huh, a monster knew who he was. Weird.

“Yeah, that’s me-”

“I am here to kill you, Izuku.” Izuku froze. His actual name-confirming Briareus wasn’t from Earth. “Bird, you are free to leave-this is none of your business.”

Hawks burst forward, two feathers sharpened in his hands like red blades. “Yeah...no thanks. Don’t feel like letting you kill my new racing buddy.”

Briareus merely nodded. “Protecting your friend. I can respect that. You’ll die first, then.”

And the instant before Hawks struck, Briareus moved.

If Izuku hadn’t been waiting for it, he wasn’t sure if he could have reacted in time. But he had, so when the world slowed to a crawl, he was already running.

Hawks’s eyes were wide, trying to reverse direction with a powerful flap of his wings as he flew back in slow motion inch by inch. The hero’s instinct saved him-the red fist that would have killed him instead just grazing his yellow visor.

Briareus’s second punch cut through the still air mercilessly, a direct punch for Hawks’s throat that the hero wasn’t nearly fast enough to dodge-

Izuku blurred in, stopping the lethal blow with his palm and pulling Hawks out of the way by the back of his jacket with his other hand in the same motion. With the momentum he swung a kick, knocking Briareus back and giving him some breathing room.

“You know me,” Izuku stated, tense like a coiled spring. His hand still stung a little from that blow-Briareus was strong. And he hadn’t held back at all with that punch, aiming to kill the human with zero hesitation.

“Yes, I’ve heard many tales of you, Prince of Heaven.” Briareus grinned. “I’m quite honored to kill you.”

“...Can I ask why you’re here to kill me?” Izuku asked, curious. “That hasn’t happened in a while.”

Heaven’s politics were not that intense, and there definitely weren’t any struggles for Amaterasu’s throne. That didn’t mean that there weren’t a fair share of people trying to assassinate him or Aurora.

But this felt different.

“Sadly, I can’t tell you that.” Briareus informed regretfully. “However, be satisfied with the fact that you will suffer a proud death on the battlefield.”

“I don’t think that helps much, man.” Hawks quipped. The fact that he had nearly died a second ago didn’t even seem to register. “How about you take a proud death?”

A huge mass of feathers suddenly descended from the sky above them, surrounding Briareus like a vice. 

Briareus batted at the feathers blindly, the swarm unrelenting as they cut the man again and again. But didn’t seem to be doing any damage, merely buying time.

“Tsk. Even using most of my feathers, I can’t leave a scratch, huh.” 

“Hawks. Can you evacuate everyone within a few blocks?” Izuku said.

Something in his voice made Hawks glance at him, stunned. “Of course, but do you really think you can take this guy on alone? He has an incredibly powerful amplification quirk-”

An ear-splitting crack resounded throughout the entire area, shattering the windows on every building nearby. Every feather was knocked outward in a burst of wind, revealing a now angry Briareus, his red hands pressed together in a clap.

“Nevermind.” Briareus growled. “I’m plucking that bird first.”

“Hawks, Go! ” Izuku ordered.

Hawks hesitated for a moment, clearly annoyed. “You better know what you're doing, Atlas.”

He jumped up into the sky.

Briareus lunged for the escaping hero, hands curled in for Hawks’s neck-

“Nope.”

-only for Izuku’s fist to catch him in the jaw before he even got close, knocking him clear off the roof.

A quick leap put him in front of his still-flying enemy, and he spiked Briareus down with a powerful kick. The man crashed into the empty street like a meteor, and Izuku could already see feathers carrying the nearby humans away to safety.

After trusting that to Hawks, Izuku didn’t have anything left to worry about.

“So you're a monster, right?” Izuku asked as the dust settled. “Never met one that could talk before.”

Briareus laughed. He didn’t seem the least bit affected after being smashed into the ground. “Something like that. And you are a god, aren’t you? I’ve killed many of your kind before.”

Izuku’s eyes narrowed. “So why do you monsters want me out of the way? Fear?”

If some monsters were intelligent, then that changed everything. They would have actual strategies and training, instead of random, weak attacks.

“I may have come here to see how strong you are, god, but that doesn’t mean I’m afraid.”

An extra arm burst out of the monster on either side, his four limbs rearing back in perfect coordination.

Briareus grinned, full of malice. “It’s quite the opposite, really.” 

He clapped his hands together.

Izuku formed an air barrier on reflex, the incoming shockwave rippling across it like rain off an umbrella. The force wrecked the street at Izuku’s sides, leaving him untouched. The loud, booming sound made him pretty glad that he wasn’t any closer.

Something Briareus immediately fixed, stepping into his space to shatter the forcefield with a fist, already swinging three more for Izuku’s head.

Izuku ducked, sweeping at Briareus’s legs and twisting with the movement to drive his elbow into Briareus’s gut. He pushed the arm further in with his other palm, jumping back when the monster tried to grab him.

"What is that thing on your head?" Briareus asked. "That does not look like it's made out of organic material."

Izuku cracked an air whip against the monster's shoulder, and it broke on impact. "What do you mean? It totally is."

Briareus lunged to close the distance, summoning four more arms, and now there were eight different punches to counter. Izuku was starting to lose ground, ducking and weaving and deflecting through the onslaught. He was landing his own hits, but Briareus was unrelenting.

He’d never fought against anyone with an ability like this. It reminded him of Shoji, in a way, but far stronger. At first, creating extra limbs seemed weak, but when you had to block eight fists with two hands you quickly realized that was completely wrong.

Briareus caught both of Izuku's hands so on impulse Izuku stabbed his reinforced horn forward, the unexpected attack actually crashing into Briareus's gut and giving Izuku an opening.

Izuku leaned all the way back, letting the mass of limbs fly over his horn, and swung his feet up into Briareus’s jaw. He pushed off his hands as Briareus’s fists came down on the street in front of him, landing lightly on the street.

Briareus raised his arms to attack again-

-and suddenly found that he couldn’t. Dozens of violet chains slithered around his many arms, holding them firm.

A roundhouse kick crashed against his cheek, whipping his head to the side. “All you do is punch. Doesn’t that get boring?” Izuku asked.

Briareus merely looked amused, despite being trapped in place. “No. Why would my fighting style get boring? Especially when-”

Izuku’s eyes went wide, a surge of mana making him leap back.

Like some kind of horror movie, the chains broke, links ripped apart like paper. His arms had increased again, Izuku knew, but now he could barely count them as they swirled around, weaving into yet somehow not tangling with each other. It had to be at least twenty.

“What the fuck.” Izuku blurted.

“-I have this many arms.” Briareus laughed. It was just as loud as before, but now it grated at Izuku’s bones and prickled his skin. “Oh...how I love seeing the reactions.”

He was enhancing all of them, Izuku realized. Not only was each limb kept track of, but he was also using his magic on all of them in a ridiculous feat of concentration.

“The despair when they realize what that nickname means.” Briareus caught an axe kick with five forearms, and then another to the neck as Izuku twisted in mid-air. Izuku threw a few jabs at his back, but they were batted away easily. A chop or ten crashed into the back of Izuku’s head, making him blink back stars.

“That you’re really good at Rock-Paper-Scissors?” Izuku couldn’t resist saying.

“I’ve never heard of this 'Rock-Paper-Scissors'. Is it some form of combat? Then yes, I must be.”

Izuku rolled under seven hooks, barely rising to his feet in time to sidestep another attack and then another.  He held back a hiss as twin punches plunged into his chest, probably breaking something.

“You’re really arrogant,” Izuku noted. 

“And you’re not nearly as strong as I am,” Briareus growled.

Izuku raised an air wall between them, just in time to avoid being grabbed(and how terrifying would it be to be being pulled in by that thing). The barrier bought him a second before shattering into pieces, but Izuku sharpened the fallen pieces and shot them into the monster, doing nothing but ticking him off.

“Irritating pest. If you give up now-” Briareus yanked on Izuku’s leg, and he kicked the arm away with a jolt of panic. “-I won’t make your death as painful as possible-” He roared as an air spike stabbed through his foot, giving Izuku the opening to punch him in the face.

“No thanks,” Izuku responded, forearms starting to ache as he blocked another flurry of fists. “Don’t feel like dying at all, really.”

One hand raised from the army of arms to wipe his face, another two limbs sprouting out from...somewhere. How did he even have room for all of those?

“Then-”

The last trace of human mana left the area, the entire surrounding area now bare spare for a few lingering feathers and the annoying monster in front of him.

Izuku felt himself smile. Hawks had pulled through-getting every single civilian out of the area within minutes.

“Finally.” Izuku interrupted the monster, cracking his neck. “ Now we can get started.”

Briareus blinked, taken aback. “Wha-”

Izuku stepped in front of him, staff unslung from his back and swinging in a fluid motion, bright violet lighting up the ruined street.

Stance Two: Bash.

A red swarm of arms rose up to block the blow, but the sheer force continued through with several cracks and sent him skidding to the side.

Izuku stabbed his staff down and vaulted over a dozen punches in a clean arc. The glowing metal struck down on Briareus’s less protected head in that instant, and Izuku hit the street in a roll.

Stance Ten: Uppercut.

The sudden blow knocked several arms straight up-

Stance Eleven: Double.

-and his trusty staff rolled back to rest under Izuku’s forearm before striking twice with blinding speed in the same instant, dual blows crashing against Briareus’s sides.

Izuku snapped a kick into the monster’s gut, pushing his other leg back and raising the weapon to parallel to the ground-

Stance Three: Pierce.

A point-blank range, the stab was lethal. Briareus went flying back, his body crashing over the street, many arms flailing out wildly as the wind howled and buildings were ripped apart around them.

The monster tumbled across the ground before even more arms flooded out, digging into the street until he came to a stop. Slowly Briareus straightened up to his full height again, his chest now completely covered in limbs. There were just so many, and at once they all curled into fists and knife-hands like a mind-bending mirage.

“So that’s your trump card,” Briareus remarked. If Izuku squinted, he could see something gold dripping out of his stomach. Blood? “A weapon. I don’t understand how it made you so much stronger, but it’s still not enough, Prince of Heaven.”

Izuku sighed, lazily twirling the staff between his fingers. “You know how annoying it is to hit someone with uh...” No way was he counting those.

“70.” 

“ 70 arms? Well, you probably do, actually, but it’s really irritating. That’s so many arms for you to block with! And I only have one staff.”

There was a spotlight light coming from somewhere above them-a helicopter? Izuku didn’t dare look away to check, his mind racing.

The Pierce definitely should have killed him. Izuku had relied on the element of surprise, combining several stances together in the perfect pattern, poking away at the mass of arms to land a good hit. Clearly, it did something-he’d hurt him, but Briareus was still standing. 

Briareus cocked his head to the side. “I’ve never met an opponent like you before. Usually, they’re screaming in terror by now.”

Izuku actually was, just internally.

“You have been a strong opponent.” Briareus nodded. “In respect, it’s only fair if you die to my full strength.”

“O-Oh don’t worry about that, you really don’t have to...” 

The mass of arms got even larger, and now Izuku really wanted to throw up as he raised his staff, reinforcing it to its limit.

“...do that.”

“I, Briareus the Hundred-Handed One, acknowledge you Izuku, Prince of Heaven. Meet your end at my many hands!”

Why did the monster have to be so dramatic? Izuku barely had the energy left to talk. 

Briareus wasn’t any quicker now-if anything, he was a little slower. But that didn’t matter when he was swinging one hundred fists forward at once, an inevitable wave of red death. There was no room to dodge.

Izuku spun the staff, faster and faster and faster until it was a blur of violet in his hands, its outline a near-solid circle that made the air sing. 

Stance Four: Shield.

Izuku grit his teeth as the barrage crashed down on him only a moment later, a fierce tsunami. Enhanced blow after blow pounded against his staff, each hit a painful jolt against his tired arms. The wind blew back his hair wildly, and Izuku couldn’t even spare a hand to brush it back down.

“An interesting technique, Izuku.” He couldn’t even see the monster’s face through the storm of red and violet. “But how long can it last!”

Not long, from how his body was starting to shake and how his poor staff was starting to break apart from the force. But Izuku ignored that, focusing on the rhythm, the way around half were slamming into his staff at each beat, waiting for the right time. 

And then it came, all one hundred red fists rearing back for the final blow.

Izuku forced himself faster, twisting around with the ridiculous amount of circular motion to deliver a powerful blow, air curling around the staff’s end.

Stance Five: Whirlwind.

The mighty tornado swirled through the air, throwing up one hundred arms with it as small cuts formed all over Briareus, the monster knocked backward. And for a single, precious moment, the monster was completely open, his wound bleeding gold. Izuku reared his arm back-

Stance Six: Javelin.

And launched his weapon with all of his remaining energy.

Briareus’s black eyes went wide as the staff struck true, stabbing through his chest in the same spot as before. This time it went through, catching halfway out of his body. Golden dust drifted out, floating through the air, and Briareus’s grin finally fell as he disintegrated into nothing.

“Gotcha.” Izuku’s voice felt heavy, just like his eyelids-he really needed a nap. 

Izuku turned to walk home, his now significantly more ruined staff sheathed on his back, his perfectly intact horn sitting firmly on his totally messed up hair, the destroyed block around him completely empty(it wasn’t like he needed his hero salary, anyway), and a news helicopter buzzing somewhere above, probably recording.

...He'd deal with that last thing tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

Izuku stepped into the living room, exhaustion weighing down his body and seeping through his cloak.

Aurora was curled into the couch, her green blanket wrapped around her. Low voices drifted from the TV-the baking show in a tent that she loved so much. The dim glow lit up Aurora’s purple hair and half-closed eyes.

Izuku carefully unreinforced his horn and staff and placed them on the table before slumping down next to her. He leaned into her shoulder, feeling his muscles relax at the contact and his breathing even out.

“You didn’t have to stay up for me.” 

Aurora let out a tired hum, readjusting her blanket so that it covered his legs too. “I know. I wanted to, though.”

Izuku smiled at the words, watching the contestant buzz around on-screen. “What’re they making?”

“It’s called ‘carrot cake’. I’ve never tried it before, but it seems pretty popular on Earth.”

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would you put carrots in a cake?” He didn’t know much about baking, but those two things...didn’t seem to go well together.

He felt her shrug. “I have no idea. But it looks really good, doesn’t it?”

A contestant put the finishing touches on a massive, double-layered cake as Aurora talked, the white frosting shining in the perfect lighting.

“This is your way of getting me to bake that, huh?” Izuku accused lightly.

“...That depends. Is it working?” 

“Yep.”

“Then, yeah, I want you to bake carrot cake for me.” Aurora admitted.

Izuku sighed in defeat. “Fine. Your wish is my command, Princess.”

Aurora laughed, and the dark room got a few shades brighter. “Don’t worry my loyal subject, I’ll assist you. I know you’re...terrible at baking.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad-”

“You baked cookies for Akari once when she was 30. She thought they were rocks.”

Izuku winced. Kids could be very, very cruel. “And that was like, two centuries ago! I’ve had lots of practice. Besides, you're not much better.”

“True. It seems that all those sweet years of stealing cake instead of trying to bake some ourselves has finally come back to bite us.”

“Now that everyone’s back, I wonder sometimes about things like that. Did any humans notice our impact on the planet while they were gone? I mean, I don’t really wreck things much-”

Aurora let out an unprincess-like snort. “Now that’s just a complete lie-”

“-but we’ve lived here a long time.”

“Speaking of humans...what made you use that much power? I could feel it from here.” Aurora’s voice was still light, teasing, but now there was a hint of concern behind it.

“It was really-” Izuku yawned wide, eyes drifting off the screen. Wow, he was tired . “-weird, actually.”

Aurora shifted, letting his head fall from her shoulder to her lap. He stared up at her for a moment, her long starry hair framing her face as she looked down at him. What was he saying again? Ah, right.

“So, I met this funny bird guy...”

“By bird guy do you mean wings, or somebody like that Tokoyami kid you mentioned?”

“The former. They were super big and let him fly incredibly fast for a human. I’m not surprised that he’s the third-ranked hero.”

“That seems like a useful quirk, especially for stopping crimes.” Aurora commented. Her smaller fingers gently ran through his messy hair, her purple eyes still fixed on his.

“Yeah. Anyway, we were talking and then this monster portal appeared right in front of us-there’s no way that’s a coincidence, even with my luck-and this strange monster came out. He was actually sentient and looked just like a mutated human. He had horns, though they weren’t nearly as cool as mine.”

Aurora blinked. “...I’ve never heard of a humanoid monster before. Are you sure he wasn’t a god?”

“Completely, he even said so himself. His name was Briar-something, and his mana was just evil. I’ve only felt anything close to that from monsters. He said he was sent to kill me, specifically, so there must be more sentient monsters like him.”

Aurora frowned. “More of them...that could be a big problem. He was strong, wasn’t he?”

“His main thing was-” Izuku flicked his arms in front of his face, and they ached at the motion. “-sprouting arms from his body. So, he punched a lot , and by the time he hit one-hundred arms he was nearly impossible to handle.”

“Wow. It’s hard to imagine someone like that.”

“Try seeing it in person.” Izuku shuddered. 

“You didn’t break anything, thankfully, but your arms are badly bruised.” Aurora sighed. “I wish I was there.”

Izuku smiled at the thought. “If you were, he’d be dead in literal minutes.”

“All that time we spent training together, and you go off and fight the actual powerful enemies on your own.” She traced his temple. “It’s mean, really.”

Izuku thought back to a short while ago. “You do realize that you just called your sister a threat, right?”

“To our safety? Of course.”

Izuku laughed. “Alright. I’ll call you for sure, next time.” His voice slurred a little at the end, the familiar pull of sleep getting stronger. 

Aurora hummed, happy. “I’ll hold you to that. For now, rest, Izuku.”

He felt her pull the blanket over him. “But wait, isn’t it going to be uncomfortable for you, if I sleep like this?”

“A little, yeah.” Aurora admitted. “How about this, then-you owe me the lap pillow next time?”

“Sure.” Izuku agreed almost instantly. The very definition of a win-win situation. 

“Wonderful. Now sleep , Izuku.” Her voice came from above him, trying for stern yet instead sounding impossibly warm.

And Izuku closed his eyes with a smile.

Nezu’s paws raced across the keyboard. He played the video footage a second time, caught between sharp alarm and pure fascination.

Midoriya was easily one of the most interesting humans he’d ever encountered.

Once he’d carefully confirmed the man wasn’t a threat to his school, Nezu let him apply for a teaching position after witnessing his abilities. U.A University usually didn’t work like that-Nezu was the one scouting out heroes, not the other way around-but he made an exception this time, out of curiosity. 

Midoriya turned out to be ridiculously qualified to teach a course on combat, both in skill and pure power. His quirk was an enhancer that could overpower the Symbol of Peace(and Yagi wasn’t even weakened, anymore), and his magic...

Nezu’s forced vacation had been enlightening on many accounts, but unfortunately, there were few magic users there for him to analyze. A world full of tech and information, yet lacking the one thing truly new for him to research. 

But Nezu knew the basics of mana, despite not having any aptitude for it himself. It was quite obvious that Midoriya’s magic was far, far beyond the rest of humanity.

All of Midoriya’s techniques were reinforcement magic. When he manipulated the air, he was actually carefully and precisely flowing mana into the air itself to solidify parts of the area around him. And somehow repeating the process on a large scale. Meanwhile, the humans around him were throwing around sloppy fireballs.

Midoriya’s explanation was sound, at the time of their first meeting. If Midoriya drifted for twenty years, that was quite a long time for a human to change and grow. The five-year Drift period wasn’t a fact, only an assumption based on his current evidence.

Yet the more and more time passed, and every single recollection stated the same amount of time off-world that Nezu and the rest of his staff experienced, Midoriya’s claim grew less and less plausible.

It didn’t take a genius to realize Midoriya was hiding something important. So, while Midoriya Izuku wasn’t a threat, he was still an almost complete unknown. Nezu already hated those, but unknowns that were so powerful , well, it made his fur itch.

The strength and speed he normally displayed was incredible, but when Midoriya took out his weapon(a completely ordinary, if a little worn-down, metal staff) it exponentially increased.

There was no audio to be recovered, sadly, from Midoriya’s fight with the humanoid monster. Nezu would have loved to know what the monster said. But the monster portal had opened directly on him, and the enemy had been powerful enough to contend with their now strongest hero. This not only proved Nezu’s theories about monsters and their intelligence as a whole, but also that they desperately wanted Midoriya out of the picture.

All of these thoughts processed through Nezu’s brain in seconds as he scanned through the video again, looking for any details he could’ve possibly missed.

“Aizawa, what do you think?” Nezu asked. The human had been silent next to him for quite a while.

“Adults are one thing, but his daughter’s exceptionally powerful as well, and has the near-perfect control to manage all of that strength. Sometimes, I honestly feel like she’s a lot older than the rest of my kids.”

“As for that...battle. That monster had a huge amount of passive strength, and faster speed than Hawks. Then you have his enhancement magic on top of that, and the ability to manifest arms-combining to make a much, much more terrifying version of Shouji.” Aizawa drawled, his hands playing with the hilt of his sheathed sword. “I doubt even All Might could face him alone, and even a team of top ten heroes would be in severe danger.”

“Yet, our own Atlas killed him by himself, and only looks a little tired.” Nezu said calmly. “I’m almost glad for it-this is the first time we’ve even seen him sweat.”

“Even my Erasure would at most only stop the magic.” Aizawa murmured. “So if a monster that strong shows up again, Midoriya’s our only chance at killing them. We’re basically fucked, otherwise.”

“That certainly seems to be the case.”

Aizawa let out a long sigh. “What a pain.”

Izuku woke up to warm sunlight on his skin and hands threaded through his curly hair, still lying on an asleep Aurora. 

He stared up at his wife’s sleeping face for a few precious moments before carefully sliding his head off her lap, her violet hair tickling his face. 

He untangled himself from the blanket as slowly as possible, folding it off to the side of the couch. Aurora let out a small murmur at the loss before she settled down again.

Aurora was an incredibly light sleeper, but if Izuku was anything, it was patient.

He took a minute to form a cradle under her legs and back with his arms to gently lift her off the couch. He held back a sigh of relief when she didn’t stir, and carried her off to their room with soft, silent steps.

Akari usually ruined this part, rushing in and waking Aurora up(technically Izuku’s fault for making his daughter into a morning person, if he was being honest). But right now she was at U.A University with Eri-there was no one to stop him from lowering his wife into bed and bundling her in the blanket like an adorable burrito. 

Izuku brushed the hair out of her face and stepped back, watching the lazy smile stretch across her face...before remembering that he had a job.

Damn it.

Izuku walked in through the door seconds before the meeting was scheduled to start. Most of the staff was already seated, sending him some weird looks as he walked in.

“Cutting it close there, huh, Midoriya?” Vlad King quipped. 

Izuku shrugged. “I mean, Nezu isn’t here yet right?” Eraserhead wasn’t here yet either, but well, that was Eraserhead. 

Vlad King, Ectoplasm and Power Loader were the only ones actually reading through the papers in front of them. Present Mic was humming some tune under his breath, completely zoned out, and Midnight was grinning at her phone. Snipe was cleaning one of his many guns. Cementoss was actually snoring, the long sound almost unsettling in the meeting room.

Once again, Izuku wondered how the man’s biology even worked.

“Your mutation quirk lets you move at extreme speeds, Midoriya. As a result, you are usually quite punctual. Were you preoccupied with a powerful threat?” Ectoplasm asked.

“Ah, nah. I overslept.”

Ectoplasm blinked. “...Oh. Well, I suppose that after such a fearsome battle, some rest is certainly earned.”

It took a moment to click that Ectoplasm meant his fight with Briareus. They ended up causing a ton of damage to the city in public view-of course they all knew about it.

Izuku wouldn’t call Briareus fearsome. An interesting enemy, sure, and definitely a threat. But compared to Sekhmet, he really wasn’t much.

To the humans, Izuku mused, Briareus must be quite terrifying.

“Why’s there a horn on top of your head?” Present Mic asked.

“Because I...have a horn?” Izuku answered, a little confused. What a weird question. 

Before Mic could reply Eraserhead strolled in, sending a look at Izuku that he couldn’t decipher. Nezu hopped off the hero’s shoulder and into his chair at the front of the table, flashing his usual smile at them. Cementoss blinked awake, disguising his nap with practiced ease(and fooling absolutely no one).

“Welcome, everyone.” Nezu started. “Today we’re going to discuss the sports festival, and our plans going forward with it-”

“To be clear, I’m heavily against holding it in the first place.” Aizawa interrupted.

“-as well as any changes we may need to make this year.” Nezu continued anyway. “Now-Midoriya?”

Izuku put his hand down. “Um...what’s the sports festival?”

Eraserhead sighed. He seemed to do that a lot. “It makes sense that you wouldn’t remember, with your...circumstances. Also, you really don’t need to raise your hand like that.”

“But wouldn’t it be rude to just interrupt him, Eraserhead?”

Vlad King laughed. “He’s got you there. Also, you don’t need to call us by our hero names when we’re not in the field. We have surnames, too.”

Izuku blinked. “Oh, alright. I was introduced to all of you with those nicknames, so I kinda assumed you’d want to be called that...”

Snipe tipped his hat. “Snipe works just fine, for me.”

Vlad King shrugged.  “Don’t worry about it, kid. Just call me Kan.” 

Izuku frowned. “I’m-” How old was he supposed to be again? “-40 years old. Definitely not a kid.”

“And you still look like you're twenty, so there.” Vla-Kan retorted. 

Izuku blinked, not really sure how to respond to that.

“Why, are you jealous, Kan?” Mi-Kayama asked.

“Are you?”

Kayama’s eye noticeably twitched, and Snipe chuckled.

Nezu coughed, lightly. “If we could stay on track, please. The sports festival is an event held every year for students to compete in various events. The festival is broadcasted and widely watched throughout Japan, giving students a chance to showcase their skills.”

Izuku tilted his head. “But uh Nezu-wait, what’s your actual name?”

“Nezu.”

“...Do you have a hero name, then?”

Nezu nodded. “More accurately, a title. I am Mr. Principal.”

Wow, that was a terrible name, even for Izuku-though he had enough tact to not say that out loud.

“Huh. Anyway, won’t we just be showing off all our student’s techniques and abilities? That sounds like a bad idea.”

“Exactly.” Aizawa muttered a little too loudly.

“And didn’t the little listeners like, recently get attacked by villains? That could happen again.” Yamada said.

“All valid concerns.” Nezu acknowledged. “But this year’s sports festival will be immensely important, being the first one since the Drift. We will show Japan that the next generation of heroes is strong enough to fight enhanced villains and monsters. The safety of our audience and students will be well-protected, with All Might, Atlas-” Nezu nodded at Izuku. “-and several other heroes on security, in addition to the ones attending.”

No one protested further...though Izuku noticed the creature didn’t say anything about that first issue.

“So we’re going through with it, then.” Cementoss noted. “What are we planning to change?” 

“Typically, we have three events.” Nezu said, most likely for Izuku’s benefit. “The first one is where competitors do their best to stand out in the crowd, and where we have the most eliminations. For example, a race. The second event is team-based, and very entertaining to watch. We see creative planning and the intelligence of our students here, as well as their teamwork, of course.”

“It’s also pretty chaotic. Hey, Nezu, can I be an announcer?” Mic asked.

“Obviously. you’re always the-”

Mic pumped his fist like a kid getting exactly what he wanted for his birthday. “Yes!”

“On that note, Sekijiro and Shota. You’ll both be in the box too as homeroom teachers.”

“Alright, sure!”

“What a pain.”

“What about the last event?” Izuku asked.

“The third event is always a tournament,” Nezu answered. “With referees posted to moderate the fight and prevent any serious injuries-”

“That’s us.” Kayama chirped. Ishiyama nodded beside her. Their quirks were quite good for the role, Izuku supposed.

Nezu didn’t even falter at being interrupted again. “-and a randomized bracket. Matches are simply decided by knockout or exiting the zone. We have a famous hero to give out medals for placing in the top three, after.”

“Neat.”

“I think we should do something big-it’s been a whole five years since we hosted the event. Really give them a show.” Kayama said. “We don’t have to randomize the first two events- instead we can go all in on something in particular.”

“We do have a huge budget this year.” Kan mused thoughtfully. “It’d certainly be much more efficient than what I remember.”

“Wonderful.” Nezu clapped his paws. “Let’s get to brainstorming ideas, then!”

“It’s pretty simple.” Izuku lied, like a lying liar. “All you need to do is just cross to the other side, and you get to leave class early.”

They stood on a platform elevated above the gym, another one positioned a couple meters away. 

A long rope stretched across the gap, easily wide enough to step on. Below the rope was a soft pile of pillows for when they fell. Two air constructions, a few meters wide and elegantly reinforced to launch projectiles, were placed on the far sides of the gym. They went unnoticed by nearly all of his vict-students.

Ashido gasped. “Really, Atlas-sensei? Thank you!”

Izuku nodded with a smile. “Yep. Go one at a time, and make sure you balance yourself. Who wants to go first?”

A good amount did; his confident(Katsuki) or gullible(Kaminari) students. 

He picked Kirishima, the boy brightening up in a way that almost made Izuku feel guilty. 

Almost.

The redhead made the first step carefully, before another, and then another. His smile got a little wider, walking across a little faster as he crossed the middle-

A violet ball fired from the right air launcher, bumping Kirishima’s shoulder and tipping the boy over, his arms shooting out to steady himself on instinct. He wasn’t fast enough and fell backward into the soft pillows.

The class glared a hole into the back of Izuku’s head. 

Izuku’s smile grew wider. “Ah, I forgot to mention. Today, we’ll be testing your agility and reflexes-with a fun variation on dodgeball! But on a tightrope!”

“Oh, god.”

“What a mad banquet of darkness.”

“At least we’re going to land in pillows, I guess...”

“Sensei, that really just sounds like an excuse to throw things at us-”

“Shut up Fuji, you have fucking wings -”

“Wait, we can use our quirks, right?”

Izuku nodded. “Yes, Sero, quirks are allowed...though I might go a little harder on some specific people, to be fair.” 

The statement was directed at Akari, but it was Fuji who wilted like a dying flower, hugging himself with his wings.

“I take it back. I’m so sorry, Fuji.” 

“It’s okay, Kaminari. I-I’ve come to terms with my fate.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. His kids were all so dramatic. “Alright. Kaminari, you’re next.”

“Nooooo!” Kaminari wailed.

Kaminari’s idea wasn’t bad. He ducked under the first two balls, a light activation of his quirk in front of him making a sort of electric shield(support gear really was amazing), and blocking the third. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that Izuku was also firing from behind him and the next shot slammed into the back of his head.

Kaminari fell face-first into the pillows, unmoving. “Ow. I think it’s over for me, guys. Go on without me.”

Jirou snorted, and Fuji perked up. “Kaminari, if you’re dead can I take your Pokémon ca-”

Kaminari stood instantly. “I survived!”

“Damn it.”

Izuku called Yaoyorozu up just as Iida started to scold the boy for his language. 

He wanted her to go early and lack time to come up with a proper solution. While brilliant plans were excellent when you had the time, her quirk usage needed to be far quicker and reflexive.

Yaoyorozu made circular metal shields on both arms, walking forward in elegant steps. They took the impacts well, but each one nearly jolted Yaoyorozu out of her even pace. A ball past the middle clipped her leg, making her wobble unsteadily.

She adapted, throwing aside her shields to create a long bo staff. Held perpendicular to the rope, it helped her stay upright on the rope and easily deflect the balls on either side. All she needed to do was watch her feet for low shots, and she crossed with an audible sigh of relief.

Iida activated his Recipro Burst immediately, blazing forward in a flash of silver. A smart decision-even if his quirk stalled afterward, he’d be done for the day.

He slid down the rope in style, knees bent as balls shot past him. Iida was getting better at processing high speeds, Izuku noticed, firing faster to keep up. One got through his guard, nailing him straight in the face(Izuku drastically lowered its momentum at the last second) and almost knocking off his glasses.  

Iida still kept his balance, somehow, screeching to a stop on the other side and stiffly bowing to the applause. 

“Thank you, everyone!”

Satou’s quirk made him fall almost immediately, his quirk being terrible for balance. 

Koda wasn’t very good on the rope either, and Izuku poked him with the lightest throw possible.

Kirishima asked to go again, and Izuku let him. The redhead grinned wide when he got across despite the increased number of attacks, using careful activations of Hardening along his arms or legs just before impacts.

Ashido went after her horn buddy, her balance incredible as she leaned under shots and dodged through the rest. She did a smooth cartwheel in the middle of the gap.

Shoji grew out all of his arms, keeping both sides even and still keeping a wide shield. He walked forward casually, not bothering to dodge, his entire upper body protected. Izuku aimed for his legs without remorse, and he toppled down like a falling tree.

Tooru took off her gloves, rendering herself completely invisible. She didn’t seem to realize that still meant she needed to be dodging, so after seeing the rope bend at the exact same frequency a ‘lucky’ shot hit exactly where her face was.

Fuji basically cheated, completely covering himself in his protective wings and flying straight forward. He got several boos from his fallen comrades. 

Asui made the mistake trying to leap across and got sniped mid-air. Was Izuku enjoying this too much? Probably.

Jirou got far with a few smart blasts of sound yet wasn’t fast enough to dodge a faster one. She got caught in the stomach and thrown straight off the rope.

“Bitch!”

“Langua-”

Jirou turned her glare on him, and Iida promptly stopped talking.

Aoyama propelled himself across with his Naval Laser, a dazzling smile on his face. He couldn’t see where he was going, though, and was instantly knocked down. 

Katsuki blasted straight forward, his eyes calculating, probably already knowing Izuku was going to be a lot harder on him than the other blonde.

Twin balls streaked out from either side, and he halted his momentum just in time to dodge. He moved in every direction using his quirk, not having to stay on the rope with his ridiculous mobility. Izuku adjusted the turrets to track him, watching the blonde weave through a storm of violet balls, blasting away any that got too close. 

He really was quite skilled compared to the rest. That kind of control took time and practice.

Katsuki aimed for the other side whenever he saw an opening, seeming to realize that he couldn’t keep this up forever. His explosions got more powerful the more sweat he had, yet at the same time that meant he couldn't make the small, precise blasts for his dynamic style of movement. Flames burst from his feet like jets at the same time, keeping him above the pillows below.

After a minute passed Izuku threw in his chains, forming them out of the air around Katsuki. They lashed out like snakes and the blonde’s jaw set, twisting his body just in time to escape. One latched around his ankle, and a well-timed explosion broke it off, obscuring Izuku’s vision with smoke. At the same time, a burst of magic threw Katsuki onto the other platform. 

The blonde panted, exhausted but victorious, and the students around him stared in awe.

Kirishima was in tears. “Bakubro. That was one of the manliest things I’ve ever seen-”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Sero had been using the time to set up a web of tape on either side of him- catching each ball before they hit. Izuku’s projectiles didn’t weigh much, being literally mana and air, and as each one stuck to the tape they formed a makeshift shield.

The living tape dispenser’s abilities were great for capture, Izuku noted. He needed to teach Sero how to handle a weapon if the boy was going to fight monsters, though-tape didn’t have much attack value.

There was a tap on his shoulder, and Izuku glanced to the side to see his daughter with a familiar, competitive grin.

“Don’t hold back on me Dad, alright?”

Izuku hummed. “...Wouldn’t that be favoritism?” 

Akari rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, I saw you shoot at Bakugou for like...two minutes. I haven’t had a good challenge in a while.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “You know, I still remember you absolutely hating these training exercises as a kid. Where’d that little goddess go?”

Akari laughed. “You completely corrupted her. Now I wake up early and train every day. And enjoy being pelted by magic dodgeballs. It’s all your fault, really.”

“Actually, you're the one who asked me if I would-”

“I’m next up on this tightrope thing, aren’t I?” Akari interrupted. “Don’t keep the rest of the class waiting.”

Izuku nodded with a smile, and the mounted launchers on either side of the gym tripled in size.

Akari took her first two steps forward, full of ease as if she wasn’t balanced on a narrow rope. But if you looked closer, her smile was fading into something more determined, tense.

The skill of class 1-A varied immensely from student to student. This was especially true when you compared kids like Todoroki or Katsuki to Kaminari. Akari, though, had decades of experience over the rest of them. While she was at U.A University for fun, she wasn’t exactly learning much fighting against her human classmates.

If she wanted a challenge, well, he’d give her one.

On her third step, three projectiles shot out from the turrets. They were the size of cannonballs, streaking through the air at subsonic speed. Akari dived forward, the attack missing the next student in line by inches. Poor Ojiro flinched back, barely seeing the violet blur.

“What-”

Now near the center of the rope and away from the other students, she was far more open. Izuku didn’t give her time to breathe, firing off more and more dodgeballs that she gracefully weaved through. 

She twisted under a shot before rising up to bat away another with her palm. But there was a ball hidden behind it, her eyes missing the tiny detail until it was almost too late. Akari ducked just in time-

Izuku formed an air construct right behind her, the ball reflecting off towards her back and forcing Akari to use a light shield to block it. She braced under the impact, holding firm.

“-the fuck?!” Ojiro finished. “Sensei, are you trying to kill us? ” 

“Nah. Just me.” Akari said. Ojiro blinked. Behind him Todoroki was glancing back and forth between the dodgeballs and Akari’s smile, confused.

Izuku couldn’t help but laugh. “Complaining already, Akari?” 

Akari shot bullets of light behind her without a glance, deflecting the next attack down and knocking pillows up from the force. Her shield morphed into a large white sphere around her, and dodgeballs slammed against it harmlessly like a hailstorm.

She grinned from under her magic. “Nope, not at all. Really, I could do this all week-”

The light construct shattered under the next blow, and Akari’s eyes went wide as the ball skimmed past her cheek.

“Are you sure about that?”

He saw the very moment her racing mind switched from ‘defend’ to ‘oh shit, run’. She kicked off towards the opposite platform at startling speeds, the rope beneath her sloping down from the force. 

A tall, violet wall blocked her path and she flipped over it easily. Mid-air, a reinforced box formed around her-

A sword of light took shape in her hand and she slashed , tearing it into pieces with a single blow. Each air shard curved through the air and shot back at her.

Akari used her Prism-the sword in her hands bursting into six colored orbs. They swirled around her airborne form at a rapid pace, knocking away each attack as she landed perfectly back on the rope. 

“I have no idea what’s happening.” Kaminari breathed. “But it looks really fucking cool.”

“That’s light magic, right?” Ashido asked. “Hey, Tooru, can you do that cool rainbow thing too?” 

“Nope. Akari’s just amazing.” Tooru admitted, before raising her voice several levels louder. “You’re doing absolutely incredible, Akari!” 

Akari found the time to flash a bright smile at the invisible girl, suddenly getting...faster?

Huh.

Izuku flicked a hand, a hundred chains coiling into a massive, detailed serpent. The links in his chains looked like dragon scales and Izuku’s magic created a smooth pattern of violet and purple color. His long body winded around in loops through the air, his large jaws opening up wide like laughter. 

Ridiculous feats of control like this were usually useless in combat, but sometimes, well, you just needed to be a little dramatic. And there wasn’t a better word to describe Amethyst the Great in all of his glory. 

The human screams were definitely satisfying, too. 

Meanwhile, Akari only narrowed her eyes, Red and Blue morphing into a sword and shield. The rest of her lights knocked away the dodgeballs still being fired at her as she lowered her center of gravity, ready. 

Amethyst The Great didn’t disappoint, diving low and forcing her to duck under his huge form. He twisted back fast, striking a blow against her shield that nearly threw her off. Akari swung Red at him on his next pass, but the blade glanced off his scales harmlessly. 

“Holy shit, is that a dragon? That’s the manliest thing I’ve ever seen-sorry, Bakubro.”

Katsuki growled at him absentmindedly, his fists clenching and unclenching as he stared at the fight in front of him. 

“Nah, that’s not a dragon.” Fuji said. “Dragons have wings, right?” 

Akari backflipped over the mighty jaws, slashing down on Amethyst the Great’s neck. The air construct hissed, actually damaged this time, and flew out of range. 

Asui tilted her head. “A lot of dragons are wingless, kero.”

Tokoyami nodded solemnly. “The great creatures are recorded in many forms and types in our ancient history, seen differently from culture to culture. The mystical bea-”

“Fumi agrees, basically.” Dark Shadow cut him off.

“You are well informed, Tokoyami-san!” Iida praised.

“They can?” Jirou asked. “I mean, a lot of our legends have wingless dragons. But if the dragon doesn’t have wings...isn’t it just a snake?”

A quick cartwheel got Akari out of the way as Amethyst The Great suddenly whipped his head around. His mouth opened wide, launching hundreds and hundreds of violet dodgeballs.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Akari cursed, her mana rising. Her orbs joined together into a single shape, each one taking a corner. The floating hexagon spun into a powerful shield, protecting her from the onslaught like an umbrella.

“Even you could classify it as such.” Yaoyorozu mused over the loud sound of battle. “I definitely would not call that ‘just a snake’.”

“You know, Atlas-sensei only threw a few balls at me.” Kirishima said. “I almost feel bad for her.”

Kaminari shrugged. “I don’t know man. If I could do a super cool rainbow thing, I think it’d be pretty fair to have a higher difficulty setting.”

“True.”

“It could be a dragon that possessed wings before, only to lose them in a great battle against a terrible foe.” Todoroki reasoned.

Tokoyami nodded. “You’re right, that could certainly be the case...”

Ojiro stared at them. “Huh? How does it even have a backstory? Didn’t Atlas-sensei just create it?”

“What if it’s both? Like a dragon and a snake?” Uraraka murmured.

Sero blinked. “How would it even be both? I mean, it’s either a dragon or not, right?”

“A dragon’s just a flying lizard, isn’t it?” Satou said. “That...thing doesn’t have wings, but it’s definitely flying around.”

Kaminari squinted. “I don’t know man. It really doesn’t look like a lizard to me.”

“Flying reptile, then.” Satou amended.

The magical hexagon shot forward, bashing against Amethyst The Great’s floating, chainlike body and knocked him back. Akari didn’t let up, the lights changing into blades to slice at him. The beast was on the defensive, now, flying out of her strikes but keeping up his barrage. Too big of an opening, and Akari would dash to the platform.

Ashido clapped her hands. “C’mon people, it’s totally a snake. Trust me. Just look at that long, snakey body.”

“Mina, that’s totally a badass dragon.” Tooru argued.

“You know, there’s only one way to find out. Hey, Atlas-sensei,” Kaminari called. “Is that thing a dragon or like, a really big snake?” 

Izuku glanced over. “Oh, Amethyst The Great? Yeah, he’s a serpent. Beautiful, isn’t he?” 

“Ha! I knew it!” Ashido cackled. Tooru’s uniform drooped.

“He’s wonderfully shiny, Atlas-sensei.” Aoyama praised.

“I should have known.” Yaoyorozu muttered. “It seems I need to study up on my creatures more...”

Iida nodded. “Valuable knowledge, and not just for fighting monsters it seems. May I join you, Yaoyorozu-san?”

“Of course, Iida! You don’t need to show me such respect, though.”

“Can I come? I don’t know much about monsters, but some of them seem really cool!” Uraraka chimed in.

Ojiro sighed. “Am I the only one thinking about that name-” 

Jirou cut him off to ask the more important question. “Wait, Atlas-sensei. How the fuck are you making a huge moving, fighting creature with reinforcement magic?” 

He’d been wondering when one of them would ask. Izuku shrugged. “Practice.” Decades and decades of it. “It’s like Cloudy, just...bigger.”

“That literally explained nothing, but okay.” 

Izuku made Amethyst the Great curl around the rope as it rushed back towards Akari. She couldn’t move left or right on the narrow surface, meaning she was forced to leap straight into the air. 

Amethyst the Great rose up to meet her and Akari acted fast, leaning back and kicking her legs up into his body and throwing him into the roof. She visibly focused, each of her colored orbs combining together in a shine of blinding light.

There was a katana in her hand, white with flickers of color in it like a contained rainbow, radiating power as she reinforced it with her remaining mana. Mid-air she gracefully flowed into one of Kensei’s stances.

Amethyst The Great had swung back by the time it ended, bearing down to crush her from above-

An upward cut. 

Izuku couldn’t hold back a smile as the near-perfect slash sliced clean through the great serpent like paper, the sheer force continuing on to rip open the durable roof and burst through the exposed clouds. 

The halves of Amethyst The Great fell apart into chains and dissolved into nothing as Akari flipped down, landing on her feet on the goal platform. 

The goddess wiped the sweat off her forehead with a grin, rolling back her shoulders as the katana in her hand disappeared.

“That was pretty fun. How’d I do?” Akari asked. Most of the class simply stared at her in awe.

Izuku grinned back at her. “Amazing, Akari. You literally raised the roof.”

Akari glanced up. “Oh, uh, my bad...”

Izuku waved it off. “U.A’s budget is ridiculous, don’t worry about it.”

Tooru caught the girl in a tight hug. “That was so cool, Akari! You were moving so fast I could barely see you-your beautiful hair just went whoosh! And where’d you learn to use a sword like that?”

Yaoyorozu nodded, stars in her eyes. “Your movements were quite smooth. I’ve never seen such fine swordsmanship before!”

Akari swept a hand through her hair with a smile. “Thanks, guys. I learned how to use a sword from my Uncle Kensei. He’s...weird, but like, super strong.”

“No offense, Akari, but you’re kinda overpowered. Like, that was some top ten shit.” Kaminari said, still staring up at the missing ceiling.

“...I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Following that show was probably...hard. Tokoyami, Todoroki, and Ojiro were impressive, but after seeing Akari Izuku doubted 1-A was as impressive as they would’ve been.

Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow covered him like a cloak, the boy shouting out something about an abyss before pulling off the technique. The boy’s movements were clumsy and untrained, but the augmented power behind them wasn’t bad. He rushed towards the end, Dark Shadow helping him stay on(and holding a conversation the entire way.)

Ojiro was graceful, dashing across the rope in a series of flips. His tail whacked away any balls easily and maintained his balance.

Todoroki went last, freezing over the rope with an ice bridge. Izuku narrowed his eyes as he continued to use only ice, blocking the dodgeballs with giant walls of frost and spikes. Not a hint of his other quirk, still. He slid to the other side before his body suffered for it, but Todoroki definitely needed to start using all of his quirk soon.

Izuku ended class and most of them rushed out together, excited. Todoroki stopped by him, his face still the same stoic mask as it always was.

“Atlas-sensei. Can I ask you something?” Todoroki asked.

“Of course.”

“You went a lot harder on Midoriya than the rest of us. Was that because of her capability, or because she’s your daughter?”

Izuku hummed. An interesting question. “The former. Akari’s speed, reflexes, and physical strength from her quirk and training are similar to mine. That’s why in an exercise like this, she can go through a much more difficult challenge than the rest of the class-that is, if she wants to. Does that answer your question, Todoroki?”

Todoroki nodded and left without a word. 

“I’m kinda worried about him, honestly.” Akari whispered. “I mean, there has to be a reason he limits-and harms-himself like that.”

Izuku sighed. “Yeah. From the look on your face, I guess you have a plan for that?”

Akari smiled. “Yep. That brings me to what I wanted to ask. For the sports festival, how much should I uh...hold back?”

Izuku thought about it. “None.”

Akari blinked. “Huh?”

“Obviously make sure you don’t injure the other students, but besides that...” Izuku shrugged. 

“You wanted to be the best hero, right? So do the best you can, Akari.”

Chapter Text

Akari hummed a song under her breath, calmly tapping a finger against her knee in beat as she waited. 

The rest of 1-A sat around her in the waiting room, muted sounds easily audible outside the closed door as they waited for their cue. Most of the class was nervous, fidgeting in their seats as they tried to hype themselves up for the upcoming event. Poor Koda was practically shivering.

Bakugou’s stare was fixed on the wall, the blonde even more angrily focused than normal. Akari...had no idea what Todoroki was thinking, but he was glaring at her, for some reason. It was weird.

Jirou glanced over, probably picking up on Akari’s low voice. “You keep a tune pretty well, Akari. Do you play any instruments?”

Akari nodded with a smile. “Not often, but I do have a crusma at home. I must be rusty with it, now.”

“...I have no idea what that is.” Jirou admitted. “But it sounds pretty cool, you’ll have to show me sometime.”

“Sure. What about you, Jirou? Any instruments?”

“Mostly bass, guitar, piano, violin and drums, but I’ve learned a bit of some others.” Jirou said casually.

“Whoa. You must practice a lot-”

“How the heck are both of you so calm?” Tooru blurted out, rising to her feet. Akari could see the sleeves of her gym uniform flail around at the motion. “We’re about to compete in the U.A Sports Festival-bigger than ever, since it’s the first one in years. This is a huge part of our careers. There’s going to be like, millions of people watching us!”

Akari blinked at her. “Tooru, you’re invisible. I don’t think you need to worry about people staring at you if you don’t want them too...”

This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, the girl plopping back down in her seat with a heavy sigh. “Oh, right. The pros probably aren’t going to pay much attention to me. I doubt I’ll even get an internship. I’m not that-”

“Nope.” Akari interrupted. “None of that. You’ve been practicing so much for this; you’re going to do amazing . Trust me.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

A pause.

“Okay.” She heard her take a deep breath. “Thanks. How do you all keep your cool like that?”

Jirou shrugged. “I used to perform some, with small crowds. I’m just kinda trying to visualize the festival as the same sorta thing, you know? Though the scale’s a lot bigger now...” She pointed one of her jacks at the boy next to her. “Meanwhile, Tokoyami here-his heartbeat’s completely steady. You should be asking him.”

Tokoyami fixed Tooru with an unwavering stare. “Hagakure. As the old proverb goes; ‘Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.’ As U.A students, we are strong enough to overcome it.”

“Huh. That’s cool, but I don’t really get what that means...”

Dark Shadow poked out of Tokoyami’s chest to flash a thumbs-up at her. “Fumi means you’re super strong, Hagakure!”

“Oh, thanks!”

“That’s not exactly what I-”

“Midoriya.” Todoroki coldly cut the bird-boy off. He was suddenly right in front of her, his mismatched eyes burning into her as the conversations around them came to an awkward halt.

“Yeah?”

“Objectively, you are more powerful than me. Nonetheless, I will beat you. No matter what.”

Akari raised an eyebrow. “Really? Are you going to use your fire?”

Todoroki blinked, taken aback, before he gritted his teeth together. “No. I’m going to win without his power-”

“So, you’re going to come at me with half your strength.” Akari stated. “Less than that, actually, since you can’t regulate your own temperature with just your ice. I love challenges, but Todoroki, if you aren’t even going to try...well, there’s no way you're beating me.”

The boy narrowed his eyes, and she met his stare with one of her own, unflinching.

Kirishima frowned. “There's no need to throw down the gauntlet before the festival’s even begun, guys-hey, wait!” Todoroki didn’t spare Kirishima a glance before walking away. 

Man, that boy really needed therapy. They had therapy here, right?

Present Mic’s loud voice boomed throughout the stadium, easily reaching their waiting room. “Welcome to the Sports Festival, everyone! I’m Present Mic, here with the teachers of 1-A and 1-B: Eraserhead and Vlad King! Are you all excited?” Akari heard faint cheers. “Because I am! What about you two?”

“I literally couldn’t care less.” The audio picked up Aizawa-sensei’s deadpan voice perfectly, and Akari snickered. 

“I’m honored to be here, and I can’t wait to see how our students perform!” Vlad King stated, the complete opposite of his coworker.

“Great! And now, with no further ado, let’s introduce our competing first-years today. Up first, the kids who fought off real villains within their first weeks in school...Class 1-A!”

Akari held back a wince at that terrible intro. She understood a little of what that steel guy was saying, now.

The wide doors opened, and all twenty of them stepped out into the bright spotlight.

There were suddenly thousands of eyes on them from all sides.

Akari simply waved as they walked over to their spot, mostly used to crowds from all the attention of being brought up as royalty-the granddaughter of the Queen of Heaven. That didn’t mean she liked it, though. 

“Next, the other hero course that’s no less talented: 1-B!”

There were less cheers this time, Akari noticed, as their fellow hero students entered. Kendo waved at her in greeting and Akari smiled back brightly. Monoma almost looked sick at the interaction.

There was even less of a reaction for the support, general, and business courses. Akari knew that the business students probably didn’t care much, but plenty of general students wanted to transfer into the hero course and plenty of support students needed attention for their creations and future business.

“And now, over to our referee-the R-Rated Hero, Midnight!” Mic announced.

Midnight took the stage with a confident stride and a wide smile, clearly in her element. “Thank you, Mic. We have lots of fun events for you all today, and few... special surprises. But first, a short word from the top-scorer of the entrance exam, Midoriya Akari!”

Akari blinked. What.

“Midoriya Akari? Hello-ah there you are!”

Akari trudged up in a daze, slowly taking the microphone from Midnight’s outstretched hand. She stared at the object for a long moment before glancing back up at her teacher, utterly baffled.

“...I’m giving a speech?” 

Midnight tilted her head. “Yeah...didn’t you know?”

“Nope.”

“Whoever gets first place always gives the speech. That’s how it’s always been!” Midnight said.

“How would I know that Midnight-san? This is the first sports festival I’ve even seen!” Akari exclaimed. 

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“...Oh.”

There was an awkward pause before Akari let out a resigned sigh, lifting the microphone and turning to her sudden audience. Her eyes scanned the silent crowd, landing on the small, silver-haired unicorn watching her intently.

Akari cleared her throat. Public speaking, okay. She could do that.

“Hello. I don’t have a speech prepared...as you probably heard, so I won’t take up much of your time. All of us here competing today will strive to do our best-not just the hero students and those of you gunning for the hero course, but our support and business students as well. So, watch everyone up here as we work towards our futures. There was a motto or something too, um...”

“Plus Ultra.” Midnight whispered.

“...Plus Ultra.” Akari finished lamely.

“Plus Ultra!” The crowd and students around her shouted back. 

Akari let out a breath of relief, handing the microphone back to Midnight as she walked back to her spot. Phew.

Midnight grinned, regaining everyone’s attention once again. “And with that inspiring address from Midoriya, let’s get straight into it.” She cracked her whip against the ground. A large sign rose up behind her, huge glowing words easily visible to the audience.

Obstacle Course. 

“And there we have it, folks, our first event. The obstacle course! All 220 of our first-years will race each other in a circular course around our massive field, over there. The best part?” Midnight licked her lips. “Anything goes. You’re free to use your abilities and skills however you wish to get past the obstacles and your opponents to reach the goal the fastest. The first 100 students pass to the next round!” 

They all gathered in front of the huge tunnel leading into the race, waiting for Midnight’s call. She saw everyone, especially the hero courses, shove up to the front of the pack. 

Akari, meanwhile, waited all the way near the back. Most of the students sent strange looks at her as she gave up her lead, likely recognizing her as the person who just gave an impromptu speech on doing your best. Why was she putting herself at a disadvantage? 

A large chime signaled the start of the race, and all 220 students rushed forward at once...into the same tunnel that wasn’t so huge anymore.

It was a mess of crowded students and flailing limbs, those with the right quirks pushing past other students. Akari leapt up, lightly stepping on shoulders and arms as she made her way through from the very back. They glanced up at her, startled, as she casually made her way to the exit.

There was a large ice cover freezing people to the ground and blocking up the frontrunners, and she broke it apart with a few well-aimed blasts. Todoroki, most likely. Akari landed outside the tunnel on both feet, gaining a clear view of the race.

“And Midoriya finally emerges from the tunnel, far behind the rest of the competition! Was she asleep?! What do you think her plan is, Eraserhead?” 

At the end was a mass of students, most of them running normally and some with some...interesting strategies. Props to the purple-haired kid riding on a chariot of other students, and that pink-haired girl on some kind of rocket. 

Aizawa-sensei just sighed. “That kid doesn’t have a plan.”

Akari placed her palms on the ground, knees bent in a runner’s stance, the remaining students in general studies passing her without a glance.

“She’s just going to-.”

Akari sprinted forward, and the world around her seemed to freeze in place.

To Akari, someone who’s worked on getting faster for decades like her dad, an obstacle race was probably the easiest event possible.

Akari took in the full picture as she moved forward at the pace of a jog, gliding through still air and ignoring the heavy feeling pushing back against her. She weaved through the unmoving bodies of the general studies course, her steps completely inaudible in a still world.

At the front of the race were Bakugou and Todoroki, the blonde aimed out like a rocket with explosions and flames pushing out of his hands and feet. The latter was surfing on his ice, spikes caught half-formed. The first obstacle, already conquered by the runners at the top, had been huge robots-a zero-pointer still toppling down with a massive hole in its head.

Iida was in third, his arms frozen mid-chop. Behind them were almost all of 1-A and 1-B pushing forward in a head-to-head race, their faces captured in determined expressions.

Her class had come pretty far, Akari noted. Even Koda seemed to be running pretty hard, a flock of birds around him...offering emotional support? It was hard to tell like this, really. Akari passed Uraraka, both of the girl’s feet suspended off the ground, with a smile.

Where was Tooru...oh, there she was. She was doing well, already in tenth, and in the middle of throwing a light sphere behind her. Momo was raising a newly formed shield to block it, eyes narrowed in concentration. Hm.

In a totally unbiased move, Akari moved Momo’s shield just a little to the left so the attack would hit. To make up for it, she placed one of Momo’s discarded weapons-a whip-back into her hand before stepping back with a satisfied smile. There. It’s not like anyone would know she helped, anyway.

Wait, her parents were watching. They would know. Fuck. Now she had to sabotage everyone else, or this was blatant favoritism!

Quickly, she searched for good targets.

Akari walked all the way back to Monoma, giving him a judgmental stare he couldn’t see at his giant hands(how did copying those help in a race?). The blonde was clearly in the middle of saying something, his eyes closed shut.

Akari swept his legs out from under him, his body now floating almost parallel to the ground. Then she noticed the girl in front of him, and carefully moved Kendo out of the way.

Akari hugged Dark Shadow, whispering an apology he couldn’t hear before wrapping him around his user like a cute, black snake. Akari kicked off the ground, rising up to Fuji’s mid-air form and pushing his wings in front of him so that he couldn’t see.

She wanted to mess with Setsuna-she doubted the girl would mind a prank-but what was she supposed to do to all those split body parts? How did that quirk even work?

Akari tied some of Shiozaki’s vines into harmless knots. The girl wasn’t using them for the race-she needed to stand still to use her quirk, apparently-so why not?

She took off Shishida’s glasses-and then immediately reconsidered, putting them back on his face. That’d be way too mean, even for her.

Akari lightly drummed her fingers against Kirishima’s red hair, wondering if she could press the little spikes down at supersonic speed. Then she took in the expression on his face, following his gaze curiously to see Mina mid-trip, her hands outstretched and mouth wide in a yell. Akari carefully placed the pink girl back upright.

Turning around, Akari accidentally ran into one of Tsuburaba’s air walls. His quirk bended around her without resistance, eventually popping like a balloon as she kept moving through it. It was satisfying in a guilty way, and Akari moved the boy forward a few meters as consolation.

Akari scowled at the sight of Sero-he knew what he did-and lightly poked him in the cheek. His cheek rippled at the motion, which was fascinating to see but also quite weird.

Not nearly as weird as the boy in front of him, though. Akari stared at the mid-air word floating in front of Fukidashi for a full five seconds.

Boom.

Was that a manga sound effect coming out of a speech bubble? The fuck? She tapped the word experimentally, yet nothing seemed to happen. Huh. 

She frowned at Tetsutetsu, the steel guy who yelled at her class. He was currently diving to the side, narrowly dodging Aoyama’s laser. Actually, if he was covered in steel, wouldn't the light just bounce off? In the name of science, Akari pushed him back into its path.

Aoyama himself was facing the back in a fabulous pose and with a dazzling smile, a faint blue glow still visible on his belt. It was almost ridiculous how photogenic her classmate was, so she just left him like that.

Jirou and Kamikiri were fighting fiercely, frozen side by side with Jirou’s jacks aimed at his chest and Kamikiri’s blades raising up to defend. A few paces behind them were Kaminari and Honenuki, the former looking absolutely terrified as the 1-B student chased after him. 

Couldn’t Honenuki soften things? If he just made the arena quicksand...maybe he was probably saving that trick for later.

Akari lifted Jirou and Kamikiri up and turned them around, so they were facing the opposite direction in the same running positions. Then, she moved them so that they were just in front of Kaminari and Honenuki, working to suppress a gleeful laugh. 

She glanced over at the stands, and Sekhmet flashed her an excited thumbs-up. Mom rolled her eyes at her antics, but she was clearly smiling. 

Akari was doing great! 

Dad, meanwhile, was pointing to the front for some reas-oh, right, this was a race. She should finish up soon. Akari could hold this speed for a while, but eventually it would really start tiring her out.

Akari jogged up to the top three, lightly pushing Iida’s arm slightly so his open palm would slap himself in the face. Then she slashed across the bottom of Todoroki’s ice, ruining his platform, before leaping up to the Flying Bakugou Missile. Akari rotated him so that the blonde was pointed at Todoroki’s now-floating form.

She stepped in front of all the chaos with a grin, taking in the perfect art she’d made-a picture just before disaster. So maybe Akari went a little overboard-it’d be hilarious . For her, at least.

With that done she ran past them, her body finally starting to ache, coming to a...giant pit? That must be the second obstacle, then.

Akari finally came to a complete halt. And with that, the world sped up again, flowing back to normal speed like a river suddenly getting unblocked.

“-run.” Aizawa-sensei finished just as several things happened at once.

Monoma's face planted into the ground, hard. Tokoyami tripped over poor Dark Shadow, falling down with a confused squawk. The opposite happened to Mina, who, thinking she was still falling, leaned backward and toppled herself over.

Shishida, blinded from his newly fogged up glasses, ran straight into Tetsutetsu and nearly knocked him down. A second later, Aoyama’s laser reflected off Tetsutetsu’s steel and shot off into the sky. 

Fuji broke out of his dive just in time, swerving away from the ground. He smiled at the save-just before a blue beam struck him in the face.

Shiozaki twisted her head, abruptly noticing her newly knotted hair, and accidentally whacked Pony in the face. They both stopped running as Shiozaki frantically apologized, but she was speaking too fast for poor Pony to understand what she was saying.

Ojiro’s tail met no air wall on its course for Tsuburaba’s face-but then the 1-B student suddenly teleported out of the way. They just stared at each other, confused.

Momo was blasted back, barely keeping her footing, and Tooru sprinted ahead with a whoop. 

Iida slapped himself in the face so hard he nearly stumbled, his hand flying up to catch his glasses.

Todoroki started to fall, his ice-slide gone, but caught himself with another with his trained reflexes. Unfortunately, a rogue Bakugou slammed into him a second later. They hit the ground sprawling; the remaining ice shattered in explosions.

Akari laughed so hard she almost fell into the pit.

“What the f-heck just happened?!” Mic cried out. “The hero courses have fallen into chaos from a sudden, simultaneous attack-wait a second, when’d Midoriya get to the second obstacle...”

“Midoriya’s quirk: Demigod. Just like her father, she gets exponentially more power the more she trains. She’s gotten faster than we can see...somehow. Midoriya dashed past them, but evidently, still had the time to mess with her competitors.”

“Wow, your kids are crazy, Shota. That’s like something All Might would do!”

“No, All Might wouldn’t use that much power to pull childish pranks.” He paused. “Hopefully.”

“We can’t even see what happened until we review the slow-mo footage.” Vlad King said. “And that’ll take a while to process...”

“Aw, I wanted to see exactly what that genius little listener did!”

“Forget that, you two.” Aizawa cut in. “The students are already moving again.”

“Wha-oh! After that powerful move from Midoriya, both hero classes are starting to recover! Some of the other courses have slipped into the ranks in that delay, and the students unaffected by...whatever Midoriya just did have gotten even further ahead!”

Eri rubbed her eyes, confused. “Dad, what’s Nee-san doing? I know she’s moving, but usually she’s only like...” The little unicorn waved her hand in front of her. “Whoosh. And then you can see bits of pretty purple.”

Izuku smiled at her. “A blur?” 

Eri was twelve now, almost a teenager in human years. But her vocabulary was low compared to kids her age, both from a lack of social interaction and Overhaul clearly not caring about her education. It was something Izuku and Aurora had been working to fix these past few months.

They watched Akari slowly step across the pit on a bridge of light, ignoring the given ropes completely. Giant spiders climbed out on thin limbs, scratching against the rock as they raced towards her only to be blasted away without a second thought.

“Yeah. But right now, she’s somewhere one moment and then just...somewhere else.”

Aurora hummed. “Well, maybe think of it like this. What’s Akari usually doing when you see a blur?” 

Eri scrunched up her nose. “Hmm...oh! One time, Nee-san was late for class. When I woke her up, she dashed off really fast, but that time I could still see her going...”

“Eri, when you go to get a glass of water, you don’t run to the kitchen, right?” 

“Mm.”

“You can get there as fast as you can, but you don’t really want to. You walk. It’s the same with Akari-you’re used to seeing her jog around. Right now, though, she wants to run. Does that make sense?”

Eri thought it over in her head and nodded. “I think so. But Mom, why does Nee-san want to run today?”

Izuku chuckled. “Honestly? She doesn’t need to. But she’s having fun, isn’t she?”

An enraged Bakugou blasted towards Akari, spinning himself into a spiral to accelerate further. His palm stretched for Akari’s face, a powerful explosion speeding out-and then slowing to a full stop, floating harmlessly in the air. His target easily sidestepped the unmoving attack before gently pushing his palm up on a path for his jaw.

His daughter crossed the finish line, not even out of breath, not a single competitor near her. She stopped with a wide grin, pumping her fist in the air.

An entire path of mines exploded at nothing behind her. Back at the second obstacle Bakugou punched himself in the face and landed heavily on his back with a strangled scream.

“Midoriya reaches the end first by a landslide, earning herself first place!” Yamada announced.

“This...really isn’t very fair.” Aurora mused.

“Not at all.” Izuku admitted. “But it is hilarious.”

“True.”

“Our Akari’s very kind, isn’t she?” Inko commented. “From what I can see, which honestly isn’t much, she hasn’t done more than trip opponents when she could have taken them out of the race entirely. It even looks like she helped a few other kids...”

“Yeah.” Sekhmet muttered. “I still don’t get why she doesn’t just punch them.” 

Izuku sighed. “We’ve been over this, Sekhmet. They’d literally die-”

“I’m not seeing the problem here.”

“-which is not what we want.”

Sekhmet rolled her eyes. "Speak for yourself."

Going from 220 students to 100 was a pretty big bump, eliminating more than half the students with the first event. Both hero courses made it through, naturally, and the rest of the spots were all filled by general and support students. The business students seemed to have hung back, not having any reason to advance in the festival. 

1-A and 1-B were both sneaking terrified glances at her, and Akari abruptly remembered that she just pranked all of them at supersonic speed. Clearly, they hadn’t found it as funny as she had. 

Midnight was talking again, so Akari tuned in. “Those of you who didn’t make it, better luck next time! But for those 100 of you who cleared the first event, get ready for the second one-”

A huge wooden stand rose out of the ground, carrying dozens and dozens of...swords? Oh, yes.

“-a free for all, decided by blades. And blades only!”

A second stand was revealed, this one full of what looked like small, metal bracelets. 

“For this round, neither magic nor emitter and transformation quirks are allowed.” The students burst into protests before Midnight cracked her whip into the air, quieting them all down instantly. “Each of you will be given a single training sword, as well as a bracelet to monitor you.”

“If it senses your ability activate before the round ends...” Midnight smirked. “It’s an instant disqualification.”

Silence.

“So, don’t cheat! You can attack with the given sword or any other part of your body.” Meaning mutation quirks were allowed. But while an extra limb might give you an advantage here, Akari realized, it could also make you an early target for the rest. “The bracelets also count hits-depending on how many you receive and where, the color at the top will change from green, to yellow, and finally to red. When the light goes out, it means that you’re eliminated and must exit the arena. The last forty of you still standing will pass on to the next round!”

So, like health in a video game. That was interesting. But Midnight wasn’t telling them exactly how the damage counted-for all Akari knew, a hit to the hand could do near-zero damage while a hit to the head could be an instant loss.

Akari took the sword and bracelet curiously. The bracelet went on her wrist easily and was light enough to not be an issue in combat. There was a bar on it, currently green and full.

The gray sword on the shorter side with a small handguard. It was made of impact-resistant material and blunted so that it couldn’t cause serious harm. It balanced well in her hand, and she gave it a few test swings before nodding in appreciation. 

Cementoss’s earth magic worked fast. Within a minute the flat terrain had shifted into a huge, grassy field. The center, where all one hundred students currently were, stayed level while the rest was quickly filled with rolling hills of varying heights.

“And one last rule.” Midnight added almost gleefully. “Whoever gets a last hit one of the top three-either Midoriya, Bakugou, or Todoroki-gets an instant pass to the next round!”

Countless eyes turned to glare at her simultaneously. 

Taking Akari out now, while she couldn’t use her ‘quirk’, must be the ideal scenario for those gunning to win. Those negatively affected by her actions last round would no doubt be going for her as well. In addition, everyone started in the same spot-meaning she was already surrounded and outnumbered. She was less likely to eliminate them if they attacked together off the bat. 

All valid motives...and then there were Bakugou and Todoroki, who just wanted to fight her. Altogether, a lot of enemies to take on while pretending to be a human.

Akari grinned back, wide. This was going to be fun.

“And begin!”

Instantly, there were dozens of students rushing at her from every direction. It didn’t matter that most of them didn’t know how to handle a sword, if a bunch of blades stabbed at her at the same time, there was no way she could block them all.

But Akari didn’t move a muscle, her smile holding as the crowd continued to box her in. She waited as they got closer and closer, about to poke her skin-

Then jumped straight up into the air, rising above her attackers.

The students below ended up stabbing each other, a horde of bracelets flashing from green to yellow at once. They panicked, realizing they were getting damaged, but swinging swords in a clumped-up mass of opponents just caused even more chaos. 

Akari landed on a surprised set of shoulders before jumping to another. She made her way over the brawl like that, lightly touching across heads and swords in a feat of pure agility. They stared up at her, confused, as she used them as human steppingstones. 

“And Midoriya evades the targeted effort with ease! But can she keep it up?”

Akari hit the ground in a roll, grass tickling against her forehead as she rose to her feet in a run. The human speed she was limited to was still more than enough to escape the initial crowd of students, but now she needed a better spot before she was overrun.

Akari headed straight east for the tallest hill in the arena-with high ground and a point to defend, she would have a much better chance.

But unfortunately, someone else seemed to already have that idea. There was already a group of students on top of the peak, raising their swords up as they saw her approach. The weirdest thing, though, was that none of them were attacking each other-

They were teaming up, Akari realized. That was the smartest thing to do when you were in a huge elimination round like this. But there was no way she could team up with anyone when she was the number one target, so this just put her at a bigger disadvantage than before.

The formation was all 1-B students. She could easily make out Tetsutetsutetsutetsu(who the hell named their kid that? That was terrible) from this distance, his head an interesting splash of silver and grey even without his quirk. Next to him was a grinning boy, his spiky hair held back by a headband, and a tall guy with long hair and glasses. Awase and Shishida, her mind supplied a beat late.

At the center of the squad was Monoma, wearing his usual creepy smirk. The blonde was quite intelligent from what Akari knew, not to mention his obvious leadership capabilities, but wow was he irritating. He hated 1-A for being first in the alphabet, or something.

“You’re charging straight at us, Midoriya? Alone?” Monoma laughed. “The nerv-”

Akari suddenly burst into a sprint, reaching the hilltop in seconds. She met four pairs of surprised eyes, her sword slashing down without hesitation.

Awase jumped in front of his leader, catching the blade with his own just before it hit Monoma’s neck. Wow, rude.

 “Whoa! You’re pretty fast, even without your quirk!”

She ducked, a hard swing from Shishida passing harmlessly over her head, before yanking her sword back to deflect another. The power behind it was much higher than Todoroki-the strength of unenhanced humans seemed to vary immensely.

“Tetsu, take point!” Monoma shouted.

Tetsutetsu lunged at her-with a fist instead of a sword, for some reason. Akari curiously batted away his arm, the little bar on his bracelet decreased the slightest bit. Any hit to the skin counted, nice.

Monoma tried to use the opening to slice at her legs, clearly realizing the same thing. She saw it coming and kicked his sword away, making sure it only touched her sneaker, finally having an opening for the blonde-

Awase leapt in before she could counter, protecting Monoma yet again, and Akari was forced to focus on defending once Glasses backed him up with his own volley of attacks. Awase’s quick jabs and Shishida’s slow yet intelligent slashes flowed together smoothly. 

“Hey, can I ask you something? Why’re you going straight for Monoma?” Awase asked almost casually. “I mean, he is kinda an asshole-”

“Oi!”

“-but you don’t seem like the grudge type to me-” An upward cut forced him to lean back, and he hastily added to his statement. “-not that that’s a bad thing!”

Akari watched Monoma out of the corner of her eye as he skirted around the edges of the fight. “Well, he’s your leader, isn’t he? I need to take him out first.”

Monoma huffed. “So, you came to assassinate me, the vice-representative. Of course, a classic 1-A strategy.” Huh? “You didn’t even bring a team with you.”

Tetsutetsu was the distraction, Akari quickly realized. He didn’t seem to have any practice with a sword, but he was creating a lot of openings that Shishida wasn’t hesitant to use. Though now that she thought about it, she could take Tetsutetsu by surprise easily if she timed it just right. From how much damage he was taking already, a ‘lethal’ stab would probably deplete all of his remaining bar.

Akari rolled her eyes. “If anyone gets me, they have an instant pass to the next round. Midnight didn’t give us any prep time-” She punched Awase in the gut, sending him stumbling back. “-of course, I don’t have a team.”

“Awase,” Monoma called. Switch with me.”

“Alright!”

It was weird to discuss your formations right in front of the enemy, in Akari’s opinion. But Shishida successfully brought her focus on him long enough for Monoma to take Awase’s spot. She’d scored a few cuts on him at this point(not that the weapon the school gave them actually drew blood), his bar now a high yellow, but the boy didn’t falter. 

Akari sidestepped Tetsutetsu’s next thrust, like he wasn’t even a threat, before whirling around to lock blades with Shishida once again.

Shishida spoke respectfully even as they continued to clash. “I must apologize, Midoriya-san, for going up against you with a squad of four instead of a fairer approach. However, I know you are quite the skilled fighter-underestimating you would be foolish.”

The difference between him and Monoma was huge, Akari couldn’t help but think. 

Akari smiled. “Thanks...Shishida-san” She really hoped that was his surname, because Akari honestly couldn’t tell. “But don’t worry, it’s cool. Plus, I actually get a real fight this way-”

Tetsutetsu’s temper finally hit the limit, and his teeth visibly grit together as he rushed in.

“You 1-A students are way too arrogant-” Tetsutetsu growled, raising his sword high. 

Monoma’s eyes widened. “Wait, you idiot-”

Gotcha.

Akari tilted her blade at just the right angle and Tetsutetsu’s sword slid down the edge, catching fast on the handguard. She sharply twisted her hand, knocking his weapon clear out of his grip. A powerful kick slammed into his side and threw him flying off the hill, Akari’s arm rearing back in the same motion.

By the time Awase shouted her blade was already slicing through the air, striking the falling Tetsutetsu’s heart in an inhuman feat of accuracy. His bracelet clicked off, bar dropping from yellow to zero in a single blow.

And just like that, Tetsutetsu was eliminated from the event.

Akari caught his falling blade as a replacement for her own, flashing a grin at the remaining three students over her shoulder. They stared back at her, stunned.

“I prefer the word confident, actually."

Chapter Text

Monoma unfroze first. 

The thrust was aimed straight at Akari’s neck, much faster than his earlier attacks. She caught a glimpse of his expression, his haughty smirk completely gone and in its place a blank face and calculating blue eyes. 

The blade glanced off her own and to the side, and Monoma forced the movement back into another jab at her sword-arm. Akari rolled her hand to deflect again and then swung wide, forcing Monoma to leap back to his teammates. 

Akari hummed, delightedly surprised. “So you can sword fight, after all.” 

Monoma’s loose posture straightened in front of her eyes into something more controlled, his silver eyes gleaming. His free hand folded behind his back, and he twisted the slightest bit so that she was facing his right side. 

“Over a decade of fencing,” Monoma stated proudly. His grip changed, fingers lightly yet firmly holding the hilt, and the sword slowly lowered until the tip was pointing at Akari’s heart.

Akari knew enough to know that that was some kind of swordplay on Earth. At least half of his life was spent training, then.

“Cool. But uh, why’d you wait to start trying until after your teammate got eliminated?” Akari wondered. 

The three of them fanned out in front of her, clearly much warier now that one of their own was gone. Akari just waited, watching Monoma talk and Awase’s hands twitch at his sides. Shishida simply observed her, long hair nearly covering his face.

“That’s none of your business-”

“You were downplaying your abilities,” Akari said. “You weren’t trying at all in that race, too, now that I think about it.”

Monoma scowled in realization. “You were there. That’s how I fell, wasn't it? You knocked me down!”

Akari blinked, innocently. “Huh? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Meanwhile, Shishida’s eyes widened. “I see. You were the one to fog up my glasses as well...”

That was an accident! Still hilarious, but a complete accident!

“Tsk. Anyway, you don’t have any room to talk about my tactics, Midoriya-you did the same thing just now when you baited Tetsutetsu. You are certainly impressive for a 1-A student, I must admit. But now that we know exactly how skilled you are, we will show you no mercy! I, the vice-representative of 1-B, will take you out-”

Boring.

Monoma reflexively deflected a sudden slash with his sword, only for her fist to slam into his face a moment later and launch him backward.

Shishida dived forward and she caught his punch, throwing the boy over her shoulder with a single arm. He flew up in a slow, graceful arc before crashing down on her other side, forcing Awase to jump out of the way with a yelp.

Akari followed Awase, dancing past his quick jabs to slice at his arms. Awase’s health hit red, but then Monoma recovered fast enough to cover him-leaping in boldly like a knight in shining armor.

“Not so fast, Midoriya! You won’t take another 1-B member from us!”

Akari held back a laugh. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re way too dramatic, Monoma?” 

“I have, actually,” Awase admitted, lunging for her turned back. “Many times. But he doesn’t listen to me-” Akari raised her weapon straight behind her, blocking the stab before throwing another kick at his gut, hitting the same place where she punched him earlier. He fell back, winded.

In front of her, Monoma wiped a bit of blood off his nose with a silent glare, raising his sword once again. 

He almost reminded him of Bakugou, like that. Both blondes were impossibly arrogant, yet while Bakugou’s pride was completely personal, Monoma thought of his entire class as his own. That’s why Akari was currently facing Monoma and his team on a tactical location, instead of dealing with a lone Bakugou.

Akari tried to finish the fallen Shishida, but Monoma was already there to stop her. She tilted her head and the first thrust just missed her head, the second nearly striking her shoulder. 

Monoma was skilled, Akari couldn’t help but notice. She knew his quirk; an emitter that allowed him to copy the quirks of anyone he came into contact with. It only made sense that he had the best combat skill out of every student she had seen so far, excluding Tooru. 

In a world that cared so much about abilities, he must’ve had to work so hard to be seen as anything other than a leech. 

Akari moved faster, the fight's tempo rising with every blow. Monoma kept pace, quick thrusts aiming for a new spot each time. Each stab was precise enough to slide in and out of range with ease. 

She stabbed at his chest and his blade flicked over to stop it before instantly lashing back at her. Akari expected it and cut up, slicing across Monoma's shoulder and creating an opening.

Akari slashed straight down and Monoma raised his blade up parallel to hers to stop it. At the last moment, she tilted her hand, fingers guiding the hilt and flowing into a different slash that struck his open left side, hard. 

Monoma dug his feet in against the impact, his bar visibly dropping. He was right in front of her now, cornered.  

But then Monoma smiled, full of teeth. He threw a short stab, and up this close, all Akari could do was catch it with her own. Monoma then pushed both their swords up with all of his might, locking them in place above their heads. A strange move, since now neither of them could do anything-

Which is exactly what Monoma was counting on.

Akari let go of her hilt and dropped to the grass, Shishida’s blade swinging through the spot her head just was. 

Now in a crouch, Akari reached out to grab her falling sword only for Awase and Monoma to stab downward at once, forcing her to abandon it and roll to the side. Clever.

Akari pushed off her hand and sprung to her feet, weaponless and vulnerable, and Monoma charged at her with a victorious smirk.

Akari watched him lunge, the arm extending out and aiming the blow, his sword piercing forward. There was no time to dodge, and blocking that would deplete her health.

But she knew exactly how fast Monoma was, exactly how direct his attacks were from the past few minutes. Judging from the angle his sword was going, he was aiming...here.

Akari clapped her hands around his blade with perfect precision, catching the tip just before it touched her neck, and her bar dropped the slightest bit.

Monoma’s eyes widened. “How the fuck-”

Akari grinned back. “Skill.”

Her knee ruthlessly flew into his chest, bending him forward, and a well-aimed chop forced him to drop his sword into her hand. 

“Thanks!” 

Akari slashed up with her new sword, striking his chest. He stepped back, defending fiercely, but after all of that intense fighting, he was finally tired out.

Monoma threw a palm strike and she ducked, swinging the hilt into his ankle. Monoma toppled over and Akari swung down-

Only for Awase to jump in the way, taking the hit to the chest and losing his remaining bar as his bracelet clicked off. The now eliminated boy fell onto Monoma’s form. He really just sacrificed himself-

Monoma grabbed her fallen sword and stabbed up in her moment of distraction, scoring a cut on her side with a shout. “Shishida!” 

Akari glanced up to see Shishida’s massive form bearing down on her and dove to the side on instinct. The tall boy rushed past her to lift Monoma up and run, carrying his leader with both arms like a princess and leaping off the hilltop to escape. 

Akari didn’t bother chasing them-she’d already won the spot she wanted, and eliminated half of Monoma’s team. Unfortunately, people noticed.

The mass of students below her hill suddenly turned their attention to her hill, realizing that Monoma’s team was gone. It wasn’t worth it to attack a strong group of hero students, but Akari, however, was alone and a much more valuable target.

Akari gripped the hilt of her sword tighter, watching the crowd rush towards her hill from all sides. If she made a mistake here, she’d probably be eliminated instantly.

Not to mention how she was essentially fighting an army of stickmen with a toothpick. Akari needed to carefully regulate the power she put into every strike, every swing of her given sword unless she wanted to shatter her sword and opponents. The longer she fought, the more Akari had to force herself to stay at this speed. It was an annoying test of control that she couldn’t afford to forget about.

“Get her!” 

A girl with bright red hair rose into view first only to catch a harsh kick to the gut before she could react. She knocked over a student behind her as she fell, and they tumbled down the hill together. Ha.

Akari twisted around to block a slash before flicking her sword up, scoring a clean cut over the boy’s entire body that instantly eliminated him. 

In the time she spent on them she’d already been surrounded. Akari’s sword swung in a firm circle, pushing them back.

A blonde scored a slash on her arm in the opening, and Akari instinctively sent him flying with a punch. Her elbow swung behind her immediately after with a satisfying hiss of pain, but she was nearly eliminated by yet another opponent while distracted. 

Akari was good, but with human speed and a health bar she just couldn’t take on this many people. At this rate, she’d be eliminated within minutes. 

She took a step back, giving herself a second to think. Her usual, bold fighting style wasn’t working. She was leaving too many openings to fight an entire swarm-Akari needed to be more precise, controlled, but without using any more speed. 

This time she waited still, observing as three more students ran closer. Most of their technique was gained from action movies, Akari noticed. Huge, inefficient slashes with shaking arms. Something that was easier to counter the longer she watched.

A quick stab struck the first one in the forehead the instant he stepped within range. He blinked, stunned, as he was instantly eliminated. 

She loosened her hold, letting the sword swing back low under her hand, like a pendulum, to stop the second opponent’s slash. Akari immediately thrust up, getting his throat, and then down, getting his heart. She stepped behind him, letting the surprised boy tank more attacks for her before his bracelet clicked off.

The third came from the front, and instead of a fancy block Akari simply leaned just out of the way of a stab, instantly reposting into their chest. She couldn’t afford any wasted time-every single movement needed to serve its purpose.

Akari visualized a small sphere extending her maximum range, instantly taking out any student that stepped inside. Her blade was an extension of herself, a blur of gray streaking out in perfect arcs to someone’s neck or piercing through the most efficient path to a heart. The damage system was working with her now; with enough aim, she could eliminate opponents just as fast as they appeared.

There were flashes of green at the edge of her vision-Dad carrying eliminated opponents off the arena as soon as she couldn’t see them. She hadn’t even noticed until now; she still wasn’t anywhere near his top speed. But right now, as she easily defended herself without any of her abilities, Akari found she didn’t mind that.

This was what Uncle Kensei meant, she finally realized, when he swung his stupid wooden bokken around and told her to fight more carefully while she was trying to go all out on him. She could see his slash in her mind, that perfect swordsmanship she was striving toward. Akari itched to try it, now-

Someone tried to backstab her.

Akari whirled around to deflect it, countering straight for his face. The purple-haired boy leaped back reflexively, the tip of her sword coming just shy of his face.

Surprisingly, the boy stopped and narrowed his eyes on her instead of simply charging in like the rest. Actually, he looked a little familiar, now that Akari thought about it...

“You’re that guy who was being carried around the race, right?” Akari asked. Was he in general studies? “Do you have a fan club or something? That’s kinda impressive...”

A lot of popular professional heroes had fan clubs, but getting one as a student? That must be an achievement.

Purple let out a harsh laugh. “They weren’t my fans. I don’t really have any of those.”

Oh. “That must be hard,” Akari said, sympathetically. “But why were they all helping you, then?”

“And why would I tell you that?”

Well, now she was curious-

Akari’s blade rose up on instinct, catching an attack from above. She glanced up to see a flash of orange, Kendo of 1-B grinning down at her.

Akari jumped back and Kendo’s fist slammed into the grass. Purple immediately tried to backstab her again-rude, but understandable-and Akari backflipped right over him. In his moment of confusion, her heel struck the back of his neck.

Kendo lunged right past Purple for her, and Akari deflected it and reposted for her jaw. The orange-haired girl dove to the side, her ponytail flying at the movement, before leaping to swing for Akari’s face.

Akari blocked and Kendo’s blade clashed against hers, crossing together.

“What’s up, Midoriya? I haven’t seen you in a while. And you’re Shinsou Hitoshi, right?” Kendo asked Purple without turning around. “I’ve heard some stuff about you.”

“I bet you have.” Shinsou rose to his feet next to Kendo, facing Akari together. Akari raised an eyebrow at the two of them, and Shinsou shrugged back. 

“You’re clearly the bigger threat here. No offense, Kendo.” Shinsou’s voice was deep and carried power, somehow, despite not giving off a hint of mana. 

“None taken!”

Kendo swung a right hook and Akari batted the fist away with her sword. Kendo didn’t seem to care about the health loss, her leg snapping up for Akari’s jaw. Akari leaned back, the attack flying by her face, and nearly missed Shinsou’s thrust in the opening.

Right, two versus one.

Akari’s blade flashed in front of her as she held both of them off. Kendo’s punches and kicks were quick, but the martial artist was forced to reduce them as Akari’s sword deflected them away and drained her bracelet’s light. The purple-haired boy seamlessly flowed into Kendo’s bold attacks with his own hidden, quick stabs. It reminded her of Monoma’s first strategy but more effective, as Shinsou actually had the stealth and ability to blend in the background to pull it off.

Akari stepped back again, just enough for Kendo’s next slash to pass harmlessly by her nose. She made her own slash in the opening, throwing a palm strike in the same moment. Kendo blocked the sword with her hand, not seeing the last attack until it struck her in the face. 

Akari moved in so that she was behind the stunned girl, letting Shinsou’s stab hit the girl in the stomach and drop her health to yellow. She jumped back as Kendo struck behind her out of muscle memory before smashing her hilt down on Shinsou and knocking him into the grass.

“You’re ruthless, Midoriya,” Shinsou grumbled.

“Thanks!” 

This time Shinsou and Kendo dived in together, and Akari carefully weaved through the barrage of stabs, forced back. It didn’t help that every random student happening upon the fight went for her, instead of the other two trained opponents. 

Akari deflected Kendo’s blade to the right, tilting her head to dodge Shinsou’s sword before stabbing back at him and getting a hit on his shoulder. 

Kendo was rearing back for another huge slash when Akari suddenly felt someone closing in behind her. She stepped back yet again-

Only for her foot to touch nothing but open air, already past the edge of the peak. 

Akari whirled around, desperately balancing on one foot, to see Momo swinging two swords for her face, smiling a bit too wide to be polite. For her, that was practically a shout for blood. 

Shit. How long had Momo been waiting for that opening?

Akari made a split-second decision, letting herself fall and narrowly dodging Kendo’s slash. She tackled Momo in mid-air, the girl letting out a surprised shout as they slammed into the grassy hillside.

They rolled down the hill together for a beat, an awkward jumble of limbs and weapons as the world spun on its head. Momo finally thrust up with both swords, throwing Akari off her, and they both dug their feet into the steep slope to keep balance. Akari’s health fell to yellow. 

Akari raised her sword once more with a small pout. “Even you, Momo? Wow, everyone’s teaming up on me today. huh...”

Momo laughed, lowering into a practiced, slightly stiff stance.

“Yes, we are. And yet you’re not even out of breath, are you Akari-san?”

“Nope.”

“Then we’re quite justified, no?”

Akari deflected the first slash to her left before batting away the second one. She kept her sword centered, not leaving any openings for either weapon as Momo pressed forward.

Akari jabbed out, sharp as a whip, probing at Momo’s defenses. What people usually didn’t realize was that while dual-wielding looked pretty cool, actually fighting with two swords at once took practice and a ton of coordination. Momo had that training, that practice, but she lacked the experience.

Akari pulled an unpredictable move, spinning around with her blade lifted at stomach level. She felt one, two impacts against her hand before she was facing Momo again, surprised onyx eyes meeting confident green ones. She thrust straight up, clipping Momo’s temple, and the sudden damage threw off the brunette’s timing. 

Akari swung down and Momo crossed her blades to defend-only to get punched hard in the gut. The creation girl narrowed her eyes, throwing a kick ruthlessly aimed at Akari’s face in return-something that she definitely wouldn’t have done before U.A(1-A was an excellent influence on her!).

Akari sidestepped the attack, slashing for Momo’s side, and the girl caught the attack on one of her hilts. Momo stabbed forward with her other sword, forcing Akari to duck under it.

“I’ve been wanting to spar against you, ever since your show of skill at Atlas-sensei’s exercise,” Momo said, barely fending off a strike to her neck.

“You’re doing really great, Momo. You might need a little more battle experience with swords, though.” 

“I have spent the most time practicing my bo-staff, but in dealing with monsters a sword is much more effective...unless your Atlas-sensei, evidently.”

Akari grinned. “He’s certainly an exception.” A flash of orange-they were out of time. “This is fun, Momo, but I’m going to have to postpone this spar for now.”

“Wha-”

Akari’s hand shot out behind her, catching Kendo’s flying kick without a glance. 

Before Kendo could do as much as yell she swung the orange-haired girl over like a baseball bat, slamming Kendo into her fellow class representative without hesitation. Momo couldn’t dodge in time and they collided with a shared hiss of pain, tumbling down the grass slope together uncontrollably. 

“Sorry!” Akari called over her shoulder(getting a muffled curse back) before turning to her final opponent, her bright green eyes meeting terrified purple ones. 

One more.

Akari was in front of Shinsou in seconds, leaping up in a graceful arc that just missed Shinsou’s face. She twisted in mid-air, kicking the boy hard in the chest and knocking him down.

Shinsou rolled with the impact, pushing himself to his feet. He was clearly exhausted, wearing eyebags even bigger than the last time she’d seen him. Akari took the time to really look, glancing from his gravity-defying hair almost completely covered in grass, to his shaky breaths, to the white knuckles on the hilt of his sword.

“Shinsou, was it? Why aren’t you in the hero course?” Akari wondered. “You’re trying harder, way harder, than almost everyone here.”

“Huh? Isn't it obvious? Someone like me could never pass that fucking entrance exam with all of you lucky, hero course students.”

“Someone like you?”

“Not everyone has the luxury of being born with heroic abilities, perfect for destroying robots.” Shinsou grit his teeth. “Even my horrible power works on real monsters, but what does that matter in an exam like that?”

Akari thought back to that blur of an exam, of fighting and chaos and destruction. The many examinees who gave up or didn’t pass, being unable to destroy enough robots and fake monsters to succeed.

Akari slashed down and Shinsou moved to block, blades clashing together. She broke off and swung to the side, scoring a cut on his shoulder, before deflecting his next stab with a flick of her wrist.

All the while her mana buzzed under her skin, suppressed for the duration of this round. The unbelievable power she’d been born with and trained the hell out of to push even further.

“I don’t get it,” Akari admitted. 

Shinsou scoffed. “Of course, you don’t understand. You’re super strong--”

Her next blow cut him off, nearly knocking the sword out of his hand.

“You didn’t let me finish. All you’ve mentioned is your quirk-some kind of mind control, probably.” 

“How did you-”

“The 'not actually a fan club' thing, and now you basically just confirmed it.” Akari waved away his words with her free hand, slashing with the other as she talked. “I  think something like that’s pretty useful, especially if it works on monsters. But true, I guess it’s not a physical sort of ability...”

“Wait. You...you don’t think it’s villainous?”

“...Huh?”

“My quirk; Brainwashing. It controls minds. Isn’t this the part where you call it a villain’s quirk?”

Akari was so confused. “What does that even mean? Are you a villain, or something?”

“No!”

“Yeah, you’re trying to be a hero, right? So your quirk is a hero’s quirk.” Akari paused. “Or well, a student’s quirk at the moment. A boy’s quirk? Whatever, you get the point. Also, ‘Brainwashing’ sounds lame, by the way. You should change that.”

Shinsou just stared at her, eyes wide. Weirdo.

“See, your issue-” Akari pointed her sword at him. “is that you keep mentioning quirks. Quirk this, quirk that. They're not the only stuff that can kill things, you know.”

“I don’t have any potential for magic, either-”

“That’s not what I meant. Your swordsmanship isn’t bad, but it’s unrefined as hell. Unlike those people you fought with, earlier, it’s obvious that you haven’t been training physically your entire life. I bet you started only like, a few years ago. If you worked on that-”

“It’s easy for you to say, with such an overpowered quirk.” Shinsou thrust straight for her heart with a glare. “You haven’t had to work nearly as hard as I have.”

Akari batted it away, skin prickling at that last comment. “And how do you know that?”

“You can move faster than a blink-without any effort, even! What would you ever need to train for?” 

This time, Akari didn’t bother responding with words. 

It took two attacks to make him stumble, angles calculated to unbalance him. His footwork was easy to overwhelm, especially with no other competitors around to distract her.

It took another well-aimed strike to his arm to weaken his grip. His bar slid to red, and Shinsou seemed to get more desperate. Not that it did him any good.

It took one more slash to send the sword flying out of his hand and out of sight.

Shinsou was completely helpless as Akari’s blade cut through the air beautifully on a path for his neck-

“Time’s up, everyone!” Mic’s voice boomed.

-and then stopped mere inches from his skin. Shinsou stared at her, frozen, and Akari casually turned her back on him to face the announcer’s box.

“The second event of the sports festival is over! I know all you students down there missed my voice, yeah, but you see, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I distracted any of you from the free for all!”

“Mic, we had to mute you-”

“We now have forty students left standing, soon to move on to the third event! But before we get into it, we have a short interlude. Stay tuned, y’all!”

They ate lunch in the stadium’s cafeteria, thankfully away from the noise of the audience. 1-A had their own set of tables, and already formed friend groups drifted together within them. 

Momo was blazing through her food, fueling up for the rest of the festival, Tooru doing the same right next to her. 

Akari knew the invisible girl well enough now to tell how she was feeling from the shape of her gym uniform, and from how loose her shoulders were. Tooru was excited for the remaining events of the sports festival, nearly all of her earlier nervousness gone. 

Akari was happy for her. She hadn’t seen Tooru at all during the second event, but she’d been confident the girl would make it through. Tooru was Tooru, after all. 

Speaking of the second event. “I’m sorry for throwing Kendo at you, Momo. That couldn’t have been fun.”

Momo laughed lightly, waving the apology off. She somehow still seemed elegant, even as she loaded up on quirk energy as quickly as she could. “Don’t worry about it, Akari. It was a smart move to make, and Kendo practically handed you the opportunity. However, I can’t deny that I was very annoyed at that moment. If I were you, I would likely avoid Kendo for the time being.”

Akari winced. The 1-B girl was much more likely to hold a grudge. “...Yeah, I will.”

“Now I feel like I missed something amazing, over there,” Tooru whined. “Meanwhile, it was super boring where I was-barely anyone put up much of an effort!”

“Really?” Momo asked, surprised. “I assumed you would be targeted because of your quirk, Tooru...”

“Yeah, I was. But none of them knew what they were doing!” If Akari could see her face, she was sure Tooru would be pouting right now. “I’m pretty sure a lot of them didn’t even want to be there...”

Akari shrugged. “They probably didn’t. I honestly don’t get why the entire year has to participate in the festival. Besides the hero courses, support courses, and few general education students, they don’t have much of a reason to push for a top spot. Though, I suppose large-scale fights are good for a watching audience...”

“You talked about them in your speech, too,” Tooru said. “I didn’t really get a chance to tell you this before, but what you said was really cool. Especially since you clearly walked up there, like, completely unprepared.”

Akari glanced at where Tooru’s eyes were with a warm smile. “Thanks, Tooru.”

“This event was challenging on my end,” Jirou admitted. “I teamed up with Shoji and Tsu since all of us are seen as threats with our mutation stuff.”

“Shoji made this big cave above him with his arms, and I hid inside it with Tsu. Tsu held her sword with her tongue and stabbed at far away enemies in cover, while my jacks and Shoji’s extra arms worked as a defense against anyone who got too close.”

“That’s quite an ingenious strategy.” Momo complimented.

“I can’t really take the credit, it was mostly Tsu’s idea,” Jirou said modestly. “The only problem, though, was how fucking big Shoji is. He’s basically a giant, walking hitbox for the other competitors-all they need to do is whack him with their swords and he's done. I felt bad for the dude. I was somewhat safe with Tsu up there, but I think his bracelet was near red when the round ended.”

“I see. Did you pick up any swords from eliminated opponents?” Momo asked. “With Shoji’s quirk, multiple weapons would've been quite powerful.” 

Jirou just stared at her for a few moments, stunned.

She covered her face with a long sigh. “Damn, we really should have thought of that. I didn’t even realize...”

“Yeah, Momo had two swords when I fought her,” Akari said. “I was pretty surprised...”

Akari trailed off as a small girl stepped into the cafeteria, red eyes searching the room and a small, purple bag in her hands. She got a lot of curious stares from the tables around her, her fingers tapping nervously under the attention. Then she finally got sight of Akari.

“Nee-san!”

Eri ran over to their table, wrapping her small arms around Akari as far as she could reach. Akari happily hugged Eri to her chest for a moment, careful of the girl’s horn, before lifting her little sister up and placing her onto the seat next to her.

“Eri!” Akari exclaimed. “How’d you get here?” Only the competitors were allowed into this part of the stadium. 

“Dad snuck me in.” Eri lowered her voice to a whisper. “He said that as long as I was very stealthy, it was okay. But it’s a secret, Nee-san, so you can’t tell anyone!”

“Of course.” Akari gestured to the rest of the table, where Momo, Tooru, and Jirou were staring back intently. “Are they allowed to know, though?”

Eri glanced at them for a moment before she nodded seriously. Adorable. Akari’s lips twitched as she held back a smile, and her friends immediately leaned in. 

“Hey, Eri! How’re you liking the sports festival so far?” Tooru asked.

Eri brightened. “I’m not sure what’s happening, but Nee-san’s so cool.  She took on all of them so easily-even Momo-san. And Momo-san’s super smart.”

Momo smiled. “Thank you, Eri. Your sister’s really quite strong, isn’t she?”

“She is! She moves so, so...” 

“Effortlessly? Fluidly? Elegantly? Beautifully?” Tooru suggested.

“Yeah! You understand, Tooru-san."

"Please, just call me Tooru!"

"Okay, Tooru. Also, I brought a gift for you, Nee-san.”

Akari blinked, her cheeks still bright red. “A gift?” 

Eri handed the bag over, and Akari took it curiously. The purple bag was small enough to fit in her hand, and weighed almost nothing-

Akari reached in to pull out a cone, colored a neat yellow.

“Ah, you made me one, too,” Akari murmured happily, carefully poking the horn in her hands. It felt much more durable than her Dad’s, for some reason. 

A horn from Eri was more than just an arts and crafts project because it truly meant that she was part of Eri’s family. She would be Eri’s older sister even if she didn’t have a horn on her head, but this felt more symbolic, somehow.

(She hadn’t been jealous that Mom and Dad were given horns before she was, not at all.)

“Dad said that you wouldn’t be allowed to have anything with you at the festival. So I went to talk to Midnight-san about it, and she decided that the horn didn’t count as long as it was made of paper!”

“But I knew you were going to be fighting a lot, and the horn could break. I asked Mom for some strong paper, instead, and she gave me some."

Looking closer, this wasn’t something from Earth. It was some of the material they used to write on in Arcadia, conducting mana better while still having similar properties to paper. 

The precious horn in her hands glowed violet around the edges, Akari’s reinforcement magic easily running through. Akari smoothed her hair down before gently placing her horn on the center of her head. It fit perfectly-like it was always meant to be there.

Eri beamed as she put it on. “Do you like it-”

Akari pulled her into a tight hug. 

“Yeah. I love it, Eri.”

Chapter Text

Akari walked back into the arena more determined than before, her horn on her head and a new skip in her step.

In the short time that the competitors had been away, the entire center of the arena had been transformed into a huge fake city complete with buildings of various sizes, just like the areas they used for hero training. It was a little stunning to think that they’d set this up so fast, actually. Cementoss should be paid double the rest of the staff's salary. 

“Let’s welcome our participants, everyone, now returning for the third round of the Sports Festival!” Mic’s voice boomed loud, echoing throughout the stadium and instantly drawing the audience’s attention once again. Akari and the rest of the remaining participants bunched up together on the field, looking up at the announcer’s box.

“Up next we have the...wait, you tell ‘em what they’re getting into next this time, Eraserhead!” 

“...No thanks.”

“C’mon, cmon!” 

“He isn’t going to stop until you give in, you know.” 

A long sigh. Wow, Aizawa-sensei really didn’t want to be here. 

“Fine. The third round will be a Rescue Race, held in an urban setting. Students will form into teams of four and start at different points around the city.”

“As the name implies, the goal of this challenge is for your team to rescue as many ‘hostages’ as possible.” The giant screen next to the announcer’s box displayed a training dummy, much like the ones used in hero class. “They will be hidden in various buildings, and by carrying the hostage out to safety your team can earn twenty points.” The screen changed into a scoreboard listing ten unnamed slots, all with a point count of zero.

“But don’t accidentally damage them, listeners, or you’ll be losing points instead!” Mic warned.

“Each student will carry a bracelet to list their team's points. You are free to fight other teams, and if you knock an enemy out, they are ‘out’ of this round and you’ll be granted five points. In addition, there will also be robots to attack teams and serve as obstacles. The four teams with the highest point count will pass to the next round.”

Oh, this was going to be chaotic.

“One last thing.” Vlad King added. “If you step more than twelve meters from the rest of your team at any point, you’ll automatically start to lose points. So stick together!” 

Todoroki and Bakugou were definitely not very happy about that last rule.

“You have ten minutes to make your teams, everyone, starting...now. Get to it, yeah!”

And the crowd of students immediately broke into a flurry of movement, jostling and pushing to join who they wanted. Bakugou was immediately covered in bodies, his loud cursing rising above the new noise. 

Everyone wanted to get a strong team, or maybe a tactical one, but with exactly forty people they had to choose fast or be stuck in a team with the people left over.

It was chaotic, loud, and Akari couldn’t see a thing. 

Akari’s horn glowed white around its edges, reinforcement magic anchoring it to her head as she moved faster and faster, accelerating to ridiculous speeds with just careful steps forward. Every student instantly froze in place, unmoving and quiet once again. 

Akari gave herself a moment to truly breathe-it felt so good to move unrestrained once again-before she looked for her team.

(She ignored the reasonable, logical part of her brain that pointed out that she could sense mana and didn’t need to approach the speed of sound just to find anyone. That wouldn’t be nearly as fun, after all.)

So far, this all lined up with what Momo knew about past Sport Festivals before the Drift. Granted, they had three events before, not four, but it was still had the same formula. 

First, there was a large, often chaotic round to cut down on participants, always followed by a team-based round. Then, they’d conclude with a 1 v 1 tournament to determine the top three winners. 

Momo was reasonably confident she could pass this round, and more than confident if got a good team...though, what about the fourth round?

How would Momo do well in the tournament? Her quirk was useful, but she really wasn’t sure she could beat most of her classmates. Momo might be the class president, but most of them were far more powerful. If she couldn’t beat Akari without the girl using any of her abilities, what chance would she have normally?

Momo shook her head, banishing the thought. She could worry about that later, right now she needed to focus on the challenge right ahead of her. First, to think of a team for this round-

“You have ten minutes to make your teams, everyone, starting...now. Get to it, yeah!”

Everyone was already getting together. She didn’t even have time to find anyone!

Momo was tall, tall enough to see over the heads of most of her fellow students. She got sight of Jirou near the edges of the crowd, as well as Akari’s unmistakable horn(which was starting to glow, for some reason)but she couldn’t get to them, trapped by the people around her-

A small shift.

“Ow, you stepped on my foot,” Jirou complained.

“Sorry!” Momo apologized on instinct.

Wait, what?

She blinked, seeing the same confusion in Jirou’s eyes. Abruptly Momo realized Tooru was there, too and that there were arms around the three of them; draped across their shoulders.

Akari drew back with a smile, a hand automatically rising to check her horn. It was still firmly in place, and the girl’s smile widened.

(Momo’s friend clearly loved the gift. But Momo really didn’t understand how Akari intended to do battle wearing it. Was she going to reinforce the horn and stabilize it on her head the entire time?)

“I got us out of the crowd,” Akari explained, drawing Momo’s attention again. “We can form an amazing team with the four of us now, and have the spare time to plan...unless one of you wanted a different group, then I’m kinda sorry for pulling you over-”

“Nah, I’m cool with this.” Jirou shrugged. “Just surprised. Forgot how ridiculously overpowered you were for a second.”

“Thanks. I’m not that overpowered, though.” 

“...Yeah, sure.”

“I’m totally in.” Tooru voiced, excited.

Momo nodded happily. “With the four of us, we have a near-perfect setup. Jirou can locate the ‘civillians’ easily using her Earphone Jack, and Tooru can scout them out before we rush in. I can make a lot of stuff to deal with robots, and Akari should be able to take out any enemies.”

“Are we going to go after other teams?” Akari asked, giving her the lead. 

“If we run into one, we’ll attack.” Momo decided. “We certainly have the combined strength for it. But a single hostage is worth more than an entire team, so we should focus on rescue over getting into battles.”

What was Momo going to need for this? What could she make without her books or tablets on hand?

Momo’s quirk hummed in her gut, a warm spark of imagination.

There was a thin line between confidence and arrogance. And for a minute, Monoma Neito had foolishly let himself forget the difference.

Neito was always the first; filling himself with confidence in his skills and his weak, thieving quirk. He tried his best, and couldn’t afford to underestimate any of his opponents. People like that blonde, Bakugou, were the second, born with overwhelming strength and no need to even learn anyone’s name. 

It was clear from the start of the year that 1-A was given more opportunities, attention, and focus than 1-B, something that only increased after 1-A fought off villains. It didn’t matter how arrogant the students in 1-A acted, Neito and his class would turn the tables on them. 

But on that hill, when he faced Midoriya with superior numbers, Neito had been the arrogant one. All he’d seen was a 1-A member outnumbered and with her ridiculously unfair quirk disabled and underestimated her-exactly like Neito himself was always underestimated-and as a result, she was able to beat the four of them with pure skill.

He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Neito stepped through the mass of students smoothly, tapping on a specific one’s shoulder. Instantly, the head full of purple hair whipped to him.

He felt the new quirk form inside of him and sit comfortably beside Copy. His throat and mind seemed to tingle the slightest bit.

“Hello.” Neito didn’t bother putting up his arrogant smirk, staring calmly at the boy in front of him. “Shinsou Hitoshi, was it?”

“Who are you?” Shinsou asked warily.

“Monoma Neito. My team needs one more member. You in?”

“Why should I join your team?”

Really? “I know what your quirk is.” That got him a small flinch, so well-hidden Neito would’ve missed it if he wasn’t paying attention. “I have a strategy that’ll definitely get us to the next round. And, well, as the only General Education student you aren’t exactly swimming in teammates.”

The careful, drawn-out pause gave Neito his answer.

“I’m listening.”

Neito had snatched up Rin and Kodai as fast as he could before heading over to convince Shinsou, and they watched curiously as Neito approached with a new face.

“This is Shinsou. Shinsou, meet Kodai and Rin.” Neito introduced. Shinsou glanced between the two hero students, calculating.

Rin stepped forward with a smile, his braided ponytail fluttering behind him. “It’s nice to meet you, Shinsou-san.”

“...Thanks.” 

Kodai simply nodded.

Neito took charge. “Now that we’re away from our opponents, I can explain. My quirk’s called Copy.” He paused here, instinctively waiting for a reaction before continuing. “It’s how I know about your quirk.”

“So, you instantly know what the quirk you’ve copied is?” 

“Not exactly.” Neito drummed his fingers against his temple. “But it changes my body, so I can...guess. And you did control those students back at the race.”

“Two people in one day,” Shinsou muttered under his breath. 

“Someone else figured you out?” 

“Yeah. Midoriya.” Shinsou stated flatly, and Neito tensed. Of course.

“What is your quirk, Shinsou-san?” Rin asked.

“Brainwashing. If someone responds to a question I ask, they are stunned and I can give them commands.” Shinsou’s fist clenched at his side, almost unconsciously, and Neito pushed aside the familiar spark of anger for the pride felt when neither Rin nor Kodai stepped away.

So that’s how this thing worked. Brainwashing was less of a switch, and more like a dam holding back a flood of energy. Neito probably needed to have the energy flowing up to his throat to use it, and then just... click when he received a response. 

Neito glanced up to see Shinsou now watching him curiously.

“What?” 

“I’m surprised that you didn’t copy it and immediately brainwash me.” 

“I don’t try out quirks without knowing what they do.” That would be very reckless, and very stupid.  “Also, yours feels like it would be harder to turn it off than turn it on.”

Shinsou winced. “...Yeah. I couldn’t keep Brainwashing off when I first got it. It just...kept activating.”

The people around him must’ve taken being brainwashed randomly even worse than having their quirk accidentally copied.

“You said you had a strategy, Monoma-san?” Kodai’s quiet voice brought them back on topic, and Neito nodded.

“I do. We don’t have any sensory quirks or ways to detect hostages, so we’ll focus on the robots. There’s a strong chance that they’ll be clumped around buildings with hostages inside of them, acting as guards.”

“Like a video game.” Rin chimed in.

“Like a video game.” Neito agreed. “We’ll move forward in a simple formation; you and Kodai in the front, me in the center, and Shinsou in the back. Our main offense is going to be Rin’s scales-they should take down robots pretty easily.”

“You want me to enlarge them,” Kodai stated.

“Yes. Can you?”

Kodai tilted her head, staring at Rin for a moment. “...I think so.”

“Then please do. We can deal with robots really easily if we have giant projectiles.”

“And you want Brainwashing for if we run into any human enemies,” Shinsou commented. 

“Correct. I’ll be in the center so I can copy quirks-offering up more scales or another voice to brainwash.” Neito finished. “Oh yeah, and we’re staying far, far away from Midoriya’s team.”

“Fair,” Shinsou said immediately.

Rin blinked. “Huh? Why?”

“Midoriya’s quirk lets her move faster than we can see, it’s a mutant type so I can’t copy it, she’s better at hand-to-hand combat than we are, and she knows about Shinsou’s quirk. Our only chance is if I can brainwash her...which isn’t very likely.”

“...Oh. Well, what if she comes after us, then?”

Neito just shrugged.

“And that’s the end of your team time, folks! All teams, please move over to your start spots...”

Momo found Jirou’s quirk fascinating. The purple-haired teen's jacks, currently plugged into the ground, let her precisely sense vibrations from far away and accurately guide the team through this maze of a city. Not to mention how she could emit her heartbeat itself as an attack.

They didn’t get any points for taking out robots, so Team Momo(Momo had objected to the name, saying that Jirou was the one guiding them and should therefore be named its leader. Momo was promptly outvoted.) had mostly been sneaking past them. Whenever they did get too close, Tooru and Akari shot at them with their light magic.

Or, well, Tooru shot at them. While the only thing Tooru could do with her magic was launch balls of light, Akari could pull out anything from a long whip to a giant sword to small, thin lasers. For a moment, Momo wondered if the girl was feeling slighted at the difference in magic, but Tooru just seemed to be super impressed. 

Of course, with Tooru fully invisible Momo couldn’t really be sure. But she sounded happy, and her voice was usually right next to Akari. 

Jirou stood up, jacks hovering above her shoulders. “The building up ahead has two hostages, and...a couple of robots.”

Momo stepped up to the doorway, seeing no robots outside, and let the chemical formula for metal run through her brain before pulling a sword and shield from her arms. The pink light and small tickle faded away instantly before the new weights were in her hands.

Momo burst in, shield held in front of her.

Unlike the entrance exam, the robots in this round were humanoid. They fired off red lasers out of their arms that slightly hurt, and didn’t have a very complex AI. 

A couple of shots hit her strong shield, little tip-taps that reminded her of rain falling against an umbrella. Momo pushed forward, swinging her sword and slicing clean through one robot before twisting to deal with three more with quick slashes. Tooru was there in the next instant, knocking robot heads off with what looked like simple blows(She didn’t even have any form of enhancement!) 

Akari and Jirou soon joined them, their side done, to climb up the stairs.

That’s when they found the two hostages in a large room, surrounded by almost two dozen robots. All of them instantly noticed their appearance and taking aim, and Momo rose her shield in front of her-

And then in front of her eyes every robot just...shattered, falling down to the floor in gray pieces. Akari was suddenly in the center of them, both hostages carefully slung over her shoulder.

Momo was abruptly reminded that no, the overpowered light thing wasn’t her friend’s only ability. She could also move at supersonic speeds without breaking a sweat.

“That’s all of them, right?” Akari asked lightly.

“Yeah!” Tooru cheered. “Great job, Akari. We’re at 100 points, now. I bet no one else has nearly as much!”

“You did well too, Tooru. Your kicks are really fluid, now.”

“Wait,” The slight tremble in her voice made Momo glance over. “How did you...can you see?”

Akari’s cheeks flushed red. “Wha-no. You aren’t visible right now, Tooru, and I can't see you. I can just tell where your mana is, and it looked like a kick, so...”

“Oh! Right, I forgot about that, sorry.” Tooru said sheepishly.

“No, I’m the one who should have explained that better-”

“You were perfectly clear, Akari-san! I just didn’t remember what you told me...”

“It’s fine, Tooru. Wait, why are you adding an honorific to my name, again?”

“Sorry! But it just slipped out, because you deserve it.”

“What?”

Jirou snickered, just low enough that the two couldn’t hear.

Momo caught her eye, curious. “What is it, Jirou?” 

“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.”

As it turned out, Rin’s scale armor did an amazing job blocking robot lasers. The black-haired boy was fast too, rushing and eliminating each bot with casual ease.

Neito really liked using Rin’s quirk, Scales. Once he got the hang of the quirk it was pretty simple, and while he wasn’t nearly as quick or well-aimed as Rin he could wield it decently enough. 

When possible, Neito handed over fallen pebbles and such to Kodai for her to use. The offensive potential of Kodai’s quirk was amazing, but they had to be careful with it-giant rocks and scales weren’t something to throw inside a building or near a hostage. 

(Unfortunately, he couldn’t enlarge his own scales after copying both quirks. A shame, really.)

They were up to forty points, now. Decent, but likely not the best.

If they hit a couple more buildings, they’d probably be set-

“Eh? It’s the fucking blonde bastard!” A familiar voice yelled, heavy footsteps pounding across the street.

Neito cursed, whirling around to see Bakugou Katsuki. Behind him were three of the people who sat with him at lunch(for some reason); Ashido, Kirishima, and...Seno? Nero? What was this guy’s name again?

Facing Bakugou was not a good idea there was a very low chance they could beat him, no matter how bad of a team player he was...then again, he did love to piss arrogant people off.

“Ah, if it isn’t Baka-gou and his...allies.” Neito drawled, placing a lofty hand on Shinsou’s shoulder. Shinsou stiffened then quickly relaxed at the touch as Neito leaned on him casually. “You’re picking a fight with us? Really? Are you that eager to lose, 1-A?”

Bakugou scowled. “What did you just fucking-” 

Gotcha.

A purple string lit up in front of Bakugou and Neito let the copied quirk activate, instantly grabbing hold of that connection. The boy completely froze, mouth still open and eyes glazing over.

Bakugou’s team turned to their leader, reacting to the sudden pause, and Neito acted.

If he told Bakugou to knock out his team it might’ve worked, but if the connection broke Neito was screwed. So he settled on the next best thing.

“Use your quirk to fly out of the arena!” Neito ordered.

Ashido’s eyes went wide before she was blown flying backward, Bakugou propelling himself into the sky in a mighty explosion and rapidly distancing himself from his team.

Team Bakugou would constantly lose points as long as one member was far enough away. And none of the 1-A members left could fly.

“Huh? Wait, Bakugou! Where are you going-hey!”

The blonde had already blasted away high above their heads, leaving nothing but a smoke trail behind.

Neito gripped the connection tight, feeling it loosen the farther Bakugou went. If he let go too early, they’d have to deal with a very, very angry opponent. 

He shot a smirk at their remaining three enemies. “Well, that was easy, wasn’t it?”

The redhead-Kirishima opened his mouth to respond, but Nero stopped him just in time. “He has some kind of mind control, Kirishima. Don’t say anything!”

“That’s rude, isn’t it?” Shinsou mused. “Treating him like that because of ‘his’ quirk?”

“Wait, no, we’re just-” Ashido blurted.

Shinsou caught her instantly, already speaking. “Use your-”

“Hey! That isn’t cool, man!” Kirishima slammed his hands against Ashido’s ears to cover them.

Neito almost laughed at the action-she’d probably still hear Shinsou’s order-but then Ashido suddenly blinked, her strange eyes refocusing and conscious.

The brainwashing must break from external impact, Neito realized. Fuck. 

Ashido shook her head from side to side as if she was throwing off the remaining traces of mind control before silently glaring at Shinsou. Then she was rushing towards him, white acid clumping up in her hands.

That wasn’t good. Neito stepped back, barely holding onto Bakugou’s mind at this point. “Rin!”

“On it!” Rin’s arms grew out ridges, the gleaming scales poking out of his light green skin like a reptile. A dozen fired out at high speeds towards the pink girl. 

Ashido didn’t break stride, flinging out her arms. The acid expanded out like a shield around her pink palms, disintegrating every shard coming at her.

Rin aimed low, sending a flurry of scales for her legs only for Ashido to leap over the attack in a flip, leg swinging down in an axe kick for Shinsou's head.

Shinsou sidestepped the blow smoothly before being forced to duck away from her still acid-shielded hands. “Woah, going for me straight off. Am I that much of a-” Something small lashed out against his face, covering his mouth. “-mrmph, mmmrph!” 

Was that...tape? 

Nero grinned, weird elbows pointed at Shinsou like guns. “Nope, no more mind control for you-wait a minute. How do they have the same quirk?”

Shinsou dodged a flurry of pink kicks, eyes narrowed in frustration as Ashido easily kept pace with him. 

“We’re twins, actually. Can’t you see it?” Neito bullshitted. Nero grit his teeth(so close to responding, damn it) before shooting out more tape from his elbows. Neito let go of Bakugou’s mind to dodge the quick strips, not willing to risk getting stuck. For all he knew that guy could shoot duck tape or something.

With their focus on them, 1-A seemed to have completely forgotten about Kodai. A big mistake. Neito watched her throw a small pebble, nearly invisible in the chaos-

And suddenly, there was a giant boulder outlined in purple in front of Ashido’s face. Her eyes went wide at the threat, flowing a huge amount of acid in front of her to destroy it. 

Kodai launched another, faster this time, and Kirishima leaped to intercept it. His entire upper body was hardened like rock, shattering the boulder with ease, but the next one nearly bowled him over from its impact.

Ashido and Kirishima slowly backed away near Rero, defending against the barrage of boulders. This gave Neito’s team the chance to regroup, and he eagerly copied Rin’s quirk, letting the scales flow across his skin once again.

Kodai let go of her projectiles to run her fingers across both of their arms, establishing a connection to her quirk, and together Neito and Rin took aim. Meanwhile, Team Bakugou moved into a defensive position, ready to tank a powerful attack.

"Take this, Nero!" Neito yelled.

"My name's Sero-"

Bakugou Katsuki woke up with a splitting headache, dust prickling at his nose. He pushed himself off the hard floor with a grunt, noticing the field of glass shards around him and the new cuts along his body.

He glanced up to see the window completely gone, likely from his...entrance. When did he fucking crash into a building? Did he have a concussion or something? 

No, it was that Blonde Bitch. It had to be. The last thing Katsuki remembered was a command to fuck off-some kind of mind control? Where’d the copy bastard get a quirk like that? Damn it.

Either way, Katsuki was now completely separated from those three idiots. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been out, but the vampire said that if he didn’t stick with his team they’d lose points-what a shitty rule-so they probably had zero points right now. 

He needed to find them before they all got themselves knocked out. 

Katsuki brushed glass of his ruined gym uniform and nodded to himself, his course of action now decided. Then he focused his mana into his feet, blasting off in a burst of flame.

The good news was that Katsuki found them within a minute. The bad news was that all three of them were fucking unconscious. 

Useless idiots. Katsuki would much rather work alone, sure, but this was just pathetic.

They didn’t seem very hurt, otherwise, though Raccoon Eyes seemed to have gained a number of bruises across her arms.

The street and surrounding buildings were ruined, huge scars carved randomly throughout the area. Katsuki bent low, looking closer to see large chips all over the place. They were sharp to the touch and looked a lot like Shitty Hair’s teeth.

A powerful offensive quirk; most likely a 1-B student’s and doubled in effectiveness with the copy bastard’s help. But Shitty Hair and Raccoon Eyes’s quirks should have countered something like that completely. Not to mention they had Flat Face with them. He, at least, had a few brain cells. 

Those crafty extras must have something else up their sleeves. 

Katsuki stood up with a scoff, palms crackling at his sides. It wouldn’t matter. He was going to blast ‘em all to hell either way.

Starting with that copy bastard.

Chapter Text

As a rule, only support students could bring gear into the Sports Festival, meaning that no one had their costumes. It was a fair but annoying condition.

Akari and Tooru weren’t affected but Jirou didn’t have her speakers-drastically reducing her firepower-and Momo found herself dearly missing her tablet of formulas. She couldn’t create anything big without enough skin exposure, either.

A small device gradually formed out of Momo's arm. She handed the new speaker over to Jirou, watching as the girl attached it to her uniform sleeve with a smile. 

“Thanks, Momo.”

“No problem, Jirou.”

At least she could work on one of those issues. 

“Mrmph.”

“I know, I said I’d take it off later.”

“Mrmph, mrmph!”

Neito rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.” 

He stopped running to grab onto Shinsou’s cheeks and find the tape blocking his mouth, gripping it between his fingers. Then Neito yanked without warning, ripping the white strip clear off his face.

“Ow- shit. ” Shinsou hissed. “That fucking hurt, you know.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gotten taped in the first place.” Neito pointed out reasonably.

The purple-haired boy glared at him as if that was somehow Neito’s fault.

“Whatever. So, what now, Great Leader Monoma?” 

Neito smiled, ignoring the sarcasm. “I’m so glad you asked. So first, we’re going to keep running this way. The fight probably drew some attention and any 1-A team could happen upon us at the moment. And also, I really don’t want to be here when Bakugou gets back-”

“But why are we running away from Bakugou, though?” Rin interjected. “I mean, we took out the man’s entire team. It’ll just be a 1 v 4, and with Shinsou’s absolutely unfair quirk we could end things instantly.”

Kodai nodded. “We certainly have the advantage.”

Neito frowned. "No, we don’t. Loathe as I am to admit it, Bakugou is too powerful. He knows about Copy, too, so I doubt we can brainwash him.”

“We still have Scales and Size, don’t we?” Shinsou shot back. “Throwing giant projectiles at our enemies has clearly worked for us so far.”

“Well, yeah. But do you have a backup plan if it doesn’t-”

Shinsou cut him off with a scoff. “Why’re you suddenly so scared now, Great Leader Monoma? It’s just an arrogant 1-A prick. And if you’re so worried about his heroic quirk, just copy it and it’ll be even easier to take down Bakugou-”

“Eh? Say that to my face, you purple-haired bitch!”

They were out of time.

Neito looked up in time to see a huge mass of grey twisting inward on itself, like a spinning tornado of death bearing down on them. Smoke and fire traced its edges, hints of ashen blonde hair hidden in its center, and the sharp cracks of explosions finally reached Neito’s ears. 

Was that a fucking super move?

“Howitzer...”

Pause.

A white-haired man leaned forward in his seat as the scene slowed to a halt, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“...Can they survive that? I'm honestly not sure.” 

Aurora tapped a finger against her chin in thought, unaffected by the sudden change in speed. “Not sure. Have you seen him use that move before?”

“Yeah, he used it on one of my clones once,” Izuku said. “Wrecked most of a building.”

“Hmm. This doesn’t look like a direct hit, though. And they're somewhat far away from where he’s going to land, plus they’ve already braced themselves for the explosion...”

“But what about their human ears? They probably can’t handle a huge detonation so close to them.”

“That’s a good point. Then move...Team Monoma just far enough away so that you prevent any major injuries of that sort. You don’t have to weaken the explosion-we still have Sekhmet and Recovery Girl on-site if anything does happen."

"That works."

The mentioned blonde didn’t even look up from her phone and it’s currently frozen screen. “ Great, we’re decided. Can I go back to my Tetris, now?”

Izuku leaned over and Sekhmet tilted the device so he could see. “Whoa. How’d you get this many lines cleared so fast-”

Aurora coughed pointedly into her hand, and Izuku hurriedly stood.

“-right, right, priorities.”

“...IMPACT!”

The world exploded.

There was no time to help his team. All Neito could do was close his eyes and raise his arms in front of him before the massive attack threw him flying backward, the heat stabbing at his hands and face like thorns.

He hit the ground hard and tumbled against the concrete for a couple of meters until he came to a stop, flat on his back with bright orange and yellow colors pressing against his eyelids. Fuck, that hurt.

Maybe he could just lay here for a couple of minutes or something. A nice, short break-

“Copy bastard!” A loud, irritating voice yelled.

Or not. Neito held back a sigh.

He ignored the protests of his body as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself roughly to his feet.

He took in the now-ruined road as the smoke finally cleared, a glaring blonde at its center. Loud footfalls further emphasized the approach of his incredibly dramatic opponent, and Neito steeled himself for the coming fight.

“You survived that, shitty extra?” Bakugou scoffed. “I’ll fix that.”

Neito smirked confidently. “Will you now, Baka-gou? Because from where I’m standing, you’re much more of a danger to this poor city than to me. You even had the element of surprise there, and wasted it to...shout out your move? What are you, a child?”

Unexpectedly, Bakugou didn’t explode-figuratively, or literally. The blonde’s face instead twisted into a cold sneer as he took slow steps forward, controlled rage seeping out of every motion. He was barefoot, Neito noticed.

Red eyes casually flicked to the sky. “If I was talking to someone who thought that I’d lose my cool at some weak, playground-level insults and then forget about a literal mind control quirk, I’d first call them a real fucking dumbass.”

Neito’s mask almost faltered when no mental connection formed.

Damn it. He subtly pulled on a different quirk.

“At least you’re smart enough to not fall for the same trick twice. But I don’t think I even need it! I mean, you couldn’t even protect any of your teammates-”

“Second, I’d remind them that for someone who can fucking fly, a team is just a deadweight. And then third; I’d wonder why I even bothered responding to a shitty extra in the first place!” 

Neito aimed his arms before the blonde even finished talking, fully formed scales launching towards his target. Bakugou ducked low into a runner’s position, the small blades sailing harmlessly past his head as a terrifying grin stretched across his face. 

Twin cracks propelled Bakugou forward at high speeds and Neito fired off a second barrage-only for Bakugou to blast himself to the right and dodge with a well-timed barrel roll.

Bakugou broke out of the movement to land smoothly and sweep his hand low in a small explosion, launching a speeding piece of rubble that just missed Neito’s face.

Bakugou launched another projectile and Neito crossed his green arms to block it, letting the attack break harmlessly against his reptile-like armor. “Really, you’re just gonna stand over there and throw rocks all day? Are you scared or something, Baka-gou?”

The blonde wordlessly chucked an entire boulder at him in response. Rude.

Luckily, Neito didn’t just have Rin and Shinsou’s quirks. Neito drew a pebble from his pocket and lobbed it up, watching it fall down on his enemy in a slow curve. 

Neito fired off all of his current scales and then clapped his hands together.

Size activated with a nice tingle in his fingers. The small pebble was suddenly ten times bigger than before, and a second away from slamming down on Bakugou while Neito’s other quirk raced toward him at the same time.

If Bakugou used his explosive quirk on the boulder above he’d be vulnerable to the approaching scales, and if he ignored it to dodge the scales again he’d be crushed. A makeshift trap pulled off with great timing and easily tripped by the arrogant 1-A-

Bakugou’s foot lit up a bright orange as he swung it up in a straight arc, burning away the first few blades in front of him and slicing clean through the rock. The high kick ended at head height, a beautiful trail of flame lingering in its path even as the halves of the boulder fell at his sides.

Neito’s smirk twisted into something more bitter. 

“Of course, you have fucking magic, too.”

Bakugou leaned into the motion, falling back on his hands and using an explosion to push himself high into the air. He rotated in mid-air, feet blasting out fire like a jet and launching himself like a terrifying missile.

Neito raised his guard just in time. Rin’s quirk barely held against the point-blank explosion, Neito’s arms crying out at the impact and his nose stuffing full of smoke.

Bakugou flipped forward and Neito leaped back on instinct, heat prickling his face as the fiery axe kick slammed down onto the ruined road. Neito ducked under a scorching fist, darting out to land a touch, and Bakugou flinched out of reach.

“Afraid of me copying your quirk, eh?” Neito taunted. “Why, are you worried I’ll use it better?”

Bakugou scowled harshly but kept his mouth shut, choosing to show what he thought of that with some even bigger explosions. At this point, trying to get a response was far more trouble than it was worth.

Then something- someone dropped from the sky, landing perfectly on Bakugou’s shoulders and nearly knocking him down under their weight. Bakugou twisted to explode the new attacker only for the figure to jump away and land smoothly next to Neito, straightening up to an impressive height.

“Have you finally gone mad, Bakugou? That didn’t even come close.” Shinsou snarked, prompting an angry hiss.

Fucking finally.

“What took you so long, Shinsou?” Neito grumbled, trying to hide his sheer relief. “I’ve been holding this asshole off like a year.”

Shinsou glanced over, obviously taking in the new holes burnt into Neito’s blue gym uniform. “I can tell. Kodai and Rin got knocked out by that blast-it’s just me. ”

“Shit.” Neito cursed. If only they’d all run when he said to. “You all should really listen to me more.”

Shinsou let out a long sigh in response.

So it was just the two of them against Bakugou Katsuki. Not ideal. The blonde didn’t even seem to be tired from using that massive explosion earlier.

Neito still had Scales, Size, and Brainwashing for a while-though that last one wasn’t helpful anymore. He needed to copy that arrogant bastard’s quirk, or their chances weren’t good.

Bakugou hadn’t moved an inch, glaring at the two of them intensely. The fact that he wasn’t making the first move in his usual rash, aggressive manner anymore was quite unsettling. 

“He has enough self-control to not respond, so don’t bother with any taunts,” Neito warned.

“That’s annoying.”

“Avoid the explosions coming out of his palms-”

“Well, obviously-”

“-and all the fire coming out of legs.”

“-the what? We’re fucked.”

Neito lowered his voice to a practiced whisper. “I do have one idea, actually.”

Shinsou immediately approved with a mirrored grin across his face. 

Why was this guy in General Education, again? He was far more useful than most of 1-A from what Neito had seen.

Neito’s scales finally finished reforming along his arms. Not wasting any more time, he sprinted out for Bakugou’s left. Shinsou started moving after a beat to flank the blonde’s other side.

“Done with your little strategy break, shitty extras?” Bakugou mocked. “Hope it helps.”

“Yep. But what about you? Where’s your strategy bre-oh, right, you lost your team already.” Shinsou said casually.

It truly was hilarious that Bakugou couldn’t afford to say anything back to them. On the other hand, the blonde had now completely mastered his death glare.

As soon as the fight restarted Bakugou threw a giant explosion at Neito, forcing him back-and designating Neito as the more dangerous target. Whether that was because of Copy or because Shinsou was essentially fighting quirkless, he didn’t know. 

Either way, it gave the purple-haired boy chances to get in close. Bakugou definitely wasn’t expecting the hook that whipped his head to the side, and it was probably the most satisfying thing Neito had seen this year.

Shinsou jumped with a yelp, his clothes nearly catching on fire from Bakugou’s retaliation. Neito dove in, shooting scales at his back and scoring a few cuts on the blonde’s limbs before moving to support Shinsou with hand-to-hand.

Bakugou was blessed with a powerful, offensive, heroic quirk, and later on with fire magic. But he still put in the training, more than almost anyone, meaning that beyond all that power he was extremely skilled, too.

He incorporated both his explosions and fire into his fighting style, fluidly throwing explosive palms and flaming kicks to force the two of them back. His reflexes were pro-level, making the fight a struggle even when they attacked him from two different sides.

But Bakugou had to put most of his focus into making sure Neito couldn’t copy his quirk, and that was something they could capitalize on.

Bakugou kicked out, a whip of fire tracing out a couple of meters and grazing Shinsou’s face. Sparks filled out Bakugou’s raised palm to follow up; his cue for another big explosion. Neito acted quickly, launching white shards directly at his hands to force him to waste it.

Bakugou looked like he wanted to blast Neito for that, but Shinsou forced his attention back on him with a series of kicks; carefully aimed to avoid being blown up. Shinsou had no real counter for Bakugou’s magic, so Neito made sure to tank those hits with his scaled arms whenever he could. 

Finally, they got Shinsou right in front of Bakugou’s face. He ducked under a palm-sized blast and threw all of Neito's remaining pebbles at point-blank range.

Neito activated Size again, wincing under the strain of his quirks that was starting to kick in. It was definitely worth it, though, to see Bakugou’s clear alarm at the massive amount of debris flying at him. 

Even when he was expecting it, the huge explosion nearly knocked him off his feet as grey darkness covered the area. Neito gritted his teeth and bore through it, pushing through the smoke to where he remembered Shinsou was while ignoring his stinging nose and eyes. Shinsou must be doing the same.

With their positions now switched, Neito heard a kick connect from the other side, as well as Bakugou’s growl at who he thought was Neito. 

Bakugou always attacked Neito carefully because he had Copy, and left openings for Shinsou. However, now that they’d switched positions the blonde was putting all of his focus...on the wrong person.

Neito punched and hit something, instantly activating Copy and feeling the new quirk change his body, settling around his palms. At last.

“I got it!” Neito yelled victoriously.

“Fuck yeah!” Shinsou shouted back.

“Damn it!” Bakugou screamed, dispersing the smoke in a burst of power to reveal both him and Shinsou-one looking absolutely terrifying, the latter almost gleeful.

The user’s sweat was explosive-however the fuck that worked-and they lit up that sweat to make explosions. The shape of the hand had a noticeable effect on the explosion's shape. So Neito should curve it with his palm like a small ball...maybe this big? And then this should be the ignition-

Bakugou flinched back as a small explosion lit up the space in front of Neito.

There we go.

Shinsou grinned darkly. “Cool. Ready for a taste of your medicine, Bakugou?”

Neito agreed, this was very cool. Unfortunately, his wrist now fucking hurt. That wasn’t even that big-how much had Bakugou trained this shit?

Bakugou scoffed dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. The copy bastard probably can’t even use my quirk well, anyway.”

Bakugou leaped forward, spark in his palm, and Neito met him with one of his own.

Their hands met in a huge explosion, the knockback a super painful jolt of Neito’s arm as it nearly got dislocated.

Bakugou grimaced but didn’t falter as he twisted into a powerful kick, fire tracing the movement. 

Neito pushed Rin’s quirk as hard as he could, putting his effort into creating the green skin around his arms. He made himself step towards the kick, raising his left arm like a shield. 

Untrained, pitiful scales just weren’t durable enough to block Bakugou Katsuki’s fire magic, the arm getting pushed in from the impact and hurting like hell. Yet it was able to block that attack and get Neito in close.

Neito couldn’t create any powerful explosions because of his lack of experience with the quirk. His arm simply couldn’t handle the massive recoil that came with it, the force rebounding back painfully on his wrist.

But what if he had a durability quirk active?

Neito thrust his scale-covered arm forward with the biggest explosion he could make.

Bakugou jumped back, but he was just too close to dodge. The heat washed over Neito’s body as the blast threw him backward in a wave of concussive force. The blonde’s unwilling flight was cut short a full second later when he slammed into a building and fell down to the ground, defeated.

Neito himself slumped to his knees completely spent, his copied quirks leaving his body and his green skin turning back to its normal color. 

His right arm looked(and felt) badly bruised, and he couldn’t move his body anymore. Well, at least he’d gotten that 1-A bastard-

And then, to incredulous blue eyes, his ‘defeated’ opponent shifted, slowly pushing himself to his feet with herculean effort. Bakugou swayed unsteadily, his blue uniform missing a huge portion of its side. But he didn’t lose his footing as he stumbled towards Neito, eyes blazing. 

How the fuck was that guy standing? Was he even human?

“Die!” Bakugou breathed harshly, raising his arm in a clear threat. There was nothing Neito could do as the enemy’s palm started to spark.

And then suddenly the blonde collapsed face-first into the ground, unconscious. 

Neito blinked slowly, taking in the sneaky purple-haired boy behind his opponent. Shinsou looked even more tired than Neito felt, barely standing upright with his usual eyebags now noticeable trenches. But his face was stretched into a grin as he stood over Bakugou’s fallen form.

“Don’t underestimate teamwork, bitch!”

Incredible.

Neito coughed out a laugh. “I didn’t think you were that much of a team player, Shinsou-san.”

“I definitely wasn’t, yeah.” Shinsou admitted as he offered Neito his hand, pulling him up. 

“But I think I’ve changed my mind.”

Momo couldn’t help but respect their ambush, despite being its target.

Her team’s latest batch of hostages was at the top of a tall building that was splashed with the same dull grey as the rest of the fake city.

Jirou sensed the three dummies at the top floor; easy sixty points if they got there first. They used the same formula as their past few rescues, sniping any external guards before efficiently clearing the building from the ground up. The robots were barely worth mentioning, anymore, and Momo wasn’t sure if that was due to their weakness or her own team’s prowess. 

It wasn’t until they effortlessly cleared the final room and got ready to carry the hostages out that the trap was sprung.

Vines suddenly burst through the windows, thick green masses darting towards them from every side. Momo raised her shield to protect herself and Tooru, digging her heels in to resist the thorny wave.

What could Momo make to counter that ability, she wondered.

The problem was dealt with in the next instant, beautiful white swords appearing out of nowhere and carving away the vines. Akari straightened up, now alert, all three dummies still slung over her shoulder.

There were now eight students surrounding Team Momo, making the previously huge room feel a little cramped. Momo couldn’t help but notice that all of them were from 1-B.

“I didn’t think that two teams would merge like that.” Akari mused. “That’s interesting.”

“There isn’t anything in the rules saying that we can’t!” A grinning boy-Tsuburaba claimed. 

That was certainly true, and Momo could easily see the merits of searching for hostages in such a large group. And more forces were almost always helpful to a battle.

“And so with your superior numbers, you ambushed us at a critical point,” Momo stated. “That’s clever of you.”

Kendo nodded. “Thanks. It’s a little unfair, but we need every advantage against Midoriya’s speed, you see.” 

Class 1-B’s representative pointed an enlarged finger at them. “We’ll be coming at you with all we have. 1-B, attack!”

At once, a large figure leaped out from behind, his top half covered in brown fur. Momo didn’t even realize that the creature was Shishida for a moment, stunned at his sheer size.

Shishida went straight for Akari, raising his fists as he fell and slamming them down on his target-

Only for his attack to be completely stopped, blow held back by a single hand. His large form still hovered over her far smaller one, all of his weight now supported with ease.

Clearly, they hadn’t realized the full extent of Akari’s quirk.

“Hello again, Shishida-san.” Akari said, amused. “You’ve got a pretty cool-looking ability.”

“How are you-”

Akari cut him off with a punch to his chest, knocking him clean through the opposite wall. 

His teammates just stared for a second, stunned, and Jirou took the chance to blast her heartbeat at them through Momo’s speakers. The vibrations affected the smaller Komori and Pony the most, making them crouch down and cover their ears. 

But then the vibrations were blocked by an invisible forcefield. It was incredibly wide, stretching across the room like a divider and separating the two opposing groups.

Tsuburaba stood with a smirk, protective air wall now in place. “What a loud quirk, not bad. But it’s nothing to my impenetrable defensive quirk-”

A simple horizontal cut sliced through the entire barrier, shattering it into nothing in an instant.

“You talk too much,” Akari commented, raising her sword. Three bolts of light raced forward, crashing against a hastily made air shield. 

While her friend was busy with that, Momo needed to take the initiative.

She rushed forward, sword and shield held tight in her hands as she ignored the voice in her mind telling her to hang back, to not rush a number of enemies by herself. 

Momo had this.

A barrage of curved horns flew at her and she ducked under her shield, trusting her creation. She smiled at the thought of horns and little Eri as she advanced further, turning to slash away the horns flying around to her back.

A flash of metal made her hit the ground in a roll, blades passing harmlessly over her hair. 

Kamikiri lunged at her again. Momo parried his blades with her sword once, twice, feeling it chip from just the exchange of blows. He surprised her with a kick, a blade appearing out of his foot. She dodged low in response, sweeping out her leg and pulling the same trick-a taser forming out of her foot and jabbing his knee.

Electricity sparked, knocking him back with a jolt. He recovered easily, forming even more blades and moving to rush once more.

A light sphere appeared behind him and came down hard on his head, slamming his face into the floor.

“I got this one, Momo!” Tooru said cheerfully.

“Where the fuck-” Kamikiri was cut off by another blow, this one actually digging the 1-B student’s cheek-blades into ground.

“Thanks, Tooru.” Momo shot a bright smile over her shoulder and kept moving.

Jirou kept Pony busy, cutting off her Horn Cannon and keeping Komori in check. Tsuburaba looked terrified, his walls barely holding off Akari as she fought off a mass of flying body parts- Setsuna-at the same time. 

The only two left to handle were Shiozaki and Kendo, the latter off near Akari.

Momo threw her shield like a disk with a flick of her arm, watching it smash harmlessly against a web of green.

Shiozaki frowned, pressing her hands together. Her beautiful hair curled up behind her, tendrils of thorns intertwining together before lunging at Momo.

Her vines were quick, nearly racing past Momo’s blade in an instant. Momo dodged by inches and they followed, tracing her movements like a sentient forest. 

She’d need more than her sword for that, but luckily she’d already thought of a countermeasure for this quirk. 1-A’s president hurriedly finished her formulas, refocusing her mind under the pressure.

Ten seconds later Momo lifted up her shirt a little to complete her flamethrower, pink sparks lingering with the movement. The heavy weight rested on one arm, newly created fuel held close.

Shiozaki’s eyes went wide. “Hold on, wait-”

Momo pulled the trigger without hesitation and a jet of orange flame burned away the approaching vines. Two more large ones attacked from her sides only for Momo to slice them away, wielding her flamethrower and sword in focused tandem.

This was a terrible matchup for the 1-B student, and both of them knew it.

“Crucifixion!” Shiozaki called out, a distinct hint of alarm in her voice. Vines rose up from the floor and wrapped around Momo like a ball, tightly closing her in. Thorns brushed against her arms and neck, thankfully not sharp enough to break the skin. 

Momo aimed her flamethrower straight up at the shrinking opening and carved a straight path out. She kicked off the ruined trap, ignoring the sting of smoke as she watched the fire spread quickly through the vines and back to her Shiozaki.

Momo felt horrible burning her fellow student’s hair like this(Shiozaki must put so much effort into taking care of all of it!) but she also knew that it’d be far more insulting to hold back against her. 

So she didn’t give her opponent any time to panic, immediately lunging in for a slash that took off the majority of Shiozaki’s hair. It fell to the ground in a mass of green, now still and unmoving.

“Sorry, Shiozaki-san.” Momo apologized, guilty.

Shiozaki sighed sadly, one hand cradling the new stumps and uneven ends. “It’s of no matter, Yaoyorozu-san. Your quick thinking in countering my gift was admirable.”

Momo nodded her thanks, and with that brief exchange of words, their fight resumed.

From what little Momo knew about Shiozaki’s ability, her powerful vines needed a long duration of time to regrow. With her quirk currently neutralized, now was the optimal time to win.

The flamethrower was a useful blunt weapon, though lugging it around was gradually wearing on Momo’s stamina. Either way, Shiozaki was clearly not as skilled with hand-to-hand combat as she was with her vines, her slow and unpracticed defense rapidly crumbling.

Momo swept out Shiozaki’s legs from under her, letting the girl fall on her back and moving to knock her out. If she eliminated Shiozaki, who had one of the most powerful quirks here, it’d be a great step to vict-

Something heavy slammed into Momo’s entire right side with the force of a train, flinging her clean off the ground and into the air. 

On instinct Momo tucked her head in, hitting the ground in a harsh roll to absorb the impact. She lost her grip on her sword, hearing it land far beyond her reach with the clatter of steel.

How could she forget about her fellow class representative?

Kendo casually raised both her huge fists, each one bigger than her entire body. “You okay, Ibara? Looks like I got here just in time.”

The green-haired girl let out an exhausted breath. “You did. Thank you, Kendo-san.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. And I told you to call me Itsuka or Nee-chan, right?”

Momo watched, mystified, as Shiozaki’s face went bright red. Combined with her green hair, she now gave Momo the impression of a glowing Christmas tree. “That’s way too informal, Kendo-san!”

Kendo laughed lightly before she turned her attention to Momo. “Sorry for making you wait, Yaoyorozu-san.”

Momo didn’t respond immediately, gripping her flamethrower tight with both hands. 

“You ruined my swordfight, Kendo-san.” Momo frowned. “And tackled me down that hill.” 

Tumbling down that grassy hill in a tangle of limbs hadn’t been very fun.

Kendo winced. “I mean, yeah. It wasn’t really my fault thou-”

A stream of fire drowned out the rest of her sentence. Kendo’s palm instantly rose up to block, skin unfazed by the flames.

Momo aimed at her unprotected legs instead and Kendo gracefully flipped over the blast, her fist crashing down like a hammer-just missing Momo’s face-to smash through the floor. The martial artist yanked her hand back out easily before rushing forward, an excited grin on her face.

It was incredibly hard to keep her distance when her opponent had such a long reach. 

Kendo’s first swing tore the flamethrower clean out of Momo’s hands, shattering it against the opposite wall. Kendo was faster than she thought, lunging far despite the increased weight of her hands. Momo needed to adjust.

Kendo’s second swing passed just over Momo’s head, sweeping her hair back with a light breeze. Still too close to comfort-a single direct blow from those hands would most likely knock her unconscious.

“You’re quite slippery, Yaoyorozu-san!” Kendo said.

“And you’re quite fast, Ken-” 

A sudden kick caught Momo in the side and nearly bowled her over before she regained her footing, ducking out of range of another kick. 

Kendo’s third swing slammed against a long steel shield, precisely shaped to take powerful impacts. It still barely held against Kendo’s fist, denting under the blow.

Kendo wound back her arm to follow-up and Momo finally countered, pushing her shield in with all of her might. The sudden weight briefly unbalanced her opponent and Momo immediately took her chance, stabbing her newly made taser into Kendo’s arm.

Electricity lit up at the point of contact as a low-power shock ran through the other student, locking up her muscles. But Kendo didn’t even flinch, stunned yet standing for a crucial moment.

It took a full two seconds(practically an eternity to Momo’s racing heartbeat) to finish creating a tightly wound ball and throw it on the martial artist. Kendo seemed to be just regaining her senses when the ball unfolded into a large, blue net, the heavy fibers catching and trapping her fast against the floor.  

Momo let out a relieved breath. That actually worked!

Kendo blinked up at her, bemused, as the net actually held down her large hands. “Whoa. Didn’t expect that. What’s this thing even made of?”

“I can recreate nearly any metal I have the formula of,” Momo claimed proudly. “And I’ve found many interesting samples during my Drift.” 

“Mm, that’s pretty cool. I underestimated you, Yaoyorozu-san. There's no use holding back anymore."

Momo leaped back as soon as the words registered, Kendo bursting up to her feet a moment later. She flung the net aside easily. 

Her huge hands now glowed red, the signature color of-

“Enhancement magic,” Momo stated, awed. 

Kendo grinned. “Yep. An amazing thing for any martial artist, really.”

Momo lowered her center of gravity and created one more item; a short, durable baton. If there was any time in the round to start using her own magic, it was now. 

Her mana flowed steadily into her baton and dented shield, outlining their edges in pink before slowly wrapping around the rest. 

Being able to reinforce the objects she made was nothing less than a gift.

Momo charged forward.

This time Kendo threw punches instead of slaps, and Momo quickly felt the difference. She raised her shield as she got in range and took a powerful hit-her creation and magic holding, to her pride-and felt the impact throughout her entire body.

She jabbed back with her baton and Kendo smoothly dodged, launching an enhanced kick in the same movement. It deflected off the shield and Momo countered, striking her opponent’s arm.

And so back and forth they went, blow by blow as Momo’s reinforced creations clashed against Kendo’s enhanced limbs.

Her baton flashed in front of her, tracing pink lines through the air as it twisted and stabbed. Kendo weaved through them gracefully, all the while pounding against Momo’s poor shield. Some of Momo’s strikes were landing, and to noticeable effect, but it just wasn’t enough to turn the tides.

Momo was at a distinct disadvantage. She could only afford to combat those heavy punches with her mana-infused weapons, yet Kendo could attack freely with any part of her body. 

More importantly, Kendo’s greater experience was obvious. The martial artist was only getting faster as Momo started to slow, her lower stamina rapidly reaching its limit. Her arms ached with every movement, the grip on her baton and shield persisting through willpower alone.

Momo was going to lose this fight. She knew this deep within her bones, her racing mind now devoid of any plans.

But despite that, there was none of the shame, the disappointment in herself that always came when Momo failed at a task she cared about. There wasn’t that sinking feeling in her stomach at losing another spar-always such an odd sensation with a quirk like hers.

Momo knew that she had done the best that she could, and that simple thought left her feeling far lighter, a smile growing on her face.

The circuits of mana throughout Momo’s body finally ran dry, and the pink slowly faded from Momo’s shield and baton with it.

What was a god?

Akari’s childhood told her they were the beings around her. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, and all kinds of colors and mana types flowing through their bodies. They could range in ability from being as powerful as her Aunt Sekhmet to barely knowing how to work their mana at all.

They were alive, with dreams and motivations and different lifestyles. 

It was hard to tell someone’s age at first glance. Babies were obvious, of course, as well as those in that 50-200 range. After that, though, everyone stayed in their prime for a very, very long time. It was rare to find someone who had lived long enough to be considered ‘old’. (The tales they could tell were wonderful.)

Akari’s stories, the books she had from her Dad’s ridiculous collection on Earth, told it completely differently. Gods were omnipotent, omniscient. They could see everything happening on Earth, sometimes even what would happen, then appear in a dramatic instant to offer a human advice, power...or other things. They could change reality through just their will.

Gods in her myths were immortal; never aging, never dying. They had concepts, domains of imagination attached to them instead of a life.

And then there was her dad who-as everyone knew-was born a human. He still was a human, depending on who you asked.

But Dad had two arms, two legs, and two eyes. He had beautiful, violet mana that could fill the space around him, strengthening the things, the people around him by just existing. He was one of the strongest beings in Heaven.

He was already over 1000 years old and still in his prime(and growing every day, thanks to a ridiculous amount of training).

And now Akari knew humans, beings that usually had two arms, two legs, or two eyes. Only a few of them were granted mana in their drifts, and their lifespans were short -a mere 100 years. 

So Akari considered herself, her cat Kuro, Dad, Mom, and everyone else she knew in Heaven to be gods. Humans were humans-not inferior or lesser to gods, but far weaker beings. 

Akari and her parents passed for ‘powerful humans’ on a populated Earth. And there hadn’t been much of a difference from what she knew in Arcadia, talking and living with a class full of humans. They were all interesting, bright, and some were already becoming special to her.

But this Sports Festival, a huge competition among the U.A students, was proving that there was a clear distinction.

The first round was a joke. Akari ran a little and had some fun messing with her classmates.

The second was meant to be fairer. But Akari had decades and decades of experience in hand-to-combat, in swinging her sword to its full potential. Fighting a large number of enemies at once was relatively new, but it didn’t matter when practically none of them knew what they were doing.

The third was ridiculously boring. Her friends were trying their hardest to clear robots and rescue hostages while Akari was nearly zoning out. Inanimate, slow robots were super lame to fight, and the rest of this ‘challenge’ was just picking up dummies and placing them outside of buildings.

Then they got ambushed by two teams working together.

Team Momo(Momo argued against the name because she was a humble queen, but the rest of them refused to change it) split off, each of them taking on different 1-B students.

Shishida went after Akari first, probably for wrecking his team last round. She’d been super excited for a proper fight, especially with such a strong-looking ability, and hit him a little too hard.

Shishida was now laying in an unconscious heap on the other side of the room. Damn it.

Tsuburaba was more annoying, though his air shield kinda reminded her of Dad. It wasn’t nearly as durable as Dad's magic, though, and he went down fast.

Akari’s other opponent, Setsuna, was super weird. She could split up her body parts and fly at Akari from every direction. It was a decent counter to people with high strength and speed, she supposed., but made absolutely zero sense biology-wise.

Akari was afraid of hurting Setsuna for a while(those were literally her organs, what the fuck?) but then she found out the parts regenerate and started to freely hit back. 

For a couple of minutes, Setsuna flew and weaved circles in the air while Akari attacked before the goddess finally got bored. She turned away, letting Setsuna continue to hit her-doing zero damage-as she checked on her team.

Jirou was blasting at Pony with all she had, soundwaves wrecking through the storm of horns. Meanwhile, Tooru was locked in fierce combat with Kamikiri, her light magic clashing against his blades. 

Momo was fighting Kendo, finally using her reinforcement magic. Shiozaki’s hair was now completely gone, ends looking burnt as she sat off to the side and watched the battle. 

“Dude, are you even paying attention?” An annoyed voice came from all around Akari, bringing her out of her thoughts. Oh, right, she was here.

“Not really,” Akari admitted.

“My hits aren’t doing a thing.” Setsuna finally noticed. “You’re like, ridiculously durable. A lot more than Tetsu, too...but guess what! You can’t get me, either, as long as I fly arou-”

Thin, white poles of light manifested out of nothing by the dozens. They expanded out, pinning down every single one of Setsuna’s body parts and holding her still.

“Oh. I guess you could.”

Akari curiously moved Setsuna’s mouth and ears in front of her. “I’m sorry if this is offensive, but um...how does your body work?”

The unattached mouth grinned. “No one knows, Midoriya-chan. I’m just special like that.”

“Well then, how do I knock you unconscious?”

“Do you really think I’m gonna tell you that?”

Fair enough.

Akari felt Momo’s magic vanish from the other side of the room, the brunette now out cold. Maybe she should hurry up.

“Never mind. I’m just going to keep you trapped there.”

“Huh-wait, where are you going? Hey!”

Akari turned her back on her protesting opponent and started walking.

She moved behind Kendo and the proud martial artist was down with a single chop, martial arts and all. She flicked Shiozaki in the forehead in the next instant, leaving her to fall next to Kendo.

The world froze as Akari stepped through hundreds and hundreds of horns, all strewn throughout the air. Behind the storm was Pony, face scrunched up in concentration. Eri’s horn tingled on her head at the sight, still attached with reinforcement-her sister would love to meet this girl.

The world unfroze and Pony fell unconscious, expression unchanging. Akari turned to Jirou-

And her throat suddenly clogged up, making her cough. Her mouth was full of something, growing and filling the needed, vital space there. It was painfully uncomfortable.

“I finally got you!” Mushroom Girl cheered. The bangs previously covering her face were now wide open to display a triumphant grin. “My mushrooms are going to keep growing in your throat until you surrender!”

Akari’s eyes widened, hand flying up to her mouth. A powerful chokehold, one she hadn’t even seen coming. What a clever technique.

Jirou attacked and Mushroom Girl nimbly dodged out of range, knowing that the girl couldn’t get closer without being choked too. 

“Give up, Midoriya-san!”

It was hard to think like this, air barely flowing into her lungs. Theoretically, she could knock Mushroom Girl unconscious but the mushrooms would probably just stick until the girl removed them herself-though, wait, they were inside Akari, so she could...

A burst of white mana ran throughout her body with a warm tingle, destroying the mushrooms inside of her in a targeted scan until not a single one was left inside her. Akari rubbed her now empty throat with relief.

Mushroom Girl stopped moving, completely shocked. “Wait, what? My-my shrooms, how did you-”

“Time’s up!” Mic’s voice boomed throughout the fake city, bringing everyone to a halt. Mushroom Girl was still staring at Akari, stunned, and Kamikiri finally glanced up from his fight with Tooru-abruptly realizing practically his entire team was eliminated.

Kamikiri sighed. “We lost this round, huh?”

“Probably.” Tooru agreed brightly. “But hey, that was a good fight, Kamikiri-kun!” 

“Wha-no it wasn’t! Your arms were like, fucking invisible the entire time!”

“That marks the end of the third round of the Sports Festival, everyone!" Mic continued. "I hope you all got enough points!”

“Yeah, they were!”

“That’s her quirk.” Akari pointed out.  

“I know that you overpowered little-”

Chapter Text

Team Momo had gotten more than enough points.

1st Place, 350 Points: Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, Jirou, Hagakure.

2nd Place, 225 Points: Todoroki, Iida, Tokoyami, Uraraka.

3rd Place, 160 Points: Monoma, Kodai, Shinsou, Rin.

4th Place, 135 Points: Bakugou, Kirishima, Ashido, Sero.

5th Place, 130 Points: Hatsume, Fuji, Kuroiro, Yanagi.

6th Place, 120 Points: Honenuki, Bondo, Kaminari, Shoda.

7th Place, 100 Points: Kendo, Tsuburaba, Komori, Pony.

8th Place, 90 Points: Asui, Koda, Fukidashi, Kaibara.

9th Place, 80 Points: Ojiro, Aoyama, Shoji, Sato.

10th Place, 65 Points: Shiozaki, Setsuna, Kamikiri, Shishida.

“We now have our sixteen finalists!” Mic exclaimed. “Congrats to everyone who made it through. After a short intermission, we’ll move into the final round- get ready for the single-elimination tournament, y’all!”

The students around her had varied reactions to the bright scoreboard- an angry blonde raged loudly off to the side at his placement, barely comforted by his team, just as a certain scarred boy’s ever-present frown deepened further.

“We got first, Akari!” Tooru exclaimed.

Akari, though, only cared about the team at her side.

“We really beat everyone else by a landslide .” Jirou marveled. 

“Yep.” Akari grinned at the three of them. “We all did amazing, didn’t we?”

Momo smiled back, cheeks flushed red. “Yes, we really did.”

1-A sat together in the lowest seats of the stadium well away from the rest of the audience. There was now a large, circular arena on the field below, a ring painted at its edges. 

Midnight stood proudly at the center, cracking her whip to get the audience’s attention. In her other hand was a microphone, boldly waved through the air as she spoke.

“Divert your attention to the screen, participants, and spectators, to see our wonderful tournament bracket!” 

So Akari got to fight four times, nice.

“Look’s like we’re fighting soon, Mina,” Tooru commented from next to her.

“Seems so. No hard feelings when I take you down, right?” Mina teased.

“Heh, as if!”

“Fights will be pretty simple.” Midnight continued. “The first student to surrender, step out of bounds, or be deemed unable to continue loses the match. If a battle gets too spicy, well, I’ll have to step in.” 

She smirked, opening up a little of her sleeve as a warning to all.

“But with no further adieu, let’s get started! Would Tokoyami and Rin please come down to the arena?”

The mentioned students soon entered from opposite sides of the stadium. 

Dark Shadow was wrapped around Tokoyami’s shoulders and neck like a scarf, the quirk’s yellow eyes gleaming as the two conversed in low whispers.

Rin stood tall, but he still seemed tired from his battles in the last round. It was pretty unfortunate that he had to go first.

Midnight started the match and Dark Shadow immediately lunged for his opponent.

Rin reacted just quickly enough, diving to avoid the blow. His body turned light green, like armor, and he fired thin blades from his arms.

Unfortunately, the attacks didn’t do much to Dark Shadow. Tokoyami wasn’t a very good fighter by himself, but he moved in perfect sync with his sentient quirk to gain an advantage over the 1-B student. Soon enough, Rin was cornered and launched bodily out of the arena by the shadowy pair.

“A quick victory goes to our cool nightbird! Now, next up we have the upbeat and stealthy Hagakure up against the quick and pink Ashido!” Mic announced. 

“...Why are you even doing introductions, Mic? And why are they so bad- ”

“I’m rusty, okay!”

Poor Mina. Akari couldn’t imagine getting introduced to a live audience as pink. (No matter how accurate it was.)

“Good luck, Tooru!” Akari called out to her friend.

Tooru’s blue sleeves waved back wildly. “I will!”

She didn’t need it. As soon as the match started, Tooru took her gloves off- leaving Mina helpless.

It was weird to watch someone fight against an invisible opponent. From the seats, Akari strained her mana sense to track Tooru’s movements.

Mina did put up a good effort, sliding around the arena with her quirk and flinging acid all around her. It was a smart tactic; Tooru couldn’t risk getting hit by acid while she was literally naked.

But Tooru had ranged attacks of her own. Spheres of light seemed to come out of nowhere, pelting Poor Mina on all sides. And as soon as Tooru got close, well-

“Ashido has been knocked unconscious and is therefore unable to continue. Hagakure is the winner of this match!”

It was over.

Tooru returned to her seat happily, and Akari shot her a proud smile. 

Jirou’s matchup was far more unlucky; going up against Bakugou, of all people. She was on the defensive the entire battle, Bakugou’s reflexes and mobility more than enough to dodge her vibrations- limited as they were without her speakers. Every booming explosion must’ve been hell on her hearing.

Nonetheless, Jirou didn’t give up, lasting just long enough to get a solid hit in before being knocked unconscious. It was quite satisfying to see her jacks jab into Bakugou’s gut, but Akari knew the girl must've wanted to get further in the tournament.

And then it was finally time for Akari’s first fight. Midnight called her name and she stood, getting a high-five from Tooru on her way down to the arena. 

Akari soon met Iida’s eyes across the distance. As expected, he was already at his starting position, ready.

Iida pushed up his glasses. “Greetings, Midoriya-san. I am quite excited for this duel, and will do my best to defeat you!”

“...Cool. I’ll try to beat you, too.” 

“Good sportsmanship, you two.” Midnight smiled. “Now, begin!” 

Instantly, Iida’s engines flared a bright blue and he blasted forward. He reared his leg back in a single blazing attack, his eyes determined.

This was his triumph card, Akari remembered, a move that let him move at far greater speeds The hero student was going all out at the start- an attempt to blitz her with every bit of his focus.

But to her, that practiced kick was just inching slowly towards her jaw, suspended in the air minutes away from impact. The blue springing out of his steel pipes was frozen too, like miniature mountains of fire. 

Akari liked Iida. He was a little strict and rule-bent, but he always had good intentions and respected every one of his classmates. She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over how completely she outclassed the speed he was so proud of. 

Yet, Akari had worked hard to get this fast, and she wasn’t here to play around with her opponents.

Akari stepped forward, grabbed his leg, and flung him out of bounds. 

Midnight gasped as Iida suddenly slammed into the opposite wall. “And it seems Iida has lost! An intense battle of speed decided in a mere second!”

Akari walked over to Iida as he pulled himself to his feet, engines stalling with gray smoke. She silently held out her hand. 

Iida stared at her for a moment, his stern features flickering. Then he took it and let her pull him to his feet.

“...You really are incredibly fast, Midoriya-san.” Iida praised. “I endeavor to reach your level, someday!”

“Thanks. You know you can just call me Midoriya, right?”

Iida’s eyes instantly went wide, scandalized, and Akari laughed lightly at the sight.

“We’ll get there.”

Mosquitoes were annoying.

Tiny, mobile creatures that persistently attacked the beings around them to consume blood. They could just be pinched between Izuku’s fingers yet had rare and irritating bursts of agility.

When animal life returned with the Drift, it had been an exercise in control in itself just to hit the bugs fast enough to kill them without destroying anything else.

Mosquitoes couldn’t pierce Izuku’s skin at all but the intent to harm was still there. A tingling sensation, not enough to be a threat but enough to poke incessantly at Izuku’s mind. It was very distracting to have something constantly directing that kind of intent at you.

Izuku let out a long sigh.

Inko looked away from Yaoyorozu and Kodai’s match(interesting, with the way the 1-B student’s quirk countered the former’s.) at the sound. “Izuku? Is something wrong?”

“Well, kind of.” 

Another little press against the back of Izuku’s head, like a tangible glare.

“You should deal with that.” Sekhmet piped up without a glance. Eri was in her lap, watching the fight below with wide, curious eyes. “I’m pretty sure their not going to leave you alone ‘till you do, Izuku.”

He turned to his wife and Aurora just offered him a small, sympathetic smile.

Alright then.

Izuku stood to his feet. “I’m gonna step out for a bit, Mom.” 

“...Sure, honey. Come back soon!” Inko said, a little confused.

“I will.” He gave Eri a gentle pat on the head as he passed.

Izuku crossed through rows of seats to leave the arena, trying not to block anyone else’s view and reached the inside of the stadium.

There were crowds of people walking back the way he came, delicious-smelling popcorn cradled tight under their arms. The further Izuku walked the fewer people there were until he was in a seemingly empty hallway, the buzz of the arena now a faint murmur.

Completely alone.

And then there was a spike of killing intent.

Izuku whirled around to see a flash of silver, catching the falling blade between two fingers.

“Hello.” Izuku greeted. “Did you need something?”

The attacker yanked his arm back and Izuku let the sword go, curiously taking him in.

The mosquito had long, messy hair, a nose-less face, and eyes that glared right into Izuku. He could pass for another angry civilian, really, if it weren’t for that blood-red scarf wrapped around his neck and the two katanas held firm in his hands.

“...Because you’re kinda making me miss the tournament, here.”

A derisive scoff. “A prideful, worthless competition where the outcome was decided from the start.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Your daughter, Atlas,” The man continued in that hard, raspy voice. “Is already at the top, with more combat potential already than her peers will gain in their entire lifetimes. So why bother?”

“Maybe so. But I want to be there to see her victories.” Obviously. “And what about the second-place finisher? Or the third, or the fourth? As a teacher, I care about all my student’s progress- not just my daughter’s.”

“A good mindset for an educator to possess, certainly.” Scarf Man acknowledged. “But what about for a hero?”

He dug a dagger out of his shirt and threw it at Izuku.

Izuku simply plucked the knife out of the air, using it to block Scarf Man’s sword swing in the same instant. The man pushed against their crossed blades to no avail- Izuku not giving him a single inch- before he slashed wildly with the other katana. 

The attack clanged off Izuku’s horn without a scratch and Scarf Man scowled, lunging again.

Izuku easily stepped out of range, his new knife flickering up once more to deflect a second dagger. It thudded into the wall up to the hilt, stuck fast.

“To heroes, the weak should be worthless. All that should matter to them is personal power and self-sacrifice. You possess both of those qualities, Atlas, and that is why I, Stain, am here to test your might as a true hero!”

Weirdo.

Stain sped up, his twin katanas slicing fluidly through the air. Izuku parried easily with one hand, his stolen knife a flash of silver against the dual onslaught. It was fun, actually- Izuku hadn’t had a pure weapon spar in quite some time and the human seemed to have a decent level of skill.

The man's mobile fighting style scored long cuts along the hallway as the spar wore on, the man agilely leaping off the walls and ceiling.

A straight lunge for Izuku’s heart batted away with the clash of steel. A predictable kick- a blade jutting out of Stain’s boot and missing Izuku’s eyes completely. A cross slash aimed directly for Izuku’s neck hit nothing but air, an interesting move clearly made to slay monsters.

Faster, faster.

“In a new world full of weak and detestable fakes that run away rather than towards the monsters, there are almost none like you and All Might that truly deserve the title of hero.”

“So you approached me since I have both the conviction and the ability to reach your ideal of a hero.” Izuku summarized. “But what do you do when you find a ‘fake’, then? A hero who’s weak or doesn’t know what they're doing, a hero who commits crimes, or maybe even a hero whose motivations you judge to be impure?”

The two combatants broke apart momentarily, calculating, before diving back in. Izuku’s knife clashed sharply against Stain’s swords, holding firm.

The Hero Killer grinned, mad. “That’s where I come in, Atlas. I am the bloodstained agent of destruction, the one who’ll rip every monster and fake hero apart until every last one of those undeserving filth is weeded out. Society will be rectified by my actions, true heroes restored by my efforts, and we will be all the better for it.”

On the surface that sounded effective. Grim and unethical, yes, but effective.

However-

“You understand less about human society than me, Stain, and that’s saying something.” 

“Wha-”

“Let’s say you see a weak hero lose a fight to a villain or something, and you deem them a fake hero. You immediately drop in and kill him with your okay swordsmanship, overpowered quirk, and some blood magic.” 

Stain twitched at his words, clearly not expecting Izuku to know about his abilities.

“Now, that man you killed has gone from ‘the weak hero who lost’ to ‘the brave, talented hero who was murdered by the dangerous, dangerous Hero Killer.’ It’s the same thing if you take out a hero who used their position to commit crimes; the very fact that they were killed by you changes the entire story, doesn’t it?”

“And then you come here to tell a hero that they’ll kill other heroes. Am I supposed to let you go to continue your murder spree?” Izuku wondered. It just seemed even stranger when he said it out loud. “Why come to me, Stain?” 

“It’s simple. I saw your ruthlessness that day that walking monster from the myths appeared, a beast powerful enough to make every hero tremble. Even the bird fled away in fear.” Stain hissed.

“But you-you fought and fought until it was lying dead on the street. Where is that cold conviction now, Atlas? The very self-sacrifice in your name? Where is the drive to cull this twisted society as-”

“-a true hero?” Izuku cut in, waving Stain’s knife as he talked. “You keep using that term. I think you’re misunderstanding something, here. I could care less about this pedestal you’ve put me on, the heroic role you’re trying to push on me. I’m a teacher first, and a hero second.”

Izuku loved saving people, something that’d never change. But his burning desire to become a Pro Hero had faded long, long ago.

Teaching was truly special to the current Izuku.

“All that strength wasted with such a goal...” Stain muttered.

He didn’t expect a man like this to understand.

“And this illogical string of murders isn’t a waste of your power?” The teacher challenged.

Stain’s eyes flashed. 

“You’ve only found two ‘true heroes’ so far, anyway. What’re you going to do to like, every single other hero in Japan?”

“They will all fall to my blades-”

Izuku countered a little bit harder on his next slash, shattering right through one of Stain’s swords. Tiny fragments of the destroyed weapon stabbed into the villain's arm like shrapnel as he fell back, trickles of blood leaking out.

“You’re far too weak to do something like that,” Izuku stated simply.

Stain’s knuckles went white on the hilt of his remaining katana at the words. His wrath and righteous anger tightened together, flooding the hallway in bloodlust.

Killing intent was an interesting skill, capable of inducing sharp fear and a sense of danger through nothing but pure emotion and focus. But to someone like Izuku, well-

The Prince of Heaven brushed the mosquito’s rage aside without a second thought.

“Accept that fact, Stain.”

Stain growled, low with anger. “I harbor no illusion of my own capabilities, nor any delusions of your power, Atlas. But to directly state that you’re making a fool of me, to insult my very convictions? That is an unforgivable sin...even for a true hero!”

Mana ran through Hero Killer’s bloodstream as he went all out, increasing his body’s effectiveness. The transfer of oxygen and essential nutrients heavily sped up for a well-rounded enhancement, the veins along Stain’s body seeming to brighten with power. Meanwhile, the blood dripping out of his arm lifted up into the air and hardened into sharp, deadly shards.

Blood magic was rare and quite hard to learn- but the ability had its benefits.

Stain lunged at blinding speed, his sword swinging down in a devastating arc as red rushed towards his target’s heart-

Izuku swatted the mosquito.

The backhand smashed into Stain’s face with a sharp crack as Izuku’s knuckles dug in with every single bit of painful force. The casual blow threw the man sideways into the wall with a mighty crash, hard enough to instantly knock him unconscious on impact. The red missiles hit a breath later, bouncing off Izuku’s skin harmlessly and clattering to the floor.

And the hallway was quiet once again save for Stain’s soft breathing and the muffled voices of the stadium. 

Izuku sighed. What a waste of time.

“Oh, Atlas, how may I hel-shit is that the Hero Killer? ”

“Yep. I’m pretty sure I got all of his weapons but he had an actual armory on him, somehow, so I might’ve missed one. I’ll just...drop him over here.”

“I’m-I’m gonna need to make a few calls...”

“Cool. You do that.”

“Wait, where are you goi-”

Izuku flickered back to the stadium, two bowls of popcorn in his hands. He gave one to Sekhmet before plopping down next to his wife.

“Did I miss anything?” Izuku asked, anxious. He hadn’t been gone that long so hopefully, he hadn’t missed to mu-

Aurora hummed. “Yep. The creation girl beat that girl with the size ability with a pretty cool trick- she used reinforcement magic and everything- and just now that redhead walked out of the arena instead of fighting the purple-haired boy.”

Two matches?!

Wait. “Kirishima surrendered?” Izuku said, surprised. “He didn’t seem like the kinda boy to do that...”

Aurora reached over to grab a handful of popcorn and Izuku held the bowl a little closer for her. “He didn’t surrender. The purple-haired boy-”

“Shinsou.” Izuku corrected as he took some himself, enjoying the satisfying crunch. 

“Shinsou said something and when Kirishima responded, he went blank and followed his command. A really interesting mind control ability, it seems.”

“So that’s what his quirk was..practically an unstoppable quirk for the hero career, actually. One joke, question, or insult and unaware villains are just...done.”

“Yep,” Aurora agreed. “Yet he isn’t in the hero course, despite possessing that ability and a limited amount of training-”

“-because of how our entrance exam is made.” Izuku finished, frowning. “The other teachers and Nezu seem to hate that too. I mean, some of my coworker’s quirks don’t even work on robots. We made a few steps to fix it this year, but ultimately the first U.A exam after the Drift would need to emphasize power to make the humans feel safe- which is perfectly understandable to humans suddenly learning monsters exist, really.”

“But at the same time, that Shinsou kid isn’t the only one to not have a quirk to suit the exam, right? That blonde boy-”

“Monoma.”

“-Monoma has clearly worked on his swordsmanship for far longer, and because of that got into the hero course with a copying ability. Shinsou has trained for at most three to five years, and came up just short in points.” Aurora paused, munching down on her popcorn. “Whoa, this is good - nothing like the store kind.” 

“High quality.” Izuku agreed, taking another handful. “It kinda reminds me of when we used to steal from movie theatres. You know, before.”

“Ah, I remember that. We were running out of places to explore at that point. It was so nice to watch stuff on the big projector once we figured out how it worked.”

Izuku smiled at the memory. “Yeah, it was. I agree with you on Shinsou by the way; his success is his own doing. But he’s already made it to the fourth round under his own efforts- more than enough to transfer to the hero course.”

“Do you want to train him?” Aurora asked.

“Well, Aizawa does. I really just want to find out how the mind control works.” Izuku admitted.

“Makes sense.” Aurora hummed. “Well, he’ll probably fight Todoroki next. If you don’t take another random trip-”

“I was being attacked, Aurora-”

“-then you’ll get to see it in action. And if he gets to Akari, well, she’s probably just as curious about it as you are.”

“True-wait,” Izuku blinked. “How’d you know Todoroki’s name but not any of the others?”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “It’s a little difficult to miss the boy with dual-colored hair, Izuku.”

“...Oh.”

“Especially since half of his hair is white and zero young people have white hair.”

Izuku frowned, hands flying up to his hair defensively. “Hey, that’s not true. There are plenty of people with white hair who aren’t old.”

Aurora raised a perfect eyebrow. “Like who?”

“Eri!”

“Eri doesn’t count, she’s special.”

Izuku blanked. “Uh...I don’t know, me?”

“Izuku, we’re over 1000 years old.”

“The prime of a god’s life!”

“Sure, but by human standards you’re ancient.”

“Well, by human standards you’re ancient, too!”

“But I don’t have white hair.” 

Izuku glanced at Aurora’s beautiful purple hair and then back to her smug face.

Damn, she had him there.

“Just for that, I’m taking away the popcorn,” Izuku grumbled, pettily tugging the bowl away.

Aurora gasped, too slow to stop the crunchy goodness from leaving her possession. “You wouldn’t!”

“Hey, Eri, you want some more?” Izuku held the delicious-smelling container towards the child-the child who just discovered popcorn was a thing.

Eri nodded hard, her red eyes lighting up. She took it happily, pouring their remaining popcorn...into the bowl she stole from Sekhmet. Her small arms hugged the now full box to her like the precious treasure it was, popping one puff at a time into her mouth.

Izuku and Aurora just paused for a moment, watching their daughter in wonder.

“Never mind.” Aurora relented. “She can have it.”

“Yep.”

Chapter Text

Mana was a wonderful, beautiful thing that got more unique to the individual the more they possessed.  With years of practice, Akari had learned to differentiate between people with just her mana sense.

Dad’s mana was a beacon of pure power when he didn’t consciously suppress it, a steady presence that covered the entire area like a blanket of safety. Mom’s was similar- a warm, calming sensation that wrapped around Akari like a strong hug. Mom had been the one to explain the mana sense to a young Akari, happily adding that Akari’s mana actually felt just as comforting as hers did. Akari hadn't stopped smiling for an entire day, after that.

In comparison, Aunt Sekhmet didn’t have any sort of presence. Her mana was under constant, strict control and she almost never fought around Akari- always dragging Dad somewhere far away for their fun spars. It was a shame because Akari really wanted to watch them fight. And when she went to ask Dad what Sekhmet’s mana was like afterward he’d just...shiver, for some reason. 

Uncle Kensei’s mana was exactly like the swords he loved so much- sharp, direct, and powerfully focused. He was the one to convince her to master swordsmanship and show her what he knew, even with how busy he always was. Akari smiled at the thought. She should really visit sometime, show him how much better she’s gotten.

Ochako and Monoma danced around each other in the arena below, both doing their best to land a hit with their touch-based abilities. They traded quick grabs and careful lunges, neither fighter getting off a definite touch. Ochako seemed to have the advantage since she only needed to tap him once to make him float, while Monoma needed a touch to copy her quirk and then another to actually use it.

Neither student gave off any presence at all, nor did any of the heroes in the audience. In fact, the only human Akari knew of with a decent amount of mana was All Might. If her classmates and teachers could actually sense mana, well, Akari would probably be outed as a goddess weeks ago. 

The longer she lived among humans, the more she couldn’t help but notice the differences between them. Gods and humans were different, no matter how similar they looked. 

Ochako steadily overwhelmed her opponent in an aggressive show of martial arts and when Monoma finally slipped up, the brunette slammed him down outside the ring with a vicious throw. Tooru cheered for their friend, bright and loud.

But Akari didn’t think the humans would treat her any differently if they knew she was a goddess. 

“And now, for the last fight of the first round, we have Todoroki up against Sero!” Mic announced, introductions thankfully now left out.

Sero walked into the arena first, rubbing those strange elbows of his. It seemed like he was trying to psych himself up. His usual grin currently looked so nervous that Akari almost felt bad for him.

Todoroki stiffly entered a minute later, his heterochromatic eyes nearly hidden behind his dual-colored hair. His face seemed just as cold and indifferent as usual until Akari looked a little closer and realized that something was very wrong. Todoroki was angry - his right fist tightly clenched as his side and his shoulders painfully tense.

Todoroki was the kind of person to suppress and hide his emotions as much as possible. What could’ve made him so mad in the mere minutes since she last saw him?

Midnight shot the scarred boy a concerned glance(that went completely ignored) before stepping back to her spot, mic in hand.

“Begin!”

Twin strips of tape immediately raced forward, wrapping tight around Todoroki’s waist. Sero twisted as soon as they made contact, pulling with all of his might to yank Todoroki towards the edge of the ring.

Just before he was thrown out of bounds a wall of ice rose in his path, sturdily stopping his flight. A moment later, the tape connecting the two froze and broke apart.

Todoroki didn’t blink, slowly lifting his head to see his opponent. But it didn’t seem like he was looking at Sero at all. It was as if he was staring straight right through the other boy.

Sero leaped forward, and Todoroki swung his right hand.

The air temperature dropped in an instant as rows and rows of ice spikes rose out of the frozen concrete. They bloomed outward at an incredible pace, each consecutive pillar taller and wider than the last. By the time the attack hit Sero it was gigantic; a mountain of blue that encompassed him completely and kept going towards the watching crowd-

A huge, transparent wall of violet appeared just in time to stop the glacier in its tracks. Waves and waves of power crashed against the glowing barrier barely meters away from the audience to no effect, spikes shattering harmlessly on impact as screams quieted into awed silence.

A massive structure now covered a whole half the arena, stretching high up into the sky.  

Dad- now suddenly on the field- took the microphone from a shivering, speechless Midnight.

“Todoroki wins with his first attack, blindsiding his opponent with an amazing large-scale strike! What a great attack!” 

Dad smiled lightly at the crowd, but Akari could easily make out the heavy concern in his voice.

“Though, maybe it was too great...it looks like we’ll have to break for a short intermission to get this mess cleaned up. Sorry for the wait, everyone!”

Todoroki was trembling by the time Dad walked up to him, his right arm covered up to the shoulder in white frost and his breath visible from the stands. A warm purple blanket wrapped around the frozen boy, seeming to appear out of thin air. He blinked, confused, before melting into it gratefully.

Next, Dad waved his hand and hundreds and hundreds of violet threads shredded through the ice mountain in an instant. The shards tumbled down into a wide purple bag before being flown off the arena, and an unconscious Sero was soon caught by another floating blanket.

Dad couldn’t quite hide his frown as he carried both boys off the field.

Apparently, suddenly appearing in places was ‘highly disruptive’ and ‘against quirk usage laws.’ So Akari was forced to slowly trudge through the huge stadium to get anywhere, something that was really starting to get on her nerves.

She finally arrived on the field to find her opponent, a tense ball of anger with glaring red eyes, waiting for her.

“Don’t hold back on me, Purple,” Bakugou ordered, his loud voice easily carrying across the arena. “I’m going to destroy you at your fucking best, ya hear me?!”

Akari hummed, her hands loose at her sides. “My best, huh?”

She kinda wondered where he got all of that self-confidence from, sometimes. 

Midnight raised her whip to begin the match, teeth chattering the slightest bit. The air in the arena was still bitingly cold and her thin, skin-tight costume probably wasn't helping much. 

“Start!”

Bakugou immediately blasted off, soaring high into the sky. 

Alternating explosions and flames from his feet propelled him further up. Akari watched him fly away for a few seconds, confused. 

“Hey, Midnight-sensei, what’s he-” Akari started to ask...only to see her teacher desperately sprinting away from the field, mic in hand. 

Huh.

She glanced back up at Bakugou to see him now all the way past the stadium’s top, barely a speck in the blue sky. Then he finally started to fall from his huge height, plummeting down like a blur and prompting terrified screams from the audience.

Bakugou started to spin, accelerating rapidly downward as explosions trailed behind him. Black smoke and red flames curled around him faster and faster until he was completely cloaked in a mass of swirling fumes. It was a huge spiral of destruction, far bigger than the arena’s ring, and bearing down on a direct course for her head.

How hard had he practiced to control that?

“DIE!” A harsh voice roared from above, the smell of smoke and flames filling Akari’s lungs like a wildfire. 

Akari stared into the steadily approaching storm and raised her hand up to catch it.

The massive explosion struck her awaiting palm and the light was blinding, yellow and orange and white pressing against her eyelids. She grinned as her created white headphones just suppressed the powerful, thrilling boom that rang throughout her entire body, incredible amounts of heat washing over her arms and face. Her mana skillfully weaved over her gym uniform at that moment and held strong, reinforcing and protecting her clothes from the blast.

And then it was over barely a moment later- the world now completely silent save for her own heartbeat.

Akari took off her impromptu noise cancellers, her fingers brushing over a new crack on its top. There wasn’t a single scratch on Akari herself. 

The smoke cleared to leave an absolutely devastated arena, cement completely blown away. The only part of the field still remaining was the small, circular portion below Akari’s feet.

Bakugou was flat on his back several meters away, breathing harshly. The top half of his uniform had been burned off, his exposed form dusty and heavily bruised. One of his arms was twisted at an awkward angle, hanging limply at his side.

Akari walked up to him, stepping across rubble and ruined ground. Unsteady red eyes tracked her approach, but Bakugou’s body didn’t move an inch. The fact that he was even conscious was impressive.

“That wasn’t a bad attack,” She told him honestly.

Bakugou coughed out a curse. He slowly lifted his unbroken arm, curling in four fingers for a familiar gesture.

“...Fuck off, Midoriya.” 

Akari laughed.

To Todoroki Shouto, the five years he spent away from Earth was a blessing.

The world he was sent to(and he did mean sent- you can’t just call a literal global abduction phenomena something as tame as drifting, Natsuo) was named Frigus. It was a world of snow and ice where the only season was winter year-round. The white landscape always carried a chill with its winds and Shouto, Natsuo, and Fuyumi had just enough resistance to feel it.

Frankly, it was the most wonderful place Shouto had ever been to.

Frigus was a simple land, mostly populated with small villages lit by torches. The natives were extremely welcoming to the sudden visitors, showing them how to survive in the environment and giving them a place to live. There were even a few mages among them- magic was a thing, apparently- to teach those with potential.

Natsuo, initially disgruntled at the long interruption to his medical study, was quickly fascinated with the mysteries of healing magic. The subject of mana was incredible to Shouto and everyone else from Earth- the idea of essentially being gifted a new, excellent quirk out of nowhere that operated on alien principles was incredible.

Fuyumi almost seemed guilty at how much she loved Frigus, at how easily she fell into a warm, steady life without him. She ended up making quite a few friends in the village- and not a single one of them cared who her sperm donor was. 

With no Endeavor, there was no one to constantly berate Shouto over his performance, to urge him to use that damned power and force him into brutal training sessions. Shouto could choose to train when he wanted to and was free to strive towards his goal on his own terms.

Shouto spent hours and hours a day working on his mother’s beautiful ice in a snowy field outside his new village. He soon knew the feeling of frostbite intimately and exactly how to push past the crippling cold. His quirk’s limit and power steadily rose.

In Frigus’s brown and white woods were mostly huntable animals, resembling birds and deer. But if you looked closer you would see larger, more dangerous creatures within, collectively called monsters by the natives. During his five-year stay, Shouto saw huge wolves, sprawling white spiders that made Natsuo scream like a child, odd five-legged brown things no one could name, and ogres. 

Everyone hated the ogres. 

What set the monsters apart from other creatures(other than their often mythical appearances, of course) was that they all seemed to carry a grudge against humans and burst into golden dust upon death. Fighting them off was good for gaining combat experience, Shouto found.

He practiced against heroes who were sent to Frigus as well, and sometimes even villains- the reasonable ones were fairly peaceful after truly realizing they were in a completely new world. Shouto trained long and hard for five whole years on Frigus to become truly strong, strong enough to become the most powerful hero when he was forced back to Earth. And he wouldn’t do it with Endeavor’s help. 

But when he actually started on his path and got into U.A University, there was an insurmountable obstacle in the way of his goal.

Midoriya Akari. 

A girl who had an inherited and ridiculously powerful quirk comparable to All Might himself, magic control beyond anything anyone had ever seen, and training from a pro-hero father who actually cared about her. It made Shouto burn with envy.

And then immediately after came the cold chill, the terrifying realization that at this moment he was just like him. If he kept losing to Midoriya, kept falling to second place- wasn’t he just an Endeavor to another All Might?

No.

Shouto was going to win the sports festival, no matter how strong Midoriya was. His mother’s ice had taken him this far, it could take him the rest of the way. 

He just needed to be good enough. 

Midoriya accepted his challenge without a flinch, piercing green eyes staring back into his mismatched ones. She didn’t understand, thinking that he was holding back by refusing to use his power. She couldn’t get it, not without knowing why he made the vow in the first place.

Akari ended up dominating the first round with her unfathomable speed, and Bakugou’s aerial capabilities earned him second. That left Shouto in pathetic third at the very start.

Shouto did well in the swordfight. Hand-to-hand combat was drilled into him since he was young by Endeavor(you won’t always be able to rely on your quirk, Shouto! Don’t be a fool!) and he wasn’t swarmed like Midoriya was. Not that being attacked by an entire crowd even fazed her.

His team went unbothered in the third round, Iida, Uraraka, and Tokoyami greatly assisting his collection of points. They did talk a little too much, but he couldn’t argue with results that could easily beat out almost everyone. Yet somehow, Midoriya still beat him once again by an incredible figure.

The tournament began, and just before Shouto’s first fight, he ran into him. Because naturally, someone let the bastard into the competitor area just because he was the Number Two Hero. 

It was incredibly tiring to fall back into an argument with that man, pushing up a shield of cold indifference and adamantly refusing to use his flames until they both grew heated. The past five years seemed to only have made Endeavor even more driven towards his goal and despite his own time away, Shouto’s scar still itched whenever he saw him. 

Shouto stumbled into his battle with Sero right after and he just...snapped on the boy, putting every bit of his power into that single blow and creating an entire glacier.

It was a very, very good thing Atlas-sensei was there. 

Now, only 8 of the originally 220 competitors remained in the sports festival. That quickly ticked down to six as Hagakure effortlessly eliminated Tokoyami.

Midoriya’s second fight was against Bakugou and to Shouto’s dismay, it wasn’t nearly as close as he thought it would be. Bakugou, heavily disadvantaged in speed and stamina, made the right choice in immediately pulling out his strongest attack since its long windup and spinning maneuver were inescapable in such a small ring. That said, there were over a dozen different ways she could have countered it.

But Midoriya didn’t choose any of them. Instead, she just stood there and took the massive explosion without a scratch, defeating one of the strongest hero students without even taking a single step. Bakugou was the one with heat resistance there! His heterochromatic eyes couldn’t help but follow after her as she walked back to her seat.

How could someone be so absolutely powerful at twenty?

Shouto’s mind drifted through the possibilities for a minute, completely missing Yaoyorozu’s match against Uraraka. Perhaps Midoriya and Atlas-sensei were monsters who betrayed their superiors, casting aside their monster forms and living on Earth with their power. Or, they could be aliens from another planet, one where everyone was far stronger than humans. 

Maybe Atlas-sensei was just All Might’s secret, younger brother and Midoriya was his niece. Or, Midoriya was only pretending to be a student while really, she was an immortalized agent from the future tasked with saving humanity? Such an agent would need to be quite strong, after all. Now that he thought about it, that one made a lot of sense. Ah, if only he brought his conspiracy board-

Mic’s voice returned. “Next, we have Todoroki up against Shinsou!”

Shouto abruptly snapped back to himself and stood, theories discarded as he focused on his next obstacle towards victory. A familiar chill ran through his right side as he stepped down to his waiting room, careful not to run into any flaming heroes.

He would take down this ‘Shinsou’- this time without losing control of his mother’s ice.

Chapter Text

Shinsou turned out to be a lean, purple-haired boy with huge eyebags. He stalked into the arena with long strides, not even sparing Midnight a glance as he immediately fixed his hate-filled glare on Shouto.

Huh.

All Shouto could get off his opponent was that he seemed to have a bit of experience. He didn’t recognize him, so he must be from class 1-B-

“It must be nice, huh?” Shinsou suddenly said. “To be so blessed.”

What?

“The famed Todoroki Shouto, son of Endeavor himself. You must have everything you could ever want with a dad like that, just right at your fingertips. What’s that even like, by the way? Being that fucking rich?”

Shouto narrowed his eyes. So he was the envious type, then.

“I bet-”

Midnight’s voice drowned him out. “Begin!”

Shinsou leaped out of the way of a line of ice and accelerated into a sprint, his erratic and circular path making him hard to hit.

“I bet you’ve never wanted for anything before,” Shinsou continued as he ran, still with that same odd tone of bitterness. “With your spoiled background and perfect quirk-”

A small flurry of ice shards clipped Shinsou’s uniform, tears forming in clean blue as the purple-eyed boy barely dodged them.

“-you’re completely set to be a hero! You didn’t even need to pass the fucking entrance exam!”

It was all nothing Shouto hadn’t heard before. For the first fifteen years of his life, he was just ‘Endeavor’s son’ to the media and practically everyone he met.  

And obviously, Endeavor had his fair share of haters.

But that didn’t mean that the words didn’t hit a nerve. Shinsou didn’t know a fucking thing about him or his life, yet still had the gall to mock his determination and years of effort, to call him spoiled.

He must be trying to disrupt Shouto’s focus- it wouldn’t work.

Shouto moderated his hypothermia with practiced care as he mercilessly battered his opponent with ice. Shinsou had quick feet and impressive dodging ability, but if all he did was run and talk trash-

A tap of his right foot and frost raced out across the cement, freezing Shinsou’s sneakers fast to the ground. The boy frantically tried to yank himself out to no avail.

A fierce scowl, more words lashing out like whips. “You’re not even going to respond to me, huh? You really are Endeavor’s son, I see- cold and arrogant enough to treat everyone else like trash!”

Shouto stilled, right fist clenching at his side.

And Shinsou smirked, finally getting his reaction. “You’re just like him-”

Then he cut himself off abruptly with a harsh, visible cough and covered his mouth in obvious pain, his eyes going wide in a mix of anger and fear. 

People always took breathing air for granted, Shouto found. They were used to living every moment able to do so easily. Maybe sometimes that air felt more humid than usual or was a little too thin, or maybe it even had to be filtered through a mask- it was still their precious oxygen.

That is until the temperature plummeted and that healthy life gas became dry, unforgiving cold air. Now, simply taking a breath would irritate the airways and constrict the muscles there. That greedy gulp of air would cause tightness in the chest along with a burning sting in the lungs that contrasted heavily against the freezing cold still pressing on the skin. Prolonged exposure could even cripple vital organs.

Shinsou found all this out the hard way. He bent at his knees and choked desperately, his legs still trapped in ice. Untempered fists pounded helplessly against durable white as he tried and failed to escape.

His opponent had stopped finally talking.

A few long seconds passed before Shouto put him out of his misery, launching him clean out of the ring with a wave of ice. Shinsou landed hard on his back and tumbled across the cement, gasping for air.

And there the match ended, with his opponent never having used his quirk once.

Shouto glanced to the side to see Atlas suddenly in Midnight’s spot, green eyes focused on him. He nodded to the hero before walking off the stage with his hands in his pockets.

What a disappointing fight.

Participants were given a ten-minute break to prepare for the semifinals. 

Shouto stood up from his seat and stepped over to the rest of 1-A.

He found all three of the other remaining competitors together, a cluster of classmates sitting around them. As he approached Jirou said something that made Midoriya tilt her head back and laugh loud enough to be heard from meters away, her violet hair falling to her sides. A snicker sounded from the floating blue uniform next to her, a familiar white glove resting casually on Midoriya’s arm. Yaoyorozu’s cheeks were dusted a light red, hands cupped over her mouth in an attempt to hide her own amusement.

Shouto paused, suddenly awkward as he took in the blissful picture in front of him. It was almost like something out of those sweet comedies Fuyumi loved so much(five years was a terribly long time to be without movies, Shouto)- so purely happy that the words he prepared got stuck in his throat.

He couldn’t disturb something like that. 

Instead, Shouto patiently waited a minute for the moment to pass before getting Midoriya’s attention. Midoriya didn’t seem surprised at his call- in fact, she seemed almost expectant, her smile not falling as she stood to follow him.

He led her to a silent hallway completely devoid of passersby and any listening ears before turning to speak. Shouto wasn’t very good with words, or really communication in general. So he decided to simply be direct.

“You don’t understand my vow,” Shouto began. “Or why I made it.”

Midoriya leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. “Are you talking about how you refuse to use your flames?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it at all. It seems pretty dumb to me, to be honest.”

Shouto’s right eye twitched. “I see. Then Midoriya, do you know what a quirk marriage is?”

“Like, two quirks falling in love and...”

“Wh-no, two sentient quirks cannot currently form a legal union. A quirk marriage is when two families arrange a couple for the sole purpose of producing children with a particular quirk,” Shouto explained. “This could be either to enhance one of the parent’s quirks or to create a combination of the two.”

“My father, Endeavor, is the Number Two Hero and an extremely powerful man. He has been a hero for decades and has the highest amount of resolved cases. But despite all of his work he has eternally been stuck at rank two- always below All Might. Endeavor cares more about that stupid ranking than anything else.”

“So one day, he came up with a plan to finally surpass his rival. He found a woman with a powerful ice quirk and convinced her family to give her up through money,” Shouto practically hissed, the familiar bitterness welling up inside him despite his best efforts. “It took three ‘failures’ before he finally created me- the perfect child, born wielding my mother’s ice on my right and my father’s fire on my left. After that, he just needed to put me through constant training so that I could be Number One and finally beat All Might as his tool.”

His right hand left his pocket, rising up to trace the left side of his face. His scar was large enough to reach halfway down his cheek, an ugly red spot that hadn’t faded with the passage of time. 

“Years of abuse...affected my mother and as I got older, my face only made me look more and more like him. On her worst day, I surprised her while there was a pot of boiling water within arm’s reach.” Midoriya’s eyes widened in horrified realization. “And for that single moment, she didn’t see me- she saw him. And that was enough to lock her away forever. That’s why I refuse to let myself be a tool for that man.”

“So you swore off his fire,” Midoriya murmured.

Shouto nodded, glad she finally understood. “I’m going to become the Number One Hero with just my mother’s ice and deny that man everything. It will be my mother’s legacy, my mother’s will that shines through on my path- not him or his destructive flames.”

“But why tell me all of this?” 

“You’re All Might’s niece,” Shouto stated simply. 

“...What?”

“You’re-”

“No, I heard you. But I’m not related to him at all.”

Shouto blinked. “Are you sure?”

Midoriya rolled her eyes. “ Yes, I’m super sure that I’m not related to that giant blonde guy. He looks nothing like my dad!”

“Oh.” He needed to cross that theory off the list, then. “Still, you’re incredibly powerful and have similar abilities to All Might. Defeating you and winning this competition without Endeavor’s flames will be a major step towards my goal and greatly piss my damn sperm donor off.”

“I get why you decided to only use your mother’s ice,” Piercing green eyes focused on him. “But it’s still the wrong choice.”

Shouto tensed. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I really want to punch your father in the face right now- several times. You have every right to hate him, Todoroki, but this is a terrible way to show it.”

“Mid-”

“Let me finish,” Midoriya cut him off. “You were born with two different abilities; fire and ice. You got them from two very different people, yeah, but they’re still yours. Your fire and your ice are balanced together to maintain your body’s temperature. You control when they activate and when they turn off. You’re not her and you’re definitely not him. Right now, all your doing is letting that piece of shit lock away half of your being-”

“So what?” Shouto glared at her. “I don’t want his cursed quirk- I don’t want this red half of hair and single blue eye or the face that’s ‘pretty despite my scar’ anyway!”

“What’s the job of a hero, Todoroki?”

The sudden question caught him off guard, and he answered instinctively. “To save people.” 

Midoriya gave him a small smile for that. “Yeah. Now, say you hold up your vow and become a hero who only ever uses his ice.”

She raised her hand and light followed, little bits of magic floating through the air. Exquisitely detailed snowflakes drifted down from the ceiling and glowed a bright, beautiful white in the dark hallway.

“You’re certainly strong, strong enough to capture most villains even if you limit yourself so much. That ice attack you used against Sero was far more powerful than anything I thought I’d ever see from a hu-student.”

“But someday, Todoroki, you’re going to face an opponent you can’t beat with just your ice.” Her voice darkened, low and firm in a solemn promise. “Maybe they’ll be immune to cold temperatures, maybe they’ll carry flames that melt away your quirk, or maybe they’ll simply be too powerful to freeze. But when you fight them and refuse to use your fire, refuse to break your vow-”

The snowflakes simultaneously fizzled into nothing.

“You’re going to get yourself killed, along with everyone you were trying to save. You can’t deny half of yourself forever. So please, abandon that self-destructive vow and become a hero for some other reason other than proving a point to that asshole- he doesn’t fucking deserve it.”

Shouto stared at her, a swirl of emotions rising up in his chest. There were too many of them to make sense of, anger and confusion and what if burning him up-

He clenched his jaw and forced it all back deep down, a familiar chill freezing his body. “No. No, that’ll never happen- I won’t let it. My ice will be enough to defeat everyone in my path. I’ll become so powerful that I’ll never need those damn flames!”

His words hung in the air heavily, weighing down the space between them. 

“Alright,” Midoriya tilted her head. “Then prove it, Todoroki. Beat me and win the sports festival with just your ice, and show me it’s the only ability you’ll ever need. If you can, that is.”

And with that bold challenge, Midoriya pushed herself off the wall and casually strolled back into the arena.

Shouto’s expression hardened as he stared after her. 

He would.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Midoriya got into the finals; knocking Hagakure out of bounds within a minute in a fierce display of magic and physical prowess. 

Shouto’s opponent, though, would probably take a little longer to defeat.

Yaoyorozu Momo was intelligent, trained, and highly versatile. Unpredictable.

Shouto took his hands out of his pockets, fingers tapping along the pants of his gym uniform. His mismatched eyes stared into his opponent’s black ones from across the field.

Midnight raised her whip.

Yaoyorozu looked nervous but calculative, a determined expression over her elegant features. Her arms were already raised and ready to create something. Would she make a gun first? A shield? He had no way to know. 

However, Shouto knew that Creation relied heavily on time and concentration. Meaning his best strategy-

“Begin!” 

Instantly, ice spikes shot up from below his opponent. Yaoyorozu leaped back, her eyes wide, and they skewered the half-formed piece of metal falling out of her arm. Pink sparks fizzled out.

-was simply disrupting her focus.

Shouto forced her on the defensive from the start. Ice shards raced through the air and crashed against her hastily made shield. Pillars popped up at intervals to trip her up. eruptions of ice aimed to throw her out of bounds, the frozen-over concrete took away her footing, and small blocks tried to catch her from behind. 

He did all of this with delicate flicks of his right hand, cutting precise strokes through the air as if he were the conductor of an orchestra.

Yaoyorozu simply didn’t have the time to create anything large or complex, constantly forced to dodge the unrelenting barrage of attacks. She was only able to gain a brief window to make a disposable shield or a small weapon here and there, and her thrown projectiles couldn’t even make a dent in his barriers.

Soon, Shouto had her cornered at the edge of the ring, the grey baton left in her hand barely fending off his ice. A stomp of his right foot and a wave of ice as tall as her stomach sped towards her, easily enough to knock her out of the competition-

A pole formed out of Yaoyorozu’s foot at the last second, shoving itself between her and the ground to propel her high into the air and escape the frost below.

Huh.

Yaoyorozu wound her arm back and hurled her baton down at him. Shouto casually raised another ice barrier to block the projectile.

But instead of stopping short as expected the baton punched straight through his ice and into his shoulder, shock and pain mixing together as he was nearly knocked off his feet. The thrown weapon fell to the ground, faintly glowing with pink mana.

The ring was still right behind Shouto- his endurance was all that had saved him from losing right then and there. 

Yaoyorozu seemed to suddenly gain a second wind, hitting the ground in a fluid roll and sprinting towards him with a satisfied smile. There was a new bo staff gripped tight in her hands, its edges lined with more reinforcement magic.

Like a fool, Shouto had been completely lulled into a false sense of security. Her quirk should’ve been far faster and more effective than that early display. He had just assumed that was the extent of what she could do, that his initial strategy was all he would need to beat her. 

For a moment there, Shouto had been ridiculously arrogant. Just like him, as that damn purple-haired boy put it.

Unacceptable. He needed to be more cool and collected.

Shouto thrust forward his right hand and a huge ice block slid into Yaoyorozu's path. Simultaneously, twin lines of spikes curved around to strike at her back. 

Grey metal flashed as his opponent battered the first obstacle. Shards of shining white flew in every direction as she seamlessly twisted to cleave through the threats coming from behind her. 

This time Shouto properly analyzed his opponent, probing her with varying amounts of ice from every angle.

Yaoyorozu fought with careful, controlled movements. She managed her quirk’s stockpile efficiently, utilizing and reinforcing weapons only as needed. She hadn’t made anything other than blunted knives and batons since she landed that first hit on him, her staff enough to defend against most of his attacks. 

Shouto debated pulling out one of his large-scale moves, but if she created something to counter he would be far worse off. Heaven Piercing Ice Wall would no doubt end this fight, but it still took him quite a long time to recover from it afterward.

Yaoyorozu had years of training, judging from her skill with a variety of weapons. But the longer Shouto watched the more he noticed that the black-haired girl in front of him was critically inexperienced in actual combat. She was just a little too stiff in her stance, her grip on her staff was too tight, and most of all she wasn’t really trying to hurt him- that baton earlier could’ve been aimed at a dozen better places.

In the nearly two minutes since their match had begun Shouto hadn’t actually taken a single step. He’d attacked, definitely- the white structures littering the arena made that clear enough- but he was still standing at the same spot he had started from and was easily battering his opponent from range. So despite how smoothly Yaoyorozu was tearing through all of his ice, she was the one leaping, swinging, and expending all of her stamina over the battle.

And moreover, her entire focus was on the structures coming at her- she wasn’t even keeping an eye on him. Just like he had underestimated her earlier, Yaoyorozu had assumed that all he could do was lazily throw ice around.

So as soon as he saw an opening, a powerful wave flowed under Shouto’s feet and propelled him forward. He skated as fast as he could across the ice, facing surprised black eyes within seconds.

Yaoyorozu was a little taller than him, Shouto noticed, probably because of all that hair. 

His opponent panicked and swung her staff at him- a mistake. He caught it in his right palm, freezing the metal solid and shattering it into pieces just as his other fist slammed into her jaw.

A solid hit.

Powering through, Yaoyorozu twisted with the movement and aimed a roundhouse kick- at his left side, interestingly enough. He blocked it with his forearm and lunged with his right hand, watching her dodge desperately and pull something long out of her shoulder. 

She knew that a single touch of his right arm would counter her weapons. And if he froze her directly she’d be trapped and unable to do anything at all. 

So Yaoyorozu formed a simple, brown whip, its small end lashing out faster than Shouto could catch. The additional reach kept her safe from his frost and the skilled girl could curve her attacks at nonsensical angles to strike at his left side. The whip wasn’t sharp, but when reinforced it stung heavily against his thin gym uniform. 

“Brilliant,” Shouto murmured, speaking for the first time since the fight started. The fact that Yaoyorozu had even mastered a whip, of all things. 

A small hint of red entered his opponent’s cheeks, her whip pausing for a half-second. “Ah, thank you.”

He needed to destroy that whip. 

Shouto sent multiple ice pillars towards her in a line. Her current weapon was nearly useless against the obstacles, forcing her to dodge-

And nearly fall, her feet sliding on the still frozen cement. 

Shouto finally reached out and grabbed her whip, ice running down the length of the weapon to destroy it. Once again, his left fist flew out to strike in the opening and caught her hard in her stomach. 

Yaoyorozu stumbled back with a wince, her empty hand shooting towards his face in return. He tilted his head on reflex and a taser formed out of her palm, its crackling tips just grazing Shouto’s scar. 

His mismatched eyes widened at the near-miss. Too close.

A small burst of spikes forced her to leap back, knocking the electric weapon out of her hands. But his opponent already had something new- a small can with strange indents along its side.

Yaoyorozu yanked something out of the top and threw the grey object at him. 

An explosive! The flash of panic made Shouto instantly form a thick ice dome around him, layered spikes far more durable than his usual shields.

But there was no impact. Instead, his ice brightened for a moment, light poking through just as Shouto heard an ear-splitting bang that was louder than anything he had ever imagined. 

A rush of dizziness forced Shouto onto one knee, his hands flying to his ears.  Some kind of sonic weapon, one incredibly strong even muffled by his ice. 

Shouto breathed out cold mist, regaining his bearings through force of will. While he was still safe in his ice structure he needed to think of a new plan-

Heat. 

A sudden, burning heat that warmed up Shouto’s freezing body in a blissfully horrible way because he wouldn’t dare desire fire over ice yet at the same time couldn’t deny the reduction of his quirk’s side effect. He hadn’t lost his ironclad control, meaning the heat was coming from outside.

Shouto broke a wall and dove aside just as his little ice dome melted away in flames.

He turned to see Yaoyorozu gripping a large flamethrower tight in both hands and anchored to her neck with a black strap. There was a can of fuel on her back, and she casually aimed the weapon toward his face.

Damn it.

All Shouto had time to do was create an ice shield in front of him before flames were crashing against it and licking at his arms. 

The output wasn’t nearly as much as Endeavor’s fire but for a surprise attack, it certainly did the trick. Shouto froze more and more ice into his shield, at first struggling to defend. 

But as the seconds passed he soon overpowered the encroaching flames- his temperature control was superior to her hastily created weapon. The fire had the benefit of chasing away Shouto’s frostbite, granting him strength.

He gritted his teeth and pushed his frost further, pillars of ice forcing through the fire to reach the nozzle of her flamethrower. Soon, the powerful weapon was useless.

Shouto leaped into the opening to grab Yaoyorozu’s shoulder and in a burst of chill, she was completely encased in ice, with only her neck and above free. 

And with that, it was over.

Yaoyorozu let out a long sigh, visible in the freezing air. The smile on her face wavered, but she didn’t lose any of her new confidence as she spoke, her teeth chattering.

“That really was an excellent m-match, Todoroki-san.”

Shouto nodded to his opponent in agreement. 

It certainly was.

Chapter Text

Shouto sat alone in an empty waiting room, alert and ready. His heterochromatic eyes focused intently on the door in front of him, his elbows pressing into his thighs and his fingers drumming along his knuckles.

Yaoyorozu had just defeated Hagakure in a lengthy match for third place and now, it was finally time for Shouto to face his strongest opponent and win the sports festival. 

Beating Midoriya would most likely take every ounce of power Shouto possessed. She could move faster than Shouto could see, rip right through his ice, and seemed to have considerable magic. She even had a pro-hero father to train her. 

But Shouto had the advantage in experience. Because as much as he despised Endeavor, he couldn’t deny the man’s skill. He had spent nearly an entire lifetime ‘sparring’ against the powerful man and his sidekicks before fighting monsters for five whole years. And Shouto doubted Atlas was nearly as tough on his children as Endeavor was. 

Furthermore, Shouto should have the edge in sheer power. Only the strongest heroes- All Might, Endeavor, and Atlas, apparently- could hope to stop his ice when he went all out. His Heaven Piercing Ice Wall was massive enough to destroy an entire army. The ensuing hypothermia would be damaging to Shouto’s body, of course, but it’d be well worth it to defeat his opponent.

His mother’s ice was all he would need to achieve victory.

Shouto waited in the arena for nearly two minutes before she arrived. 

Midnight had already been removed from the sidelines so that she wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire. The only hero left in sight was Cementoss, the man crouching down quite a far distance away with his quirk already active.

Midoriya waved freely at the cheering crowd as she strolled in, a slight smile playing across her lips. The audience’s shouts and yells only got louder in response and she soaked up all their attention with practiced ease. Midoriya seemed to be far more used to the press than Shouto was- Endeavor and Atlas must have vastly differing opinions on how to handle the media as well.

But compared to Shouto’s careful planning and cold determination, Midoriya looked completely casual. Her hands were loose at her sides, her stance completely open and vulnerable. She was just as easygoing and relaxed as she would be any other day- there wasn’t even a hint of worry on her face, her emerald eyes watching him almost lazily.

It was infuriating. 

Was this why his sperm donor loathed All Might so much? The beaming confidence and overwhelming power, combined with the ability to look down on everyone else without even trying? It was almost as if all of his efforts were worthless in the face of the girl in front of him. 

Shouto caught himself and shoved that train of thought aside. He knew that Midoriya was strong, overwhelmingly so. He couldn’t afford to cloud his vision with anger or inflate his own capabilities here.

Concentrate.

Neither of them spoke, silently observing each other across the field. Shouto had already said everything he wanted to say to her. Now, all that was left was to prove his words through action-

“Start!”

He didn’t even see the punch.

One moment Midoriya was standing still, and the next Shouto was flying backward with a new ache in his jaw as the wind rushed by his face. 

Shouto made an ice barrier in time and crashed into it barely in bounds of the ring, his eyes wide.

She wasn’t afraid to just blitz him, evidently.

Shouto recovered, leaping to his feet and launching a huge wave of ice toward her. Midoriya simply waved her hand, and it all shattered into pieces.

Shouto didn’t pause, freezing over the floor of the ring and covering cement in frost to trap her in place. White restraints held her legs down as multiple spikes stabbed towards her in the same instant- two from either side, four from below, and one from behind. 

But then Midoriya jumped straight out of her cage, his attacks smashing into each other below her feet. An array of ice shards raced towards her airborne form and broke harmlessly against her crossed arms. 

Her strength was even more incredible than he thought! If he didn’t find a way around it, all of his strikes would be meaningless.

A flash of blue and violet. Shouto dodged desperately, a mighty blow carving into the ground where he stood. He whirled around and lunged to counter-

His opponent stepped past the hand with casual ease before slamming a kick into his side. Shouto was thrown hard to the right, the world turning on its head as he tumbled across frosty cement. His ribs ached fiercely with every painful bounce until he finally came to a stop several meters away. 

He couldn’t afford to take many more hits like that.

Shouto looked up just in time to see four beautiful orbs of light form around Midoriya, hovering still in the air. They each fired off a thin beam of energy, the powerful magic slicing through Shouto’s hasty defense with almost no resistance and grazing his face and arms. A thin line of blood slid down his unscarred cheek.

Shouto grit his teeth and clenched his right fist, forced to admit that pure ice was utterly useless against his opponent. Midoriya was simply too strong to be trapped, too durable to be damaged, and too fast to be frozen.

But his quirk wasn’t creating ice- it was cooling down the temperature around him. If ice wasn’t enough, then he’d have to use a more effective, more dangerous method.

Chill.

He took in a deep breath as the temperature dropped, further and further until his breath misted and the air pressed down on his suddenly prickly skin. His scar tingled.

Shouto thrust his right arm forward and the frost followed.

The ice flowed out in rows, building and building on top of each other as they rushed across the field. The focused wave grew exponentially higher as it went until there was a massive mountain of white bearing down on his opponent, complete with an endless array of spikes.

Midoriya had effortlessly stopped one of his larger ice attacks in a training exercise weeks ago so for this fight, Shouto needed to pull out his strongest move- Heaven Piercing Ice Wall. But unlike his fight with Sero, he was in full control of the move now. It was directed completely towards Midoriya with powerful, determined concentration, moments away from crushing her form.

Then just before it hit, Shouto saw a familiar sword appear in Midoriya’s hand. It was a shining white blade with slivers of color, shining so bright that its light pierced through the approaching ice. It radiated more power than Shouto could even imagine, fierce and brilliant-

(A single, beautiful slash faster than any human could see.)

And the next thing Shouto knew he was hurtling backward, the wind pushing past his dual-colored hair as shards rained down everywhere. His back crashed hard into his very first ice barrier, the same one that saved him at the start of the match. 

Shouto lifted his head with a shaky breath to see that all of his ice had been blown away. 

That much pure power was unmistakable- Midoriya Akari was stronger than Endeavor himself. How? How was that even possible for someone so young? She was only his age and she had already achieved his life’s purpose, his reason for being created. 

Shouto stumbled to his feet, forcing himself upright. He shivered terribly, his right arm completely covered in frost and almost numb. The urge to succumb to his flames, to immerse himself in the blissful heat of his right side rose up from within and he ruthlessly shoved it back down.

But despite his new revelation, he hadn’t given up. Because as expected, Midoriya didn’t have the same cold resistance he did. The girl was trembling in the freezing air, her violet hair messy with ice shards and her glowing sword gripped tight in her hand. The horn on her head was still intact, lined with frost and strong reinforcement. And she was now watching him warily- finally taking Shouto seriously.

This was the only way he could even damage his incredible opponent.

The rest of the fight went by in a blur of white and violet. Shouto fought desperately, his cold air rushing out in volumes to hurt both him and his opponent. Waves of ice slowed her down and dropped the temperature further.

Shouto forced away his dizziness and pushed even further. He had to win. He had to.

He was struck with more blows and magic yet at this point, he couldn’t even feel them. His entire body was burning with that familiar chill, his legs barely supporting his weight. 

And then a full minute later, his exhausted limbs finally gave out. Shouto fell to his knees in heavy defeat, his vow and being just as shattered as the ice around him. 

He had lost.

“Todoroki is no longer able to fight, leaving Midoriya as the winner of the final match- and the sports festival!” 

Akari breathed out a long sigh as Todoroki slumped to the ground, unconscious. 

Her teeth chattered- she was so fucking cold. With all the ice and targeted elemental chill, this was even worse than that one time her family went hiking in the Himalayas!

Akari wanted to prove to Todoroki that he needed his fire, and she knew that he’d be incredibly determined to prove the opposite. But she didn’t think that the boy would very nearly kill himself in the process. 

Hypothermia was no joke, and someone this experienced with ice should’ve definitely known better. He could’ve been seriously injured if he kept that up much longer- then again, Todoroki’s vow was messed up and incredibly self-destructive in the first place.

(Akari really needed to punch Endeavor in the face.)

She bent down and carefully lifted the boy over her shoulder. His skin was painfully cold, frost covering his entire right side. 

If Akari hadn’t come along, would anyone have really forced him to realize how terrible his vow could be to a hero? Or would he have kept hurting himself like this until it was too late?

“Of all the reckless, irresponsible things!” 

Akari stood there awkwardly as Recovery Girl angrily cared for her fallen classmate, now laid upon a hospital bed. 

The scarred boy was wrapped tight in blankets, his various cuts, bruises(sorry!), and broken ribs(oops!) already worked on. 

“Forcing his ice quirk so far when it has a dangerous side effect! Really!” Recovery Girl huffed. “I could barely use my quirk, even, since nearly all of his stamina is gone! Does he have zero self-preservation?”

Akari winced. 

“And you!” The healer whirled on her. “You could have won in a minute if you wanted to instead of beating him up like this! Why didn’t you?”

“I was uh, proving a point. We had a challenge, of sorts-”

Recovery Girl whacked her on the head with her cane. It snapped in half on impact.

“-so if Todoroki won our fight, he’d keep his vow to use only his ice in combat.” Akari continued, unfazed. “But if I won, he’d break off the vow permanently. So I kinda had to be pretty hard on him.”

She glanced toward the frozen boy on the bed.

Recovery Girl followed her gaze with a sigh. “I see. I’ve warned Shouta that something was wrong dozens of times but without any details, his hands were completely tied- I assume that the boy told you why he was harming himself like this, at least? That kind of self-destructive behavior doesn’t just show up out of nowhere...”

Akari nodded. “Yeah.”

“I suppose I can’t fault you too much for crushing the poor soul so thoroughly, then. It was likely the only way logic was going to get through to him.”

“I wasn’t that bad-”

Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow, the action barely visible through her visor. “Young lady, I watched the entire fight through my screen over here. You relentlessly went after him with your overwhelming speed, completely destroyed every last bit of his ice, hit him as hard as possible without actually knocking him out, and then didn’t end the match until he literally succumbed to his own hypothermia!”

Wow. When she put it like that, it sounded kinda harsh.

The award ceremony was a simple affair.

Akari was used to winning at this point; seeing the crowds of people watching expectantly from every side and the proud yet disappointed faces of her fellow competitors. When she studied in Heaven, Arcadia had been pretty similar in this respect.

The podium was new, though. At first, Akari stood at the highest block of the structure. Todoroki took the second spot and Yaoyorozu the third. The scarred boy now had a bandage placed on his cheek, and his right arm was held in a sling. He seemed even more quiet than usual, deep in thought. On the other hand, Yaoyorozu seemed happy, flashing a bright smile at Akari when she looked over.

All Might dropped out of the sky theatrically and landed in front of the podium with a booming laugh. He posed with his arms held high as the cameras flashed, people reacting with pure awe to their hero’s very presence.

“I am here...to deliver some awards!”

The famous hero said a few words to each of them as he did. Yaoyorozu got a bronze medal hung around her neck and an embarrassed blush. Todoroki got silver, his eyes a little wider than before. Finally, All Might stopped in front of Akari to drape the gold medal around her neck.

The Symbol of Peace grinned. “Your power is simply incredible, Young Midoriya! At this rate, you’ll soon surpass me!”

Enhancement magic flowed through his body even as he spoke. Any other hero hopeful would probably be exhilarated at that kind of praise, but Akari honestly just wanted to battle this man and his interesting ability. She hadn’t seen anything like it before- a red, decently-sized mass of mana that somehow functioned within his body as if it were a quirk. 

“Thank you.” Akari nodded politely.

Maybe some other time.

All Might turned his smile on the crowd. “And that brings an end to the U.A Sports Festival, everyone! Remember to always go beyond! Plus...”

“ULTRA!” The entire stadium yelled back. 

Class 1-A walked back into their dorms together afterward, most of them still high on the excitement of the festival.  

Bakugou seemed to snap at his friends(affectionately named the ‘Bakusquad’ by Mina) even more than usual on the way, firing off insults left and right. They didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, however, taking his anger in stride as they fluttered around him and happily discussed the event’s highlights. 

The blonde’s pride had obviously taken a major blow after being beaten so effortlessly before even making it to the semifinals. Honestly, Akari wasn’t guilty about that at all- she wasn’t very fond of his aggressive arrogance in the first place. 

She was far more worried about Todoroki. Though she barely knew him(she could count the times they’d talked on one hand!) and it wasn’t really her place to step in, she truly wanted to help him. Maybe it was a little prideful to think she could, but the boy already dumped his tragic backstory on her and she already obliterated his dream with the grace of a sledgehammer, so why not? 

She was curious about his completed quirk too- fighting someone actively crippling themselves all the time was pretty lame.

But she couldn’t do anything about that now, so Akari let the boy slip from her mind for the moment and tuned back in to the classmates around her.

Everyone seemed to have unanimously agreed to watch a movie to relax after the action of the festival. They gathered together in their huge, shared living room, rushing to grab popcorn and snacks. Soon, all twenty teenagers were seated and comfortable. Peaceful.

But then came the critical question, setting into motion a fierce conflict.

The Momo faction, led by their very own class president, wanted to watch a rom-com. Momo herself was desperately denying this, her cheeks flushed red, but by now the entire class knew about her love for cheesy romance novels. That just wasn’t the kind of secret you could hide from the people you lived with.